Back to DC Public Schools main page
|
Major Areas State Education
Agency Calendars Columns Directories Organizations |
District of Columbia Public Schools
|
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, May 15, 2006 |
CONTACT: Roxanne Evans (202) 442-5635 Evenings/Weekends (202) 373-4657 |
Clifford B. Janey, Ed.D, Superintendent
Washington, DC- Today, Superintendent Dr. Clifford B. Janey presented to the Board of Education and the community his recommended list of six schools that will be affected this fall as part of the District’s effort to rightsize its facilities.
“We have come to a historic and critical point in time for public education in the nation’s capital,” said Janey. “It’s historic not just because the decision-making process involves rightsizing the district by 1 million square feet, but more so because there is an opportunity to strengthen the academic programs of the schools affected by this process. In addition, school buildings that have been vacated can be re-utilized in a number of creative ways, such as enhancing revenue from co-locations or modernizing an existing school or constructing a new one. While we will realize some savings, the educational value added to the local schools’ program offerings stands out as a principle benefit,” he said. “I want to assure parents, staff and residents that we will continue to work day and night to prepare for a successful school opening.”
Under Janey’s recommendation, the schools that will be affected are as follows:
These schools will be made available to potential partners for possible leasing or partnerships. Also,
These recommended changes would reduce the amount of square feet in the DCPS inventory by slightly more than 1 million square feet. These recommended changes would result in the move of approximately 1,600 students, school district officials said. Additional schools will see changes as a result of educational consolidations, program collocations and operational efficiencies.
“It is never easy to make these types of changes,” said Janey. “Over the next few months, we will work closely with parents and the community to build public support and to ensure a smooth transition. The benefit of this recommendation lies in the fact that resources that now go to maintain underutilized facilities will instead be redirected to better meet the needs in our classrooms. As a result, students will benefit. In the final analysis, students will have stronger, more robust and diverse educational offerings across the District.”
Janey said district officials were taking immediate steps to develop an action plan for this fall.
“Based on the short timeline for accomplishing these changes, I have instructed the MFP Team to assemble an internal School Consolidation Task Force consisting of a variety of staff members with expertise in various areas affected by school consolidation to strategically plan and facilitate the requirements for this undertaking,” Janey said. “The task force is currently organizing coordination meetings to address key milestones of the plan.
The Board of Education is expected to vote on these recommendations next month, school district officials said.
The Master Facilities Plan will be released Wednesday. (For more information, visit www.k12.dc.us.)
Send mail with questions or comments to webmaster@dcpswatch.com
Web site copyright ©1997-2003, DCWatch