Alternative Proposal to DCPS School Closure Plan Ward 8 Schools

Prepared by: Darryl Ross, Ward 8 Resident 3213 9th Place, SE Washington, DC 20032 Email: darrylr202@aol.com

MC Terrell-McGogney ES, Malcolm X ES and Ferebee-Hope ES should not be closed. They should be repurposed. The first two should be turned into educational campuses with existing elementary students and displaced middle school students from Johnson MS being split between the two. Ferebee-Hope ES should retain its current purpose or expand its scope to incorporate special education into its portfolio in order to bring into the city those students currently receiving their education at a high cost out of town, or technical education could be incorporated (e.g., auto repair). Further, enrollment here will increase in the near future with the construction of new homes at Washington Highlands. Placing any of these schools in inventory could result in their being converted to charter or sold to a developer, where schools are needed for the benefit of the community. To improve performance, video cameras for monitoring should be placed in all classrooms of the 4 schools as a teaching aide. To improve revenue streams, cell phone towers could be erected, advertising could occur on billboards, wall boards, floors, and athletic uniforms (i.e., logos). To reduce operational expenses across the board, an energy performance contract could be entered into to reduce utility costs, incorporating solar, geothermal, insulation, energy efficient windows, etc. Other specific measures for improving utilization levels should be:

For Terrell, incorporating montesorri or a magnet program, operating the gym and other athletic facilities in conjunction with Department of Recreation and operating a resource and/or wellness center for the elderly in the school in conjunction with the Office of Aging;

For Malcolm X, installing walls, bringing in evening adult education program (e.g., barbering, health care aide for United Medical Center and St. Elizabeths, CVS training Center in conjunction with Department of Employment Services), restoring STEM program funding, expanding the music program (e.g., drum line and string), bringing in a satellite office into building for Police Department, both MPD and Metro, operating gym and athletic facilities in conjunction with Department of Recreation, and relocating the satellite library at Alabama Avenue and Stanton Road currently in leased space into the building and operating it in conjunction with the Library; and,
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For Ferebee-Hope, in addition to what was already stated, operating gym and athletic facilities in conjunction with the Department of Recreation.

As it stands now, there is little to no justification for closing these facilities without an immediate repurpose, particularly when considering that there is a shortage of special education and technical schools/programs in DCPS; all meet the teacher to student ratio of 25 to 1; almost all are newer or recently renovated buildings; utilization percentages may not be based on classroom space, excluding bathrooms, offices or gyms; in the case of Malcolm X, Reebok, DIA, 3 Set and Flamboyan are providing resources that are beneficial and need to be counted in revenue streams; and a robust music program exists at Malcolm X. and the 30 percent academic performance improvement of students there.