August 19, 2021

Ward 3 Update:

Dear Neighbors,

DC Public Schools (DCPS) has released a fair amount of information as to
what students and families can expect when returning to in-person learning
this fall. And, as with every year, I've conducted readiness tours and
inspections of Ward 3 schools ahead of the academic year (pictures below).
Undoubtedly, our local school leaders, teachers, and building staff are
doing everything in their power to safely welcome students back to full
time, in-person learning. And, while we all await further guidance and
answers to outstanding questions from DCPS' Central Office, it is the
planning, enthusiasm, and investment from our principals and building staff
that give me hope for the upcoming year. Here is what we know so far:

Masks - Every person on school grounds will be required to wear a face
mask. Masks may be removed for eating, drinking, and during nap time for
pre-k students. Students must also wear masks when outside during recess,
during before/after school care, and for any other school day activities.

A quick note on lunchtime: pre-k and kindergarten students will eat lunch
in their classrooms to reduce exposure to other student groups. Large HEPA
filters are being installed in all school cafeterias to enable older
students to eat outside of their classroom. Every classroom will be
outfitted with a small air filtration unit.
* Sports - Except when actively playing, student athletes will also be
required to wear masks and maintain physical distancing when participating
in higher risk sports (this includes those high-contact sports such as
wrestling, football, basketball, hockey, lacrosse, martial arts, rugby,
soccer, cheerleading, etc.).

Testing - Coronavirus testing will be conducted weekly by a saliva test to
be administered by trained school staff or a deployed testing vendor. This
weekly testing will include a random sampling of 10-20% of students and all
unvaccinated staff. The results will be available to families and staff
within 6-8 hours and school communities will be notified of positive test
results within their student's classroom and/or school building.
* As testing is considered a medical procedure, all students and staff
must submit an active consent form.
* Families, please complete the testing consent form as soon as possible:
[1]COVID-19 Testing Consent Form.

Quarantine Guidance - When a student or staff member tests positive, they
will be required to isolate for at least 10 days and show improvement of
symptoms (including no fever for 24 hours) before returning to school.
Students who are required to quarantine will be provided with a device for
learning at home.

There will also be quarantine requirements for those who come into close
contact with someone who tests positive. A student in a school setting is
determined to be in close contact when they spend 15+ minutes within 6 feet
of an infected person within a 24-hour window within 2 days prior to
illness onset or a positive test result.

There is, however, an exception to these close contact guidelines: students
are not considered to be in close contact if they are consistently wearing
well-fitting masks and other mitigating factors are in place (such as
physical distancing or increased ventilation). With these types of
variables at play, it is clear that each positive case will need to be
evaluated to determine which safety protocols to follow.

When close contact is established:
* Unvaccinated Students & Staff - When an unvaccinated student or staff
member is in close contact with someone who tests positive, he/she will be
required to quarantine for at least 7 days. If the student or staff member
tests negative on or after day 5 of this quarantine period, they will be
permitted to return to the classroom. If no testing is conducted, then the
quarantine period is extended to 10 days.
* Vaccinated Students & Staff - When a vaccinated student or staff member
comes into close contact with someone who tests positive, but they do not
experience any symptoms, then they do not need to quarantine. It is
recommended that they are tested between 3-5 days after the initial
exposure.

Even with all this information, there are several outstanding questions
that I and our school communities have for DCPS. There's the question of
how our more crowded schools will be able to offer 3-6 foot social
distancing within classrooms, what supports will be in place for those
schools interested in providing outdoor classroom/learning opportunities,
and I'm particularly interested in learning at what point, or at what
outbreak metric, would DCPS offer families a with a virtual learning
option. I'll press for more answers during tomorrow's Council-Executive
coronavirus conference call and will share any updates.

Regards,

Mary

Please see [2]coronavirus.dc.gov for the latest District updates &
resources on COVID-19

Get vaccinated TODAY at any of the District's [3]walk-up vaccination sites

COVID Care At Home: Get Tested, Get Vaccinated

Get Tested At Home - In addition to testing at fire stations, recreation
centers, and other sites, residents can pickup free [4]COVID-19 At Home
Testing Kits at 16 libraries across the District. Locations are open for
pickups Monday to Saturday between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm. Testing kits can
be dropped off at the same locations seven days a week (tests should be
dropped off by 8:00 pm on the same day the sample is collected).

Ward 3's Testing Kit Pick-up/Drop-off Library Locations:
* Chevy Chase (5625 Connecticut Avenue NW)
* Cleveland Park (3310 Connecticut Avenue NW)
* Tenley-Friendship (4450 Wisconsin Avenue NW)

Get Vaccinated At Home - In an expansion to the District's vaccination at
home program for those who are medically vulnerable, any resident who
prefers to get vaccinated at home may now call 1-855-363-0333 to schedule a
free at-home vaccination.

The data shows the importance of vaccination:
* Over a seven day average, 84% of all new local COVID-19 cases were
among the unvaccinated
* 96% of local COVID-19 hospitalizations were among the unvaccinated
* The District is experiencing breakout cases, but the data is clear:
vaccinations provide the greatest source of protection against contracting
and being hospitalized from coronavirus

[5]Click Here to Schedule Your At-Home Vaccination

Capital Bikeshare Service in Upper NW

Empty Docks - Many residents have noted the recent issue of perpetually
empty Capital Bikeshare stations across Ward 3. The District Department of
Transportation (DDOT) has provided some clarity on the cause of this
problem and what may be done to fix it:

The reason for the concentration of empty docks is primarily due to the
topography of upper northwest; most riders prefer to ride bikes downhill
rather than using them for any uphill return trips. The result is that
there isn’t a balanced exchange of bikes as seen in other parts of the
District.

