Fenty, Rhee May Close 24 Schools, Reduce Staff

"The intent is to rightsize the facilities inventory to match enrollment through a single, unified consolidation plan instead of a multi-year approach," Fenty wrote. "The mayor and chancellor are committed to rightsizing the DCPS as soon as possible."

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The closures could save the school system an estimated $23.7 million in costs associated with utilities, operational maintenance and staff, including principals, custodians and clerical employees, according to the mayor's letter.

For months, rumors about school closures have left parents and teachers nervous and uncertain about where to enroll their children next year. Many private and charter schools have started open houses and parent information nights to recruit students. Meanwhile, parents who are considering a school outside their neighborhood are researching their options now in anticipation of the January deadline for out-of-boundary applications.

Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), a former school board member, said he supported Rhee and Fenty's effort to get the funding as soon as possible and their plans to eliminate unused space. But he said he wants to know the reasons behind the selections for closure.

"It's important that the community sees a rational plan that invests in and maintains our best assets," Wells said.

Some school leaders say Rhee has told them in meetings that their buildings would close.

Janet Myers, president of the PTA at West Elementary, said Rhee told her in a meeting this month with the school principal and council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) that students from nearby Truesdell Elementary would join West students next year, while Truesdell is being modernized. Once that work is done, all of the students will move into Truesdell, and West will close, Myers said Rhee told her.

Neither Truesdell nor West, however, is on the list prepared by Deputy Mayor Victor Reinoso's office.

"Our parents are getting very leery, because they want to have a say in what the education plan is going to be," said Myers, whose daughter, Dana, is a fifth-grader. "We just need to know something."

The mayor wrote that closing schools is one piece of the education overhaul he and Rhee will undertake in their first year running the school system.

The system "will prepare to scale back its facilities inventory, implement personnel reforms, reward high-performing employees and retain a faculty that matches the needs of students," the mayor wrote.

If the council gives Rhee enhanced authority to fire central office employees, the school system would save $5 million from that central office restructuring, the mayor wrote.

As for teaching staff, the mayor wrote that the system would save an estimated $2.9 million by cutting teachers, aides and assistant principals by next summer. The goal is to make sure that the teaching staff matches the anticipated enrollment, the mayor wrote.

Staff writer David Nakamura contributed to this report.