Montgomery Co. starts work on Md.’s largest high school

WASHINGTON — Construction crews in Germantown, Maryland, officially started work this week on a massive project to build a new Seneca Valley High School, eventually tearing down and replacing the current facility, which dates back to 1974.

The new high school, which is expected to open by the fall of 2020, will be the largest in the state in terms of its size.

“It will have space for 2,400 students,” said Jack Smith, superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools. “It will help the Germantown-Clarksburg area because of the tremendous growth that exists.”

Enrollment at the current school is about 1,300...

http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2017/09/montgomery-co-starts-work-states-largest-high-school/

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

The Town Courier: Cities Evaluate School Overcrowding

The mayors and city councils of Rockville and Gaithersburg met on May 14 to discuss the adequate public facilities ordinances (APFO) in place in both cities and in Montgomery County. The conversation focused specifically on how APFO policies effect school overcrowding in the county.APFO policies are put in place to legislate a balance between the development of new communities and the existence of the infrastructure required to support the needs of these communities. For example, a new subdivision may not be constructed if the existing infrastructure — including roads, sewers, fire departments and schools — is not adequate to support the new community.
The May 14 discussion between officials from the two cities centered on the state of their schools. The city of Rockville’s APFO does not allow its schools to exceed capacity by more than 110 percent, while Gaithersburg’s ordinance allows its schools to exceed capacity by 120 percent. The Montgomery County APFO also allows schools to exceed capacity by 120 percent...

 “The system currently in place is not working, and we should sit down with the county executive and county Planning Board to figure out the best way to do this. Everyone involved has said that they would like to be a part of the discussion, and I would like to start the process this summer,” said Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney Katz.

http://www.towncourier.com/2012/06/22/cities-evaluate-school-overcrowding/

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

"A perceived conflict between the ordinance and standards landed the city in court in October."

Gazette:  Rockville councilman proposes revisions to city development law

...Former Rockville mayor Larry Giammo requested in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County a review of the Oct. 26 Rockville Planning Commission approval of a site plan for Silverwood/Shady Grove LLC. Giammo argues the ordinance says Rockville Planning Commission should decide school capacity and the standards says that decision is up to Montgomery County Public Schools, putting the two documents in conflict. The city is defending its decision in court...

Committee: Despite overcrowding, Rockville development law is effective

Gazette:  Growth policy recommendations focus on implementing standards

As Rockville residents struggle with traffic congestion and overcrowded schools, a committee tasked with reviewing the city’s growth and development law says the ordinance is effective as-is.  Only one of 24 committee recommendations addresses changing the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance and Standards, which establishes standards for public facilities such as transportation, schools and fire protection to protect them from becoming overburdened.  The other 23 apply to the standards that implement the law, said Julie Palakovich Carr, chairwoman of the nine-member Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance Committee that has reviewed the document since December.  The group presented recommendations to the Rockville Planning Commission on Oct. 26...

Standards recommendations 

Rockville needs to receive more accurate school enrollment projection numbers from Montgomery County Public Schools, said committee member Tom Gibney.  Rockville should create a commission to advise the mayor and council on education in the city limits and monitor enrollment in schools, the group recommends.  And this commission should monitor student enrollment and student generation rates by housing type to identify inaccuracies in school system enrollment projections.  The committee found the school system’s projections to be flawed, Gibney said.

And the city should work more closely with the school system, Gibney said. “There appears to be some sort of animosity between the two groups that needs to be fixed,” he said...

Rockville Patch: College Gardens Debate Could Frame New Law

Marcuccio calls for collaboration; Some worry the bill cedes too much to the county

On the eve of the county school board's vote to overrule Rockville planners and bring portable classrooms to College Gardens Elementary School members of the county's delegation to the General Assembly debated a bill that could determine how such decisions between schools and municipalities are made in the future.

Introduced by county Senate delegation Chairman Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington, the bill would give the county government "exclusive authority to issue permits and enforce regulations and codes associated with the construction or remodeling of school buildings or the placement of relocatable classroom buildings."

The local legislation would apply solely to Montgomery County and must receive majority approval from delegation members in both chambers before being introduced in the General Assembly...

Is your Cluster Overcrowded?

Here is the report by Bruce Crispell of Montgomery County (MD) Public Schools (MCPS) to be presented to the MoCo Planning Board for approval on June 17. 

Is your school overcrowded?  Check the table in this document to find out. The measure of over-capacity, according to the County Growth Policy, is 105% (portables not included).  If the cluster exceeds 120% a moratorium on development in that cluster must be in force.  Eight school clusters exceed the 105% ceiling; one school cluster, Richard Montgomery, exceeds the 120% ceiling.

Our new Planning Board chair is Ms. Francoise Carrier.  Planning Board members are: Norman Dreyfuss, Joseph Alfandre, Amy Presley, and Marye Wells-Harley.

To contact the Planning Board, send an email to MCP-Chairman@mncppc-mc.org.  Better yet, attend the meeting yourself! The Planning Board meets at 8787 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring.  Read the June 17 agenda here.  The School Test will be discussed and voted on as part of the discussion on the Adequate Public Facilities Discussion, Agenda Item #8.

Growth Policy School Test for FY2011 PB 6-17-10[1]