This week, DC Public Schools (DCPS) and the Department of General Services (DGS) presented their latest attempt to design a new Murch and outlined the costs of the project. DCPS also participated in a community meeting on February 24 to answer questions about the process and show the newest proposed design.

The shifting news about costs and budgets has been confusing, however, the bottom line is that the project is still $10 million underfunded for the design that the community saw last year. According to DCPS and DGS:

• The cost to build the school (as it was developed in schematic designs last year) and move students to UDC for two years would be $88 million.
• The current budget for the project is $78 million.
• The budget was previously $68 million. Last week, the administration approved $10 million to be added to the project to help cover some additional costs, primarily for swing space.
• The trailers at UDC will cost more than $6.5 million to install and lease for two years. There are additional costs to the swing space as well, including agreements with UDC. It was not clear what the total cost of swing space will be as some of these costs are not yet public.
• DCPS and DGS are still under direction to redesign the project to fit the current $78 million budget. DCPS has told the administration that they believe they can build to at least 90% of the specifications for that cost.

It is clear that city leaders are attempting to keep costs for the project at the same level as budgeted for Lafayette Elementary. (The Lafayette project is currently budgeted at $78.65 million.) What needs to be made clear is that the cost of the Murch project is higher for reasons outside of the control of the community or the design team. Specifically:

• The portion of the site upon which the school can be build is compact.
• There are stricter limits on the Murch project from historic preservation and federal commissions than on many other schools.
• The building is particularly old and has never seen upgrades, so structural components need more work.
• The total square footage of the building needs to be doubled from the existing structure.

The HSA and the SIT are continuing to work with Mayor Bowser and her administration to try to find a solution. This week, we have:

• Spoken directly to the Mayor about our concerns.
• Testified before the DC Council regarding DGS.
• Spoken directly to Deputy Mayor for Education Jennifer Niles and DGS Director Christopher Weaver to discuss concerns and possible solutions.
• Spoken to Councilmember Mary Cheh about the project and possible solutions to the funding concerns. (You can read The Northwest Current for more on Councilmember Cheh’s response to the current situation.)
• Met with the DC Auditor to discuss why the project will cost the city so much and whether anything can be done to bring down costs without affecting the final building.

The Mayor, the Deputy Mayor for Education and DGS Director have all indicated that they will meet with Murch to review the current plans and try to understand the concerns of the community. We will continue to press the issue so that the school and community get the building that is needed for generations to come.

What can you do to help? Please continue to reach out to the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor for Education, the Chancellor, and members of the Council to let them know that this remains a critical issue without a solution. We need our leaders to understand that the Murch community is upset with the high cost of this project, but also needs the school to be built in a way that makes sense and serves the future. The city has had more than enough time to plan this properly and we do not want a delay. But the community also cannot accept a design that is ill-conceived and inadequate.

For more information, be sure to check out:

Latest Design Proposal for Murch – February 24

Murch Modernization in the News

Also be sure to check out “Swing Space Updates,” for an ongoing list of updates and information.

On February 24, DCPS and DGS presented new proposed design for Murch. This is an attempt to cut $10 million in costs out of the project to bring it within the current budget of $78 million. The newest design would:

• Move the cafeteria to the current multi-purpose room, with a kitchen between the cafeteria and the main entryway to the building.
• Move the service entrance to Reno Road. DCPS and DGS are currently assessing how deliveries would travel from the service entrance to the kitchen and front office. Deliveries would either need to come through the main school corridor, outside the PK and Kindergarten classrooms, or outside, around the parking area and through the playground.
• Build two parking lots at ground level. One would be along Reno Road, under the gym. The other would be at the corner of 36th and Davenport Streets, next to the main entry.
• Raise the gym by 8 feet (to accommodate parking below), putting the gym at mid-level to the rest of the addition.
• Move the media center to the area by the PK and Kindergarten classrooms.
• Move the PreK and K playground to a courtyard by the PK and K classrooms. Currently, access to the playground is shown through the media center.
• Shrink the front office space and move the Special Education Classroom in the office corridor.

