“What is the staff confidence level that this is going to work sort of as advertised, that fees that are incurred and assessed by the City of Gaithersburg are actually going to … that MCPS is going to play ball and they’re actually going to go toward relief for our capacity problems at the specific school level.” #overcrowding #Gaithersburg

At a July 6 Joint Mayor and City Council and Planning Commission Public Hearing, a proposed amendment to the city’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) was discussed. The amendment suggests raising the APFO from 110 to 150 percent of school capacity five years in the future and collecting a Gaithersburg Schools Facilities Payment Fee from developers in areas where a specific school exceeds 105 percent capacity.
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2016, Rachel Carson Elementary School is expected to reach 148.1 percent capacity, a student population increase of more than 5 percent from FY2015. Speaking before the Mayor and City Council and Planning Commission, John Schlichting, director of Planning and Code Administration, said that RCES is “the most crowded school in the City of Gaithersburg, and one of the most crowded elementary schools in the county … (and) is already one of the largest if not the largest elementary school in the county.”
All of the elementary schools in the Quince Orchard cluster are overcapacity, he noted. Fields Road will be at 125.5 percent in FY2016 and Thurgood Marshall at 124.2 percent.
In total, 11 Gaithersburg public schools will be over 110 percent in FY2016, putting them in moratorium per the city’s current APFO that limits residential development when schools exceed 110 percent capacity. While waivers can be granted for schools that are below 120 percent capacity, only Gaithersburg Elementary at a projected 117.6 percent capacity and Northwest High School at a projected 110.3 percent capacity are eligible for this...

...Working in tandem with the new fee, the current 110 percent maximum for forecasted enrollment (in five years) would be changed to 150 percent. The City Council would be given authority to waive either the 150 percent capacity ceiling or the Gaithersburg Schools Facilities Payment Fee (or both) with defined justifications...

 http://towncourier.com/proposed-apfo-amendment-suggests-local-fix-for-schools/

Rockville buries APFS changes

ROCKVILLE – In a twist to the debate over Rockville’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance and Standards (APFO/APFS) Monday night, Councilmember Tom Moore withdrew his motion to align with the county’s standards when Councilmember Beryl Feinberg  said she would vote against the motion.

Feinberg later took Moore to task for what she called “inaccurate” a social media post regarding her actions.
The Rockville mayor and City Council decided to delay action and wait instead for the outcome of County Councilmember Roger Berliner’s (D-1) forum on the county’s ordinance on March 7. The forum “is intended to serve as the beginning of a conversation about what is working well in our county and frankly, what is not working so well,” Berliner wrote in a letter to each member of the mayor and council...

 http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1639%3Arockville-buries-apfs-changes&Itemid=766

Changes to Rockville's Adequate Public Facilities Standards?

APFS PUBLIC HEARING
January 26, 2015
7:00 p.m.

Notice is hereby given that the Mayor and Council of Rockville, Maryland, will conduct a second public hearing on Monday, January 26, 2015, at 7:00 p.m., or as soon thereafter as it may be heard, in the Council Chamber, Rockville City Hall, 111 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, Maryland, in connection with proposed revisions to the City’s Adequate Public Facilities Standards (APFS).

The proposed revisions would replace the current school program capacity test in the City’s APFS with a school program capacity test that corresponds to Montgomery County’s school program capacity test under the County’s Subdivision Staging Policy.

More detailed information on the proposed revisions can be found on file in the City Clerk's Office at Rockville City Hall. Persons wishing to testify at the hearing are asked to call (240) 314-8280, before 4:00 p.m. on the day of the hearing to place their names on the speakers' list.

Mayor and Council of Rockville
By: Sara Taylor-Ferrell, Acting City Clerk

Developers' Thanksgiving

From our friends at The Sentinel. Cartoonist William Charles.

How does MCPS predict school populations?

Tomorrow morning the Montgomery County Planning Board will be taking up the issue of "the methodology used to administer the annual school test as required by the county's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance."  The discussion is Agenda Item #3.  Coincidentally today's Gazette published an article entitled, "Montgomery school system to use more relocatable Classrooms."  You can read that article here.  Ever wonder why your child attending class in a portable trailer?  Ever wonder why, if you live in Clarksburg, one year after the new public elementary school opened, a portable trailer was required?  For those answers and more, read the Planning Board report, here, or below.  Better yet, comment on the report.  To comment, email the Chair, Ms. Françoise Carrier, at mcp-chairman@mncppc-mc.org.

20120426_BriefingonSchoolsTestMethodology_000