Vincent C. Gray, Chairman
"The Facilities Plan for District of Columbia Public Schools"
October 10, 2008
Testimony of Anne C. Sullivan, ANC 3E05
While the plan is long on ambition, it is short on details. Still, the document is an attempt to provide efficient and fair plans to modernize schools according to the four core educational priorities set by Chancellor Rhee. Embedded in principle number three is the priority to appropriately expand schools with evidence of overcrowding and waiting lists. This is good, because just as there is a sense of urgency to upgrade schools recently configured to receive an influx of new students, so should there be a sense of urgency for schools that are grossly overcrowded, expected to grow even larger, and have a long waiting list of students. This makes sense in the context of the principle to accommodate emerging/existing feeder patterns, enrollment trends and school clusters.
In general, it is easy to follow the modernization queue of schools according to this priority, but there is one glaring exception: Janney Elementary School. Janney was in the #8 spot in line with a planned modernization and expansion scheduled in 2010 to 2012 (?), according to a March 31, 2008 consultant’s draft of the modernization queue. However, Janney has now been moved to near the end of the queue, with a 2013 -2014 time frame for the construction needed to accommodate a burgeoning student population. There is only one other school that comes close to the 133% overcapacity that Janney experiences, and that school (Burrville Elementary, at 132%) is scheduled for a 2010 modernization and expansion. The question must be asked: Why has an overcrowded, blue-ribbon award winning school with a waiting list of 155 students been kicked to the end of the line while schools with little or no overcrowding have been moved up ahead of Janney?
The answer is a political one.
The Ward 3 Council Member, the former Janney principal, and a group of Janney Elementary School parents started advocating for a land sale of part of Janney’s campus and development rights above the site of the planned Tenley-Friendship Library branch back in the beginning of 2007. The motivation for the school group was to force the modernization and expansion of the school ahead in the line. The Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development issued an RFP for the site in October of 2007, and three developers’ proposals were shown to the community in February of 2008. It was obvious to all community stakeholders that none of the proposals would be acceptable; all three would result in Janney’s campus being too small to accommodate the needed expansion and the needed P.E. playing field. For those who were concerned with the library plans, it was distressing to note that the land sale and subsequent development would delay the new library by at least two years and cause millions of dollars in costs associated with that delay.
In spite of nearly unanimous rejection of the proposals, Mayor Fenty, with the Ward 3Council Member standing at his side in support, issued a press release on July 10, 2008, announcing the selection of LCOR as the development partner for the site.
Shortly thereafter, the Ward 3 Council Member forwarded a letter to Deputy Mayor Albert from a Janney parent outlining concerns that if Janney was scheduled for a modernization and expansion in 2010 without a land sale, then surely the community would opt out of the proposed land sale. This was of great enough concern to both the Janney parent and the Council Member to urge the Deputy Mayor to make sure that the land sale was perceived as the ticket to moving Janney ahead in the queue.
I believe there were two possible reasons that the newly announced modernization queue put Janney back at the end of the line: either the political decision was made to put it there to force community acceptance of the land sale to move Janney back toward the front, or Allen Lew has wisely realized that any land sale and associated Planned Unit Development (PUD) will take years to finalize, and that Janney needed to be moved back to accommodate that reality.
In either case, it is unfair that the current and future students of Janney Elementary School have to postpone having a modernized and expanded learning environment because of the desire to accommodate a large residential building on their campus.
I urge the Council, Mayor, Chancellor and Executive Director Allen Y. Lew to immediately halt all plans for any type of land sale on Janney Elementary School’s campus and to move the school forward to its rightful position in the modernization queue. I believe that fairness should trump politics.
Written Testimony submitted to the Council on October 24, 2008
by the Janney Elementary School PTA and SIT
We are deeply appreciative of this opportunity to share thoughts and concerns from the community and families of Janney Elementary School with the DC Council Members through this written testimony. We hope that our information and comments will be considered in the process of completing an effective plan for improving and expanding the school buildings serving our DC Public School students and communities.
This is a critical time as the proposed Master Facilities Plan is considered by the Council Members. Thanks in larger part to your ongoing commitment to improving the DCPS system, Janney Elementary School has greatly benefitted in the last few years. The Blitz efforts have markedly improved our classrooms and common spaces, and the budget has supported critically important educational and service program improvements at our school. The commitment of over $1 billion for facilities improvements, expansions, and additions will help address a serious backlog and take a true giant step towards providing the school facilities essential to effective learning and a brighter future for ALL DC Public School students. Your commitment – time, attention, and funding – is recognized and greatly appreciated by our school community.
