Recent News
Washington Post - July 24, 2003
According to a report released by Parents United for the DC Public
Schools, The District school system's plan to modernize all of its
schools is in jeopardy because of reductions in funding.
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here for full article >>
Washington Post - July 17, 2003
Three years ago, the DC school board approved plans for a new HD
Woodson High School that will stretch out over the area now occupied
by the football field and rise no more than four stories above the
ground, unlike the current seven-story structure.
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here for full article >>
The Common Denominator - July 14, 2003
DC Mayor Anthony Williams backed the creation of a high-tech school
on the campus of McKinley High School, but has recently seemed to
abandon his support, leaving the cash-strapped DC Public Schools
financially responsible for completing the project.
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here for full article >>
The Common Denominator - July 14, 2003
D.C. high school students gathered July 2 in front of the D.C.
public school system's headquarters on North Capitol Street to protest
the unsanitary condition of their school bathrooms.
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here full article >>
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DCPS Students Successfully Campaign for Better Bathrooms
Since March of this year, the Youth Education Alliance of Listen,
Inc. has been leading a campaign involving DCPS senior high students
to improve their bathroom conditions, which the students have felt
to be unbearable. The list of demands includes keeping all bathrooms
well-supplied and in good repair; installing mirrors; having clean
hot water; and cleaning bathrooms at least once a day. Campaign
strategies have included a student petition, public rallies, and
meetings with Board of Education members and DCPS officials. After
struggling to get a satisfactory response, the students received
a commitment from DCPS on 7/29 for $33,000 in bathroom repairs at
the senior high schools before they open this year. Follow-up meetings
are also being scheduled.
School Board Makes Painful Budget Decisions
On July 3rd, the Board announced that 422 positions will be cut
in mid-August to deal with a $28.3 million deficit for the current
fiscal year ending September 30. Almost two-thirds of the cuts will
be in the central office, with possibly 70 or more being maintenance
workers. DCPS is already approximately 33% understaffed in maintenance
workers compared to industry standards. School-based cuts include
change facilitators, in-school suspension and teacher coordinators,
registrars, assistant principals in schools with fewer than 400
students, and deans of students, but no teachers.
On July 16th, the Board approved a combination of no pay raises
and further school-based and central office cuts for the next fiscal
year, in order to stay within the budget approved by the Mayor and
Council. The pay raise elimination affects teachers, principals
and other employees, and has received a negative reaction from these
groups, including talk of a possible teacher strike. The Mayor,
Council, and Board have continued to blame each other for these
actions, and one Board member who voted in favor of them, mayoral
appointee Laura Gardner, resigned afterwards in protest.
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Environmentally Friendly "Green Schools" Making Headlines
"Green schools" have been in the local news - - not literally
green, but environmentally friendly, designed to minimize the use
of natural resources all the while creating efficient, pleasant,
healthy buildings for students and teachers. The Washington Post
featured an article recently (July
21, section B, page 1) on the completion of the Langston-Brown
School in Arlington. This combined school and community center features,
for instance, an 11,000 gallon water tank which collects rain water
from the roof for use in irrigating the grass.
Montgomery County Public Schools sponsored a two day symposium
at the end of July to start planning for a new "green"
school. When completed (2006) the building is expected to exceed
national specifications for healthy, high performance schools. Designers
of that building hope to incorporate a vegetative roof. Such roofs
are common in Europe: a thin layer of soil covers a minimally sloped
roof planted with a low growth of succulents. This maximizes insulation
and minimizes ultraviolet light damage while substantially cutting
down on storm water run-off. As with many "green" building
features, a higher initial cost results in savings over the long
term.
While the District has considerable catch-up to do in energy savings
and green design, DC is well ahead of the surrounding counties with
respect to one "green" principle: smart, transit oriented
growth. So far, we have largely avoided consolidating our walk-to,
neighborhood schools. This is one of the best ways to minimize the
use of cars and maximize walking and public transportation use.
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