Is your local MCPS school overcrowded? Have you heard the Board of
Education complain that they do not have any place to build more schools
and that they can only build multi-level, overcrowded schools on too
small lots?Do you like being tricked?
Well Trick or Treat time is here, and the Parents' Coalition has heard that the Board of Education and Superintendent Larry Bowers have a big trick for parents this week!
The Trick is that without any public process or Board of Education public discussion or vote, Superintendent Larry Bowers is giving away 61.25 acres of open public school land.
The Treat is that the land is being handed over to a no bid vendor.
Where is this land located in the County? It doesn't matter.
Public school land is a valuable asset and its disposition should be discussed in public by the land owner, the Board of Education.
The land could be used to build a school, it could be sold, or it could be traded. The possibilities are endless, but, once again, usable public school land will disappear from the Board of Education inventory without any public process.
We have seen over 176 acres of MCPS public school land lost since 1994.
Say good-bye to another 61.25 acres this week and add it to the list of dedicated, public school land that was given in trust to the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education for the benefit of public school children, but not used for the educational benefit of our children.
Happy Halloween!
Where are these sites located?
ReplyDeleteAsk any member of the Board of Education or the County Council.
DeleteThis land belongs to the Board of Education and the County Council has lots of oversight authority over the BOE that they refuse to use.
176 acres already went out the window without any protests.
When they run out of land to sell this way they will have mega developers and way bigger lawyers than are players at this point, use laws of eminent domain to force folks out of their home by settling with them on a "fair" sale and then blow the homes up for land.. It happens more than folks realize. Only then will some folks get the picture of how serious this could get one day when huge deficits build up in the County..
DeleteEasy come easy go. The power of a Parker pen!
ReplyDeleteThe sites are:
ReplyDeleteBrickyard MS Site, on Brickyard Road, Churchill Cluster, 20.00 acres
Oakdale MS Site, on Cashell Road Magruder Cluster, 18.49 acres
Laytonsville MS Site, on Warfield Road Gaithersburg Cluster, 22.74 acres
How can these be listed as “Future School Sites” in MCPS documentation released just eight days ago (http://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP17_AppendixL.pdf), if MCPS is going to sell or has sold already them? Everyone, especially those in the affected areas should call your councilmember at 240-777-7900 immediately.
"Those in affected areas" ? That's the entire county!!!
DeleteUntil parents wise up and figure out that the loss of 60 acres of public school land impacts every single student in MCPS today and for the future, this will continue. Remember the 176 acres that went before this 60!!!!
It's all going to impact current and future children. It's called Long Term Planning and the Board of Education stopped doing that years ago.
Agreed
DeleteDid MCPS already sell the properties or could this potentially be stopped with injunctive action?
But seriously, how can these be listed as “Future School Sites” in MCPS documentation released just eight days ago, if MCPS is going to sell or has sold already them? Isn't that a major misrepresentation? Should Bowers, the BOE or someone be held accountable???
DeleteDoes this mean that he no longer will be outstanding in his field?
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that the sign on Warfield Road advising of the hearings appeared immediately after the elections. Did anyone running for mayor (i.e. Rockville or Gaithersburg) or county council highlight this? I imagine the timing is not a coincidence.
ReplyDelete