Mayor Adrian Fenty, Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso announced their plans to “right-size” D.C. public school system today that will include the simultaneous closure of 24 schools.
School closures have been high on the to-do list for several years now as student enrollment has dropped from 55,000 to an estimated 49,600 students this school year. The new school closure plan differs from a previous one offered by former Superintendent Clifford B. Janey in that it will close five more schools, and close them all at once instead of staggering them over a longer period of time. The schools that face closure are: Bruce Monroe, Meyer, Stevens, Clark, Rudolph, Brookland, Bunker Hill, Burroughs, Gage-Eckington, J.F. Cook, Slowe, Bowen, Gibbs, Smothers, Green and Wilkinson elementary schools; Shaw, Bertie Backus and Hine middle schools; and Sharpe Health Center, Mamie D. Lee, Douglass Transition Center, Patricia R. Harris Educational Center and M.M. Washington Career High School.
The mayor has also asked the D.C. council for $31.6 million to cover a shortfall identified by consultants to cover the costs of these excess school buildings and teachers until the closures are complete. Rhee said the closures will save the school system $23.6 million annually once they are complete.
In what has become a familiar cycle of politics with the Fenty administration, members of the D.C. Council are reportedly furious that they were not adequately consulted on the proposal before it was announced. A series of community meetings yet to be announced will be held to explain the proposal.
Photo by Amber Wiley