 

 

 

 

DCPS needs to hear from you! What: Come find out more about the renovation and ask DCPS your questions! When: 7pm, Wednesday, February 24, 2016 Where: Murch Gym (babysitting will not be provided, but kids welcome) Why: Construction on our long-awaited construction project is supposed to start in June. But suddenly DCPS says the project is underfunded and has proposed significant design changes, which the School Improvement Team and HSA oppose. What will this mean for Murch’s future? Representatives from DCPS, the Murch SIT, and HSA will discuss: What’s driving up the cost of the Murch project. Why, despite the mayor’s office allocating an additional $10 million a few days ago, DCPS insists it still can’t afford to build the school as designed. How proposed design changes would affect Murch students and staff. Details about the new swing space plan at UDC. Another way to make your voice heard: Attend one of the Mayor’s Budget Forums and raise the issue! Thursday, February 25, 6:30-8:30 pm at Roosevelt Senior High School (Sign up here to attend.) Saturday, February 27, 1-3 pm, DC Department of Employment Services (Sign up here to attend.) Monday, February 29, 6:30-8:30 pm, Greenleaf Recreation Center (Sign up here to attend)

While swing space for the modernization now looks good, the quality of the main project is in jeopardy due to funding issues. DCPS and DGS have informed the Murch School Improvement Team that the current budget is not sufficient to the design they developed over the past year.

It is important to understand that this project was underfunded, in spite of the known complexities of the project. DCPS and DGS got the budget estimate wrong, and now they are trying to cover for their mistake no matter what the price is to the school. DCPS and DGS knew prior to last year’s budget process that the Murch modernization would require significant portions of the space to go underground and that the school would have to be moved offsite for two full years. They told the SIT, the Mayor, and the DC Council that the current $68 million budget would cover what was necessary. Now they say it will not.

The agencies told the SIT that the two biggest things causing the current shortfall are swing space costs and building underground — the very things the school was told had been included in the prior budget estimate! DCPS has now told the SIT that they are adding money to the budget to cover the swing space costs because they recognize that there were serious problems in the process of selecting swing space. Rather than add money to build the school as designed, however, they want to redesign the building to meet the current budget. They seem to believe that they can redo in four months what was developed over the course of a year in conjunction with the school, the community, and a number of local and federal entities! (You can see an analysis of the design changes they have proposed here.)

We know that the community is outraged, and we should all be. The city should be held accountable for their mistakes. There are three specific things you can do now to help make sure that the city provides the funds necessary to build the school our students and future generations of students need:

1. Email or call the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor for Education and the members of the DC Council (particularly the member from your Ward, Education Committee Chairman David Grosso, and Chairman Phil Mendelson). Personal notes to each individual are the most powerful if you are able to do so. You can find contact information for each of those people here.
2. Share this information with friends and colleagues. What is happening at Murch affects every other school that needs to be renovated and it demonstrates major flaws in how our city government works.
3. Attend one of the Mayor’s Budget Forums and raise the issue. There are three forums scheduled:

Thursday, February 25, 6:30-8:30 pm at Roosevelt Senior High School (Sign up here to attend.)

Saturday, February 27, 1-3 pm, DC Department of Employment Services (Sign up here to attend.)

Monday, February 29, 6:30-8:30 pm, Greenleaf Recreation Center (Sign up here to attend.)

Over the past week, the HSA and SIT members have been hard at work reaching out to city leaders. We will continue that outreach and we will continue to update the community. Please check out the story that ran last night on ABC7 News. Thank you to the community for all the contacts you have already made on this. Together we can make sure that the city finds a way to build a facility that will serve Murch students properly for generations to come!

The School Improvement Team (SIT) has organized two opportunities next week for families and the community to get more information about the Murch renovation. Whether you want to understand more about the swing space, the design for the new school, or the current budget issues, we want to provide as much information as we currently know. The information sessions will be:

• Monday, February 22, 1:30 – 7:00 pm — During parent-teacher conferences, members of the SIT will be at Murch to answer questions, show drawings, and provide whatever information we can to parents. Look for the table near the school entrance. (May be inside or outside, depending on the weather forecast.)

