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DCPS, GWU partner
Land deal to rebuild School Without Walls
(Published July 26, 2004)

By STEPHANIE BRINSON
Staff Writer

The District’s public school system needs money. George Washington University needs space.

As a result, the D.C. Board of Education has approved a plan for DCPS to form a partnership with GWU that will give the university the land it seeks while providing the school system with money to rebuild School Without Walls Senior High School.

Under the partnership, DCPS will sell a portion of its property at 2130 G St. NW to the university to acquire funds that will be used to improve the overcrowded and rundown School Without Walls building. The university is expected to use the plot to construct residences for its growing undergraduate population.

A second goal of the plan looks to build on the existing programmatic relationship between the two institutions to create "a premier high school in the United States" at School Without Walls.

"Certainly, I join our superintendent and board members in my enthusiasm for this project," said board member Carrie Thornhill, a mayoral appointee.

Students, parents and staff at School Without Walls are enthusiastic about the partnership, especially the constructive changes it will bring to the school.

"All students are in favor of re-doing our current school building," said Nathaniel Cole, a senior at School Without Walls, who spent the past year serving as a student representative on the D.C. Board of Education.

PTA President Susan Linsky, whose son is a junior at the school, said leaky ceilings force teachers to place buckets in classrooms to catch rain. Windows provide little insulation, while the heating system lacks regulation, she said.

In the winter, students are freezing and in the summer they’re "burning up," Cole said.

Kathleen Hunter, a grandparent of students at the school, said the school "will have no difficulty filling a new and expanded facility."

The high school, which averages an enrollment of 350, accepted 90 out of 400 new student applicants for the upcoming school year, Linsky said.

Renovating and expanding the existing School Without Walls site is projected to cost $16.6 million, according to a presentation on the partnership given to the school board July 14 by Doug Firstenberg, a real estate consultant hired by DCPS.

Under the partnership, DCPS will sell the 8,600-square-foot parking lot adjacent to the school, and next to GWU tennis courts, to George Washington University for a minimum of $10.6 million. DCPS will use that money toward the projected cost to rebuild the school. The deal calls for $6 million to be the maximum amount the school system will have to pay toward the project.

The $10.6 million GWU officials have agreed to pay for the parking lot could be increased in several ways, resulting in DCPS having to pay less for its construction. One way includes an appraisal of the property coming in higher. Board spokeswoman Patricia Williams said DCPS is in the process of completing an appraisal.

The university is expected to provide School Without Walls with 30 parking spaces on its campus and the option to rent up to 15 more.

In addition to the real estate deal, George Washington University and DCPS agreed to create a task force comprised of representatives from both entities to finalize specifics about the enhanced academic partnership, which will be presented to the board and GWU officials for approval. The university will pay $50,000 for a consultant to manage and advise the task force.

Among options: School Without Walls students and faculty could take classes at the university for credit without paying the cost of tuition. The high school already has access to some university facilities, such as the library, while GWU uses School Without Walls’ classrooms for evening classes.

Officials said the partnership remains in a planning stage and that it might take 18 to 24 months to complete arrangements.