Ellington arts school staying put for now, Rhee says
By Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 22, 2010; B01
Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, moving Thursday to quell a storm of protest, said that the District has no immediate plans to move the Duke Ellington School of the Arts out of Georgetown but that it hopes to eventually build a new facility to replace the school's century-old home.
"Ellington will stay in Georgetown for the foreseeable future," said Rhee, who is scheduled to meet with members of the school's governing board Friday.
Rhee has been inundated with calls and e-mails from the school community since The Washington Post reported Sunday that the District had studied the cost of moving Ellington to the former Logan Elementary School building on G Street NE, near Union Station.
News of the possible relocation of Ellington, which draws its 85 percent African American enrollment from across the city for renowned music, dance, visual arts and theater programs, touched nerves still raw from the recent debate over Hardy Middle School, just two blocks to the north. Rhee triggered criticism last month when she announced the future replacement of Hardy Principal Patrick Pope, who oversees an art and music program that also draws a primarily African American student body. Looking to market the school more effectively to neighborhood families, Rhee announced that the principal of Georgetown's Hyde-Addison Elementary will run both schools next year. Many Hardy parents accused Rhee of trying to squeeze black students out of the newly remodeled Hardy, which she denied.
Ellington school leaders said word of the relocation study took them by surprise. Michaele C. Christian, president of the school's governing board, told Rhee in a letter Wednesday that she was "appalled" by the possible move, which had been considered without consulting the school community. She called the Logan site "woefully inadequate" and said the move "would eviscerate one of the most outstanding educational institutions in the District."
"Once again," Christian wrote, "we find ourselves distracted from the task at hand, creating the highest quality education that we can provide to our students, by politics and innuendo."
Rory Pullens, the head of Ellington, told parents in an e-mail Wednesday that any attempt to relocate the school will be fought. "We, as an institution, will not idly stand by while such plans are taking place and not have our voices heard!"
After speaking with Rhee on Thursday, however, Christian's tone moderated. "My understanding is there have been preliminary discussions about Ellington's needs, which are significant. And they were exploring various options for addressing those facilities' needs. I look forward to an opportunity sit down with the chancellor to address any residual concerns to put this all to rest."
Rhee declined to comment on The Post's report, based on a source knowledgeable with the internal discussions, that school construction czar Allen Y. Lew had been asked to develop a scenario for moving Ellington to Logan. She also declined to respond to D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who said in the same article that he supported the idea of moving Ellington to a more central location and opening a traditional neighborhood high school at the Georgetown site.
Rhee said the long-term solution for Ellington remains a new building, something the District can't afford right now. Anacostia, Wilson, Woodson and Eastern high schools are all undergoing complete reconstructions or major renovations over the next two years.
School officials say the cost of a new building, complete with a theater, dance and recording studios and numerous other arts-related needs, would be between $75 million and $85 million.
"I'm very clear that what the school needs is a great state-of-the-art facility," Rhee said. "If and when it becomes possible to do that funding-wise, we will fully engage with the Ellington community to make sure that where it's done and how it's done pleases the vast majority."
Addressing the controversy in an interview Thursday, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) was somewhat more open-ended than Rhee in his comments. He said it was "too early" to say whether -- or how long -- Ellington would stay in Georgetown. Asked if he could guarantee parents that the school, which is scheduled to be renovated in 2012, would remain in Georgetown beyond that year, Fenty said: "No, in fact, the opposite. We're exploring all options for all of our schools."
But Rhee said there was no daylight between herself and the mayor on the issue. "We're always looking for the best options for all of our facilities."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/21/AR2010012104778.html
From The Washington Post web site - D.C. Schools Insider blog by Bill Turque, dated January 21, 2010:
Fenty: Ellington not going anywhere, yet
I caught up with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty this morning and asked him to address the uproar over discussions about the possible relocation of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.The takeaway seemed to be that nothing is imminent, but that the condition of Ellington's 1898-vintage building raises questions about the school's long-term future in Georgetown.
Here is the entire conversation, which took place after a mid-morning groundbreaking for a new playground at the Arboretum Recreation Center in Northeast:
BT: The Duke Ellington community is pretty upset by what they've read recently.Can you shed any light at all on what the District's intentions are long term?
AF: I can't. I can't really shed any light, any more light, than what you've written in your articles, which I've been briefed on.
