Town Hall Between GW Students, Administrators, and Foggy Bottom Neighbors Discusses Off Campus Issues

By Michael Scarborough

Five ANC (Advisory Neighborhood Commission) Commissioners, roughly twenty local residents, and a handful of students gathered Tuesday night at The School Without Walls to discuss university-neighborhood relations and the potential of UPD having some jurisdiction at off-campus student residences.

The implementation of the controversial proposal, which would allow University Police Department officers to respond to off-campus disturbances and issue citations, has been postponed until at least January 2014, according to recent statements by Dean of Student Affairs Peter Konwerski.

The plan has received criticism from students who see the expansion of UPD power as overbearing and unnecessary, but GW officials maintain that friendly relations with neighbors are a top priority.

 Within minutes of starting the meeting, local ANC Commissioner Jackson Carnes alleged that Greek life presidents had received an email from GWU Greek life director Christina Witkowicki “strongly advising” them to stay away from the meeting.

 Carnes said he was not comfortable revealing the initial source which forwarded him the email, and announced to the gathering that he had indeed confirmed from “multiple sources” that GW Greek life presidents had received the email.

Carnes said in Witkowicki’s email no reasoning was given as to why members of Greek life were discouraged from attending.

 GW Associate Dean of Students Tim Miller told the gathering he was not aware of such an email.

Neighbors said they were disappointed Greek Life leaders did not attend because they wanted to have a constructive dialogue with them.

Witokowicki could not be reached for comment.

 During the meeting, ANC commissioners and attendees peppered Miller and Assistant Vice President of Government and Community Relations Renee McPhatter with questions regarding the new UPD guidelines and the relationship between the University and Foggy Bottom residents.

 Miller reported to the meeting that steps would be taken to implement a community awareness orientation program similar to the alcohol and sexual assault orientations which already exist. Students would have to complete an online course with content related to DC laws and neighborly conduct. 

When WRGW asked Miller about enforcing the completion of the course, he mentioned that registration holds were possibly on the table.

 McPhatter responded to questions about the range of UPD’s jurisdiction under the new policy proposals but did not have many definitive answers. She promised that when the policy is crafted, the specifics would be ironed out.

 Numerous Foggy Bottom residents voiced their concerns about persistent late-night noise, rowdy behavior, and cases of public urination. They allege that GW students are to blame for most of these disturbances.  One resident held up a poster board with pictures of trash strewn about local streets, alleging that GW students, both Greek and non-Greek, were to blame.

 Student Association president Julia Susuni assured residents that the GW student body would work to improve their reputation.

“I am proud to represent such a great group of students and I assure you that we will be better neighbors,” Susuni told the group.

Community Rises Up Against Proposed School Closures

by John Perrino

The community has shown its support for Francis-Stevens Education Campus and Garrison Elementary School with signs like the one above.  

WASHINGTON  – A proposal by DC Public Schools to close 20 schools across the district is meeting the opposition of parents and community members from two of the schools set to close in Ward 2. 

Organizers are fighting the proposed closings of Francis-Stevens Education Campus and Garrison Elementary School with signs, petitions, letters, and meetings to advocate for the schools to remain open.

Parents cite a growing need for Francis-Stevens that houses grades kindergarten through eighth grade and was forced to turn away a classroom of about 40 students in the early childhood program last year after DCPS would not staff the room.

“There’s a baby boom in Ward 2,” said local Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner-elect Jackson Carnes. Children under the age of five account for 43 percent of all children who live in Ward 2, Carnes added. 

The school also houses a unique low vision special education program for over a dozen visually impaired students. This would be the third time in three years the children in the program have had to move schools said parent Vincent Kargatis, a parent of two children in the program.

“They're simply shuffled as a bureaucratic peg to a school performing, on average, a full 14 percentage points lower than Francis-Stevens in the DC-CAS - without any consultation of the expert educators involved in the program,” he said.

The proposal would consolidate Garrison Elementary into Seaton Elementary, also in Ward 2, according to DCPS.

Francis-Stevens would consolidate lower grades into Marie Reed Elementary School, in Ward 1, and higher grades into Hardy Middle School, in Ward 2, according to DCPS.

“It would be like breaking up a family,” said Francis-Stevens PTA treasurer Erin Michener.

Parents choose the downtown school in order to be close to their children, allowing them to be an “active participant in (their) child’s education,” said Michener.

The schools proposed for the consolidation of Francis-Stevens are not accessible by public transportation and are both over a mile away from Francis-Stevens.

DC State Board of Education President, Theodore Trabue, says the consolidation is, at its most basic level, a matter of economics. Closing under-enrolled schools will help reduce overhead helping to “put money back in the classroom,” he said.

The consolidation will open up more money to be spent per student and on teachers, staff, supplies, and modernized schools said Trabue.

Right now, both schools are only using about 60 percent of the building space and enroll about 225 students in each of the schools, according to DCPS.

“The Chancellor really is basing her decision solely… around enrollment and a modernized building,” said Michener. 

It is important to “understand the bigger picture,” she said, adding that modernization and enrollment should not be the only reason to close a school that is performing well.

Test scores at Francis-Stevens are in the top 30 percent of D.C. Public Schools, according to an ANC Resolution on the matter of the proposed closure.

Scores at Garrison Elementary are higher than those of Seaton Elementary in both reading and math, according to DCPS.

Making a Stand

Parents have come together in support of both schools along with community members and local representatives from Ward 2.

A petition on Change.org calling for D.C. officials to keep Francis-Stevens open has received the signatures of over 600 people as of December 12th. Another for Garrison Elementary has collected well over 500 signatures.

“The one good thing that has come out of this is that it has brought us even closer together through this process…there is a lot of parent involvement,” said Francis-Stevens parent Michener.

The Francis-Stevens PTA has held family dinners and school meetings to discuss the proposed closure of the school. Parents have also attended city council hearings and community dialogue sessions hosted by DCPS on the school closings.

About 150 people were in attendance for one PTA event at Francis-Stevens where elected officials, community members, parents, kids and vision-impaired activists gathered to speak out against the proposed closing of their school, according to those in attendance.

The Francis-Stevens PTA was set to meet with Kaya Henderson, Chancellor of DCPS, again last Wednesday after requesting a meeting to express their concerns to the Chancellor.

For Garrison Elementary, community involvement has been tremendous with signs reading “We Love Garrison” and “Save our School” popping up around the neighborhood.

Numerous community associations, neighborhood churches, and local businesses have come forward in opposition of the proposal to close Garrison Elementary School, according to a press release by the Garrison Elementary PTA.

"The bottom line is that we have to make the right decisions for our children," said Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans at a community meeting hosted by DCPS. “Both of these schools have waiting lists for their pre-school programs, and we need to listen to what that means."