A $1 million expansion underway at Key Elementary School turned turbulent at ANC 3D’s July meeting, with a group of neighbors peppering commissioners and agency officials with complaints about the project.

Nearby residents’ concerns included the project’s encroachment on the site perimeter and removal of greenery, anticipated noise from new heating and air conditioning systems, and fear that reduced staff parking on campus will increase competition for community street spots.

City officials in March approved a contract for installation of five portable classrooms to relieve crowding at the school on Dana Place, just off MacArthur Boulevard.

Key’s growing pains reflect broader strains facing the Palisades. MacArthur and its adjacent neighborhoods face intensifying development pressure. Houses are getting bigger, lot lines tighter, and space more densely occupied. For example, at the corner of Q Street and MacArthur, two single-family houses have been torn down and replaced with two buildings holding a total of nine units, a pattern that dramatically changes the potential demand on community infrastructure, including schools.

Installation of portable classrooms is underway at Key Elementary School in the Palisades, as seen July 13, 2018 from Hurst Terrace. Photos Credit: John A. Bray

At the Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting, DC Public Schools facilities management representative Amanda Ou, faced a tough audience, immediately drawing a rebuke for calling the portable classrooms “cottages.”

“They are trailers,” one neighbor said.

Ou said HVAC noise will be reduced because sensors will restrict operation of the systems to only times when students are in the Mobile Modular classrooms.

Arborist Dan Just, of the city Department of Transportation, said new trees, 12 feet to 16 feet tall, would be planted to provide screening. Neighbors said denser shrubberies might work better. Just said planting plans will be examined.

Neighbors expressed their affection for the school, some noting that their own children had attended. But they were unwilling to grant carte blanche for unending renovations to accommodate rising enrollment. “This is just going on and on and there is no resolution,” said one neighbor of the various projects over the years.

Commissioner Alma Gates said that she anticipates greater demand for enrollment.

What does DCPS forecast for Key’s growth? A request I put to Ou two weeks ago for current and 2010 enrollment figures, projections for coming years and plans for Key expansion has gone unanswered. The DCPS website profile of Key pegs 2016-17 enrollment at 397.

Bill Slover, a neighbor who has led a community committee on overcrowding, told commissioners that the Key site was made for 300 students, now has 420 and is “not going to allow for a huge expansion.” He added, “We’re trying to solve a real capacity issue.” The issue raises a persistent question about the status of the former Hardy School, a DCPS building at Q Street and Foxhall Road. It is now occupied by The Lab School of Washington under a lease, with uncertainty about its future and calls by some members of the community for the building to be returned to public school use. “There has been a real reluctance in this community to look at that,” Slover told commissioners.

Gates asked Key Principal David Landeryou, attending the ANC meeting, to meet with those concerned about the expansion. Landeryou accepted, segueing into a huddle with neighbors and agency officials outside the meeting room. Gates urged that there be a “robust discussion.”

Some concerns may be easier to address than others. The first day of school for DCPS is August 20.