BT: Do you anticipate Ellington moving any time in the foreseeable future?
AF: I would just say it's too early to know what the entire future of all of our high school projects are. Our general commitment is that all of our high schools are going to get complete renovations and modernizations and Duke Ellington is long overdue.
BT: Duke Ellington is scheduled for renovations in 2012. But can you guarantee that Ellington will remain in Georgetown [after renovations]?
AF: No, in fact, the opposite We're exploring all options for all of our schools.
BT: What's wrong with it where it is?
AF:There's nothing wrong with the location. The building is completely run down and needs an overhaul. I think we're at stages now like we are with a lot of our high schools, looking at what is the best way to get a fantastic building for the Ellington students as quickly as humanly possible.
BT: Do foresee them at Logan temporarily?
AF: Again, I can't even commit to that. It's that early. We've got about four high schools, maybe more, that have broken broken ground. It's only those high schools we can discuss. The other ones, I have to defer to my facilities and programmatic experts who are kind of working everything out. Once they have something more concrete they'll present it to me, and if it makes sense then we'll present it to the greater community.
BT: Would you like to, like Councilman Evans has expressed, see a traditional, comprehensive high school in Ward Two around that location?
AF: One of things we want to do as we start to turn over the population, we've just gotten to the point where the population of the school system is growing, is to find ways to create more schools, that's elementary schools, middle schools and high schools.
BT: So you can see something like what the councilman is talking about?
AF: I can see in the future of the school system, and we've talked about this for the last three years, you know we had to make the consolidations early on. We just had too many schools close to each other, the resources were bring spread too thin. So going forward what we really hope is that as the population of the school system continues to grow, we'll do things like we've done at Oyster-Adams and other places where we have double campuses, open new elementary schools, new middle schools and yes even open new high schools. We're not at that point yet but it's the right goal for the city and I support it.
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http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcschools/2010/01/_btthe_duke_ellington_communit.html
From The Washington Post web site - D.C. Schools Insider blog by Bill Turque, dated January 20, 2010:
Ellington principal: "We will not stand idly by"
Duke Ellington head of school Rory L. Pullens hasn't returned my e-mails or phone messages to discuss the possible relocation of the Georgetown arts school, described Sunday in The Post. But he and members of the school's governing board, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts Project (DESAP), which met Tuesday, have plenty to say to the Fenty Administration, the D.C. Council and Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee.
Here's what Pullens sent home to parents Wednesday:
"I am sure that many of you are well aware of the newspaper article that ran in last Sunday's Washington Post about the possible relocation of Duke Ellington. We, as an institution, will not idly stand by while such plans are taking place and not have our voices be heard! I met with our governing DESAP Board on Jan. 19, and among the many strategies we are employing, is the attached letter to Mayor Fenty, Chancellor Rhee, City Council, and others. This presents our official response and expectations of resolution. I will keep you posted on future developments in this most critical matter. Thank you for all your support today, and that support which may be needed in the future."
And here's the letter, signed by DESAP board president Michaele Christian:
"Dear Ms. Rhee:
I write on behalf of the Board of Directors of Duke Ellington School of the Arts Project, as well as the entire school community, to tell you that we were appalled by recent reports of a well developed proposal to move Ellington to a new location from its home at 3500 R Street, NW. Such a move, particularly to a facility as woefully inadequate as the suggested new site of Logan School, would eviscerate one of the most outstanding educational institutions in the District. It is shocking to us that the board of the school was not deeply engaged in even preliminary discussions, much less a fully developed plan, of such consequence to the future of the school, its students, and the entire Ellington community. Once again, we find ourselves distracted from the task at hand, creating the highest quality education that we can provide to our students, by politics and innuendo. We urge you and other District officials to recognize that Ellington's contribution to the education of a generation of talented students, as well as its tremendous success, in the face of continuing obstacles, in managing a dual curriculum of college preparatory academics and pre-professional arts instruction for its current student population of nearly 500, and to work with us, not against us, to create a world-class program.
