Legislature Gives $100,000 to Private School for Playground

Source:  School construction bill as passed by legislature.

For background on this private school giveaway, click here. 

Remember to thank the Montgomery County Delegates and Senator who are giving away State School Construction money to a private school rather than funding repairs for Montgomery County Public Schools.

Is your child in a classroom trailer?  You might want to consider a private school that is the recipient of consistent, significant State funding, including an entire free high school building!

Delegates Kramer, Cullison, and Morales

Senator Manno

Kramer, Cullison, Morales and Manno would rather see your child in this container than in a bricks and mortar school building.  

MCPS classroom trailer

State Debt for Private School That Already Got Entire MCPS High School Building for Free

MCPS students go to school in overseas containers.

Is your child in a classroom trailer? Consider switching to a private school.  

In Montgomery County private schools are given entire MCPS high school buildings for free, and additional legislation (see below for House Bill 901 introduced this session) authorizing the creation of state debt to provide the private school with additional funds.  No classroom trailers for private schools!

Entitled:	Creation of a State Debt - Montgomery County - Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy
	Sponsored by:	Delegate Kramer
	Status:	In the House - Hearing 3/14 at 9:00 a.m.

Summary Documents History

Synopsis:	Authorizing the creation of a State Debt in the amount of $100,000, the proceeds to be used as a grant to the Board of Directors of the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy for the acquisition, planning, design, construction, repair, renovation, reconstruction, and capital equipping of the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy, located in Montgomery County; providing for disbursement of the loan proceeds, subject to a requirement that the grantee provide and expend a matching fund; etc.
Analysis:	Not available at this time
All Sponsors:	Delegates Kramer, Cullison, and Morales
Additional Facts:	Cross-filed with: SB0444 Bill File Type: Regular Effective Date(s): June 1, 2016
Committee(s):	Appropriations
Broad Subject(s):	State Debt (Bond Bills)
Narrow Subject(s):	Ethnic Affairs Forests and Parks -see also- Program Open Space; Trees Montgomery County Private Schools Public Works, Board of State Bonds

Thank you Ike Leggett for Selling Off 19.5 Acre High School site!

Here's the "thank you" e-mail from the attorney for the private school that got a MCPS high school building for free in 2010.  Nothing like happy constituents!

The private attorney represented a private school that succeeded in buying the MCPS Peary High School building and 19.5 acres of land for only the price of the land.  The building was thrown in for free!

(Too bad about the overcrowded MCPS schools.  If only students could vote.)

The e-mail below is from the attorney for the private school, and is sent to Diane Schwartz Jones, County Executive Ike Leggett's staff person handling this transaction.
In this e-mail the private school attorney thanks Ms. Jones for her help and support and for the terrific job she did "fending off" County Councilmember Marc Elrich!
That's what we pay county employees to do, right? 

  Peary HS Leggett by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

For more on the loss of the 19.5 acre Peary High School site in 2010 click here.

For Montgomery County Councilmember Marc Elrich's confusion over the Peary High School sale go to minute 1:17 in this video.  The Board of Education voted against the sale of the Peary High School site in 2010, yet in this video Councilmember Elrich insists that he was told the Board of Education was not opposed to the sale.  Why is he confused? Is it because he was "fended off" by County Executive Ike Leggett's staff back in 2010? 

Council Report Peary HS: sale of a "rare asset"... "not a good business deal for the County"

In 2006, County Executive Doug Duncan tried to push through the sale of the MCPS Peary High School building and land to a private entity.  Councilmember Marilyn Praisner obtained an outside evaluation of the proposal from ZHA, Inc. The ZHA, Inc. evaluation is shown below.  
Bottom line? The sale of the MCPS Peary High School site was a bad deal. What happened? The sale idea was dropped for a few years until 2010 when County Executive Ike Leggett and a majority of the County Council were able to ram the deal through in record time.  Were MCPS buildings overcrowded then? Yes. Did County Executive Ike Leggett and a majority of the County Council care? No.   

From the 2006 Evaluation of the proposal to sell a MCPS public high school and land to a private entity:

...In a fair and equitable sale, the value of the land would accurately reflect its current market value. If the County, recognizing the scarcity of large available sites for new school construction, would like to be able to re-purchase the property at some later date for use as a public school, then it would only be fair to discount the sale price. However, it would not be reasonable for the County to discount the sale price without adequately protecting its ability to repurchase the premises at some later date. As explained in this memorandum, it appears that the proposed deed offers the Academy a low price and offers little or no protection to the County’s interests. As such, the information available would indicate that this is not a good business deal for the County. A review of the Lease, the Proposed Deed, and the analysis prepared by the Administration (hereafter, Analysis), as well as other supporting materials illustrated the following:
•The Analysis was not an “apples-to-apples” comparison.
•The Analysis was not consistent with the often confusing language of the Lease and the Proposed Deed.
•Given that the County’s interests here are more than just financial and given that the time frames contemplated are fairly lengthy, a private-sector analysis of this proposed transaction would be more qualitative than quantitative in nature.
•Under the Proposed Deed, it may not be possible for the County to repur-chase the school for use as a public school at less than fair market value.
•The Analysis performed by the Administration did not clearly convey to the Council that the proposed transaction was a sale of a rare asset probably well below market value with no guarantee that said asset would be available for repurchase should the County need to re-use it as a public school.
•A sale under the proposed terms does not represent the best deal available to the County...