As to the Master Facilities Plan as proposed, our testimony focuses on four areas. These include:
- Appreciation for the priority given to meeting DCPS’ needs for facilities upgrades and improvements;
- Recognition of the guiding education-based principles behind a strategic MFP;
- Understanding of the need to address years of deferred facilities maintenance at far too many elementary schools;
- Requesting appropriate consideration be extended to elementary school
overcrowding in amending the MFP.
First, we applaud the commitment the Council and other city leaders are considering toward dedicating $1.3 billion to projects that would “place all DC children in dramatically improved buildings by 2014.” That is an acceleration over prior plans, and places priority on addressing chronic and critical needs across all corners of our city.
Second, we appreciate the guiding principals behind the MFP. The large and complex assignment to be tackled through the Master Facilities Plan certainly necessitates a carefully constructed set of principles and priorities to be consistently and accurately applied. As we reviewed the details of the proposed MFP, we saw evidence of the considerable work entailed in its development.
Third, we understand the prioritization of modernization of elementary school classrooms and other instructional space. Years of deferred (no) maintenance at far too many buildings have left some in shockingly poor repair. At Janney Elementary, our basic facilities are in reasonably good repair. But this is a basic problem affecting many other elementary schools, and their students and families deserve prompt action.
Fourth, we ask for due consideration to overcrowding conditions at schools that have suffered and continue to grapple with severe overcrowding and lack of sufficient and appropriate facilities. The four “Guiding Principles” developed by the DC Public School Chancellor’s office included: (1) Modernize/enhance Classrooms; (2) Ensure Building Support Programs; (3) Accommodate Emerging/Existing Feeder Patterns, Enrollment Trends and School Clusters: and (4) Leverage the School as a Community Asset.
We ask the Council’s help in ensuring an important question is addressed by those responsible for the MFP and the implementation of the construction plan. Were these principles consistently and rigorously applied, using accurate information, in the development of the list of project priorities and schedules included in the MFP?
The information and level of detail provided in the MFP make it a challenge to assess if the four principles have been followed in the cases of severely overcrowded schools. Within DCPS, overcrowding is a less common challenge than schools with facility capacities that exceed their current or projected enrollment. While overcrowding may be less common, it is certainly injurious to the learning environment and performance of students. Yet the MFP gives limited consideration to addressing overcrowding in some elementary schools.
Janney Elementary School is a great school with a growing problem. Our building was constructed in 1925 with few upgrades and no additions since that date. The facility is limited, but enrollment is large and growing. Consider these facts based on DCPS data:
- With a capacity of 364 students, Janney enrollment has breached 500 and will grow to 550.
- We already have five classrooms in trailers.
- Janney Elementary has the second highest utilization rate of all elementary schools in the system at 133%. Oyster School, a new building, has the only utilization rate higher than Janney’s;
- At Janney, there are 90 square feet per student – far below the 140 square foot standard. Our enrollment places us as the third worst elementary school on this standard.
- Our Multipurpose Room is too small to serve as either a cafeteria, gym, or auditorium – yet it shoulders all three duties.
- A single set of boys and girls bathrooms on the first floor of a three story building is inadequate for the nearly 500 students. It is nearly impossible to keep the bathrooms clean and supplied with towels, soap and toilet paper. With 64 adults on the Janney staff there is often a queue for the single toilet in the staff lounge. The lack of adequate bathroom facilities is a serious health and sanitation issue.
- The building is not compliant with Americans with Disability Act accessibility standards.
As the Council, Mayor, DCPS, and Office of Public Education Facilities Management continue to consider revising the MFP as proposed, we ask consideration of and response to three questions:
Have the pressures of constant, continued, and growing overcrowding been given due consideration in the MFP? As we review the MFP details, our concern centers on the delay of Janney School’s expansion to 2014 -- at the end of a long line for improvements. Janney would receive “modernization” focused in improving the appearance and functionality of classroom and other instructional space in 2013. We certainly appreciate that Janney is in the MFP in 2014 for an addition to address our space crunch. But instructional quality at Janney and all of our students are affected on a daily basis by the highest utilization rates, lowest space allotment/student, and substandard facilities found across the elementary schools. Janney School’s placement seems to be the result in part of inconsistent application of the four guiding principles established by the DCPS Chancellor’s Office. In our parents’ discussion at the public meetings on the MFP with OPEFM officials, it has become clear that overcrowding was not given due consideration in the establishment of the priorities and schedule for projects.
