by Marlene Berlin
The fight to restore funding cut from the mayor’s proposed Wilson High School 2015-2016 budget now extends beyond current Wilson staff and parents, and Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh. A coalition of parent and community leaders from the elementary and middle schools that feed into Wilson has written DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson about how the more than 10 percent cut in per-pupil funding (a $1.8 million reduction) will impact the school program whose at risk students will number about one-third of the student population. They are asking that $900,000 be put back into Wilson’s budget.
Here is the letter from the Wilson Feeder Education Network:
April 10, 2015
Dear Chancellor Henderson,
We, community leaders and other parents from all of the elementary and middle schools that feed into Wilson High School, are asking you to reconsider the drastic cuts in Wilson’s budget, amounting to a sizable drop in spending per student. With the school’s enrollment likely to reach around 1,900 students, almost a third of them at-risk, the substantial cut to its budget represents a more than 10 percent decline in funding per student.
Since Wilson serves a broad cross-section of the city’s youth, we believe that this step will have significant adverse effects. It will undermine the progress that DCPS has made under your leadership. It will undermine the Mayor’s planned improvements to education in the city. And it will undermine the substantial investment that families and community members are making in their local schools, not only at Wilson, but also at its feeder schools.
The impact of this loss of funds is real. Wilson will be left with significantly fewer teachers than needed. The number of students will balloon to as high as 40 in some classes. Needed support positions, such as college counseling, will be scaled back. Enrichment activities and access to advanced placement classes will be limited. Security of both students and staff may be comprised in a building designed for only 1550 students.
In particular, the cuts will hurt the students who are most vulnerable. Wilson serves an at-risk population that is as big or larger than the entire student population at most other high schools in the city. It is these students who will struggle the most in the face of dwindling resources. Larger class sizes will mean less attention when they need help. Fewer students will have exposure to advanced topics to help them prepare for college. And less support will result in fewer submitting applications to attend.
Moreover, the cuts will harm students from across the city. Although Wilson High School sits in Ward 3, it serves students from every zip code in the city, and almost half of the student body comes from outside of the school’s boundaries. These cuts will be felt across Rock Creek Park and east of the Anacostia River.
Finally, as parents with children who will be future Wilson students and who comprise families who reside inside and outside of the school’s boundaries, we are concerned that the cuts will undermine confidence in the city’s school system. The strength of elementary and middle schools depends on the confidence that families have in the schools into which they feed. Eroding that confidence will erode the progress that DCPS has made throughout the city. We fear that families will pull back from investing in Wilson’s feeder schools if they are concerned that the city will not provide a robust option for secondary school when the time comes. Instead, we hope that we can build on the improvements that the city has already seen to not only maintain and exceed the quality of Wilson, but to see that progress at every high school in the city.
We understand that the city and DCPS has many competing demands for its scarce resources. But we would note in closing that a cut of this magnitude – over 10 percent per student – is extremely difficult for any school to handle in a single year. It is for this reason that DCPS does not cut school budgets by more than 5 percent in any year. Wilson’s cut is over twice this size because of the sizable increase in expected enrollment. We ask that you consider raising Wilson’s budget by $900,000 this fiscal year. This increase would limit the decline in the school’s per pupil allocation and would mitigate the worst of the effects of the shortfall.
Thank you for your time and attention. We look forward to working with you, and, of course, would be happy to discuss the situation further.
Sincerely,
Tricia Braun
Co-Chair, Ward 3 – Wilson Feeder Education Network
PTA Co-President
Francis Scott Key Elementary School
Martha McIntosh
Co-Chair, Ward 3 – Wilson Feeder Education Network
HSA Co-President
Ben Murch Elementary School
Brian Doyle
External Communications, Ward 3 – Wilson Feeder Education Network
Phoebe Hearst Elementary School
Karin Perkins
Internal Communications, Ward 3 – Wilson Feeder Education Network
LSAT Chair
Alice Deal Middle School
Caitlin Oppenheimer
Treasurer, Ward 3-Wilson Feeder Education Network
Stoddert Elementary School
Marcio Duffles
PTO President
Hardy Middle School
Dionne Moore
PTO Vice President
Hardy Middle School
Maria Luisa Rossel
PTO Board Member
Hardy Middle School
Tracey Duffles
Hardy Middle School
Fred Truslow
Hardy Middle School
Claudia Oglialoro
Hardy Middle School
Horace Mann Elementary School
Matteo Iacoviello
Hardy Middle School
Horace Mann Elementary School
Tonija Hope Navas
PTO President
Bancroft Elementary School
Deidre Swesnik
HSA Co-President
John Eaton Elementary School
Karen Robinson-Ogbebor
HSA Co-President
John Eaton Elementary School
Ed Dieterle
LSAT Chair
John Eaton Elementary School
Elizabeth Stuart
PTA Co-President
Phoebe Hearst Elementary School
Dina Dajani
PTA Co-President
Phoebe Hearst Elementary School
Jacqui Allen-Settles
PTA Vice President
Phoebe Hearst Elementary School
Craig Cunningham
PTA Board Member
Phoebe Hearst Elementary School
Keri Sikich
PTA Board Member
Phoebe Hearst Elementary School
John Bernards
PTA Board Member
Phoebe Hearst Elementary School
David Dickinson
LSAT Member
Phoebe Hearst Elementary School
John Settles
LSAT Member
Phoebe Hearst Elementary School
Jennifer Leonard
LSAT Member
Phoebe Hearst Elementary School
Andrew T. “Chip” Richardson, III, Esq.
