COMP Plan Education Element

AN AMENDMENT (#1) Bill 24‐1, “Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2021” (Engrossed Version) May 18, 2021

The final COMP plan does not recommend co-location per our recommendations. This amendment also leaves that change in tact. In addition the Mayor is required to deliver a Master Facilities Plan for the Council’s approval by December of 2022.

Chapter 12: Educational Facilities

1202.6 The proposed 2018 Master Facilities Plan (MFP), for the first time, analyzed both the public charter school sector and DCPS schools. It used population forecasts, enrollment projections, utilization analyses, and facility data to better understand the current landscape of the District’s public school facilities (PK through adult provided by DCPS and public charter schools), as well as facility needs five and 10 years from now.

The proposed MFP GAP analysis showed that as of SY17‐8, capacity exceeded enrollment by over 22,000. Fully modernizing the DCPS inventory, addressing overcrowding in DCPS feeder schools where it has already become an issue, and already approved charter expansions will increase capacity in the coming years. The proposed MFP illustrated a key challenge confronting the District. The total of LEA projections for their enrollment in SY2027‐28 appears to outstrip reasonable estimates of the number of students expected to be serviced in the multi‐LEA system. The proposed 2018 MFP estimated that there would be sufficient facility capacity in aggregate within the educational sector taking enrollment patterns and market share into account.

However, if the LEA’s growth plans are taken into account, the proposed 2018 MFP estimated that may be an overall shortage of seats by SY2027‐28. The analysis indicated that without coordinated planning the District could open more school capacity than required, driving up costs and diluting the ability to serve students, families and communities.

Rationale: These amendments are at the request of DME to reflect more complete information.

1202.8 The District Council disapproved the proposed 2018 MFP submitted by the Mayor as the Council believed the . The information provided in the proposed MFP lacked critical elements that would inform the Mayor’s and Council’s decisions on school location, school building utilization, student enrollment, and potential charter school locations. The proposed MFP also lacked comprehensive information about the plan for six vacant public school facilities. Further, the proposed MFP failed to address school overcrowding, under‐ enrollment, or school buildings with poor utilization (below 50 percent), and it did not clearly define the Facility Condition Index (FCI) which identified ten schools with buildings in poor condition. An updated MFP that addresses Council interests, specifically providing a plan for the District to address over‐crowding in over‐utilized schools and increase enrollment in underutilized buildings, and plan for forecasted population growth to provide appropriate capacity, is a critical first step to advance a master plan. This MFP must be approved by Council.

A Council‐approved MFP would help inform strategic and sustainable long‐term facilities planning for DCPS, charter LEAs, District agencies, and others. 1202.8

Rationale: These amendments are at the request of DME to reflect attribution.

1202.13 The proposed 2018 MFP anticipated combined public charter school and DCPS growth in enrollment, from 91,484 students in SY2017‐18 to between 109,000 and 122,000 students in SY2027‐28, depending on the assumptions made. The upper end of the enrollment projection includes the aspirational growth plans of the public charter sector that would ultimately require DC PCSB approval and facility acquisition to actually reach that ambitious number. DCPS enrollment is based solely on school‐level estimations that could reach 58,400 students in SY2027‐28, up from 48,000 students in SY2017‐18. When analyzed against available school capacity, the proposed 2018 MFP estimated that enrollment will outstrip DCPS’s current capacity in all wards except Wards 5, 7, and 8. The District has experienced overcrowding in certain schools. There are underutilized schools, particularly in Wards 7 and 8. While current and projected capacity are influenced by population growth, demographic trends, and the physical condition of facilities, the more difficult issue that must be addressed as part of inform a revised MFP is significant disparities in school performance that lead students to enroll in higher performing schools, even if these schools are a considerable distance away.

1202.13 Rationale: DME was concerned that this language implied that a Master Facility Plan would address disparities in school performance. While facility plans can't fix all disparities in school performance, it is important for the facilities plan to be informed by a larger strategy to address disparities in school performance as an important factor in driving whether schools are over or under capacity.

1204.1 Washington, DC has made significant progress toward modernizing DCPS school buildings, investing more than $2 billion since 2007 to modernize 73 school buildings. The District has budgeted an additional $1.6 billion to modernize 20 DCPS school buildings from 2019‐2024. Page 15 of 18 DCPS schools slated for future capital improvements will be prioritized using an approach identified in the Planning Actively for Comprehensive Education Facilities Amendment Act of 2016. This quantitative assessment employs data concerning facility conditions, school demand, community needs, and equity to arrive at an impartial ordering of school modernizations. The prioritization will inform District Capital Improvement Plans. Once the modernizations in the FY2021‐26 Capital Improvement Plan are completed, 21 schools, the majority of which are east of the Anacostia River, will have yet to receive full modernizations. The 32 DCPS school buildings that have received a partial modernization will be prioritized for full modernization funding. By 2023, 90 percent of DCPS school buildings will have been renovated and modernized.

1204.1 Rationale: These amendments are at the request of DME to reflect intended modernization priority.