A coalition of Gaithersburg parents is pushing for the construction of a new elementary school to relieve overcrowding at four Montgomery County public schools.
Cory Siansky, a city resident with two children at Gaithersburg Elementary School, said overcrowding is affecting the school’s students.
“They’re over capacity in every measurable way,” he said. “What we’re seeing now is that the core functions of the school are strained.”
Siansky said long lines to buy lunch at Gaithersburg Elementary School are consuming the scheduled lunch period, keeping students from having enough time to eat. Multiple classes use the school gym simultaneously, he said, and an additional kindergarten class will be added in the fall...
Siansky testified at a Montgomery County Public Schools board meeting on April 23 that four overpopulated schools — Gaithersburg, Strawberry Knoll, Flower Hill and Judith Resnik Elementary schools — would benefit from the construction of a fifth school on a piece of land owned by Montgomery County Public Schools. The space, known to the school district as the Woodwards Road site, is located near 8700 Emory Grove Road, outside the boundaries of the City of Gaithersburg.
http://www.gazette.net/article/20130522/NEWS/130529732/1022/parents-fear-overcrowding-at-gaithersburg-elementary-schools&template=gazette
I would love to know who Mr. Siansky voted for for school board, county council, and County Executive. This system was put in place by people the voters elected. Given that most elected officials are re-elected time after time, apparently over-crowded schools are what the majority of the people in this county want. Mr. Siansky, did you vote for the current officials? Members of the above-mentioned Gaithersburg coalition, did you vote for the current BOE?
ReplyDeleteAs much as you might like to know, there is this pesky little detail in the United States called a secret ballot, which means no one has to tell you how they voted. Takes some nerve to call out people about how they might have or might not have voted.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't like the current BOE the way to get them out of office surely isn't to badger actual voters.
Then you need to meet the Apple Ballot handler. Harassing voters over how they will vote is a full time job. Badgering voters is exactly the tactic of the Apple Ballot.
DeleteDespite the photo, the lease is not the issue at all. The Woodwards road site could be used if desired (and the cell tower lease cancelled), although it has topography and frontage issues that make it less than ideal. I encourage people to check the ES holding school site selection report for details.
ReplyDeleteFrontage issues? You must be kidding. Have you toured MCPS elementary schools? This site is phenomenal and perfect for MCPS! If you think you are going to get "details" from a MCPS site selection report - prepared in secret in violation of Maryland Open Meetings laws, think again.
DeleteHere's how this works. When MCPS wants to point the BOE in a certain direction they pad the site selection reports with false information so the BOE will decide what the MCPS administrators want.
MCPS Director of Construction just addressed the issue of using this site at a BOE committee meeting. Where you there? We were. We have the video. Song's response was that the BOE can't take back this site until they have a) selected this site for a specific school, b) put the site in the capital budget, and c) obtained funding!!! Now, MCPS forward funds their school projects. They typically don't have funding for what they do build. Song's statement to the BOE committee was basically that it will be IMPOSSIBLE to ever reclaim this site.
The COMCAST lease is only one of the 5 leases at this site. There are also leases with AT&T, Sprint/Nextel, T-Mobile and the Tower Company.
These 5 leases ARE the issue with this site. Without them, this would be vacant land usable for an elementary school today.
The citizens of Gaithersburg have their own City officials to thank for the majority of the 5 leases at this site. The City allowed construction on this land without the permission of the land owner.
DeleteThe land owner is the BOE. The BOE did not sign the majority of these leases. Most of these leases were signed by MCPS staff who do not have the legal authority to sign on behalf of the BOE. The BOE signature comes after the BOE takes action as a public body.
But, the City of Gaithersburg allowed construction to commence without the owner's consent or authorization. So, now the community is stuck with a cell tower compound where an elementary school could be.
I hope you publish this reply. You posted the lease on this blog before. The community is not stuck with a cell tower compound. The lease clearly can be terminated at any time by the BOE, and the cell companies have to remove their equipment and restore the property at THEIR expense. The leases look like a wise use of vacant property. (And if you live or drive near there, you probably are happy that a cell tower is there and you have reception). Rail if you want about the process -- the substance actually is pretty good.
DeleteWow. You could not be be wrong. The process was HORRIBLE. The neighbors are FURIOUS. But, we are going to post a separate piece about that soon.
DeleteThe lease? Sorry. James Song has already informed the BOE that the leases cannot be cancelled unless a school is scheduled to be built in the Capital Budget AND funding has been received. So, bottom line is this site will never be considered for a school. The BOE has their marching orders, no school on this site - move on.
Again, were you at the BOE committee meeting where this was discussed and disposed of? The BOE has their answer to the issue of cancelling the lease, and it ain't happenin'.
It's always amazing when we get anonymous quotes that speak for people they have never met. We've met the neighbors. We know what they have gone through with a massive cell tower compound in their backyard and 5 different vendors using THEIR driveway to access the site.
DeleteFor substance: Are you new to Montgomery County? Because when the BOE gives their land over to a for-profit business they have a terrible time getting it back, they often don't. See Peary High School, Montgomery Hills Jr. High for starters. And, when the BOE tries to get the land back they get sued and/or they are forced to pay outrageous sums to the renter. See Belt Jr. High.
