Mayor Adrian Fenty, Chancellor Michelle Rhee, OFM Director Allen Lew
Education Transition Update
July 30, 2007

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Fenty, Rhee, Lew Provide Education Transition Update

With the first day of class for District of Columbia Public School (DCPS) students exactly four weeks away from today, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Allen Lew, executive director, Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization (OFM), provided an education transition update from both an academic and infrastructure perspective after nearly two months of mayoral control.

DCPS ACADEMIC UPDATE

School Opening Task Force

In an effort to ignite significant accountability and visibility in at least 30 critical areas that will impact the success of the first day of school, Chancellor Rhee and her transition team have created a School Opening Task Force. The Task Force has identified three immediate priorities leading up to opening day. They include:

• Placing textbooks in the hands of each DCPS student;
• Ensuring all new teachers are quickly processed for payroll;
• Securing supplemental instructional supplies for schools.

Textbooks for All DCPS Students

DCPS’s initial investigation into the status of textbook availability revealed inadequate inventory management at both the school and central office levels. In many cases, schools have received incorrect shipments and some have not received any textbooks. 

In response to these deficiencies, the Task Force will send verification teams to each school to identify textbook issues and provide assistance to school leaders in developing solutions. These teams will identify the most critical shortages in the system and create quick solutions. The verification teams will report back to the schools in mid-August to confirm that the correct books and accurate quantities are available for students. In addition, principals and administrators will receive and complete inventory rosters to quickly identify books on hand and develop lists of critical shortages.

Paychecks for New DCPS Teachers

In the past, the DCPS hiring process required as many as 23 business days for new teachers and administrators to be properly integrated into the payroll system. This year, there were 475 known teacher vacancies in DCPS reported at the beginning of summer. To date, 290 vacancies have been filled with each new teacher is being processed into the payroll system.

The Task Force is focused on making certain that all new teachers and administrators are paid on time, rather than several months after their start dates as has been the case in the past. Similar to the textbook effort, verification teams will be deployed to the schools to confirm new teacher lists and remaining vacancies.

The Task Force will also track the payroll process for each new hire, pinpointing every step from initial entry to final payroll confirmation. Teachers and school administrators will receive e-mail updates detailing where they fall within in the process.

Community Outreach

Chancellor Rhee has made connecting with DCPS stakeholders a priority. She is conducting “community living rooms” with students, parents and teachers. During these discussions, the chancellor meets with groups in their homes, mostly in residents’ living rooms to answer questions and discuss her vision and priorities for District students. Living rooms are ongoing and have taken place in Wards 1, 4, 6, and 8. In addition, she has conducted meetings with parent groups and visits schools weekly. Chancellor Rhee is attending Council member ward town halls and has picked up the education town hall schedule initiated by Mayor Fenty following the initial transfer of governance. A complete schedule will be available this week. 

Pilot School Programs

Last week the Chancellor, along with Washington Teachers Union (WTU) President George Parker, announced the launch of the Pilot School programs. Thirteen schools across the District of Columbia have been selected to receive $1.06 million in grants for special-learning innovations as part of a joint initiative between DCPS and WTU. Grants are focused mostly on planning during the 2007-2008 school year, with the intention to roll out these new initiatives the following school year. The pilot program, which is a part of the most recent DCPS/WTU contract, will include the following:

• Extended school day and school year schedules
• Dual-language programs
• Elementary to middle school transition programs
• Instruction for special-needs students in traditional classrooms
• School-level autonomy for food service and building maintenance.

Schools selected to participate include:

• Bell Multicultural High School (Ward 1)
• Cleveland Elementary (Ward 1)
• H.D. Cooke Elementary (Ward 1)
• Deal Middle School (Ward 3)
• Hardy Middle School (Ward 5)
• P.R. Harris Educational Center (Ward 8)
• Hyde Elementary School (Ward 2)
• Mann Elementary School (Ward 3)
• Moten/Wilkinson Elementary Schools (Ward 8)
• Powell Elementary School (Ward 4)
• Marie Reed Elementary School (Ward 1)
• Ross Elementary School (Ward 2)
• Tyler Elementary School (Ward 6)

Ninth Grade Transition

The ninth grade transition process is one that was begun under the previous leadership and one Chancellor Rhee has committed to carrying out. Ninth grade has been shown to be a critical indicator about how well a student will perform in high school. It is also a turning point for those who may consider dropping out. The chancellor believes providing young students with a challenging and supportive ninth grade experience is an important factor in creating a successful transition into high school.

Hiring for Success

One of Rhee’s first orders of business was to ensure that every DCPS employee hired going forward is the best to serve the city’s children. Initially facing 18 principal vacancies when she stepped in as acting chancellor, Rhee and her transition team has placed14 interim principals in the schools. By opening day of school, all vacancies will be filled. 

