COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20004

 

            

TO:              Nyasha Smith, Secretary to the Council

           

FROM:        Phil Mendelson, Chairman

                                                       

DATE:          July 3, 2019

 

                               

                The following measures are placed on the agenda for the July 9^th Legislative Meeting:

 

§  Wells School Designation and Master Facilities Plan Disapproval Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2019

§  Wells School Designation and Master Facilities Plan Disapproval Emergency Amendment Act of 2019

 

                The purpose of the emergency measure is 1) to officially designate the new middle school in Square 3269 as the Ida B. Wells Middle School to honor Ida B. Wells, an iconic investigative journalist, civil rights activist, educator, and researcher; 2) to disapprove the public schools’ Master Facilities Plan submitted by the Mayor to the Council; and 3) to amend the code to clarify that a Master Facilities Plan does not need to be approved only in conjunction with a fiscal year budget act.  Bill 23-216 will be marked up by the Committee of the Whole and receive first reading on the July 9, 2019 and the permanent and emergency versions of the act will be conformed.

 

                Enacting this legislation on an emergency basis will make the provisions of Bill 23-216 effective sooner than Congressional review and allow for the change of name before the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, to dispense with the Master Facilities Plan by act because it certain requirements were not met under the law to allow the Council to move forward by the resolution submitted by the Mayor.  In part, the current law states that a Master Facilities plan can only be approved in conjunction with a budget which will not happen again for almost a year.  The underlying bill and this emergency remove that requirement.