Dena Levitz, The Examiner
2008-01-21 14:07:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee is considering a range of options for the school facilities she’s proposing to close, including turning them into recreation centers and sharing the locations with charter schools, she said late last week.

The option is on the table if both sides benefit, said Rhee in response to a question after a speech to the D.C.’s Women’s Bar Association about the possibility of making some sites joint charter/traditional public schools.

“Some of the schools on the list have said to me, ‘Instead of closing, can we collocate with another agency or a charter?’ ” she said Friday. “I’m open to that — but it’s not something I’m willing to rush into.”

The chancellor cited the joint building arrangement approved in 2006 between Scott Montgomery Elementary School and KIPP Academy Public Charter School as an arrangement that’s working. But she also spoke about a shared space arrangement between a charter and traditional public school that had a “ridiculously bad start” this summer, causing the arrangement to go bellyup.

“It was serving the same grades, which is almost impossible to do well,” she said. “The charter was slapping things all over their door [to recruit students]. It created an incredibly unhealthy dynamic.” The comments come as the chancellor prepares to present an alternative in coming weeks that factors in the public comment she has received to the closures plan. Speculation has run rampant about what will become of the buildings, with some activists convinced developers will get first crack. The public also is still trying to gauge the chancellor’s level of support for charter schools, which are capturing an increasing proportion of the D.C. student body each year.

On Friday, Rhee reiterated her position that she would never try to limit education choice, yet she stopped short of making outright promises to the charter system for land.

The chancellor also discussed using school sites for purposes such as recreation, adult education or health centers.

“From what I’ve seen, we have uses for those spaces that enhance what we’re doing in the classrooms,” she said. Jackie Pinckney Hackett, a parent and schools activist, said she wishes discussions surrounding the closures included more creative ideas like these.

“We really need to think outside of the box,” she said.

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com