In addition, Chancellor Rhee has halted the hiring of non-essential school personnel. This cost-saving measure was put in place to ensure that funds budgeted for the schools stay where they belong – in the schools where it’s most needed. 

DCPS OPERATIONAL PROGRESS REPORT

The Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization (OFM) has moved quickly to establish the new office. The operating budget has now been secured and budgets for the various modernization, maintenance and capital projects have been reprogrammed. 

Summer Blitz/Targeted Repairs

OFM has completed contracts for 70 schools to receive a variety of repairs under the Summer Blitz and Targeted Repair programs. All of these schools have been inspected and revised scopes of work were developed to ensure that each facility achieves operational sufficiency. Reevaluation of original repair budgets and cost estimates, and in some cases, significant increase in the scope of services, has meant that some of work will not be complete by the first day of school. 

OFM has committed to coordinating with each school to ensure that remaining work to be completed after the start of school does not impact classroom instruction (heating plants, roof repairs, etc.). When evaluating scopes of work and in discussions with school principals, it was discovered that much more work than identified on old work orders needed to be performed, with the determination that the most appropriate course of action was to move forward in the most thorough way. All work will be covered under maintenance or service contracts and will be scheduled for routine inspection and repairs as needed in the future. Other schools not covered under the Blitz or Targeted Repair programs are currently being inspected to ensure that any existing issues are being addressed. 

Air Conditioning

Air conditioning units in every DC Public School are being inspected and repaired or replaced as needed. A complete audit of all rooms is being conducted to ensure that each classroom has adequate ventilation for proper air conditioning during the warm months and heat during winter months. Where necessary, plans are being made to improve heating and air service and to upgrade power supply to meet additional demand. 

Heating System Inspections

DCPS boilers and heating systems are being inspected and will receive necessary maintenance in time for the cold weather season. All water fountains and coolers are being re-inspected and repaired as necessary. 

Eradication of Work Order Backlog

OFM is committed to eradicating the backlog of deferred maintenance work orders, which will be completed during the coming school year. A new work order system is being designed to streamline the request and fulfillment process and implement facilities management best practices for ongoing maintenance operations.

Ongoing modernization projects initiated before the office was established are being reviewed. Several meetings have been held with architects, contractors, DCPS staff, principals, parents and community leaders to examine contracts, designs and schedules to ensure that each project remains on track for timely completion. OFM is also undertaking a thorough review of the Facilities Master Plan and will issue a revised schedule and amendments before the end of the year.

Summer Programs Detail

• Summer Blitz—37 Schools

  • OFM has retained McKissack & McKissack and Brailsford & Dunlavey, both Washington, DC-based LSDBE firms to serve as program managers for the Summer Blitz initiative. The original budget of approximately $23 million was increased by an additional $2.5 million and was approved by the DC City Council to fund awards in excess of budgeted amount, provide contingency, and contract management services. Total project budget is now $25,683,000.
  • Contracts and work completed by DCPS at 3 schools (Martin Luther King Elementary School, Green Elementary School, Hendley Elementary School)
  • Purchase orders have been issued for thirty (30) schools, each for contracts under $1 million in total value.
  • Letter contracts have been prepared for the 3 schools with total contract value exceeding $1 million in which the contractor has been directed to proceed with the work, which is capped at the budget amount until DC Council approves funding the award amount. 
  • LSDBE Participation - LSDBE companies have been awarded 60% of the total contract award amounts.
    

• Targeted Repairs—33 Schools

  • The Targeted Repairs program was originally intended as an FY 2008 initiative, but was moved forward to immediately address the most critical repairs.
  • Smoot Construction Company, a DC-based LSDBE, was hired as program manager for this initiative. As program manager, each of the 33 schools was inspected to verify the scope of work. It was determined that the initial budget of $16 million was insufficient and was subsequently adjusted to $25 million.
  • An earlier bid process was cancelled in late June. OFM issued a new solicitation with the revised scopes on July 9, proposals were received on July 17 and award recommendations were made on July 19. 
  • Award recommendations have been approved for 33 schools. Total amount of these contract awards is $24.6 million.
  • Contracts have been issued for 26 schools, each for contracts under $1 million.
  • Letter contracts have been prepared for 7 schools with contract values exceeding $1 million. The contractor has been directed to proceed with the work which is capped at 50% of the budget amount pending DC City Council contract approval.
  • LSDBE Participation—Contract awards for the Targeted Repair initiative were limited to prior DCPS Pre-Qualified CM-At Risk companies, only 2 of which are listed by DCPS as LSDBE. All CM contractors are subject to the 35% LSDBE subcontracting goal.