Will the MFP be amended to provide accurate and current information on all DCPS Schools? How will corrections be considered in revising the priorities and schedule set in the MFP? There were errors of fact in the MFP details on Janney Elementary School.
These included:
- The MFP lists Janney as having a Gym, Auditorium, and Multipurpose Room. We have a single room that serves – inadequately – all three purposes. For example, our students are divided into three groups and have just 20 minutes for lunch each noon hour for sitting and eating their lunches. Indoor gym class scheduling is a challenge. And school assemblies overtax the available space on a regular basis.
- With over 500 students in a building with a capacity for only 364, we have relied for years on trailers for additional space. The School Profile in the MFP indicates we have 1 Expansion (Portable). We have three trailers and they are fully utilized as 5 classroom spaces.
- The School Profile in the MFP is inaccurate in the class configuration at Janney. We have been able to accommodate only 1 Pre-K class to date due to a lack of classrooms. The School Profile indicates 2 Pre-School, 4 Pre-Kindergarten, and 4 Kindergarten classes at Janney. Due to a lack of classroom spaces, we have 1 Pre-K and 3 Kindergarten Classrooms. Because of classroom space limits, Janney School cannot meet the DCPS and Council goal of offering Pre-K to our community. The Profile also lists 4 Art Rooms, 2 Media Centers, 1 Home Economics Room, and 1 Science Lab. We have a single Art Room made from a converted classroom space. We have a modest library which includes a computer lab. The 2 Media Centers, 1 Home Economics, and 1 Science lab listed in the School Profile do not exist at Janney.
Clearly, there are evident problems with the Janney Elementary School data used in the MFP. It may be possible that comparable errors have been made with other schools. Is there an opportunity to correct the data used in setting the MFP? And if so, how will corrections be factored in to revising the MFP’s priorities and schedules?
Can OPEFM consider trading the classroom modernization scheduled for 2013 in order to expedite the expansion scheduled for 2014? Janney Elementary School has invested in maintenance and our community has put both funds and people power in to maintaining and improving the grounds and classroom conditions. Given the pressure of overcrowding, an expansion at an earlier date may be preferable over classroom modernization to be followed by expansion.
In conclusion, we strongly believe the four guiding principles must be consistently applied in setting the MFP. To date, the Plan seems not to adequately recognize the constant pressure of severe overcrowding at some elementary schools. Specifically, we see a compelling case for moving forward to an earlier date the expansion so greatly needed by Janney Elementary School. The school has been and is projected to continue to face severe overcrowding throughout the next five years. Our existing facilities rated at a capacity of 364 students are stretched to the breaking point by our current enrollment of over 500 pupils. Long before this revised MFP was released, in May 2007, a small group of concerned parents collected over 300 signatures of Janney Parents and other community members on a petition calling for the Council and Mayor to support an addition at our school at the earliest possible date. Those 300 signers were added in only a week’s effort. It is a tangible sign of the abiding community interest in and support for the actions we again request through this testimony.
On behalf of the Janney Elementary School community – the students, the PTA, and the SIT – thanks again to the Council Members for making education reform and facilities improvements among the highest priorities in our city. We hope the MFP will be revised, the Janney expansion will be scheduled earlier, and the final plan will meet with your approval and support.
original available in pdf format at: http://www.janneyschool.org/PTASITPPP/JanneyMFPTestimonyOct2008.pdf
And a postscript:
SIT Minutes Nov 25, 2008 Facilities Committee
Andrew noted that according to Anthony DeGuzman at DCPS Janney’s place in the MFP is likely to be advanced, regardless of the outcome of the PPP. But no promises or stipulations were officially made. The Freedom of Information Act documents obtained by the ANC meant downtown got called on Janney students’ needs not being prioritized in the MFP placement according to guiding principles of DCPS assessments.
http://www.janneyschool.org/PTASITPPP/SIT_Minutes/SIT%20Fall2006-2009/2008_Nov_SIT_minutes.pdf
