Gazette Letter: The rush to build an inadequate middle school

Why are there so many people in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase cluster concerned about a proposed new middle school in Rock Creek Hills Park? The answer is simple for those who are paying close attention to the details. The site is smaller now than when Kensington Junior High school was built on the site. Then the site was 21.6 acres, but in 1990 the county leased 8.22 acres to the Housing Opportunities Commission to have a retirement community developed. Today, Kensington Park Retirement Community houses 200 elderly residents in three buildings. What remains for Rock Creek HIlls Park is 13.38 acres, much of it hilly and forested with specimen-type, old-growth trees. That is the answer — the site is too small by Montgomery County Public Schools standards to house a middle school. Its guidance reports 20 acres are needed to meet all the educational specifications required... 

...letter to Gazette from Shannon Hamm continues here.