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Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Knapp: MCPS "has locked us into expenditures we couldn't afford"

The Gazette is reporting that Montgomery County Councilmember Mike Knapp has said that Montgomery County can't afford the 4 year lease on Promethean Boards that was entered into by MCPS COO Larry Bowers without Board of Education or County Council approval.

Open question to Councilmember Knapp: Why doesn't the Council void the lease, instead of cutting essential county services to pay for a Larry Bowers MCPS procurement that wasn't approved? The lease specifically required Board of Education approval and that wasn't obtained.


Gazette: Officials want more authority over police spending

... Councilman Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown said he supports the review and that the council would not feel the need to have more control over the funds if they were being spent appropriately.

The council has faced a similar issue previously, Knapp said. He cited a situation last year in which the council learned Montgomery County Public Schools was spending money it received through technology rebates on classroom technology that required three-year contracts, which the council would be asked to subsidize subsequently.

A school system official did not respond to a request for comment.

"It's for any department or agency that gets resources as a result of their ongoing activities," Knapp said, referring to a possible policy change or clarification. "How do those dollars get spent? How are they reported?

"At a time when we have limited resources, the school system had locked us into certain expenditures we couldn't afford," he said. "That's the reason it's a policy issue. The executive is doing the same thing in this case (with the helicopters)."

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Clarification to Gazette article:

It appears that Councilmember Knapp is referring to one of the Promethean Board leases that has been made public. If so, what MCPS "locked" the county into was a 4 year lease for Promethean Boards, not a 3 year contract as stated in article.

However, this lease does not cover the entire Promethean Board procurement.


How the additional 700 Promethean Boards were purchased or paid for remains a mystery to this day.

1 comment:

  1. Councilmember Knapp and the rest of the council 'locked' themselves into this. He doth protest too much. He and the councilmembers were told repeatedly about this. Those of you that voted for Mr. Knapp, think about this. the council is responsible for the fiscal health of this county. They are the ones that vote for the MCPS budget.

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