DC K-12 Public Education issues

"Sally, Dick and Jane" primer images from Julia's Collectibles.

There are two simultaneous processes, one to improve the schools and another to "rightsize" facilities and close schools deemed "not the right size." DC has lots of low enrollment schools, but having an arbitrary cutoff not taking into account success and size of school makes little sense.

According to the Common Denominator, this is the hearing schedule for the school closings, (one session was last night):

The first of the public forums is scheduled for March 29 at McKinley Technology High School, 151 T St. NE, and will focus on senior high schools. A second forum, on March 30, will be held at Kelly Miller Middle School, 301 49th St. NE, and will focus on the superintendent's plan to convert junior high schools to middle schools.

Four of the forums will focus on elementary schools. They will be held on April 3 at Noyes Elementary School, 2925 10th St. NE; April 4 at Patterson Elementary, 4399 South Capitol Terrace SW; April 5 at Thomas Elementary, 650 Anacostia Road NE; and April 6 at Janney Elementary, 4130 Albemarle St. NW.

All six forums are schedule to begin at 6 p.m.

According to one of the emails on the yahoogroup list that has a lot more up-to-date analysis of the various ins-and-outs of the issues, concerned4DCPS, the meetings have these geographic orientations:

April 3, Noyes ES, Areas E & H are roughly equivalent to Wards 4 and 5
April 4, Patterson ES, Areas A & D are roughly equivalent to Wards 8, southern section of Ward 2 & Ward 6
April 5, Thomas ES, Areas C & B is essentially equivalent to Ward 7
April 6, Janney ES, Areas G & F are roughly equivalent to Wards 1, the western section of Ward 2 and Ward 3

The Examiner reported the other day, in "Parents push for delay in school closing process," about a community email campaign asking the Board of Education to postpone a hearing scheduled for this Saturday, April 1st, but I can't find details about the hearing on the DCPS website or the School Board Calendar. And unlike most DC Government agencies under the separate DC.GOV web rubric, there isn't an easily found tab on the left for "News Room" or "Press Releases" that ostensibly would include such an announcement.

Index Keywords: education