Dist. 15 Legislators to Board: "constituents' legitimate concerns"

The following letter was sent on November 3, 2009 from the District 15 legislators in the Maryland General Assembly to the Montgomery County Board of Education.

The Maryland General Assembly
Annapolis, Md


To: The Honorable Shirley Brandman, President
Montgomery County Board of Education
Carver Educational Services Center, Room 123
850 Hungerford Drive
Rockville, Maryland 20850
November 3, 2009


Dear Madame President,


We are writing to bring to the Board's attention the strong opposition of a large number of our constituents to the proposed closure of Monocacy Elementary School.


During our years in office, we have visited with students, parents, and teachers at Monocacy Elementary and have come to appreciate the strong support of parents and others of the school over the years. As you know, Monocacy Elementary is in good physical condition and has a strong academic record. It has received capital improvements totaling $500,000.00 for a new roof just this past summer, which lead some parents to question the wisdom of closing the school now.


In addition, many have raised concerns that summer enroollment estimates indicated a leveling off of enrollment for the next couple of years followed by steady enrollment growth at Monocacy Elementary; many are now puzzled with the revised enrollment estimates that suggest a significant drop off in student population at the school. When juxtaposed with the fact that there is new planned develpment in Poolesville, parents are justifited in raising concerns about future over-crowding at Pooleville Elementary, particularly if the schools are merged under the proposal now before the School Board. As you can understand, parents have also expressed their fear that the personalized attention and tightly knit, family-oriented atmosphere that has proved so beneficial for its students will be lost in a larger school.


As State Legislators, we are keenly aware that due to the global recession, the Maryland State Government has had to pare back hundreds of millions of dollars in spending, and that many of the spending reductions recently authorized by the Governor, Comptroller, and Treasurer include reductions to local governments. We are aware that our County Council has asked the School Board to find savings, because some spending reductions (or reductions in growth in spending) to K - 12 may occur in the near future.


We understand the challenges before you, but respectfully request that you take into consideration our constituents' legitimate concerns and seek to identify other budget savings as opposed to closing this community school. Thank you in advance for your consideration as you deliberate on this matter.


Sincerely,
Rob Garagiola
Kathleen M. Dumais
Brian J.Feldman
Craig L. Rice