Those who believe that Ellington can simply be moved to any other building do not understand the needs of a comprehensive arts high school. In addition to a college preparatory academic program, Ellington offers a wide variety of performing and visual arts programs that have special space needs. Since its inception, Ellington has worked within the current building structure to reach a point where, although it is certainly not perfect, does provide many of the facilities Ellington requires. Indeed, in the last five years, Ellington - together with its partners the Kennedy Center, The George Washington University, and many individual and corporate donors - has donated approximately $700,000 in funds and in-kind contributions to create such venues as a recording studio, a television studio, a professionally equipped theater, and a gallery to accommodate visual art works and the only high school museum studies program in the country. DCPS has also invested in Ellington, as a performing arts high school, by spending substantial sums to renovate high quality dance studios and other performance venues. Such facilities cannot be found in any other high school in the city.
If Ellington were to relocate, it should only be to a building that truly addresses the requirements of a school with Ellington's unique mission. These requirements would include:
-A safe location in which the school can safely operate a program that starts early and regularly involves student practice and rehearsals into the late night hours and weekends;
-A fully equipped performing arts theatre (not simply a school auditorium) with space for both rehearsal and technical design and production of major theatrical events, along with a black box theatre space and music recital hall;
-Several high quality dance studios;
-Several visual arts studios for both 2D and 3D art, graphic design and animation capabilities;
-A variety of large and small settings for vocal and instrumental music classes and practice rooms, insulated to keep sound from traveling;
-A full service audio recording studio and television production studio;
-A gallery for the exhibition of fine arts.
An example of such a facility is the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, a performing arts high school in New York City recently built at a cost of approximately $78 million.
In addition, basic non-instructional operations costs including those for security, maintenance, cleaning and transportation to our partner institutions (George Washington University and the Kennedy Center) would increase with any move. As you know, our budget has not kept pace with our costs, to the point that we had to furlough teachers and staff this year. We are very concerned about the potential threat to our core curriculum that such additional costs would pose.
If the District cannot afford to build a new facility, then Ellington should remain in its present location and the District should proceed with the major renovation scheduled for 2012 to make this building an even better performing arts high school.
In stark contrast to a facility that would serve Ellington's needs is the Logan School, an elementary school built in 1935 whose sole qualification is its vacancy. Logan has none of the requirements listed above for a performing arts high school. While Logan could likely be renovated for purposes suitable to a school with only an academic program, no amount of renovation can change its location and structural deficiencies that make it unsuitable for a school with an arts and academic mission. In short, Logan is simply unacceptable. Ellington has a long history in its current location. It has successfully attracted students from all of the city's wards and, indeed, has had record applications in the past two years, including large numbers of students from outside D.C. public schools, and even the city.
In closing, as you might imagine, the entire Ellington community is now in complete upheaval over these recent events. The DESAP board would like to have an urgent meeting with you and other relevant city officials to discuss this nascent plan, and would also request that you meet with our parents and staff soon thereafter. The DESAP board will attempt to make itself available at a time of your choosing over the next few days. Please let us know which other city officials you feel should be present. In the press, Mayor Fenty and Jack Evans have been identified as participants in this planning, though of course Ellington is a citywide school and others will undoubtedly want to be involved. Meaningful engagement with Ellington on this critical issue has been lacking to date. The location of Duke Ellington School of the Arts and its facilities are far too important not to be addressed in a thorough and deliberative manner, and the involvement of those who know how to operate a performing arts high school with a full academic curriculum is essential. Please let us know how to proceed to schedule these meetings as soon as possible so that we can all get back to educating our students.
Sincerely,
Michaele C Christian, M.D.
On behalf of the DESAP Board of Directors
cc: Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton
Mayor Adrian Fenty
Council Chairman Vincent Gray
Councilmember Jack Evans
Councilmember Yvette Alexander
Councilmember Marion Barry
Councilmember Muriel Bowser
Councilmember Kwame R. Brown
Councilmember Michael A. Brown
Councilmember David Catania
Councilmember Mary M. Cheh
Councilmember Jim Graham
Councilmember Phil Mendelson
Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr.
Councilmember Tommy Wells
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From The Washington Post web site - D.C. Schools Insider blog by Bill Turque, dated January 19, 2010:
Cafritz "stunned" by Ellington scenario
Duke Ellington School of the Arts co-founder Peggy Cooper Cafritz says that if the District is contemplating a move for the Georgetown school, it is doing so without speaking to any of its partners.
"No one has spoken to me or to the chairman of the board," said Cafritz, referring to Michaele Christian, president of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts Project (DESAP) board, one of two that helps govern and finance the institution along with the District.
The Post reported Sunday that District officials have estimated the cost of moving Ellington into the former Logan Elementary School near Union Station, with an eye toward turning its current home into a traditional neighborhood high school for Ward 2. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) backs the idea.
