On February 19, HSA Co-Presidents Martha McIntosh and Maggie Gumbinner testified before the DC Council’s Education Committee to highlight the overwhelming need for modernizing Murch. Their testimony also addressed concerns with the process used to schedule schools for modernization.
On February 24, DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson testified before the Education Committee and also addressed the school modernization process, admitting that the process was extremely flawed. The Chancellor proposed setting up a task force to develop transparent and logical criteria for scheduling schools. Top criteria, she stated, should be utilization (a comparison of the school’s enrollment to its capacity) and building condition. The number of at-risk students enrolled at the school might also be a factor.
In case you missed it, the February 18 issue of The Northwest Current covered Murch’s recent meeting with Deputy Mayor for Education Jennifer Niles. At that meeting, Deputy Mayor Niles informed the community that Mayor Muriel Bowser is committed to including adequate funding to complete the Murch modernization in her proposed budget, which is scheduled for release on April 2.