A list circulating on neighborhood listservs of D.C. public schools purported to be closing is “inaccurate,” a school system spokeswoman said Thursday evening.
“This list is inaccurate. We are a little savvier than to close a school like Cardozo that we are currently building,” said D.C. Public Schools spokeswoman Melissa Salmanowitz. “We will have an announcement soon of which schools we are proposing to close for the 2013-2014 school year.”
The 38-school list reached residents on the Adams Morgan, Ward 5, and Hillcrest listservs among others on Thursday evening. In addition to the list of schools, the document describes which performance category the schools fell into on a study commissioned by the deputy mayor for education earlier this year. Most of the listed schools are “Tier 4,” recommended to be closed or turned around as charter schools by the study.
DCPS closed 23 schools in 2008 and is planning to release a new list of closings this month. Enrollment in the school system has been dwindling for decades, leaving many buildings underenrolled. DCPS is seeking to consolidate its schools to save money.
When asked whether the list represented a potential pool of closings that DCPS had picked from, Salmanowitz said, “We have no idea where this list came from, but it’s not from DCPS. We look forward to announcing our proposed consolidations soon.”
The schools are listed below. In addition to Cardozo, it includes Anacostia High School, which was just renovated, and some Ward 5 schools that just got new programs.
The circulating list:
Ward 1
Bruce Monroe at Parkview
Cardozo High School
Ward 4
Brightwood Education Campus
Roosevelt High School
MacFarland Middle School
Raymond Education Campus
Truesdell Education Campus
Ward 5
Burroughs Education Campus
Browne Education Campus
Springarn High School
Wheatley Education Campus
Noyes Education Campus
Ward 7
Aiton Elementary School
CW Harris Elementary School
Drew Elementary School
Kelly Miller Middle School
Woodson High School
Davis Elementary School
Nalle Elementary School
Plummer Elementary School
Beers Elementary School
Randle Highlands Elementary School
Ward 8
Anacostia High School
Kramer Middle School
Orr Elementary School
Garfield Elementary School
Stanton Elementary School
Ballou High School
Patterson Elementary School
Hendley Elementary School
Leckie Elementary School
MLK Jr. Elementary School
Hart Middle School
Johnson Middle School
Malcolm X Elementary School
Ferebee-Hope Elementary School
M.C. Terrell/McGogney Elementary School
Simon Elementary School
