[peter6061]

I'm posting this in the lounge because, the more people who see it, the better. A buddy of mine has been busy all winter volunteering his time and energy to building a new skate park in Washington DC. The group building it even went as far as getting grants from Tony Hawk Foundation and another group I don't know right now.

Problem is, the money got tied up in DC Government / Schools and they're dragging their feet about giving it back. The group has been doing to groundwork in prep for the park, but now has a professional company coming to do the concrete work for free but they need the money for materials.

Now, they need as many people as possible to forward on a form letter to a couple people who are holding up the process. Any help would be appreciated. I know this is for skaters, but I'm sure many of you on here are. Also, I've been told that since the park will be open, cyclists will be allowed to play around there as well. They need everyone's assistance.

C'mon, help a fellow cyclist / skater out.

The letter to be emailed follows in the next post. Just remember to put YOUR name at the bottom, and address / subject it accordingly.

Thanks a lot. Many in the DC area will be thankful.

 

[peter6061]

TO:
robert.rice@k12.dc.us, clifford.janey@k12.dc.us

SUBJECT:
Coolidge grants misappropriated, expedite return

Dear Dr. Janey and Dr. Rice;

I am writing to urge you to expedite the process of returning the grants misappropriated by Coolidge High School. The funds I am specifically referring to are the grants from the Tony Hawk Foundation and Greenworks/Project Learning Tree that were earmarked for a skateboard park, but were revealed in a DCPS internal audit to have been misappropriated. Though many people within DCPS have stated that they are eager to return the funds and have this matter resolved expeditiously, there appears to be a logjam generated by Coolidge principal Dr. Cecil Robinson.

It is my understanding that there is a single piece of paperwork that Dr. Robinson needs to complete in order to release the funds to the grantors. Despite Dr. Robinson's assertions that the problem has been taken care of, all the responsible parties in DCPS Budgets, Procurement and Payables office say that they do not have any resubmitted paper work. For the past 3 weeks he has refused to complete that simple task, refused to return calls to our lawyer and has refused to discuss the matter with anyone. This money is intended to build an outdoor classroom and recreation facility. There is urgency on our part because upon receiving the returned grants, the granting agencies will be reissuing the funds to the East Coast Round Wall Foundation, our non-profit handling the project. The project is currently underway, but it will not be completed without the funds we have been granted. This is an enormous volunteer effort and public-private partnership that impacts hundreds of volunteers, all of whom are deeply invested in the success of this project.

The thousands of man-hours invested in this project represent a triumph that has garnered national media attention for the students, teachers and residents of the District who have donated much time and energy to seeing this to completion. Please do not allow one person’s inefficacy to effectively shut down the project, because that would most certainly be a negative reflection on DC Public Schools. It is my hope that you will urge Dr. Robinson to be cooperative in this matter and quickly complete Form 76-1 Reprogramming Request that will return the funds to the original grantors as recommended by the DCPS internal audit of June, 2004.

Sincerely,

Put your name here
Volunteer for Green Skate Laboratory, ECRW Foundation

 

[Crash_Tested]

done. now if Austin could just be as forward thinking as they claim to be.