 

• Wednesday, February 24, 7:00 pm — The SIT has asked the DCPS and DGS Project Managers to participate in a community meeting to answer questions about the modernization and swing space. The heads of DCPS and DGS, as well as city leaders and their staffs are also invited.

 

Over the last several years, the fight to renovate and expand Murch has hit numerous potential roadblocks. As a strong community, we have worked together to overcome them all. The project now faces another challenge, and we need help from our entire community to ensure that we can overcome this latest obstacle to getting the school building our children need and deserve.
DC Public Schools (DCPS) and the Department of General Services (DGS) informed the Murch School Improvement Team (SIT) that the project is underfunded — by $10 million — for the design that was presented to the community last July. The current budget is based on estimates by DGS that agency officials promised were sufficient for the necessary modernization. DCPS and DGS admit that their estimate was grossly incorrect, however, they are not proposing to increase the budget, but rather to change the building plans.

DCPS and DGS have proposed revisions to the design to scale it back and fit it to their incorrectly calculated budget. Their revisions would eliminate some of the core educational elements required by Murch, or any school. You can see drawings and an analysis of the proposed changes to the design on the Murch website.

It is important to understand that the changes DCPS and DGS are considering do not affect mere “bells and whistles.” Among other things, the proposed changes include:

• eliminating a cafeteria or a space large enough to hold the whole school for an assembly,
• severely shrinking the library/media center,
• replacing the play space for PreK and Kindergarten with surface parking,
• reducing the overall size of the playground, and
• moving the delivery and loading dock entrance to Reno Road.

The SIT and the HSA are working hard and pursuing several strategies to ensure that the city allocates the money required to complete the Murch modernization properly. With the help of the community, we believe we can achieve that goal. Time is of the essence, however, because we are now just four months away from the planned start of construction.

We are asking every Murch family to contact Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Deputy Mayor for Education Jennifer Niles to let them know that additional funding is critical to building a school that meets the most basic needs of students for generations to come. Please also send a copy of your correspondence to your representatives on the DC Council. Mayor Muriel Bowser has been a strong supporter of the Murch modernization in the past, and we need her help now. Contact information for the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, and the Council is available here.

A letter in your own words is most effective, however, if you would like sample text for a letter, you can find one here.

 

In February 2016, DCPS and DGS presented two proposed scenarios for altering the design. The primary impacts of proposed design changes would be:

Scenario #1

• Move the cafeteria to the current gym space, which reduces the cafeteria size from 3715 sq. ft. to 2722 sq. ft.
• Build the kitchen to the side of the current gym space, which would eliminate delivery access to the kitchen. (DCPS and DGS previously told the SIT that delivery access to the kitchen was a design requirement.)
• Move the library/media center to the early childhood wing, which reduces the library size from total of 4749 sq. ft. to 1558-3445 sq. ft. The actual size of the library/media center would depend on whether the design includes bathrooms and spaces for ELL, Special Education, or other small group work which were part of the basic requirements outlined by DCPS.
• Eliminate the separate dining and gathering space planned for PK and K.

 

Scenario #2

• Eliminate a separate cafeteria and create a mixed gym/auditorium/cafeteria of the same basic size as the previously planned gym/auditorium. The likely outcome may be that the space is not usable as a cafeteria and students would continue to eat in their classrooms.
• Reduce the size of the library/media center from 3715 sq. ft. to 3065 sq. ft.

 

Both scenarios:

• Increase the size of the building addition and decrease the size of the playground.
• Replace the separate PK/K play area and rooftop science garden (planned at the corner of Davenport and 36th Streets) with surface parking.
• Incorporate the PK/K play area into the already reduced main playground space.
• Move the delivery and loading dock access to Reno Road (from 36th Street).
• Widen the curb cut on Reno Road and increase vehicular traffic across a sidewalk that would be a primary route onto the playground for school drop off and pickup.
• Reduce parking planned for under the gym by 50% (to be supplemented with surface parking at corner of Davenport and 36th Streets). It was proposed that parking under the gym could be underground or possibly at grade, with the gym raised approximately 8 feet.