Washington, DC—Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso today unveiled the final plan to direct school resources toward supporting academic programs by eliminating excess space through school consolidations. The revised plan takes into account two months of public input and community dialogue which resulted in adjustments to the original list of 23 sending schools.
District leaders announced that 19 schools from the original proposal remain on the final closure list, with four schools added. New proposed closures must go through a community hearing process before they can be implemented.
With a commitment to capturing public input as a central component of the development of the final plan, the administration held nine public meetings and 23 community hearings, engaging nearly 1600 students, parents and residents before making changes to the original proposal.
Introduced last November, The Renew, Revitalize and Reorganize (RRR) plan will overhaul the city’s public schools by delivering new, innovative programs to stimulate and boost academic achievement across the school system. The new programs are aimed at rightsizing the school system to ensure that all resources are focused on supporting academic programs while eliminating expenses used for excess space.
"I have charged Chancellor Rhee and her team with making our schools excellent and this is one very important step in making that happen," said Mayor Fenty. ;"The end result of this process is a school system that can better serve all of our students and families."
Because approximately 80 percent of public schools are underenrolled, resources based on student enrollment have been stretched increasingly thin, reducing DCPS’ ability to provide students with enhanced academic programs and staffing. By rightsizing the school system, DCPS can begin building capacity to offer students rich, quality educational opportunities across the city. In addition to consolidating resources, the final RRR plan provides new school alternatives and more choices for parents and students.
DCPS is currently operating at approximately 330 sq. ft. per student, while the national standard is 150 sq. ft. After the plan is implemented, the school system will decrease nearly 20 percent of its space per student.
The following District of Columbia Public Schools and programs will be closed at the end of the 2007/2008 school year, except those noted in parentheses:
Final Consolidation Plan
|
Closing School |
Receiving School(s) |
Enhancements |
|
Meyer ES |
Tubman, Bruce Monroe or H.D. Cooke |
Enhanced Staffing models
PK5 configuration
Facility blitz at receiving schools |
|
Gage-Eckington ES |
Cleveland and Emery |
Enhanced Staffing models
PK5 configuration
Facility blitz at Emery |
|
Clark ES |
Raymond and Powell-MacFarland, |
Enhanced Staffing models
PK8 configuration
Facility blitz at both receiving schools |
|
Rudolph ES |
Truesdell and Whittier |
Enhanced Staffing models
PK8 configuration
Facility blitz at receiving schools |
|
Backus ES |
LaSalle ES |
Enhanced Staffing model
PK8 configuration
Facility blitz at LaSalle |
|
Bunker Hill ES
(2010) |
Brookland ES |
Enhanced Staffing model
PK8 configuration
Facilities blitz at Bunker Hill*
New facility on Brookland site |
|
J.F. Cook ES |
Emery ES, Walker Jones ES and Scott Montgomery ES |
Enhanced Staffing models
Program at Scott Montgomery
PK8 configuration
Facility blitz at receiving schools |
|
Slowe ES |
Burroughs ES |
Enhanced Staffing Model
PK8 configuration
Facility blitz |
|
M.M. Washington |
Phelps SHS and other CTE schools |
CTE designation to TBD
Special education program relocates to other DCPS sites |
|
Young ES |
Browne |
Enhanced Staffing model
PK8 configuration
Facility blitz |
|
Bowen ES |
Amidon ES |
Enhanced Staffing model
PK5 configuration
Facility blitz |
|
Gibbs ES |
Miner ES and Browne |
Enhanced Staffing model
PK5 configuration at Miner
PK8 configuration at Browne
Facility blitz at receiving schools |
|
Hine JHS |
Eliot JHS |
Enhanced Staffing model
6th-8th grade configuration
Facility blitz |
|
Douglass Transition Academy & CHOICE at Douglass |
Assigned various schools |
|
|
Green ES
(2010) |
Turner ES |
Enhanced Staffing model
PK5 configuration
Facility blitz |
|
P.R. Harris ES |
Patterson ES, Hendley ES and Leckie ES |
Enhanced Staffing models |
|
Stevens ES |
Francis ES |
Enhanced Staffing model
Facility blitz |
|
Wilkinson ES
(2010) |
Moten ES |
Enhanced Staffing
Facility blitz |
|
CHOICE and Taft Center @ Taft |
Assigned to various schools |
|
|
Proposed Additional School Closings
|
|
Closing |
Receiving (s) |
Enhancement(s) |
|
Benning
(after 2007/2008 school year) |
Smothers |
Enhanced Staffing model
Facility blitz |
|
Garnet-Patterson
(no earlier than 2011) |
Shaw |
Enhanced Staffing model
Facility blitz |
|
Merritt
(after 2007/2008 school year) |
Ron Brown |
Enhanced Staffing model
Facility blitz |
|
Park View
(no earlier than 2011) |
Bruce-Monroe |
Enhanced Staffing model
Facility blitz |
According to Chancellor Rhee, "We have the resources to offer our students the best programs and quality services, but haven’t, because we simply weren’t using utilizing our resources effectively, until now. This plan will get us closer to where we need to be programmatically and with regard to facilities."
Enhanced Staffing Models to Create Programs for Excellence
Each receiving school, regardless of its specialized academic program or grade configuration will offer an enhanced staffing plan. Plans will differ by school because of varying student enrollment and grade level. Enhanced staffing models could include:
Academic Support
This model offers schools with an onsite:
- Media specialist
- Guidance counselor (s)
- Reading specialist (ES) Literacy coach (MS)
- Math coach (ES and MS)
- Instructional assistant principal
Wellness Support
This model provides schools with an onsite:
- Social worker (non-special ed)
- Psychologist (non-special ed)
- Nurse
- Behavior counselor & In-school suspension facilitator (MS and HS)
- Dean of students (MS and HS)
Enrichment Support
This model creates staff for:
- Visual arts classes
- Music classes
- Health & life skills classes (MS and HS)
- Physical education
- Before & aftercare programs
Administrative and Facility Support
This model ensures schools have a:
- Principal
- Business manager
- IT Support (MS and HS)
- Registrar (MS and HS)
- Custodian and custodian foreman
Instructions for Parents
Parents of students who attend schools that will be consolidated with another program next year will receive specific information about their options for the upcoming school year through extensive outreach and community meetings at each sending school. In addition to being assigned new schools for the 2008-2009 school year, these students will receive priority in the Out of Boundary process, which will begin Feb. 5 and closes March 12.
Changes to the Original Consolidation Plan
The final plan includes several changes from the originally proposed plan introduced last Nov. The following six schools are no longer scheduled to close:
- Bruce Monroe ES
- John Burroughs ES
- Smothers ES
- Browne JHS
- Ron Brown MS
- Shaw JHS
The final RRR plan issued today also proposes four additional school closings.
These include:
- Benning ES (after 2007/2008 school year)
- Park View ES (not before 2011)
- Garnet- Patterson MS (not before 2011)
- Merritt MS (after 2007/2008 school year)
A community hearing for these newly proposed closings will take place Feb. 27 at 6 pm at McKinley Tech SHS. Chancellor Rhee will meet with these four individual school communities to discuss the proposed change, and is fully committed to listening to their input.
"Moving forward with this plan reflects the administration’s commitment to do what must be done in order to provide better, more robust educational opportunities for students," said Deputy Mayor Reinoso. "We will begin transition work immediately to ensure schools are ready for opening day in August."