Either DGS lied or they can't figure out how to explain a "fix" (Editorial Op-Ed)

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DGS Director Keith Anderson leads CM Janeese Lewis George on a tour of Powell Elementary (photo courtesy CM Lewis George)

by Drew Schneider

On Wednesday, August 25th, staff from the Department of Government Services (DGS) led by Director Keith Anderson, took Councilmember Janeese Lewis George and some of her staff on a tour of Powell Elementary to review a new, “temporary fix” for the school’s broken HVAC system. But when asked to clarify the fix… DGS has no answer.

The HVAC at Powell has been broken since shortly after the school’s renovations several years ago. Multiple classrooms and common areas, like the auditorium where kids will be grouped to eat breakfast, don’t have cooling or airflow.

As a “stopgap measure” prior to the pandemic, DGS brought in “spot coolers” to help lower the temperatures that have been recorded at over 85 degrees. The coolers in the classrooms are loud, and teachers complained of having to yell to be heard, especially after the pandemic began, and wearing masks to protect from Covid became required. To mitigate the lack of air filtration for Covid-safety, DGS brought in portable HEPA filters to the rooms. All of this makes for a loud environment — and ineffective cooling and Covid prevention.

DGS claimed back in the Spring that they failed to complete a contract due to paperwork problems, and then finally locked in a contractor to fix the HVAC, committing to the fix prior to the school year. DGS then claimed that they will miss that deadline.

Then on Wednesday after the Petworth News article published on this issue, a seemingly magical “temporary fix” to the HVAC itself was announced.

After the tweet from CM Lewis George, Petworth News reached out to her office to get an idea of this temporary fix to the HVAC. Her staff wasn’t aware of the specifics but said they were told it was a fix to the HVAC system and doesn’t rely on spot coolers.

“They still have HEPA filters in place, but the ‘normal’ HVAC system appears to be working, at least in terms of the cooler temperatures and regular air circulation. They have spot coolers still in place in case something breaks again, but they are not in use,” said Will Perkins from the Councilmember’s office.

Mr Perkins directed us to DGS. Donna Harris, DGS spokesperson, replied they received our questions on Wednesday night and were “awaiting clearance to provide a response.” By end of day Thursday and multiple emails, DGS provided a press release that said the temporary fix to the HVAC was… spot coolers.

On the email thread, Mr Perkins replied to Ms Harris that the CM’s office was told the fix was “internal to the [HVAC] system” and “didn’t rely upon spot cooler or window units.”

Staff from CM Lewis George’s office followed up with a phone call to DGS to get clarification on what, if anything, was fixed.

DGS then provided a new press release that said 8 rooms at Powell will rely upon spot coolers.

Either DGS is scrambling to make themselves appear to be positively reacting and fixing the issue at Powell, or they are attempting to obfuscate the issue. The HVAC system appears to still be broken with no fix in place until later in September, and there are valid questions on how well the portable HEPA filters will help filter air in class rooms and larger areas like the auditorium.

Either way, the people really impacted are Powell teachers and staff and the students too young to be vaccinated.

Since every press release DGS writes extols the virtues of Mayor Muriel Bowser, it would be good if her office gave a look at why DGS failed to fix the HVAC at Powell prior to Covid, again during Covid isolation, and now as the school heads to reopening.

Update 4pm 8/27: Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George reached out to DGS to meet with the contractor working on the HVAC. See her post below and on Facebook. At this point, it sounds like the contractor came up with a workaround today to get the full HVAC working. Petworth News thanks Councilmember Lewis George and her staff for staying with this issue!

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