Next Year’s School Budget
Planning for next year’s (FY05) operating and capital school budgets
is underway. The Board of Education held two public hearings on
the operating budget in November; on November 3 and November 12,
then approved a preliminary FY05 operating budget on November 19,
which was sent to the Mayor. For a copy of the preliminary operating
budget, visit the DCPS website at www.k12.dc.us.
Look for a hearing to be held by the Mayor on the operating and
capital budgets early next year.
A Board of Education capital budget hearing is scheduled
for Tuesday, December 2, at 6:30PM. The hearing will be held
at 825 N. Capital St., NE, in the 5th floor hearing room.
To testify, contact Kenneth Battle at 202-442-5437 or james.battle@k12.dc.us.
At this time, a preliminary capital budget is not available from
DCPS.
Areas of focus for the public:
- The Facilities Master Plan Update has been submitted to the
Board by the DCPS Administration for approval (see below), which
impacts the capital budget.
- The school’s annual capital budget is in the midst of a significant
decline from just a couple of years ago—from well over $200 million
to possibly under $100 million—putting a schedule for planned
full-scale modernizations in serious jeopardy. The Board of Education
has to decide whether to continue funding these projects to a
large degree or to put more emphasis on smaller-scale capital
projects which will impact more schools.
Facilities Master Plan Update
The DCPS 2003 Facilities Master Plan Update has been submitted
to the Board by the DCPS Administration for approval. The update
includes chapters on enrollment, capacity and available space, program
impacts of facilities, charter schools, capital funding and implementation,
recommendations by planning area, and an appendix including school
boundary maps and building profiles. DCPS is thinking about
consolidating and closing schools, and co-locating charter schools,
city services, and other compatible partners in the schools in the
near future because of declining enrollments and budgets. The
public needs to weigh in on this issue.
The Facilities Master Plan is now available to be read on
the web on
Once there, you should be able to view the sections you are concerned
with such as School Boundary Maps and Recommendations for Planning
Areas (covered in Chapter 6).
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