PTA President
Hyde-Addison Elementary School
Mary Anne Sacdalan
PTA Board Member
Hyde-Addison Elementary School
Nora Cameron
PTA Board Member and past LSAT Co-Chair
Hyde-Addison Elementary School
Jennifer Del Guercio
Janney Elementary School
Sara Tobin
Janney Elementary School
Carol McGiffert
Past PTA President
Janney Elementary School
Neha Shah
LSAT Member
Janney Elementary School
Lauren Case
LSAT Member
Janney Elementary School
Katie Fox
LSAT Member
Janney Elementary School
Naomi Mezey
LSAT Member
Janney Elementary School
Hugh Morris
LSAT Member
Janney Elementary School
Sam Serebin
LSAT Member
Janney Elementary School
Meg Leahy
PTA Co-President
Horace Mann Elementary School
Mark Miano
PTA Co-President
Horace Mann Elementary School
Maggie Gumbinner
HSA Co-President
Ben Murch Elementary School
Beth Colleye and other members
LSAT Co-chair and members
Ben Murch Elementary School
David Troy
Ben Murch Elementary School
Alice Deal Middle School
Ashby Mims
PTA Co-President
Francis Scott Key Elementary School
Philip Moeller
LSAT Representative
Francis Scott Key Elementary School
Colleen Crino
Francis Scott Key Elementary School
Hope Scheller
HSA Co-President
Lafayette Elementary School
Laura Lindsley
HSA Co-President
Lafayette Elementary School
Jenny Backus
HSA Board Member
Lafayette Elementary School
Josh Gordon
HSA Board Member
Lafayette Elementary School
Kristin Willsey
HSA Board Member
Lafayette Elementary School
Keith Jones
HSA Board Member
Lafayette Elementary School
Shannon Behm
HSA Board Member
Lafayette Elementary School
Chris Lisi-Frillici
HSA Board Member
Lafayette Elementary School
Stacy Beck
HSA Board Member
Lafayette Elementary School
Eve Bennett
HSA Board Member
Lafayette Elementary School
Marek Gootman
HSA Board Member
Lafayette Elementary School
Beth Taubman
HSA Board Member
Lafayette Elementary School
Janine Finck-Boyle
HSA Board Member
Lafayette Elementary School
Jen Lanoff
HSA Board Member
Lafayette Elementary School
Ed Pagano
Lafayette After School Program
Lafayette Elementary School
Jared Cohen
LSAT Parent Representative
Lafayette Elementary School
Eden Burgess
LSAT Parent Representative
Lafayette Elementary School
Vonda Orders
LSAT Parent Representative
Lafayette Elementary School
Kerrie Bouker
LSAT Parent Representative
Lafayette Elementary School
Tom Martella
LSAT Community Representative
Lafayette Elementary School
Andrea DelVecchio
PTO Chair
Oyster-Adams Bilingual School
Maria Elena Nawar
LSAT Chair
Oyster-Adams Bilingual School
David Trimble
PTA President
Shepherd Elementary School
Keith White
LSAT Chair
Shepherd Elementary School
Leigh McKenna
PTA Co-President
Stoddert Elementary School
Mary Clare Claud
PTA Co-President
Stoddert Elementary School
Cc: Mayor Muriel Bowser, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, Councilmember Anita Bonds, Councilmember David Grosso, Councilmember Vincent Orange, Councilmember Elissa Silverman, Councilmember Yvette Alexander, Councilmember Charles Allen, Councilmember Mary Cheh, Councilmember Jack Evans, Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, and Councilmember Brianne Nadeau.
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Ward 3-Wilson Feeder Education Network
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