Just a few months ago, in June, we learned that an employee of a popular DC aftercare provider, Springboard, allegedly sexually abused a child at DCPS's Logan Montessori school. What has unfolded since shows that our city leaders do not appear to regard the handling of sexual assaults in our publicly funded schools as a … Continue reading DC Needs A Sexual Assault Policy For ALL Its Publicly Funded Schools–Now

We here in DC have recently had a lot of “bumps in the road” regarding our public school governance. Indeed, some notable "bumps" of late* suggest that following the law regarding our schools may be, well, optional. (*chancellor and deputy mayor skipping the lottery; employee background checks lapsing or not being done at all; not … Continue reading When Following The Law Fails The Public Interest

This blog post is intended to be a resource: a (growing) list of currently available leases obtained by FOIA for city-owned school buildings as well as a fact check for charter schools leasing and/or owning buildings. [Last update: February 5, 2020] Per this list given to the city council in spring 2019 by the DC public … Continue reading Leases For City-Owned School Buildings (And Clarifying Who Owns And Rents What)

On Monday July 29, the Sierra Club Grassroots Network for Safe Healthy Playing Fields and Playgrounds will hold a community forum on lead and other dangers posed by the use of synthetic surfaces made from recycled tires on playgrounds and recreational spaces. The forum is free and open to the public; it starts at 7 … Continue reading Monday July 29: Community Forum On Making DC Playground Surfaces Safe

Back on May 20th, at its regular monthly board meeting, the public charter school board (PCSB) held a discussion about serious problems at the Monument Academy charter school, only some of which were documented in recent news stories (see, for instance, here and here and here and here). Among the concerns discussed at the May 20 … Continue reading What Are We Doing For Our Children At Monument Academy?

--The council held a hearing at the end of June on legislation to bring more transparency to budgets and school meetings. During the hearing, one of the chairs chastised public witnesses (i.e., members of the public) when they testified about the desperate need for transparency in our schools in addition to budgets. --It took more … Continue reading Transparency 101 (Or, “When You’re A Star . . . You Can Do Anything”)

Tomorrow, Wednesday June 26, the city council will hold a hearing on two bills, which are generally aimed at budget transparency in our publicly funded schools—most notably, for better recording and tracking of all public funds, especially at risk funds. The latter are supposed to supplement, not supplant, other expenditures in our schools, to target … Continue reading Fear Of FOIA

[Ed. Note: In the wake of allegations of child sex abuse by an aftercare worker at DCPS's Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan, several parents have spent countless (unpaid) hours creating the following documents, which I have put below by permission of their main source, parent Danica Petroshius. The first document (available here) is a list … Continue reading Documenting & Addressing Sexual Misconduct In DC’s Publicly Funded Schools

So, all this happened just this week in DC schools: --Shots were fired at the windows of Hendley Elementary while children were inside. It was the second time in as many weeks the school building was shot at. The Ward 8 school recently received a large budget cut--despite having many at risk students. --A fire … Continue reading Just One Week In DC Schools (Or, Heaven Help Us)

Back in October, I attended a public meeting at Kramer Middle School, for feedback on the master facilities plan (MFP). The session was one of several held throughout the city by the deputy mayor for education’s (DME) office, which is responsible for creating the plan. Required to be updated wholesale once every decade, the MFP … Continue reading The Real Master (Facilities) Plan?