A group of District parents have created a video that features their children advocating for much-needed renovations to their 87-year-old elementary school. Murch Elementary School in Northwest has never been fully modernized, resulting in students being taught and eating meals in the building’s hallways and six temporary trailers, students explain in the video. Several children have also been involved in accidents due to traffic and pedestrian safety issues around the building.
The Van Ness school’s renovation plans have been in D.C.’s pipeline for years, and the city allocated $68 million toward it. But D.C. Public Schools and the city’s Department of General Services said in February that they miscalculated, and the full scope of renovations costs $20 million more.
When Mayor Bowser released her fiscal year 2017 budget proposal in March, it had $78 million allotted for the Murch modernization, leaving the project $10 million underfunded for the full design that was developed in 2015.
Officials have since changed plans to account for the deficit, Lesley Rich, a parent of a pre-kindergartener at Murch, told DCist. “The lack of transparency regarding the whole process by the mayor and other government agencies should be shocking, but mostly it’s just depressing,” she said, adding that “the mayor has toured the school and called it the most overcrowded in the District and yet will not fully fund the renovations.”
In the video, students note that Bowser’s promise to fully renovate the school dates back to when she was running for mayor. It also shows a clip of Mayor Bowser during her 2016 State of the District address, saying that “we will no longer do half modernizations or tell you half the truth when it comes to our modernization plans—you deserve better.”
“Mayor Bowser and Chancellor Henderson, you’re going back on your word,” the students say, adding that if D.C. can use millions of taxpayer dollars to fund a new soccer stadium and practice court for the Wizards, they can get the money for necessary upgrades.
At $78 million, the project would be one of the two best-funded school renovations that are under renovation or slated for work, according to The Washington Post. The new plan includes a new wing to the building with a cafeteria, a media center in the current gym/multi-purpose room, an above-ground parking lot, and more, however, it still falls “far short of solving the problems that the community hoped to fix with the modernization,” according to the school’s website.
Renovations are scheduled to begin the day after this school-year ends, according to Rich. While there is still time to find the $10 million to revert to the full redesign, “once they secure the permits and break ground there is no going back,” she says.
Correction: This post mistakenly said that D.C. allocated $68 toward Murch’s renovations instead of $68 million.
