How quiet this summer was. Really. August passed with no “emergency legislation” at City Council and no new disarming emergency referendums bestowing public property on favored developers. For once, FB/WE was anticipating a scheduled announcement— the winning proposal from among the three finalists’ vying to develop Stevens School—from DC’s Office of Planning and Economic Development (OPED), but it seems to be in a permanent state of delay.

Sites Unseen
In November 2007, when then-newly-appointed Chancellor Michelle Rhee, never having set foot in the building, unceremoniously announced the closure of Stevens School, any protocol seems to have been put aside. After 149 years of continuous operation, Stevens—begun as a school for freed black slaves by PA Congressman Thaddeus Stevens—closed with the city demeaning the parents, the principal and teachers, distinguished graduates, and our community, all of whom fought long and hard to reverse the decision.

For a decade the District had no funds for routine maintenance, much less repair, of this beloved and historic school. Once Stevens closed for good in June 2008, “miraculously,” money appeared to replace EVERY window in the building and new light fixtures in the ceilings. The new windows were cheap replacements and, predictably, do not meet the standards of Stevens’ historic landmark status. Had this been done to a private building, the owner would have been fined.

From Insult to Injury
In a sop to those folks who hinted at improprieties in the process, officials added Stevens (at the 11th hour) to the list of schools that were included in a Request for Proposals requiring a charter school. One applicant was the District’s own highly-lauded Living Classroom Foundation (LCF). LCF’s grant-making successes enabled 20,000 District youth to participate in the foundation’s own awardwinning after-school and vocational training programs. In Baltimore, its charter high school’s track record easily exceeds across the board most of the District’s public schools. But LCF, along with the other Stevens’ applicants, received rejection letters, that and no more. After being repeatedly ignored and disheartened, the neighborhood deferred to the District. Who knew that the community would rally behind a proposal from Peebles Corporation, one of OPED’s finalists, with solid backing from both the FBA and the ANC? So here we are full circle. We offered up our passion, came back with excellence, and were rebuffed. With Peebles, we again chose excellence, and OPED is silent. Is the “other shoe” poised to drop?