Opening Statement of Councilmember David Grosso, Chairperson

Committee Mark-Up:
Committee on Education
June 25, 2020

I am Councilmember David Grosso, chairperson of the Committee on Education. Today is Thursday,

June 25, 2020 and we are meeting remotely via Zoom due to the ongoing public health pandemic,
Covid-19.

We have one item on the agenda today: The Committee’s report and recommendations for the Fiscal
Year 2021 Local Budget Act of 2020 and the Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Support Act of 2020 for agencies
under the Committee’s purview.

In November, the Committee on Education held a public hearing on Academic Achievement in D.C.
public and public charter schools. During this hearing, the Committee heard from researchers just how
daunting the task before the city is when it comes to closing the academic gap.

But, within the data presented, there was reason for optimism. Many school leaders were seeing
amazing growth from all of the students they serve, and school leaders across both sectors shared
strategies for implementing behavioral and academic supports that are working to increase academic
gains for students categorized as at-risk.

This hearing in particular played a critical role in my annual budget letter to the Mayor, informing
especially my request for a 4% increase in the Universal Per Pupil Funding Formula dedicated to
behavioral and academic supports for students.

The letter was also informed in large part by the five years I have spent as Chairperson of the
Committee on Education, during which I worked collaboratively with agency heads to ensure they have
the resources needed to support the academic and social-emotional needs of all children in the District
of Columbia.

I was pleased, then, when Mayor Bowser announced a 4% UPSFF increase for schools on February 3rd.

However, on March 11 – the same day the World Health Organization declared the rapidly spreading
coronavirus outbreak a pandemic – Mayor Bowser declared both a state of emergency and a public
health emergency in the District in order to stem community spread of COVID-19. Given significant risk
to the city, the Mayor issued, and ultimately extended, a stay-at-home order.

In the process, the Mayor’s budget submission was delayed until May 18 and the growing economic
impacts of the pandemic impacted the Mayor’s proposed budget, reducing the expected UPSFF
increase from 4% to 3%.
While this was not what I had initially hoped for, the Committee supports this move given the economic
impact of the ongoing public health emergency.

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Under the public health emergency circumstances adopted by Council – including the allotment of only
12 hours of hearings to each Committee – the Committee on Education held three virtual hearings:
o One for invited public witnesses representing teachers, students, researchers, Charter
LEAs, and each Ward Education Council;
o One for the Office of the State Superintendent of Education; and
o A combined hearing for the Deputy Mayor for Education and the District of Columbia
Public Schools.
The Committee has also received public testimony by email and Google Voice throughout May and
June.

Taking into account both public testimony and conversations with other Councilmembers, the
Committee on Education proposed several significant changes that I will summarize now.

After reviewing the numbers for each Local Education Agency, the Committee noticed that enrollment
projections included the middle school at Achievement Prep, which is now scheduled to close. Of the
$5,788,028 associated with the school closure, the Committee on Education recommends a transfer of
$2,552,246 to DCPS to account for an enrollment adjustment per the Errata Letter sent by the Mayor.

Of the remaining funds, the Committee recommends:

o directing to OSSE $900,000 to enhance the early literacy intervention grant program
to ensure students are reading on grade level by third grade; $250,000 to develop and
maintain a data visualization platform that connects with the Learn 24 data platform
out of the Office of Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes; $150,692 for
grants to support positive school climate and trauma informed emotional services; and
$1,356,000 for childcare subsidies.
o In addition, the Committee recommends directing $244,000 to the Committee on Gov
Ops to pay for the costs of implementing the Strengthening Reproductive Health
Protections Amendment Act of 2019; and finally
o within the Committee on Education, covering all costs associated with implementing a
recommended School Financial Expenditure Transparency Budget Support Act
Subtitle.

Understanding that the upcoming school year will look significantly different than previous years, the
Committee believes there will be an accompanying increase in calls and outreach to the Office of the
Ombudsman for Public Education and the Office of the Student Advocate. The Committee therefore
recommends decreasing Non-Personnel Services within the State Board of Education by $50,000 and
transferring $25,000 each to the Ombudsman and the Student Advocate for translation services to
ensure that language access is not a barrier for families seeking support.

In addition, the Committee accepts the following transfers:

o $300,000 from the Committee on Facilities and Procurement to increase the at-risk
weight in the UPSFF;

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 o $1M from the Committee on Business and Economic Development for the Go-Go
Archives in the DC Public Libraries; and
o six separate transfers from the Committee on Transportation and the Environment,
including:
§ $844,000 in recurring funds to fully fund breakfast reimbursements under the
Healthy Students Amendment Act of 2018;
§ $283,000 in one-time funds to reinstate funding for environmental literacy
grants that was cut in FY21;
§ $440,000 in one-time funds to support wellness grant programming in FY21,
including school gardens, nutrition education, and physical education;
§ $480,000 in recurring funds to increase the annual amount of sales tax revenue
dedicated to the Healthy Schools Fund;
§ $844,400 in one-time funds to restore a cut to Healthy Tots, in support of
healthy meals for childcare facilities; and
§ $100,000 in one-time funds to the State Board of Education for education
research projects.
Regarding the Capital Budget, two new education facilities were inserted into the Capital Improvement
Plan (CIP). The first, a new Foxhall Elementary School, is slated for planning in FY23 and construction in
both FY24 and 25 for a total of $56.3 million. The second, Bard High School Early College, is currently
occupying the former Davis facility and is slated to receive planning and construction of a new facility
between FY21 and FY23 for a total of $80.2 million.

