D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown said the District is headed for a “racial explosion” if more parity is not created between middle schools in affluent areas of the city and those across the Anacostia River. Most D.C. Public Schools in Wards 7 and 8 are underenrolled, while Alice Deal Middle School in Tenleytown is at capacity just one year after a $70 million renovation. Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh is seeking another middle school in the Palisades area to relieve crowding.

As city officials examine middle schools in hearings this fall, Brown said he is disgusted to see the state of Sousa Middle School near Fort Dupont Park, which was renovated at about the same time as Deal — “but Deal is a 10 and Sousa is a five.”