Also at the ANC meeting tonight, there was a discussion about the DC Public Schools' upcoming plan to close/repurpose as much as 3 million square feet of school space over the next two years.
Van Ness Elementary at 5th and M is unofficially considered to be very high on the list--although it had 400 students a few years ago, with the closing of
Capper/Carrollsburg it now services just 30 Headstart Pre-K students and 48 Special Ed students from around the city. However, as school board member Tommy Wells explained, the city won't be selling school properties, and the feeling is very strong that an elementary school must remain in Near Southeast. Given that Van Ness's M Street location could be enticing to developers, it's possible that the city would agree to a swap, to have a new Van Ness built somewhere else in the neighborhood in exchange for a developer getting rights to the 5th and M lot. A plan to identify 1 million square feet of DCPS space that could be closed/repurposed is due to the school board on May 17, after which there will be a 30-day period of public input meetings (there are also
public forums on April 18 and 22). For more information, see the
DC Board of Education web site, in particular the
rightsizing criteria and
calendar.