Committee analysis on Ward 3 enrollment and capacity finds that a new facility is needed to alleviate
overcrowding at the elementary level. Importantly, the overcrowding cannot be attributed to out-of-
boundary students entirely: examining SY18-19 data, the Committee found that while Ward 3 had the
second lowest number of out-of-boundary students at 1,710, it also had the lowest proportion of out-of-
boundary students at 25%. Wards 1 and 2 have the highest out of boundary proportions at 61% and
58%, respectively.

Further, within Ward 3, Wilson High School accounted for 40% of the out-of-boundary student
population and Wilson and Deal together comprised 63% of the out-of-boundary student population in
the ward. Given this, investment in elementary school facilities east of the river alone is unlikely to
significantly reduce the number of out-of-boundary students in Ward 3.

In addition, inclusion of Bard and Foxhall alike in the FY21-26 CIP comports with the PACE Act, which
requires that DCPS consider new education program space requirements when determining the
prioritization and inclusion of capital projects. Overcrowding in Ward 3 requires new education program
space. While the situation for Bard is somewhat different, the program at Bard is relatively new,
popular, and occupies a building that was previously used as valuable swing space. Due to new
education program space requirements, the students at Bard are deserving of a new facility akin to
other high school facilities. The Committee supports both projects and encourages DCPS to continue to
alleviate overcrowding in Ward 3 with demountable structures as needed.

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The Committee supports the CIP with minor changes, including:
o acceleration of funding for general improvements in D.C. Public Libraries in FY21 by
$1M;
o the provision of a planning year for the Chevy Chase Library by accelerating $1.1M from
FY24 to FY23;
o a reduction of $365,000 in FY20 moved to FY21 for elementary school hydration
stations; and
o a $1M transfer from the Committee on Youth and Recreation Affairs to provide a public
entrance to the Ballou High School Pool.
Regarding the FY21 Budget Support Act, the Committee recommends adoption of the subtitles
submitted by the Mayor and referred to the Committee on Education with minor edits as suggested by
the Council Office of the General Counsel.

I would, however, like to offer one clarification regarding the “Education Facility Colocation
Amendment Act of 2020.”

The Committee heard from a number of witnesses who testified that, before moving forward with this
subtitle, the Committee on Education should hold a full hearing. However, there appeared to be a
misunderstanding of this subtitle as the Mayor currently has authority to co-locate a charter school with
a DCPS-operated school.

This provision’s sole purpose is to ensure that, in the event of co-location, any funding generated is
used for additional programing, supplemental staff, and special initiatives at the DCPS host school as
opposed to going directly into the general fund.

In addition to those subtitles submitted by the Mayor, the Committee also recommends adoption of
two additional subtitles submitted by the Committee on Education.

The first of these is which is the “School Expenditure Transparency Amendment Act of 2020.”

On April 2, 2019, I introduced, alongside all of my Council colleagues, B23-0239, “School Based
Budgeting and Transparency Amendment Act of 2019.” On October 8, this bill passed unanimously
during a Committee on Education meeting, and both the Committee report and Committee print for
the bill were filed with the Secretary’s office.

However, the bill – having been jointly referred to the Committee on Education and the Committee of
the Whole – awaits a markup in the COW.

As such, the Committee recommends adoption of this subtitle as it is a modified version of that bill,
working with the Executive, to build upon the financial transparency work of OSSE, DME, DCPS, and
the Public Charter School Board. The Committee has also allocated funding to pay for all provisions of
this subtitle.

The second recommended additional subtitle, the “DCPS Authority for School Security Amendment
Act of 2020,” was sparked by recent highly publicized instances of police murders of unarmed Black
Americans.

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In the midst of widespread demonstrations for racial justice in the District of Columbia and across the
nation, the Council began receiving significant calls for divestment from the police, reimagining the role
of police officers, and removing police from schools.

The Committee on Education began re-examining current law requiring MPD to coordinate and
authorize security for DCPS schools and – after discussions with principals, teachers, and students –
began seriously considering this issue.

During the public hearing on the FY21 budget for DCPS, it was noted that DCPS has one counselor for
every 408 students, one psychologist for every 402 students, and one DCPS-hired social worker for
every 217 students – but one security officer or special police officer for every 147 students.

It is the belief of the Committee on Education that DCPS UPSFF funds are better utilized on educating
our students and supporting their behavioral health. This is not a decision that the Committee takes
lightly, but it is in line with the significant work the Committee has undertaken over the past five years
to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline and its disproportionate impact on Black students.

The Committee does not believe that this subtitle will have a negative impact on the safety of students;
on the contrary, the subtitle would require DCPS – whose primary mission is the educational and social-
emotional development of our students – to take the lead on ensuring schools remain a safe and secure
place and allows for those with the closest relationships to students to ensure their safety.

It should also be noted that the Committee on Education is not the only entity considering this type of
move: over the past several weeks, Minneapolis, Denver, and Portland all recently voted to remove the
police department from the process of organizing security for schools.

My belief is that the Council will hear the demands of the thousands of advocates who have called,
emailed, marched, tweeted, and contacted our offices by making this small first step.

It should be noted, that I, along with four other Council colleagues - two who are members of the
Committee on Education, filed a resolution disapproving the current school security contract issued by
MPD.

The Committee, through the General Counsel’s Office, sent a letter last week asking for clarity around
the impacts of this BSA subtitle and lowering the contracting amount and reinvesting that in schools.
We did not get a response until late last night.

I want to be clear about that response – the issue is not who is the contracting authority. The issue is my
suggestion that we cut $7 million from funding this contract in this year only and reinvest that in Social-
Emotional Supports for students.

I believe this is the best approach, given we know social distancing requirements for next school year
will require LESS people and, according to WTU’s survey, more than half of the parents surveyed said
they are not certain they’ll send their students back.
I would ask my colleagues to support this measure. With that, I would like to open the floor for any
discussion.
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