The Board of Education wants to Divest Lyttonsville of Their Open Space Land, Again. #AntiaircraftArtilleryBattalion

MCPS already designed a school for the Coffield Rec site.

Once again, the Board of Education has put the parkland next to the Coffield Recreation Center in Lyttonsville on a list of potential school sites.  

Back in April of 2011, the Board of Education was told by the Montgomery County Department of Parks that park land is not up for grabs for the placement of school buildings.  See the April 27, 2011, letter from Montgomery Parks to the Board of Education below. 

In 2011, the Board of Education was specifically told they could not have the land next to the Coffield Recreation Center for a public school, yet here that park is again on a list of potential school sites and the Board of Education has even gone so far as to pay for a possible building design for the proposed school.  See image from MCPS presentation. 

Not only is the Park land next to the Coffield Recreation Center the property of Montgomery Parks, but the land that became part of the fields at Rosemary Hills Local Park was probably the site for an Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion in the first half of the 1950s, as part of a group of such sites that ringed the Washington, DC region before the advent of Nike missile sites after the Korean War.

Because the land was purchased by Parks and Planning before there were federal and state environmental laws that mandated due diligence into toxic materials and other past land uses that could pose a threat to water quality or health and safety, the screening process to assess threats was very superficial, limited, for example, to noting whether a dump or other substandard structures were on site.

This site would need to be investigated thoroughly before any construction could commence and as the long time residents of Lyttonsville know, this past use of this land has prevented other construction projects from taking place on the existing fields. 

BOE Site Selection by Parents' Coalition of Montg... on Scribd

"campaign contributions from developer-related and other special interests -- and that this contributes to excessive density and school overcrowding"

MCPS classroom trailers

GRASSROOTS EFFORT INITIATED TO IMPROVE COUNTY GOVERNMENT

A group of MoCo residents are concerned that candidates for County Council are too dependent on campaign contributions from developer-related and other special interests -- and that this contributes to excessive density and school overcrowding.  This grassroots groups of MoCo residents have formed MoCoVoters.org:

http://www.mocovoters.org/

... and created its related Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/MontgomeryCountyVoters/

Please consider "liking" and, most importantly, widely "sharing" the Facebook page.  Anyone interested in participating with MoCoVoters.org can contact them through their contact page:

http://www.mocovoters.org/contact-us/

Lyttonsville Neighborhood Objects to Planned Overcrowding of Community and Schools

The Lyttonsville neighborhood in Silver Spring has started a Petition to the Montgomery County Planning Board and the Montgomery County Council concerning the planned overcrowding of the neighborhood and schools. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The community petition asking the Planning Board and the County Council to limit growth in the western section of the planning area, to reduce densities (FARs), and to protect the park and community center is now online and ready to go at

http://bit.ly/lyttonsville

If this link is not clickable, please copy and paste it into your browser. is the link.

Remember, anyone can sign the petition, i.e., all the adults living at a single address and all children over 15. You don’t have to live in the neighborhood to sign.

Please sign the petition, copies will be presented to the Planning Board and later to the County Council and Executive. Please forward this message to others.


-----------------------------

PETITION:

I believe that our neighborhood is uniquely diverse, balanced and affordable; models that Montgomery County should seek to replicate in other areas inside the Beltway. Therefore:

-I object to the large increase in housing proposed for the properties near Lyttonsville Road and Grubb Road in the western part of our sector plan area and ask that the total number of new residences be limited to 400 new units. 

-I oppose the re-zoning of these properties to the densities proposed in the draft plan and ask that they be given an FAR no higher than 1.5, the highest density usually allowed next to residential neighborhoods. 

-I request that the effects of increased population on the Lyttonsville-Rosemary Hills Park and Gwendolyn Coffield Community Center be carefully considered and that resources be made available to enhance these valuable community assets.

WUSA9: Asbestos found at school building site in Montgomery Co.

