August 23, 2022

Ward 3 Update: Back to School

Dear Neighbors,

As we all know, the beginning of the school year is fast approaching. My
annual school readiness tours concluded last week, and I also wrote to DCPS
and DC Health inquiring about the COVID protocols for this upcoming year.
They shared the following information:
* All students and staff will need to provide proof of a negative
COVID-19 test for the first day of school. K-12 students who return after
August 29 will also be required to show proof of a negative test before
their return, as will Pre-K students returning after September 1. Schools
will distribute COVID-19 test kits beginning Monday, August 22 through
Friday, August 26. Families must pick up their test kits from the school
their child attends. Families with students who attend multiple schools may
pick up test kits for all their enrolled students from one school. Families
can also pick up a test kit from any District COVID Center, located in all
8 wards, found [1]here. Ward 3's COVID Center is located at 5335 Wisconsin
Avenue NW.
* Per CDC guidance, there is no required quarantine window for students
or staff, and anyone who tests positive can return after five days provided
they are fever-free for 24 hours and symptoms are improving.
* Student arrival and dismissal schedules are set by schools. Each school
will provide more details about when students should arrive and will be
dismissed each day.
* To ensure safe school operations, parent/guardians are not permitted
into buildings during arrival and dismissal and community members and
families are not permitted into school buildings without an appointment.
Government identification is required for entry.
* DCPS will continue to provide gowns/shields for staff overseeing the
health isolation rooms in our schools, masks (child size, adult size, and
communicator masks), and wipes.

I am hopeful that with these measures in place, we will be able to have a
safe and successful school year.

Regards,

Mary

Upcoming Events
* Wednesday, August 24th at 6:30pm: [2]Broad Branch and Spring Valley
Stormwater Retrofit Project Virtual Public Meeting
* Monday, August 29th: [3]DCPS First Day of School
* Friday, September 2nd at 4pm: [4]First Fridays on Chevy Chase Main
Street
* Wednesday, September 7th at 7pm: [5]ANC 3D
* Thursday, September 8th at 7pm: [6]ANC 3B
* Thursday, September 8th at 7:30pm: [7]ANC 3E
* Monday, September 12th at 7pm: [8]ANC 3/4G
* Friday, September 16th: [9]Council returns from recess

School Readiness Tours

At one of my favorite places, the Stoddert Elementary School garden, with
assistant principal Ibis Villegas

Broad Branch & Spring Valley Meeting

DDOT will host a public meeting on Wednesday, August 24th at 6:30pm to do a
presentation on the Broad Branch and Spring Valley Stormwater Retrofit
project. DDOT will share an update on the project and gather feedback from
the community on potential locations under consideration for green
stormwater infrastructure.

To join the meeting, [10]click here or call 1-202-860-2110 and enter access
code 2305 413 2194 and webinar password 28487824#.

For more details, [11]click here.

First Fridays

Chevy Chase Main Street will be hosting live music, games, family-friendly
activities, and business specials along the commercial corridor on Friday,
September 2nd from 4-8pm. The schedule is as follows:
* 4pm-8pm: [12]Carly Harvey
* 4pm-8pm: Ice Cream Social
* 5:30pm-6:30pm: [13]Drag Queen Story Hour with Tara Hoot
* 7pm-8pm: Learn to Salsa Dance!

For more details, [14]click here.

In the News

Excerpts from the articles appear below. To read the full article, click on
the headline.

Washington Informer: [15]D.C. Council Considers Bill Banning Solitary
Confinement in City Jails

On July 18, Council member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) introduced the “Eliminating
Restrictive and Segregated Enclosures Solitary Confinement Act of 2022”
which would limit the use of safe cells that are used by D.C. Jail
officials to house residents at risk of harming themselves and mandates
those with mental health challenges get the care needed. The bill would
apply to the D.C. Jail and the city’s youth detention facilities.
Additionally, the legislation would require the Department of Corrections
and the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services to devise a plan to
eliminate solitary confinement and to report to the council on the impact
of changing the current policy.

Cheh said solitary confinement doesn’t rehabilitate residents.

“Studies have shown that solitary confinement has many negative effects,
including increased risk of addiction, recidivism and suicide,” she said.
“I am proud to continue my previous work on this issue by moving the
District forward and severely limiting the instances in which solitary
confinement can be used.”. . .

Cheh’s bill emerges as a national movement to ban solitary confinement
gains ground. Unlock the Box serves as an advocacy group that has called
for local, state and federal officials to adopt the United Nations Nelson
Mandela Rule which limits the use of solitary confinement for incarcerated
residents up to 15 days and bans it totally for children, pregnant people,
new mothers and others in vulnerable populations.

Patrice Sulton works as the executive director of the DC Justice Lab, an
organization seeking to make the District’s criminal justice system fairer
for people of color and those with low incomes.

Sulton embraces Cheh’s bill.

“This bill is extraordinarily important,” Sulton said. “Solitary
confinement is a cruel, inhumane and degrading form of punishment and
amounts to torture under international law. Any amount of time in solitary
confinement increases the chances of suicide, opioid addiction, death by
homicide and recidivism upon release.”

Washington Post: [16]D.C. may end right on red for cars, let cyclists yield
at stop signs

The measures are part of the [17]Safer Streets Amendment Act of 2022, which
incorporates language from several pieces of legislation aimed at making
walking and cycling safer. D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3),
chairwoman of the council’s Committee on Transportation and the
Environment, requested the bill be included on the agenda for a vote when
the council reconvenes in September.

“Despite the Vision Zero commitment, our streets remain far too
dangerous,” Cheh said in a statement, referring to the traffic-safety
program that aims to reduce traffic injuries and deaths. “This bill takes
several important steps to reprioritize streets for people over cars and
increase traffic safety for all, no matter how you get around the
District.”

Treating stop signs as yield signs, according to a
council [18]transportation committee report on the bill, would move
cyclists through intersections more quickly — making them less exposed,
increasing their visibility to drivers and reducing their chances of being
hit — and help cyclists maintain momentum.

“Stopping and starting can be hard on the bike in the neighborhood if it’s
every block. It’s quite onerous,” said Ralph Buehler, a [19]professor of
urban affairs and the planning program chair at Virginia Tech’s School of
Public and International Affairs. “The classical neighborhood has four-way
stops every intersection.”

Adopting the Idaho Stop also decriminalizes what is a common biking
behavior and, the committee report said, “eliminates cause for police stops
that disproportionately impact people of color and divert law enforcement
resources toward unnecessary activities.” The report adds that
decriminalization would encourage ridership, which can lead to more
bicyclists and safety in numbers.

A measure that would have allowed cyclists to treat red lights as a stop
sign was removed from the legislation, although the bill does grant DDOT
authority to post signs allowing riders to proceed through red lights.

“After meeting with DDOT safety experts and engineers and some members of
the public, the committee was swayed that riders treating red light as stop
signs may not be appropriate here in the District, given the many
complicated intersections that we have,” Cheh said during a July
13 [20]committee meeting.

WUSA9: [21]Councilmembers want more information on monkeypox to be offered
by DC Health

Councilmembers Mary Cheh, Robert White, Charles Allen, Brooke Pinto, Trayon
White, Elissa Silverman, Brianne Nadeau, and Anita Bonds signed the letter.

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 [22]email or phone through our main line
at (202) 724-8062 with legislative ideas, budget requests, and constituent
services requests.

[23]Facebook [24]Twitter [25]marycheh.com

FOLLOW MARY

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