This lease is very different than the agreement with Peary High School. You posted it on your own blog, so I suggest readers actually read the lease. That document controls, not Mr. Song's description. Again, there are many things to discuss here, but the cell tower lease is not one of them.
DeleteIt's all about the cell tower lease. Were you at the BOE Committee meeting?
DeleteMr. Song controls the BOE. He has told them that it would be just about impossible to cancel the leases and that they can't do it until funding has been obtained for an approved construction project. The BOE now has advice from staff.
If you think you can talk about this property and ignore the 5 private leases, go for it. You obviously aren't serious about seeing a school built on this site in your lifetime.
So here is your post of the Comcast agreement for the property:
Deletehttp://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2012/12/entire-public-school-site-leased-to.html
Read Section 7(b) (Landlord may cancel on 360 days notice if it determines in its sole discretion that the property is needed for school purposes.)
Read section 13 (Tenant must restore, at its expense, the property to its original condition.
So, upon the BOE deciding it wants to use the property as a school, it may give 360 days notice and Comcast has to remove everything. Doesn't sound so impossible to me.
If you say the other 4 leases are different, post their termination provisions. Let's have a discussion, not a name calling session.
Were you at the BOE Committee meeting where MCPS Director of Construction James Song addressed the leases? Yes or no?
DeleteThe BOE members will NEVER, EVER read the leases. They've never seen most of these lease! These leases were only made public through the Parents' Coalition blog. Again, this is not just about COMCAST! There are 5 different commercial vendors on this site.
The BOE will go by what MCPS Staff and MCPS outside counsel Judith Bresler tell them to do. (Ms. Bresler was at the BOE committee meeting!) And, they have been told that they can't just "cancel" the lease. They have been told that in order to legally cancel the lease they must a) select the property through a site selection process, b) put the project in the Capital budget, c) obtain full funding for the project - THEN they can cancel the lease and give the 360 days notice.
That is what the BOE has been told and our BOE does what they are told by MCPS staff. That's what the Apple Ballot elects to the BOE, members who do what MCPS staff tell them without question and without reading or research.
What about the City of Gaithersburg? Where is their oversight of this site? What about the 2 un-fenced gas storage units on the property? Permits? What about the leases? Why did the City approve them when most were not even signed by the property owner?
DeleteIs the City inspecting this property?
What about PEPCO? Remember there are utility easements on this property too. It's not just leases, there are easements to be dealt with also.
Woodwards Road Elementary School site: The monopole is within the boundaries of the City of Gaithersburg and was reviewed and a approved through the City's special exception process. A telecommunications facility in the R-A(Low Density Residential) Zone is a special exception use under the City's Zoning Ordinance and is reviewed and approved by the City's Board of Appeals after a recommendation to from the City's Planning Commission. Both the Planning Commission recommendation and the Board of Appeals review are public hearings.
ReplyDeleteThe monopole at this site was originally approved in March 2002 under Special Exception A-500 for Sprint
It has had several subsequent amendments to add additional carriers as follows:
A-500 (A) - Nextel - October 2003
A-500(B) - Omnipoint - May 2005
A-500(C) - AT&T Mobility - March 2009
@Anonymous, no, takes no nerve at all to call people out who complain about what the BOE is doing and then continue to re-elect the same people. I am asking people to think twice, do some investigation, and actually find out who is on the ballot and what their record is. Stop assuming the apple ballot is the be-all and end-all of the voting information process. Do your job as a citizen and become informed. And if you think people aren't 'called out' for how they vote you might want to take a look at how things get done in Montgomery County. Stop being so naive.
ReplyDeletePaula, you didn't call them out, you called out them out and asked who they voted for. Had you just called them out then no big deal. Democracy is based on secret ballot. Sorry, that's the way it works. If you want to ask voters to think differently and vote differently, that's perfectly fine advocacy, but to ask who people voted for isn't the way voting in this country works.
ReplyDeleteI'd also postulate that if you really want people to think your ideas are the best way to vote then telling people "to do their job as a citizen" and "stop being so naive" isn't a very productive way to go about doing it, especially when you don't know how informed or uniformed someone might be.
After all it is possible many people are well informed and simply don't agree with your opinions.
@Anonymous, whoever you are, in some elections in this county only 20% of the registered voters vote. Democracy, a functioning democracy, is based on much more than 'secret ballot.' When I ask people to 'do their job as a citizen' that is part of what I am asking. I am also asking them to take just a few minutes here and there to read about the issues and candidates and inform themselves instead of voting for the people listed on the apple ballot. And as long as it is my tax dollars paying for these shenanigans, I have the right to call people out. They are taking my hard-earned money and spending it by default. In fact, MCPS and the county receives tax dollars from people living across the state and across the entire country. If I didn't have to pay for this crap, then I might feel differently. Please note our taxes just went up.
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear, if the choice before the BOE is students versus commercial vendors the commercial vendors will win every time.
ReplyDeleteMs. Sartucci, thanks. Please note, students do not make campaign contributions. Maybe if they did things would be different for them.
ReplyDeleteStudents might also consider throwing lavish parties and inviting government officials. That seems to work wonders.
ReplyDeleteActually, that is a great idea for the parents that want this school site to be used for students! Throw a lavish cocktail party and invite elected officials. Contribute to key elected officials campaigns, we're talking state here, not BOE. Some key officials are currently looking to run for higher office. Magical things happen in Maryland when you know the right people.
Delete