WTOP: MCPS Halts Construction at BCC Middle School #2 Site

...A spokesman for MCPS says that construction has been temporarily halted because the excavation has uncovered the asbestos floor tiles from the demolished school.
“We have coordinated with the required state agencies and intend to start the abatement process,” MCPS spokesman Derek Turner said in an email.
The hazardous materials operation is scheduled to begin Monday, Turner said.
Meanwhile, neighbors say they wish the school system would provide more information about the construction project and some say posting an asbestos project sign on the site’s chain link fence appears to them to be the minimum requirement.
“The original school was buried under the ground here, and it would have been good for MCPS to let us known that that school originally had asbestos,” says Laura Dennis, a neighbor...

 http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2016/01/kensington-residents-concerned-over-asbestos-warning-sign-at-middle-school-site/

MCPS Digs Up Asbestos and Former Building at BCC Middle School #2 Site #RockCreekHillsPark

MCPS apparently did not bother to do an Environmental Impact Study on the Rock Creek Hills park site before they began digging for construction of the new BCC Middle School #2.

Did MCPS' construction department simply not want to think about the fact that the lower part of the former school that was on part of this site had simply been covered up by dirt?  

The construction crew has now excavated part of the former school building and found asbestos.
  
What will this added asbestos abatement project and excavation of the former school building add to the cost of this middle school construction project?

Letter to Council: MCPS MISINFORMATION AT THE COUNTY COUNCIL EDUCATION COMMITTEE WORKSHOP!!

To: "Councilmember Berliner" <Councilmember.Berliner@montgomerycountymd.gov>, "Councilmember Elrich" <Councilmember.Elrich@montgomerycountymd.gov>, "Councilmember Floreen" <Councilmember.Floreen@montgomerycountymd.gov>, "Councilmember Hucker" <Councilmember.Hucker@montgomerycountymd.gov>, "Councilmember Katz" <Councilmember.Katz@montgomerycountymd.gov>, "Councilmember Leventhal" <Councilmember.Leventhal@montgomerycountymd.gov>, "Councilmember Navarro" <Councilmember.Navarro@montgomerycountymd.gov>, "Councilmember Rice" <Councilmember.Rice@montgomerycountymd.gov>, "Councilmember Riemer" <Councilmember.Riemer@montgomerycountymd.gov>, "county council" <county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov>, MCP-Chair@mncppc-mc.org 

Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 6:03:24 PM

Subject: MCPS MISINFORMATION AT THE COUNTY COUNCIL EDUCATION COMMITTEE WORKSHOP!!

Dear Montgomery County Councilmembers,

Once again, Mr. James Song, MCPS Director of Facilities, has lied to you about an important fact that you asked him during the Council Education Committee meeting regarding the proposed B-CC Middle School #2 on Monday October 12, 2015. This is fundamental information which has led Montgomery County leaders, including the MCPS BOE, to base their decisions on misinformation.

When asked whether there are any MCPS middle schools on small sites of less than 10 acres not adjacent to parks, and with larger populations, Mr. Song, hesitantly, responded “Yes.”

Not true!

The MCPS FY2016 CIP, Appendix J, which lists all MCPS school properties, shows that all 4 existing middle schools on less than 10 acres are co-located with a park which doubles their property sizes, allowing for all needed amenities, including parking and standard size program spaces within the school. In addition all 4 schools have far less than 1200 student capacity! Here are the true facts:

• Lakelands Park Middle School - MCPS Capacity 1,122 - 8.1 acres + 11.6 acre Lakelands Park with lighted fields for baseball, softball, soccer and other team sports, a picnic pavilion, and Billy’s Playground, a fully handicapped-accessible play area for young children. Includes a synthetic turf field.
• Newport Mill Middle School – MCPS Capacity 825 - 8.4 acres + 10+ acres Newport Mill Park with a playground, three softball fields, soccer field, and three multi-use fields, 3 basketball courts, 2 picnic areas.
• Parkland Middle School – MCPS Capacity 948 - 9.18 acres + 8.5 acre Parkland Local Park with 2 baseball fields and 2 soccer fields.
• Earle B. Wood Middle School – MCPS Capacity 961 - 8.5 acres + 10+ acres Earle B. Wood Park with one softball field and one baseball field (with a soccer field overlay), two softball fields under construction, tennis courts, basketball court.

