Martin Austermuhle
Photo by eshutt
D.C. school officials announced today that they hope to close 20 schools serving 3,000 students in six wards over the next two years, shrinking the city’s long troubled school system so that it could more easily adapt to a changing city and better address longstanding challenges.
At a press briefing this morning, D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson proposed closing schools in every ward but 1 and 3; elementary, middle and even two high schools were on a list she drew up, as were three special education campuses. Wards 5 and 7 will be hit hardest, seeing 10 schools potentially closed; two apiece are offered up in wards 2, 4 and 6, while four are on the chopping block in Ward 8. (Wards 1 and 3 were spared because their schools are generally over capacity.)
The schools slated for closure: Francis-Stevens EC and Garrison ES (Ward 2); MacFarland MS and Sharpe Health Schools (Ward 4); Mamie D. Lee School, CHOICE at Hamilton, Marshall ES, Spingarn HS, and Spingarn STAY (Ward 5); Prospect LC and Shaw at Garnet-Patterson (Ward 6); Davis ES, Kenilworth ES, Ron Brown MS, Smothers ES, and Winston EC (Ward 7); Ferebee-Hope ES, Johnson MS, Malcolm X ES, and McTerrell-McGogney ES (Ward 8).
The closures would be the second round in the last four years; in 2008, then-Chancellor Michelle Rhee shuttered 23 schools. Since then, enrollment in D.C. public schools has stabilized, though more and more students are decamping for the city’s growing network of charter schools.
At this morning’s briefing, Henderson stressed that closing the schools would make the whole system more nimble, cost-effective and better for students.
“We have 123 schools that are not currently configured to meet the needs of our young people,” she said. Henderson argued that the city’s existing schools did not match up to changing demographics, cost too much to maintain and took money away from teachers and programming. Compared to other jurisdictions, she said, D.C. has too many schools for the number of students it serves—123 schools in 117 buildings for just over 45,000 students, compared to over 180,000 students in 196 schools in Fairfax County.
Henderson said that many schools within the system were under-enrolled and not fully using the buildings they occupied. As a consequence, those schools spent more money per pupil than schools that are adequately enrolled, she said.
McFarland Middle School in Ward 4 was included among the schools targeted for closure; it has 151 students and uses 25 percent of its building, spending $17,500 per student, significantly more than Alice Deal Middle School’s $8,600 per pupil. Under Henderson’s plan, McFarland’s student body would be consolidated into nearby Roosevelt High School, bringing joint enrollment to 616 students and offering them a modernized building as of August 2015.
Once the 20 schools are closed and their students sent to other nearby campuses, she said, average school enrollment would jump from 376 to 432, building utilization would rise from 72 to 84 percent, the number of elementary schools with fewer than 350 students would drop from 41 to 26, 1,700 more students would attend school in a modernized building, and the school system would have 101 buildings in its portfolio.
So what would happen with the school buildings that could eventually be emptied of students? It depends. Some would remain within the school system, either to be used as swing space when other schools are modernized or in case enrollment in the city’s public schools picks up, which Henderson said she expects to happen from 2018 to 2022.
Others would be kept for “strategic partnerships” with high-performing charter schools, while Spingarn High School—which, along with Spingarn STAY, is on the list—would be modernized and transformed into a career and technical education hub with a “transportation specialization program.” (Remember: the city wants to put a streetcar maintenance and training facility on the school’s campus.)
Still, the list isn’t final, and Henderson could find herself facing pushback from residents and education advocates. In September, a report found that the 2008 round of closures cost nearly four times what was expected. Additionally, many of the schools slated for closure are in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, and that the city should be investing more money instead of cutting and running. For some advocates, the issue boils down to engagement—they are complaining that their input is being sought too late in the process.
“I think we’ve been left on the outside,” said Daniel del Pielago, an education organization with Empower D.C. “There has been no community input around this, and now we’re going to be engaged when most of the decisions have been made. DCPS can really prepare quite a backlash, as the mayor should be prepared as well.”
Regardless, Henderson said that residents would be able to offer input at two D.C. Council hearings (November 15 at 4 p.m. and November 19 at 2 p.m.) and four community dialogues scheduled through early December. Additionally, DCPS has launched a website where comments and proposals can be left.
She said she hoped to work with Mayor Vince Gray to finalize the list by mid-January.
More: Examiner, Greater Greater Washington, WaPo, City Paper
