Wash Post: "...it is being done very hastily...we were blindsided."

Washington Post:  Opposition to school closing gets organized

..."We have a lot of concerns that if it is being consolidated, it is being done very hastily," said Sarah Defnet, who coordinates parent activity for the Poolesville area's four schools. "In a sense, we were blindsided."
Several parents wondered what use would be made of the property, which is in the county's agricultural reserve. School system spokesman Dana Tofig said there weren't any plans.


"We can't make plans for the building until the board takes action," Tofig wrote in an e-mail Thursday. "It could be used for another purpose in the district or it could be used by an external group."...

Welcome to Montgomery County, MCPS's new spokesperson Mr. Tofig!

A little bit of history: Back in 2003, Superintendent Jerry Weast already had plans for school sites that he wanted to remove from the Board inventory way before the Board of Education took action.  The sites were the Kendale Elementary School site, Brickyard Middle School site and a parcel at Tilden Middle School. The sites were to be used for housing. You can read all about those plans in a November 21, 2003 Gazette article. Four of the parcels discussed in this article as "surplus county property" were actually Board of Education dedicated school land. Two of the parcels had not even been disclosed to the public, and yet, Superintendent Weast was ready to hand them over to the county for housing with no public discussion. One of the parcels had been surplused in a closed Board of Education meeting without notice to the public.

Superintendent Weast doesn't repair roofs on the buildings that have children IN them, so repairing a roof is a big deal. What are the plans for the Monocacy Elementary school building after the children are gone?