This is my last post for D.C. Schools Insider. As some of you already know, I’ve accepted an assignment to help out with The Post’s presidential campaign coverage.

The schools beat was more than an interesting job; it was a privilege. That’s what made the decision to leave after four years so difficult. People sometimes ask me whether Michelle Rhee’s departure made the story less compelling. My view is that while the post-Rhee days may lack the drama 2007-10, there remains no more important story in the District than the fate of public education.

I see it as a book with the chapters barely half-written. Charter schools continue their growth, but can they lift their quality in a way that dramatically differentiates them from traditional public schools? DCPS, with many more buildings than it needs for its 46,000 students, faces another downsizing. Will it emerge smaller and more robust, or just smaller, leading to a public school enrollment that is majority charter? As the Gray Administration implodes in scandal, can Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson continue to drive the ambitious agenda she described in her five-year plan? Will D.C. Inspector General Charles Willoughby shine any meaningful light on what happened to D.C. test scores in the Rhee era?

DCPS teachers are now among the best paid and most closely evaluated in the country. But does it mean that the system is keeping its best instructors? What do students have to show for all the new rigor and resources? Can educators and policymakers find a way to place the best teachers in front of the students who need them the most? What difference will the much touted Common Core Standards actually make? Will mayoral control of schools, which reached the five-year mark last month, ever get a clear-eyed and fair evaluation?

I’d like to thank everyone — students, teachers, parents, administrators and colleagues at the paper--who helped me. I know I missed the mark on some stories, but I would have missed a lot more without your contributions. I hope you’ll school my replacement the way you schooled me.

The usage is a little rocky but morbidly appropriate. The official announcement of the July 13 D.C. Council public education roundtable is headlined: “What Priorities Should the Council Address During the Remains of Council Period 19.”

Those who want to pay their respects, or testify, should contact Erika Wadlington at 202-724-8124, by fax at 202-724-6664 or e-mail at ewadlington@dccouncil.us. The hearing starts at 1 p.m. in room 412 at the Wilson Building.

New Chairman Phil Mendelson also wants to reopen discussion of truancy in D.C. schools. The committees of the Whole and the Judiciary will hold a joint hearing at 10 a.m. July 12 in room 120. To testify, call Renee Johnson at 202-724-8092, fax to 202-724-6664 or e-mail at rjohnson@dccouncil.us.

UPDATED: 10 a.m., Friday

DCPS spokeswoman Melissa Salmanowitz said the parent of a diabetic third grader at Davis Elementary was barred from the school “because of a physical altercation,” not a verbal dispute with the principal. After a meeting with DCPS officials, Salmanowitz said, the parent was told she could return to Davis to administer her daughter’s medication.

Second, Salmanowitz said, the policy in question--mandating that only nurses administer diabetes medication--originated not with DCPS but the Department of Health and applies to public and public charter schools. DOH oversees the training of school personnel who administer medication.

She indicated, however, that the policy relative to diabetes is likely to be reviewed.

“We look forward to working with DOH to help update and modernize their policies to reflect what is needed to ensure all students are under the best care possible while at school,” Salmanowitz said in an e-mail.

ORIGINAL POST

As it’s described in a complaint under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education, the mother of a diabetic third grader at Davis Elementary in Southeast D.C. had two options on days when the school nurse wasn’t available. One was to come to school with her child to monitor her blood glucose level, administering insulin or other medication if necessary.

Or, she could keep her at home.

It gets worse, according to University Legal Services (ULS) and the American Diabetes Association, which filed the complaint with the department’s Office for Civil Rights on behalf of the family earlier this year. When the mother — whose name is redacted from the complaint — exchanged heated words with Davis principal Maisha Riddlesprigger over the situation last September, Riddlesprigger issued a “barring notice” that prohibited her from entering the building.

In other words, DCPS elected to ban from Davis the essential caregiver for her daughter in the nurse’s absence. The girl has since transferred to Nalle Elementary.

DCPS has not responded to a request for a comment on the complaint and the investigation.

DCPS responded to Thursday’s post on a civil rights complaint filed by the mother of a third grader with diabetes. Spokeswoman Melissa Salmanowitz challenged a couple of key points:

First, she said the parent was barred from Davis Elementary “because of a physical altercation,” not a verbal dispute with the principal. After a meeting with DCPS officials, Salmanowitz said, the parent was told she could return to Davis to administer her daughter’s medication.

Second, Salmanowitz said, the policy in question--mandating that only nurses administer diabetes medication--originated not with DCPS but the Department of Health and applies to public and public charter schools. DOH oversees the training of school personnel who administer medication.

She indicated, however, that the policy relative to diabetes is likely to be reviewed.

“We look forward to working with DOH to help update and modernize their policies to reflect what is needed to ensure all students are under the best care possible while at school,” Salmanowitz said in an e-mail.

While I was gone, a significant announcement from the D.C. Charter School Board that slipped through without much notice. The board is proposing a streamlined approval process that would allow experienced charter operators with good track records in other cities to open their doors in the District a full year ahead of the current timetable.

(Astrid Riecken - FOR THE WASHINGTON POST)

The new guidelines, unveiled at the board’s June 18 meeting, would allow seasoned operators to apply by Oct. 1, gain approval by December and open in August 2013. Under current rules, prospective school operators are screened in the first quarter of the year and approved in the spring but take more than a year to actually begin classes. Eligible but inexperienced charter applicants would remain on roughly that timetable.