Once again, information was manipulated and withheld to sway decisions, and the deceit only proves that they know what they are doing is wrong! Withholding facts in order to manipulate has been the sanctioned MCPS behavior throughout this entire process, including the Site Selection Committee meetings. Repeated lies only engender questions about what other information has been withheld to influence important decisions about this school. You, our elected leaders, cannot make informed decisions in the best interests of your constituents if you are not told the truth!

We thank you for emphasizing the issues about equity and the importance of creating a great school that is differentiated with excellent programs and academic offerings, compensating for its many shortcomings. We truly would love a superior school in the “Eastern” part of the cluster. You are correct that thousands of constituents and parents will be enraged when they discover the school does not deliver comparable academic or athletic programs as its sister school, Westland MS. However, while Mr. Song stated that there are “no bells and whistles” in this school, he failed to explain how an outstanding school can be created when it is missing core spaces, including:

• Less than required ESOL rooms
• Smaller classrooms
• Cafeteria and auditorium 25% too small to support the needs of 1200 Students.

Schoool administrators will be pre-occupied with addressing these shortfalls, and students will pay the price!

During the meeting you mentioned the importance of master planning. MCPS has made a decision with no consideration of the greater good or the County master plan. Instead, they have used lies and deceit to achieve their goals, taking us backward instead of forward. A smarter solution would be to master plan a new school near the Purple Line, giving parents and students alike access to resources throughout the year. It is shameful that a golden opportunity is being missed to create an exemplary, cooperative 21^st Century school and park facility that is central and accessible to the greater community, delivering more value for the $55Million cost to taxpayers.

We are looking to you as our leaders! If you continue to be misinformed and lied to by MCPS, how are you going to ensure that this will be an equitable or superior school for our children?? How are you going to ensure that fair and responsible decisions are being made by MCPS??

This school will be a 50-year legacy left to the community by MCPS and the Montgomery County Council. There is no excuse for the actions of elected officials who prioritize development over our children and quality of life, once a core value in Montgomery County. It's high time for Montgomery County leaders to step up to what is right, and not accept lies, deceit, and manipulation.

Susie Cooper, Mary Maday and other future BCC Middle School #2 Parents

   County Council Letter 10-12-2015 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

WTOP: New school enrollment data for local Md., Va. counties show growth

...Surprisingly, the use of portables, or “relocatables,” according to the county, has decreased slightly despite the increasing numbers. Since 2007 the number of portables in use has fluctuated, but hovered around 400, Crispell said.
Last year, students had classes in 404 relocatables, up from the previous year’s 382. This school year, the number dropped back to 381.
Just over 87 percent of these portables are in use at the elementary school level, versus the 7 percent in use in middle schools and the just over 5 percent in high schools.
Howard, Anne Arundel, Frederick and Baltimore Counties are also seeing increasing enrollment, along with several other counties. Prince George’s and Baltimore City both decreased in enrollment, with Baltimore City’s decreases at rates comparable to Montgomery’s increases, according to a report released by Montgomery County.
Four Montgomery County schools are scheduled to open within the next five years to help ease overcrowding in the county: Clarksburg/Damascus Middle School in Clarksburg, Bethesda-Chevy Chase Middle School #2 in Kensington, Richard Montgomery Elementary School #5 in Rockville and Northwest Elementary School #8 in Germantown.
Within the same period of time, 13 schools throughout the county are scheduled for “revitalization/expansion,” according to Montgomery County data.
One of the new schools is causing controversy within the B-CC cluster community. The location of Bethesda-Chevy Chase Middle School #2, the temporary name for the second middle school in the B-CC cluster, has raised concerns. The school is set to open in August 2017 in Rock Creek Hills Local Park, and construction starts in the next few days.
The new school will be on land formerly used for Kensington Junior High, but the site size raised concerns for some community members.
The land available for the new school is not the same size used for the previous school, because some land is no longer available. The county addressed this concern and others in a letter to the community in May meant to “clear up” citizens’ fears about the new location...

"Supersizing the school is unneeded, unwise, and unsafe."

