The Washington Business Journal
Starting, stopping on vacant schools
by Johnathan O'Connell
On Wednesday and Thursday nights, developers will present their ideas for the most sought after of the vacant schools Mayor Adrian Fenty is looking to leverage for economic development, Hine Jr. High School and Stevens Elementary. The city announced last night that it had again cut the list of competitors for Hine, this time down to four, and there are three left on the island battling for Stevens. Those just eliminated from Hine contention are Quandrangle Development and Equity Residential.
Two other schools the mayor is looking to move, however, were lassoed by the D.C. Council last week. In budget support legislation, the Council handed Bernie Backus Middle School to the University of the District of Columbia, saying in the bill that UDC "shall have exclusive use of the closed Bertie Backus Middle School building and site located at 5171 South Dakota Avenue, N.E., in Ward 5 to expand upon its collegiate mission.” The Council required that space in Grimke Elementary, just off U Street, be reserved for the African American Civil War Museum.
I still don't know whether the Council action will hold up -- the deputy mayor's office has not ended those solicitations. But if it does, I can't imagine anyone is more frustrated than the folks at Capitol City Public Charter School, who bid on both. Capitol City has become highly popular in Columbia Heights but has been stymied in multiple efforts at vacant schools. “We were surprised to see those items in the council legislation," Anne Herr, executive director of Capitol City, told me last week. "I guess those were put in during the first reading of the Budget Support Act and that was really the first we had heard that that was even an issue.”
I'm not so sure Herr would have gotten a school anyhow, given the slim percentage of vacant schools that Team Fenty seems to send to charters. But I can understand her frustration at having the rules changed midway. “It’s surprising and frustrating that there could be two processes happening at the same time," she said. " I’m not sure that’s good city governance.