Everything is a political issue less than two weeks from the District’s primary.
In Tenleytown, Janney Elementary School’s library wasn’t ready for students on Monday, the first day of school. By 1:20 that afternoon, Ward 3 D.C. Council candidate Bill Rice had issued a statement calling the delayed refurbishment “unacceptable.” The library won’t be ready until October or November, Rice said, and he demanded a swift timetable from DCPS.
“As council member, I promise to keep the community involved and informed of the progress of every major Ward 3 capital project, and keep up the pressure to avoid these delays, and when delays … occur, see to it that appropriate penalties are levied,” Rice said.
The school’s principal, however, says the work at Janney should be finished this week.
“They started work here, but we had a delay because there was a part of the floor that needed to be patched before the carpet could be put down,” said principal Scott Cartland. “We’re scheduled to be done by Friday.”
When finished, the library will have repaired lighting, fresh paint, new carpet and bookshelves, between 2,000 and 4,000 new titles and possibly four new computers. In the meantime, the school’s 488 students are checking out books from their classroom libraries.
“It’s a substantial upgrade,” Cartland said. “I think it’s a great investment by DCPS.”
Rice said he heard the October-November time frame discussed Saturday at school beautification day.
“I can’t say who said it or didn’t say it,” he said. “I’m just thrilled it’ll be happening by Friday.”
Janney wasn’t the only D.C. school with a library still being refurbished.
“We have subcontractors working on 50 libraries,” said Patricia Williams, DCPS spokeswoman.
