DC Council measure to save Washington Metropolitan HS fails by one vote

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An effort to save Washington Metropolitan High School from being closed failed by one vote Tuesday afternoon.

DC Councilmember Robert White, Jr. (D – At-large) had introduced emergency legislation to try to save the school, which is located in Northwest Washington just south of Howard University.

The school is aimed at teens dealing with troubles in life who have been pushed out of traditional schools.

A couple weeks ago DC’s mayor signed off on a plan by DCPS to close Washington Met due to “limited progress” at the school, which has students in 7th through 12th grades.

White argues the school system has essentially given up on the alternative school, and that’s why it has poor performance and attendance.

“Any school with needs this high will fail with investments this low,” White told the council. “Its enrollment has fallen, and test scores have fallen. It has [happened] because of deliberate inattention and disinvestment from the city.”

“This is not a school to be proud of, and I say that with all due respect to the students who are there,” said DC Council chairman Phil Mendelson (D), who argued the school is not doing enough to help the majority of its students to improve.

“Unfortunately I’m not convinced that Washington Met is a good option for our students,” added councilmember Brandon Todd (D – Ward 4). “The current attendance rate at Washingotn Met is less than 40 percent.”

But students who came to the council meeting to try to save their school say Washington Met has helped them tremendously, and they don’t know what they’ll do now.

“I guess they’re not able to see past numbers,” student Dulane McGill said of the vote. “I don’t know what I’m going to do after this.”

Although the school system says it has a plan to help students find other suitable schools, White argues there are few if any good options for them.

“They will fall through the cracks, and if we believe for a second that they won’t, then we are fooling ourselves,” he said.

Tuesday’s vote means that, barring anything unforeseen, Washington Met will close after the current school year ends. White’s emergency legislation would have kept it open at least one more year.

The vote was actually 7-5 in favor of keeping the school open, but since the measure was considered emergency legislation, eight votes rather than a simple majority was required.

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