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

                                David Grosso, Chairperson, Committee on Education

                       

DATE:          November 5, 2020

 

                               

                The following measures are placed on the agenda for the November 10, 2020 Legislative Meeting:

 

§  Child Enrollment Preference Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2020

§  Child Enrollment Preference Emergency Amendment Act of 2020

 

                The purpose of these measures is to amend the District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995 to add an admissions preference for the child of a student already attending or selected for admission to a public charter school.  The language in the emergency mirrors the child enrollment preference language included in Bill 23, 717, the “Expanding Equitable Access to Great Schools Act of 2020,” which was approved unanimously by the Council on first reading on October 20, 2020 and is scheduled for final reading on November 10, 2020.

 

                Currently, the child enrollment admissions preference would apply to only one public charter school, Briya Public Charter School.  Briya utilizes a two-generation model in which both the parent and his/her child enroll in the school.  While Briya has employed this model for years, and it is central to their model, there is no admissions preference, currently.  If an individual would want to enroll his or her child at Briya, but did not want to also enroll as an adult, Briya would be faced with a disruption to its very successful two-generation model. 

               

                Although the Council is expected to approve Bill 23-717 on second reading on November 10, 2020, it will be months before that bill becomes law.  Yet, Briya intends to employ its two-generation model for School Year 2021-2022 and will open its admissions lottery process in the next couple of months.  To ensure that Briya is able to continue its model next school year, it needs the child enrollment preference in place this winter.  Moreover, Briya needs time to market its model to prospective families and to reconfigure its systems to account for the preference.  All of this takes time, making it imperative that the Council approve the child enrollment admissions preference now.  Thus, an immediate need exists for this emergency legislation.