This problem isn’t unknown to Bikeshare or DDOT, and a lot of resources are
put toward driving bikes uphill to these stations. All told, transporting
bikes to these uphill neighborhoods accounted for 45% of the total
Bikeshare moves in July—including all of DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

Despite these efforts, the problem persists. To address this issue
long-term, DDOT expects that more Bikeshare stations will need to be added
to the affected areas. There’s also the potential for staffed bike valets
to increase bike availability, but that will depend upon whether their
first valet in Columbia Heights (launching this month) will be successful
at mitigating these same issues the neighborhood.

In short, restocking Ward 3 and uphill areas accounts for almost half of
Bikeshare’s entire DMV redistribution resources. They are working with
their contractor to help replenish bikes in these neighborhoods, but this
is a problem that will also requires more long term solutions.

Help Protect Rock Creek Park with the Stream Team

Join the Stream Team! - Stream Teams are neighborhood-based volunteers who
work within the Rock Creek watershed to host cleanup and conservation
activities, conduct outreach and recruitment, and otherwise help to educate
and promote the broader Rock Creek community around stewardship best
practices. This is a wonderful opportunity for neighborhood volunteers who
want to take an active role in monitoring and protecting a section of Rock
Creek.

Join the [6]Rock Creek Conservancy for their virtual Stream Team Leader
Trainings offered this fall:
* Tuesday, August 24th & Thursday, August 26th from 5:30 to 7pm
[[7]register]
* Tuesday, September 7th & Thursday, September 9th from 5:30 to 7pm
[[8]register]

For more on the program, please click here: [9]Become a Steam Team Leader.

WMATA Service Improvements & Red Line Work Reminder

Upcoming Metro Construction - A reminder that there will be service changes
on the Red Line for the weekend of August 28th-29th:
* Cleveland Park and Woodley Park stations will be closed and there will
be no Red Line service between Van Ness-UDC and Dupont Circle
* Free shuttle buses will be available during the closure
* Travel Tip - Metrobus Route L2 runs along Connecticut Ave between Chevy
Chase Circle and Farragut Square and could serve as an alternative to the
shuttle buses

Metro Service Improvements Coming this Fall - In addition to offering a
number of fare discounts this fall, WMATA will implement a number of
service changes that will bring overall bus and rail service back to near
pre-pandemic levels (providing 97% of pre-Covid service levels on Metrobus
and 91% on Metrorail).

The following fare discounts and service changes will be effective
beginning September 5th:

Discounts
* Free bus transfers - If you connect between rail and bus, the bus ride
will now be free for all routes except Express service
* Lower rail fares on weekends - Weekend fares on Metrorail will be $2
for a one-way trip, instead of the current distance-based fare
* Lower prices for 7-day Regional Bus Pass – Customers will now pay $12
for a 7-day Regional Bus Pass ($6 for seniors/disabled customers)

Metrorail
* Additional trains – Residents can expect to wait no more than 3-6
minutes for a train on weekdays at any station served by multiple lines
(and on the Red Line) all-day until 9:30 pm
* Improved late-night service – With more trains operating during
late-night service, residents can expect to wait no more than 5-8 minutes
for a train at any station served by multiple lines (and every 10 minutes
on the Red Line)
* Later closing on Fridays and Saturdays – Metrorail will stay open until
1 am instead of midnight on Friday and Saturday
* Earlier opening on Sunday - Metrorail will open at 7 am instead of 8 am
* Additional Weekend Trains – Trains will run every 5-8 minutes at any
station served by multiple lines (and every 10 minutes on the Red Line)

Metrobus
* Additional buses on the [10]36 most popular Metrobus routes (including
the 31, 32, & 33 routes)
* Buses on more than 40 other routes will provide more frequent service

Reminder: Final Days to Submit Comment on Beach Drive!

The Future of Beach Drive - The National Park Service (NPS) is conducting
an assessment on the future use of upper Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park.

This includes the decision as to whether NPS will reopen segments of the
road to car traffic or continue the pandemic-induced road closure for
family, pedestrian, and cyclist use.

For a brief history of the closure, road use data, and the decades-long
effort to reclaim upper Beach Drive for resident use, please see
Councilmember Cheh's [11]Sense of the Council Resolution in support of the
permanent closure of upper Beach Drive to vehicle traffic.

This is the last week that NPS is accepting public comments on the future
use of Beach Drive.

Please submit your comments by this Sunday, August 22nd, through the
following link: [12]NPS Park Planning.

Get Ready for Cleaner, Quieter Lawn Equipment

Ending this Update on a Happy Note:

Congratulations to our Little League Champs!

Celebrating Our Local Champions - Capitol City Little League's 11U and 12U
teams are District Champions! After winning the DC 12U Little League
Championship at the end of July, the [13]Capitol City All-Star players went
on to defeat Maryland's top team in the League World Series Mid-Atlantic
Tournament before being eliminated by Delaware.

Read more about this remarkable local team as well as head coach/manager
Nicole Vorassi Bates in USA Today's recent piece, "[14]Fight for what you
want: Nicole Vorrasi Bates breaks barriers as female coach of Little League
team."

Our Office is Open!

Connect with our staff - While Councilmember Cheh's physical office is
closed during the public health emergency, she and her staff are
teleworking and will remain accessible for residents.

You may continue to reach us via phone through our main line at (202)
724-8062 with legislative ideas, budget requests, and constituent services
requests.

[15]Facebook [16]Twitter

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Mary Cheh
Mary Cheh Ward 3
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NWSuite 108
Washington, DC 20004
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