Eliot-Hine, Jefferson Renovations Planning Would Begin in FY 2016 Under New Council Plan

Planning for major renovations at Eliot-Hine and Jefferson Academy middle schools would begin in the coming year under a budget plan approved today by a D.C. Council panel.

Each of the Ward 6 schools would receive $1.5 million in fiscal 2016 and 2017 for modernization planning, according to the proposal endorsed this afternoon by the D.C. Council Education Committee. But renovations under the panel’s plan still would begin in fiscal 2019, as Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed last month, angering locals.

Under a previous version of the committee’s proposal, neither school had money to prepare for renovations in fiscal 2016, and only Jefferson could start planning in fiscal 2017. But that plan also left most of the modernization work until fiscal 2019.

Councilman Charles Allen of Ward 6, who pushed for the planning money, said Eliot-Hine and Jefferson both show a “clear need” for updates as soon as possible. He noted that Eliot-Hine has bars on the inside of its windows and Jefferson’s air conditioning system doesn’t work in its gym.

“Neither of these buildings I think serve the students as well as they should and inspire the confidence of the parents,” he said at the Council meeting today on the budget plan.

At the meeting, Allen tried to move up the year for renovations for Eliot-Hine and Jefferson from fiscal 2019, but didn’t receive the support of his fellow Council members.

Overall, Jefferson (801 7th St. SW) would receive $36 million for renovation work between fiscal 2016 and 2020, according to the D.C. Council plan. The sum is $12 million more than the $24 million Bowser has proposed.

Eliot-Hine (1830 Constitution Ave. NE) would get $38.1 million for modernizing the school between fiscal 2016 and 2020, under the Council’s proposal. The amount is $4 million more than the $34.1 million the mayor wants to offer.