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To: 'KPW' <wkpw3@aol.com>
Sent: Tue, Nov 13, 2012 4:39 pm
Subject: FW: [ward5] DCPS Announces 4 School Closures for Ward 5
Hello ……why don't they close the poor performing charter schools instead of forcing parents to send their children to these schools ? When the charter schools fail…..where are the children going to go ?
I think the question is……..how many schools of all types and what age groups do they serve ?
Why don't we consider performance of the charter school? why don't we consider financial stability of each of the charter schools ? Why only # of youth attending ?
Is Mamie D. Lee the school by Ft. Totten Metro where a lot of development is taking place? Who is looking out for the disabled or are they going to be mainstreamed?
DCPS Announces List of School Closures
Four Closures Proposed for Ward 5
Today, District of Columbia Public Schools chancellor Kaya Henderson announced the greatly-anticipated list of proposed school closures. In total, 19 schools are on the list, 4 in Ward 5: Marshall Elementary School, Spingarn High School, CHOICE at Hamilton (a school for long term suspensions) and Mamie D. Lee School (a school for students with disabilities).
The announcement of the proposed closure of Marshall Elementary School may come as a surprise to some. As recently as the Ward 5 State of the Schools meeting on July 24, Ms. Henderson said Marshall Elementary would not be closed because of its geographic importance to residents of Fort Lincoln and the growing nearby population.
Ms. Henderson said she changed her mind because of "data," citing Marshall's enrollment of only 158 students and its low 33% building utilization. She said fewer than 50 students attending Marshall live in the neighborhood.
"Even if every family in Fort Lincoln went to Marshall, there is still not a critical mass enough to fill up that building," she said, adding, "So we want to wait until there are enough school age children in that neighborhood and then we fully intend on reopening Marshall." Starting with the 2013-2014 school year, former Marshall students will be bused to Langdon Education Campus in Woodridge.
Ms. Henderson said Spingarn High School would not remain closed for long. Indeed, by closing Spingarn now, Ms. Henderson said its modernization can begin "pretty immediately" instead of several years in the future which was the previous plan.
"We actually want to close Spingarn and Spingarn STAY and modernize the building over the next year to reopen it as a state-of-the-art career and technical education center," she said. Once reopened, Spingarn High School will "complement" Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering High School next door, with a possible focus on transportation-related skills such as bus driver training, elevator repair, and streetcar maintenance and operation. "We have this tremendous need for more career and technical education programming that actually can result in our children walking out of high school and going into jobs," said Ms. Henderson.
Ms. Henderson reiterated DCPS' plans to relocate Langley Middle School to McKinley Tech by the 2013 school year and to build a new Brookland Middle School by the following year.
Based on DCPS enrollment figures, the proposed school closures will impact 3,700 students, 75% of which are enrolled in schools in Wards 5, 7 or 8. The number of impacted students in Wards 5, 7 and 8 are 787, 1,120 and 889 respectively. No school closures are proposed for Wards 1 or 3, where Ms. Henderson said schools were well-utilized and even overcrowded.
Ms. Henderson said four factors were considered in deciding which schools to recommend for closure: (1) student enrollment and local population changes, (2) building utilization rates, (3) building condition, and (4) quality and availability of receiving schools. She said school performance was not a factor.
Ms. Henderson said there was "wiggle room" for the list to change, but did not sound particularly encouraging. She implied that for every school taken off the list, another school would have to be added. "If it's not this school, it's that school," she said.
Ms. Henderson emphasized that the purpose of the school closures was to concentrate DCPS' resources to create the greatest positive impact. "My guess is parents would rather have a high quality classroom…than nostalgia for a school that is under-utilized and where we're paying more for principals and custodians than we are for teachers," she said.
Once the closure list is finalized, the schools will be closed at the end of the 2012-2013 school year, with two exceptions. Sharpe Health School in Ward 4 and Mamie S. Lee School in Ward 5 will be closed at the end of the following school year.
According to DCPS, after the closures, DCPS' portfolio of school buildings will be reduced from 117 to 101 and overall building utilization rates will increase from 72% to 84%.
Ms. Henderson cited the District's long-term decline in population among 5-17 year olds and the migration of students to public charter schools as reasons for the closures. Ward 5 stands out: 54% of public school students in Ward 5 are enrolled in public charter schools, the highest percentage in the District.
Ms. Henderson said under-enrolled schools also had distorted spending profiles, whereby a disproportionately high percentage of their budget was spent on overhead expenses like custodians and office staff instead of classroom teachers.
Ms. Henderson said staff layoffs would not be determined until the closure plan was finalized. She said the "vast majority" of teachers and instructional aides would move with the children, but fewer principals would be required.
Ms. Henderson said the public would have an opportunity to express its views on the closure list at several meetings and hearings. A Ward 5 "community dialogue" is scheduled for November 29 from 6-8pm at Langley Education Campus, 101 T Street NE. Two public hearings are being held by the D.C. Council at the Wilson Building on November 15 from 4-8pm and November 19 from 2-6pm. Those interested in testifying should contact Erika Wadlington at ewadlington@dccouncil.us or (202) 724-8124.
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