COMP Plan testimony by Anne Louise Taylor on Center City MS

Good morning, Chairman Mendelson and members of the Council,

 I am emailing to provide testimony for the record on the Comprehensive Plan amendment. Thank you for the opportunity to call attention to the role a new center city middle school would play in achieving the goals of DC’s Comp Plan and the status of this DCPS project.

 For the record:

As DC parents invested in the educational opportunities available to students in Shaw and surrounding center city neighborhoods, we encourage you to adopt a Comprehensive Plan that prioritizes strong neighborhood schools and feeder patterns for all parts of the District.

We agree that schools are fundamental to the social, economic, and physical characteristics of the District’s neighborhoods, and land use policies should seek to ensure that all neighborhoods have adequate access to educational facilities.

Last year, the Council recognized the importance of a by-right, stand-alone middle school in the Center City area where DCPS enrollment projections anticipate over 100% utilization of all the feeder elementary schools in the next 3-8 years.

DCPS used funds appropriated by the Council to plan for a new Center City middle school to produce a feasibility study, which, according to information shared with the community, found that a middle school could be supported at either of two facilities currently controlled by DCPS, the old Banneker building on Euclid Street NW or the Garnet-Patterson building at 10th and U Street NW. The results of the feasibility study were to be provided to DCPS leadership in early October so that a decision could be made. 

According to the Comprehensive Plan, “given the high cost and limited supply of land, the District should retain as many of its assets as possible,” and “the District should approach the disposition of surplus DCPS school facilities for non-educational use with great caution.”

The community is very interested and invested in DCPS moving forward with a new Center City middle school, and we support the re-use and modernization of an existing DCPS facility to expedite the delivery of a new middle school.

Additionally, in the Comprehensive Plan, Mayor Bowser’s administration commits to “preserve school sites located near Metrorail and other locations well served by transit for educational use.” DCPS should retain these centrally located buildings served by transit and modernize them as soon as possible so they can be used as operating schools. 

Finally, the Comprehensive Plan recognizes that Shaw and Logan Circle is an area deficient in recreational infrastructure. The Comprehensive Plan states that DPR, DGS, and DCPS should ensure that the use of existing recreational facilities in and outside schools are open to the public after hours. Neither the Banneker nor the Garnet-Patterson building has adequate green space or recreational facilities on campus. At either site, it is imperative that DCPS work with other schools and with DPR to ensure students have access to neighborhood parks and fields for outdoor classroom space, sports and after-school activities.

As the Comprehensive Plan notes, the DC Advisory Committee on Student Assignment noted in 2015 that “the overwhelming input from parents and District residents was that families want a District-wide system of neighborhood public schools that is equitably invested in a provides predictable and fair access to high-quality schools in all of the city’s communities.” We encourage the Council to adopt the Comprehensive Plan language that strongly supports the goal of making neighborhood schools an appealing “school of choice,” which bring stability, certainty, and continuity to the lives of the District’s children.

Respectfully,

Anne Louise Taylor, Ward 5