 Testimony before the Montgomery County Council, October 6, 2015:

...It is unsafe, because hazards identified by our County’s Planning Board remain unaddressed, as was recently noted in the letter to Mrs. O’Neill from County Planning Board Chair Mr. Anderson and Councilmember Rice. Over a one-hour period every school morning, over 800 vehicle trips (on top of high levels of commuter traffic) will access this school via narrow, hilly, curving, neighborhood streets. Restricted visibility for pedestrians and cars will increase accident risk for children accessing the site. A single steep driveway, plagued with blind spots and low visibility, must be shared by all student drop-offs, crosswalks, deliveries, parking, and emergency vehicles. Interactions between walkers and vehicles would inevitably create hazards. While many MCPS schools are embedded in neighborhoods, few, if any, have such a combination of traffic and site challenges, which would be exacerbated by expansion to 1200.

For context, Rock Creek Hills Park is significantly reduced from the former site of Kensington Junior High School. After the old school was torn down, an elder-care facility was built on much of its footprint, taking a third of the land and a vehicle entrance. The remainder fails to meet almost all official County site standards, including size, topography, and access. Once built, this will be the only middle school with less than the new 15-acre requirement without an adjacent park to provide additional space. Due to this critical lack of space, this school will have no regulation soccer field, no large playing field, and just 2 of the 4 softball fields, 4 of the 6 tennis courts and 2 of the 3 basketball courts required by standards approved by the Board of Education. The soccer and softball fields are “overlaid” meaning just one athletic activity at a time. Classrooms are below standard size. If expanded to 1200 students, cafeteria and auditorium seating will be 25% undersized, necessitating “operational” solutions, such as staggering lunch throughout the day. Despite additional costs for retaining walls up to 22 feet high to maximize useable space, the site will not have a separated student drop off, and, if expanded to 1200 students, would be short almost 25% of car and bus parking required by MCPS...

 http://savekensingtonpark.blogspot.com/2015/10/supersizing-school-is-unneeded-unwise.html

4,057 Empty Seats: The Truth About MCPS Middle School Capacity #unusedClassrooms

Enrollment/Capacity/Utilization

If you watched the August 20, 2015, Board of Education discussion of the dire need for a new middle school to be built on a Kensington park site, you would think that MCPS middle schools were simply bursting at the seems. 

In fact, MCPS has approximately 4,000 unused, existing seats in middle schools today.   The image to the left highlights all of the MCPS middle schools with available classroom space. The actual available space varies depending on which MCPS chart you use.  

That's right, available middle school classroom space.

MCPS has so much empty middle school space that at Sligo Middle School they have given an entire wing of the school to a private company.  

Are Board of Education members simply unable to understand the basic math of classroom capacity?  

Let's take one set of MCPS numbers.

MCPS states that they have middle school classroom space to accommodate 36,315 middle school students.

Last year, MCPS enrolled 33,169 actual middle school students. 

Even using this set of MCPS numbers, there are still 3,146 EMPTY middle school classroom seats. 

That's at least the equivalent of THREE entire middle schools of empty classroom space.  

If you use the chart shown in the image above, there is the equivalent of FOUR entire middle schools of empty classroom space.

Parent Says Pat O'Neill is "out of touch." MCPS Turning a blind eye to safey. Misuse of Funds. #appalled

More public comment on proposed BCC Middle School #2 construction.

Cafeteria and Gym will be Undersized by 33%. Most Permits Have Been Denied.

Public comment on the construction of BCC Middle School #2.

Public comment offers solutions to the undersized and dangerous plan to build BCC Middle School #2 on Kensington Park.

BOE Pat O'Neill Does Not Know 1/2 of School Site is Gone. ...good enough for her husband in 1960's...

Dear Mrs. O’Neill –

Your 17 August posting [click here] regarding BCC Middle School #2 demonstrates, once again, how out of touch you are with the issues, and the concerns of the neighborhood.

Image shows original school site compared to today.

At a July Board of Education meeting, you fundamentally stated that since a middle school at this site was good enough for your husband in the 1960’s, it should be good enough for the kids of today and the next 25 years.    That statement tells me that, as the elected leader of the Board of Education, you have not done basic research into this contentious issue that has been so controversial for the past five years.  I would conjecture that if you took your husband there today, he would no longer recognize the site which is now almost half of what it was before MCPS sold a significant (and the most buildable) portion to allow construction of a nursing home.   If you took him there during morning rush hour, he would probably be alarmed at the volume of traffic today, as compared with the 1960s.

