DC students urge more mental‑health staff, fairer charter funding and fixes to school facilities
March 19, 2026 | Committee of the Whole, Committees, Legislative, District of Columbia
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More than a hundred young people testified at a Committee as a Whole hearing on March 19, asking the Council to boost mental‑health staffing, protect funding for youth programs and charter schools, and fix school facilities.
Chair Phil Mendelson opened the session and told the packed hearing that 185 witnesses had signed up. "The record will close in 2 weeks — that is 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 2," he said, and added that because of the number of witnesses he would limit follow‑up questions.
Why it matters: students said that fragile or inconsistent access to counselors, poorly maintained facilities and uneven funding are harming learning and driving absenteeism. Multiple students urged sustained investments in school‑based mental‑health clinicians, outpatient supports and preventive instruction so crises do not escalate.
"If the city invests in these conversations, it shows that students in DC public schools are being seen and their well‑being is a priority," said Maclete Hoptab, a 17‑year‑old from Ward 4 and youth advocate with Mi'kva Challenge, who asked the Council to fund annual student mental‑health town halls and to support youth organizations that help students lead and advocate.
Students across grades described similar gaps in counselor availability and follow‑through. Nevaeh Williams of Black Swan Academy said school counselors are often overbooked, and Hayden Coleman, a freshman at DC International, proposed a "testing‑day wellness protocol" that would keep a counselor available for students during standardized exams.
Students and adult learners also asked for more reliable transportation. Aden Birney and other witnesses described chronic delays on bus route D94 and requested that the Council coordinate with WMATA for routes better aligned with school schedules.
Several witnesses from charter schools described a funding disparity with DC Public Schools. Justin Jimenez, a junior at Paul Public Charter, said DCPS receives "at least $88,000,000 outside of the standard school funding formula," which he said creates a per‑student funding gap; he urged the Council to ensure charter students receive comparable resources. The figure was presented by a witness as a claim to the committee and not verified by the Council during the hearing.
Sanitation and facilities were recurring concerns. Athena Culver, a tenth grader at H.D. Woodson High School, testified that about half the girls' bathroom stalls on her floor were inoperable and that water fountains and pest problems made learning difficult. Students called on the Department of General Services and school leaders to speed repairs and improve routine maintenance.
Other topics included: students asking for limits on AP/IB workloads paired with time‑management instruction (Shalyn Clark); proposals to regulate AI use in class to prevent plagiarism (Jaylen Stevens); complaints that phone‑ban systems such as Yondr pouches disrupt communication for jobs and emergencies (Rebecca Vega, Demi Narcisco and others); and repeated calls to raise the adult learner transit subsidy from $70 to $100 per month to help parents and adult students reach classes.
What happens next: Chair Mendelson said the Council will review the testimony and follow up with agency oversight — including meetings with the chancellor about curriculum and services for DC Public Schools, and later budget discussions when the mayor's proposal arrives on April 1. The hearing record remains open until 5 p.m. on April 2 for additional written statements.
A note on sources: this article summarizes testimony given at the Committee as a Whole hearing and attributes numerical figures and policy claims when they were asserted by witnesses. Where students offered numerical or budget figures (for example the $88 million claim about additional DCPS funding), those figures are presented as witness claims recorded in the hearing rather than independently confirmed by the Council during the session.
The committee adjourned at the end of the day with no formal votes taken.
Chair Phil Mendelson opened the session and told the packed hearing that 185 witnesses had signed up. "The record will close in 2 weeks — that is 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 2," he said, and added that because of the number of witnesses he would limit follow‑up questions.
Why it matters: students said that fragile or inconsistent access to counselors, poorly maintained facilities and uneven funding are harming learning and driving absenteeism. Multiple students urged sustained investments in school‑based mental‑health clinicians, outpatient supports and preventive instruction so crises do not escalate.
"If the city invests in these conversations, it shows that students in DC public schools are being seen and their well‑being is a priority," said Maclete Hoptab, a 17‑year‑old from Ward 4 and youth advocate with Mi'kva Challenge, who asked the Council to fund annual student mental‑health town halls and to support youth organizations that help students lead and advocate.
Students across grades described similar gaps in counselor availability and follow‑through. Nevaeh Williams of Black Swan Academy said school counselors are often overbooked, and Hayden Coleman, a freshman at DC International, proposed a "testing‑day wellness protocol" that would keep a counselor available for students during standardized exams.
Students and adult learners also asked for more reliable transportation. Aden Birney and other witnesses described chronic delays on bus route D94 and requested that the Council coordinate with WMATA for routes better aligned with school schedules.
Several witnesses from charter schools described a funding disparity with DC Public Schools. Justin Jimenez, a junior at Paul Public Charter, said DCPS receives "at least $88,000,000 outside of the standard school funding formula," which he said creates a per‑student funding gap; he urged the Council to ensure charter students receive comparable resources. The figure was presented by a witness as a claim to the committee and not verified by the Council during the hearing.
Sanitation and facilities were recurring concerns. Athena Culver, a tenth grader at H.D. Woodson High School, testified that about half the girls' bathroom stalls on her floor were inoperable and that water fountains and pest problems made learning difficult. Students called on the Department of General Services and school leaders to speed repairs and improve routine maintenance.
Other topics included: students asking for limits on AP/IB workloads paired with time‑management instruction (Shalyn Clark); proposals to regulate AI use in class to prevent plagiarism (Jaylen Stevens); complaints that phone‑ban systems such as Yondr pouches disrupt communication for jobs and emergencies (Rebecca Vega, Demi Narcisco and others); and repeated calls to raise the adult learner transit subsidy from $70 to $100 per month to help parents and adult students reach classes.
What happens next: Chair Mendelson said the Council will review the testimony and follow up with agency oversight — including meetings with the chancellor about curriculum and services for DC Public Schools, and later budget discussions when the mayor's proposal arrives on April 1. The hearing record remains open until 5 p.m. on April 2 for additional written statements.
A note on sources: this article summarizes testimony given at the Committee as a Whole hearing and attributes numerical figures and policy claims when they were asserted by witnesses. Where students offered numerical or budget figures (for example the $88 million claim about additional DCPS funding), those figures are presented as witness claims recorded in the hearing rather than independently confirmed by the Council during the session.
The committee adjourned at the end of the day with no formal votes taken.
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