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Saturday, August 1, 2009

Overcrowded Schools Coming Your Way


Get ready for increasingly overcrowded schools in Montgomery County, Maryland because, folks that's what you want! Bet you didn’t know that. Well, now you do. How do I know? I just read the proposed Growth Policy, happily titled, “Reducing our Footprint” so shame on you naughty awful suburbanites with your oh-so-huge carbon footprints! Shame on you for wanting to get rid of portables and wanting smaller classrooms. Who do you think you are? Your elected County Government and Planning Board, chaired by Royce Hanson, know what’s best for you. You elected the council, they appointed the Planning Board, they do the hires and provide the funding (oh wait, I though WE provided the funding. Oh well, that is so old school), so this is what you wanted. Who knew?

And here’s what you want: “School Capacity Related Changes

Check out pages 46-48 of the Growth Policy that is going to the County Council. Here are the recommendations.

Here is what you want for your children:

1. Set the threshold for application of a school facility payment at project enrollment greater than 110 percent of projected program capacity at any school level by cluster

2. Retain the threshold for school moratorium on new residential subdivisions at projected enrollment greater than 120 percent of projected capacity at any school level by school cluster.

3. Allow residential subdivision applications that are complete within the 12 months prior to imposition of a moratorium but have not been acted upon to proceed; and

4. Allow any approved school capacity for a specific development to be transferable to another development within the same school cluster.

Yes you read that right; the second recommendation is to keep the threshold for the moratorium; and the third recommendation is, ignore the moratorium and build anyway! Why? Because as the staff writes in the Appendix, it is just too darned expensive. so, let's ignore that pesky moratorium. After all, only B-CC, Seneca Valley, and Clarksburg would be affected.

Don’t want that? Tell the county council. Email your councilmember and make sure they know. You have until September. That is when your council that you elected will vote on this ‘growth’ policy. Otherwise get ready for overcrowding. Oh, your local school is already overcrowded? That’s what you want! Congratulations.

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