But, more importantly, your posting demonstrates that you are also unaware of the issues that concerned citizens have discussed with Dr. Zuckerman and MCPS staff over the past two months.    You stated that “some who live near the new school don’t want it in their neighborhood”.  Although that may be true of some, the discussions revolved around, and must continue to revolve around, traffic and safety, as they impact not only all Rock Creek Hills residents, but also those who must transit Rock Creek Hills to access the school – including children who will walk to school…the same route your husband took.  Planning to bring more than 500 family vehicles and over 20 buses, onto hilly, winding two lane roads over the course of one hour, without having even performed a traffic study of those roads is recipe for disaster.  There was never a discussion of a new site, but only the issues and shortcomings, and potential solutions, for those of the current site and project design.

Unfortunately, in spite of what we thought were good faith discussions with MCPS, they elected to reject basically all of the safety concerns, both on and off site, which were brought to their attention by other County officials and neighbors.   

The issues of the past are now passed. 

Do some still feel that the site selection process was biased towards speed of execution and the needs of special interest groups, versus ensuring that the site was most appropriate to provide the greatest amount of program requirements for the least cost? Yes.

Do some still feel that the MCPS relaxed its own high standards and criteria to make the current site work?  Yes.

Do some still feel that the design process was flawed, even with “significant community involvement”, and failed to properly document and address issues brought to the attention of the designers?  Yes.

Do some still feel that a disproportionate percentage of project cost will go to making a bad site work, versus making a good site work better to provide the most educational value?  Yes.

 

So – what are the remaining issues, given the inability of MCPS planners and leadership to demonstrate courage to admit that this site was the wrong choice?

1. 1.  Traffic management, pedestrian safety, safety of children while on site. 

It is clear by your statement that the Board of Education intends to award a project, in spite of these latent defects that will not manifest themselves until it is far too late to make meaningful, cost effective change.    The responsibility to resolve them will be shifted by MCPS to other County agencies, at additional, yet to be budgeted cost.  

1. 2.  School capacity.

Your statement does not reveal the intent of MCPS to also receive approval for the construction of future shell space from the BOE, which would be tantamount to de facto approval for future school expansion.  This space has neither been approved in the MCPS Capital Investment Program, nor does it follow the MCPS rule that does not additional construction before a facility reaches, and exceeds, maximum student capacity.  Additionally, no funds have been budgeted for this construction, and as such, must be taken from projects at other schools that would have to be further delayed.   So – rather than resolving immediate requirements in current our overcrowded system, MCPS and BOE will speculate with construction funds regarding the requirements of the future.   Making this decision also assures that maximum student load will lead to increased impact to traffic and safety.

1. 3. Budget. 

MCPS seeks approval to award construction, based upon current bids, but it does not provide fiscal context for that approval. In full disclosure, a complete project budget with all associated taxpayer costs, compared with the Capital Investment Plan approved amount $52.3M should be provided, to ensure that additional funds will not be required in the future. 

So – given that the site is not the issue as you imply, I believe that you, as Chairman of the Board of Education, should issue a statement regarding your intent regarding these remaining issues.

I look forward to your public response in advance of the Board of Education meeting.

Richard Bond

"...the process for the BCC Middle School didn't serve the public or our respective agencies very well and the final design is disappointing."

A letter from Craig Rice, Chair, Education Committee, Montgomery County Council, & Casey Anderson, Chair, Montgomery County Planning Board:

The final design is disappointing.

http://savekensingtonpark.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-process-for-bcc-middle-school-didnt.html

"MCPS’s application to use the General Permit for Stormwater Associated with Construction Activity for this project is clearly inappropriate, given the ... discharge of pollutants directly into Silver Creek, whose water quality is protected under ... the federal Clean Water Act."

"The high quality of the riparian habitat along Silver Creek is seen in the high quality wildlife it supports: yellow crowned night heron, little green heron, great blue heron, wood duck, mallard duck, kingfisher, goldfinch, blue-gray gnat catcher, grackle, pileated woodpecker, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, great horned owl, barred owl, red tailed hawk, red shouldered hawk, sharp shinned hawk, red fox, coyote, deer, raccoon, water snakes (Natrix spp.), beaver, and even nesting snapping turtle."