District officials have so far said only that there are a number of different scenarios they are looking at for Logan. But Cafritz, a former D.C. school board president, said she was reliably informed over the weekend -- she declined to say by who -- that school construction czar Allen Y. Lew had also commissioned drawings that show what Logan would look like as a new home for Ellington, but without the input of anyone connected with the school or familiar with its needs. (I have a request in to speak with Lew)
Cafritz said she was "stunned" by the Sunday article, and the idea that the much smaller Logan could ever be a suitable location for Ellington.
"I've had tons of meetings in Logan," she said. "It's absurd. It's beyond the pale." Cafritz said that while she supports Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, she added: "This administration has a tendency to decide it is going to do something and then to just do it."
The issue will almost certainly come up at tonight's meeting of the DESAP board, she said.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcschools/2010/01/cafritz_stunned_by_ellington_s.html
And the article that kicked it off:
Ellington arts school might be moved out of D.C.'s Ward 2
By Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 17, 2010; C01
The District is studying the possibility of moving the Duke Ellington School of the Arts out of Georgetown and converting the building at 35th and R streets NW into a high school to serve Ward 2 families.
Representatives of Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and school construction czar Allen Y. Lew said no decision has been made and that there are no immediate plans for a move. But Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) strongly backs the idea, and a source familiar with the discussions, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid reprisals from officials in Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's administration for discussing internal deliberations, said Lew's office has developed cost estimates for relocating Ellington to the former Logan Elementary School building on G Street NE near Union Station.
Logan housed the School Without Walls for two years before the high school returned to its newly renovated Foggy Bottom building in the fall.
Tony Robinson, a spokesman for Lew, and Jennifer Calloway, Rhee's spokeswoman, issued identical statements Friday: "The Administration has no current plans for the Logan School, but as it has recently become vacant with the return of SWW to their renovated Foggy Bottom Campus, we are beginning to research an exhaustive list of possibilities for the building."
Pressed about cost and who asked for the study, Robinson said, "That's all they would let me say." Robinson said he was referring to Fenty's office.
Ellington is unique among District public schools: It is operated as a joint partnership between the city, the Kennedy Center and George Washington University. Co-founded in 1974 by former school board president Peggy Cooper Cafritz and the late director-choreographer Mike Malone, it draws its nearly 500 students from across the city for traditional academics and an intensive program of vocal and instrumental music, dance, visual arts and theater. Many faculty members are working artists, and alumni include comedian Dave Chappelle and opera star Denyce Graves. Incoming students must audition as part of the admissions process.
Word of discussions about Ellington's future comes as Rhee has been working to retain a larger proportion of Ward 2 families in the public school system after they leave the elementary grades. In November, she replaced Patrick Pope, principal of nearby Hardy Middle School, which has an art and music program that also draws a primarily African American student body from outside Ward 2. Looking to market the school more effectively to neighborhood families, Rhee announced that Pope would be succeeded at the end of the school year by Dana Nerenberg, principal of Georgetown's Hyde-Addison Elementary, who would run both schools.
Parents at Hardy, which completed a $48 million renovation, have said that Rhee is trying to squeeze African American students out of the middle school, a claim she denies.
Evans has long supported converting Ellington -- the former Western High School -- back into a regular "comprehensive" high school and moving the arts magnet to a new home in a more central location for its citywide student body. He points out that Ward 2 is the city's only ward without a neighborhood high school.
"I would say yes, I'm interested in exploring the opportunity to create a new Ellington at a more centralized location and a new full-service high school for Ward 2," Evans said. He added that he is at "the very beginning stages" of discussing the idea with Rhee and Fenty (D) but then said: "Mayor Fenty and Chancellor Rhee move quickly on things. Things happen fast."
Ellington Principal Rory Pullens did not respond to e-mailed requests for comment.
Some Ellington parents said they had heard rumors of a possible move and found them disturbing.
"Most of the parents I talked to are not happy, not happy at all," said Glennette Clark, a Ward 5 resident whose daughter is a junior literary media major. She has scheduled a "living room meeting" next month for Rhee to speak with some Ellington parents.
"Our feelings are that this is more an economically driven" move, Clark said. "Times being what they are, parents in that community want their kids to be able to go to a school that they don't have to pay for."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/16/AR2010011602748.html
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