HSA Letter to Chancellor and Mayor Requesting to Fund Our School for Recovery and Not Cut Staff

School Without Walls High School Home and School Association 2020-2021      

March 18, 2021                        

The Honorable Muriel Bowser

Mayor

1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 307

Washington, DC 20004

Chancellor Lewis Ferebee

District of Columbia Public Schools

1200 First Street NE

Washington, DC 20002

RE:      Restoration of $112,569 in proposed funding cuts to School Without Walls FY2022 budget

Dear Mayor Bowser and Chancellor Ferebee,

On behalf of our community of 600 students and their families – coming from every ward across the city – the School Without Walls Home & School Association (“SWW HSA”) requests that you restore $112,569 in funding to our school’s FY2022 budget allocation.

Once again, SWW is the only high school for which DCPS forecasts enrollment equal to the prior year and still proposes to cut its budget.  As a policy matter, serving the same number of students should mean receiving funding that continues the same amount of academic and professional staff providing the same level of academic programming and support.

The DCPS-proposed FY2022 budget fails to meet that minimum standard.  SWW faced an actual shortfall of more than $500,000 -- combining the absolute cut of $309,000 with nearly $200,000 in non-discretionary fixed salary increases that were not taken into account, hiding the true extent of the deficit.  

The SWW administration has been rigorous in trying to find savings to cover this gap and maintain the current educational model, avoiding cuts of 12 teaching staff as proposed under the initial DCPS budget and personnel allocations.  Adjusting non-teaching personnel allocations and slashing academic materials (like science, literacy, music, and art supplies) squeezed $280,000.  Supplemental funding appeals for Chancellor’s Assistance have yielded just one-third of the amount needed to make up the difference.

But their budget scalpel has hit bone, and directly impacting academic quality can no longer be avoided.  Now a teacher is going to be eliminated.  These cuts come on top of the $585,000 absorbed in FY2021 that already forced elimination of five support roles, including our librarian.

We note that the SWW LSAT voted to also seek additional funds for a full-time psychologist (versus the budgeted 0.50 FTE) as returning students grapple with extraordinary mental health challenges; we hope that will be accommodated in DCPS decisions on distribution of supplemental federal recovery funds.  There are many unmet needs at SWW related to the pandemic and accumulated years of effective budget reductions.

At minimum, our families expect that the core final DCPS FY2022 budget does no harm by preserving the same academic program for the same number of students as last year.  Surely DCPS can afford $1.04 per student, per school day, to simply maintain the status quo for its highest-performing, nationally-recognized high school.  

Restoring $112,569 is a small request with a big impact.  Doing so still leaves SWW at a lower per capita budget level than any other DCPS high school.  Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

School Without Walls High School Home & School Association Board Signatories

OFFICERS

Sandra Moscoso-Mills, President

Dawn Leijon, Assistant Treasurer

Marek Gootman,
Vice President

Marilyn Norwalk, Assistant Treasurer

Robert DeWitty, Secretary

Gina Lynn Anderson, Treasurer

AT-LARGE REPRESENTATIVES

Tomeika Bowden, At-Large

Malene Lawrence, At-Large

Jane Wallace, At-Large / Social Media

Katherine David-Fox, At-Large

Andrea Marryshow, At-Large/Blogs/LSAT

Joe Weedon, At-Large

Shandikra Donawana Johnkins, At-Large

Maan Sacdalan, At-Large / Fundraising

Elizabeth Dranitzke, At-Large

Jane Tobler At-Large / Social Media

APPOINTED COMMITTEE LEADS

Sanda Blank, Auction Co-Chair

Karen Quarles, Engagement/Angel Fund

Marla Viorst, Newsletter