-from the letter by Mr. James R. Chambers:

Read the full text of the letter at this link:

http://savekensingtonpark.blogspot.com/2015/08/mcpss-application-to-use-general-permit.html

Community members seek changes to Kensington school plan

Under a Montgomery County Public Schools plan, a new Kensington middle school would be squeezed on a site with inadequate space that will make the school inferior, some opponents of the plan say.
Adding underground parking to the plan, they say, could help fix some of the bigger problems they see.
A group of residents said they are concerned that the site plan, as it stands, would limit athletic and academic spaces and pose safety hazards for drivers and pedestrians. The result, they said, is a school that would fall below the district’s project guidelines and would be unequal to other county schools, particularly Westland Middle School in the same cluster.
However, a school district official said the middle school will be similar to existing middle schools. He added that the district already considered — and decided against — a parking structure.

 http://www.gazette.net/article/20150519/NEWS/150519451/1022/community-members-seek-changes-to-kensington-school-plan&template=gazette

What Every MCPS Parent Should Know about the Proposed BCC Cluster Middle School

   What Every Parent Needs to Know About the Proposed B-CC Middle School #2 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

MCPS And Planners Sparring Over Design Of New Bethesda-Chevy Chase School

Things have gotten testy between planners and MCPS officials who disagree about how to best protect trees at the site of a planned middle school in Kensington...

 ...A discussion at the March 26 Planning Board hearing also illustrated the apparent rift between planners and school officials when it comes to designing new schools on smaller-than-preferred school sites...

...Planning Department Director Gwen Wright claimed MCPS staff had contacted PTA representatives in the days before the hearing “and told them that Park and Planning is trying to delay the project and that they should speak up.”
 “That’s a very disappointing outcome to what started as a collaborative effort to solve a difficult problem to try to achieve a plan that would meet the law,” Wright said...

http://www.bethesdanow.com/2015/04/06/planners-mcps-disagree-on-new-bethesda-chevy-chase-middle-school/

3 Hour Contentious Planning Board Hearing Capped with Board Member Announcing Basketball Score #marchmadness #payingnoattention #bccmiddleschool

On March 26, 2015, the Montgomery County Planning Board held a hearing to decide if the Board of Education had satisfied the requirements of the Forest Conservation law for the site plan for the BCC Middle School #2 construction.

The hearing appears to go on for about 3 hours.

During the hearing the Planning Board staff made a presentation, MCPS made a presentation, and numerous neighbors and interested parties gave impassioned public comment about the MCPS site plans for this new middle school.

The public comment concerns included the forest that would be destroyed, student safety concerns, visual impact of massive retaining walls, and the detriment to the neighborhood of this school construction plan.  During the hearing, Planning Board members were quiet with only a few brief questions.  Some Planning Board members never spoke during the hearing.

The hearing was contentious as MCPS staff and Planning Board staff have apparently been arguing about the requirements of the Forest Conservation law as it applies to this site for the last 9 months.  At the end of the hearing, the Planning Board staff voted to throw the plans back to their staff with the guidance to work out the differences with MCPS and come up with a plan that will satisfy the Forest Conservation law.

Immediately after the Planning Board vote, Planning Board member Marye Wells-Harley announced, "My team is losing. 70 to 75..."
 

Bullies on MCPS Central Office Staff

When I first heard about MCPS staffers taking pictures of observers at MCPS Board and Committee meetings, I thought I heard the information incorrectly.  Surely, a world class school system run by the pre-eminent Dr. Joshua Starr did not really engage in activities to intimidate a member of the taxpaying public?

Or was this true?

Imagine my dismay to learn that this is not a new practice.

Here is a video clip from a 2011 meeting concerning the feasibility study for BCC Middle School Number 2.  Watch this clip, its short, and you will see Mr. Dennis Cross, who was at the time the project manager for BCC MS #2, snap a picture of a member of the audience after the individual asked a question.

I am intimidated just watching the clip - and its over three years old.

Fortunately for those of us still involved in various aspects of building new school facilities, Mr. Cross is no longer with the school system.  Thank goodness for small miracles.   (See page 10).

Remember the following:

Illegitimi Non Carborundum.

A rough translation?  Don't let the bullies get you down.