D.C. Schools Promise to Cut Space

The D.C. Board of Education last night agreed to eliminate 1 million square feet of excess space by the summer of 2007 and 2 million more by the summer of 2008 in a plan that will consolidate and close schools.

With the departure of nearly 10,000 students in the past five years, the school board has been under pressure from the D.C. Council and Congress to align the schools' space with enrollment. One independent study asserted that the schools have about 6 million square feet of excess space, but school system officials say the amount is about half that.

The board previously had supported a space-reduction plan in concept, directing Superintendent Clifford B. Janey to release in the spring a list of schools to be consolidated and closed.

But in passing a three-page resolution, board members for the first time specified the amount of space to be reduced. They said they wanted to demonstrate fiscal responsibility as the council prepares to consider a measure Tuesday that would provide more than $1.5 billion to modernize schools.

Board members said the space-reduction plan is aimed at improving lackluster student achievement. Money saved by consolidating and closing schools, they said, will be redirected to the classroom. Board members have said they would prefer not to sell any of the facilities.

"This will allow us to increase how much money per pupil goes into a school building," school board member Victor A. Reinoso (District 2) said after the meeting. "This will allow individual schools to hire more staff and invest in richer programs."

Yesterday's meeting was delayed by nearly 2 1/2 hours as board members worked out details of the resolution in a closed session.

The resolution requires that 1 million square feet of space be eliminated by July 1, 2007, and that the remaining 2 million be shed by July 1, 2008. Board members said some schools could be consolidated or closed as early as this year.

The freed-up space, board members said, could be leased to libraries, recreation centers, health care programs and public charter schools.

"I am very pleased they committed themselves to the resolution," council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), who chairs the Education Committee, said in an interview. "This was a smart and important step to take."

The board also agreed to send a letter to the council opposing the establishment of an independent entity to manage the proposed school modernization program, which would allocate an additional $200 million a year indefinitely to rebuild crumbling schools.

The measure calls only for an advisory committee, appointed by the board and council, to oversee the project.

But some council members have expressed interest in the independent entity to avoid a repeat of cost overruns and mismanagement that plagued previous school construction programs.

School board member Tommy Wells (District 3) was the sole opponent to the motion.

"I support having an independent authority," Wells told board members.

The board "hired the superintendent to reverse the trend of plummeting test scores," he said. But Janey "will become the largest developer in the District." Managing the projects "will divert the energy, resources and time of our superintendent."

But Peggy Cooper Cafritz, the board president, pointed out that an independent entity -- the Army Corps of Engineers -- was largely responsible for the cost overruns in the previous construction program.

As a result of the Corps of Engineers' management, she said, "the square-foot price was driven up to $286. In our first management project, the price was brought down to $191."