  PearyHS Sesker Report by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

ABC7: Jerry Pasternak at center of debate to turn organic farm into soccer fields

"another example of less-than-transparent wheeling and dealing"

To: boe@mcpsmd.org
Cc: "county council" <county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov>, ocemail@montgomerycountymd.gov
Sent: Wednesday, March 9, 2011 6:03:29 PM

Subject: Nick's Organic Farm

To the members of the Board of Education:

I am writing to express my dismay both with the decision regarding the lease on Nick's Organic Farm in Potomac and with the process by which the decision was made.

I am a professor who teaches (among other things) the history of agriculture and sustainable farming at Georgetown, as well as a former resident of Montgomery County and an avid customer and fan of Nick
Maravel, one of the real gems in the regional sustainable farming community. I brought students to Nick's Buckeystown farm last semester and they were in awe of his deep knowledge and experience of farming.

The decision to use this land, farmed organically for 30 years (as far as I know, unparalleled in the DC area and a major achievement), for sports fields is a short-sighted one that will detract from the community. I have school-aged children who play soccer; I understand the value of and need for sports fields. But there are more and less appropriate places for them when they are needed. I would wager that in its soil fertility, biodiversity, and overall ecological health, this land is now unlike any other single parcel of land within a 50-mile radius of DC. It will be murdered within two years of its conversion to sports fields - three decades of irreplaceable work undone in a moment.

So the Board has just committed what is basically an environmental crime. But in addition, the public comment period was outrageously short. This feels like a rushed process, not one designed to truly
solicit public input and to involve the community in decisions about how its resources are used.

There is, sadly, precedent for this. I used to be a resident of North Woodside and the handling of the old middle school, which was leased to Yeshiva for 99 years at fire-sale prices (in a neighborhood where the
population of children was rapidly growing) was another example of less-than-transparent wheeling and dealing that basically ignored community input and permanently appropriated (for all intents and
purposes) a valuable community resource in the interests of short-term solutions. It's a pity that in the eight or so years since that debacle played out, things haven't changed much in Montgomery County.
Nick's Potomac Farm is an irreplaceable gem for the local community, the sustainable farming community, people who enjoy buying local and humanely raised food, and a national community of farmers struggling to
find sources of certified organic seed. It's a shame that Montgomery County's school board didn't trouble itself to learn more about what remarkable things were taking place on that land before deciding to
terminate the lease with Nick Maravel. And shame on the members who voted to lease a public resource like this to the County for soccer fields without appropriate hearings and public debate.

Sincerely,
Meredith McKittrick

Leggett & Floreen: Peary Sale Does Not Result in Revenue to the State

In a December 2, 2010, letter (shown below) from County Executive Ike Leggett and County Council President Nancy Floreen to the Maryland Board of Public Works (O'Malley, Franchot and Kopp), Leggett and Floreen ask for an expedited approval process on the Peary High School sale and state that they believe that the sale will not result in any revenues to the State of Maryland.

We now know that Leggett and Floreen's assertion that the State is not entitled to any proceeds from the Peary High School sale was not correct. Montgomery County will have to share the proceeds of the Peary High School sale with the State of Maryland. The amount of the State's share has not been announced.

Leggett and Floreen Letter Dec 2 2010

County Taxpayers Invested $1,095,387 in the Peary High School building...

then gave the building away for free.

In a Maryland State Department of Education document (see below) obtained by the Parents' Coalition the public learns that Montgomery County invested $1,095,387 in the Peary High School building between the time the property was transfered to the County and the sale to the private entity.

The $1,095,387 was spent by County taxpayers to remove the asbestos in the building at a cost of $795,387 and to put a new roof on the building for $300,000.

Both of these improvements were apparently made when Peary High School was no longer in use as a public school and was under the control of the County government. (Neither of these expenditures appear to have been mentioned by the County Executive or the County Council during the recent discussions over the sale of the Peary High School site to a private entity.)

Yet, when Montgomery County entered into a lease/option to buy agreement with the private entity in 1996 the deal was premised on the assumption that the building had NO VALUE. The only appraisals that were used to sell the Peary High School site were appraisals of the land ONLY. No value was given to the existing school building. When the sale was finalized last month, the county received $0 for the Peary High School building. The sale terms only compensated the County for the transfer of the land.

Who removes the asbestos and puts a new roof on a building that has no value and should be demolished?

Montgomery County taxpayers, here's the question: If you put a new roof on a structure and removed all the asbestos would you then declare the structure to have NO VALUE and give it away for free? That's what your County government just did according to the information from the Maryland Public School Construction Program shown below.

PHSExpendituresProceeds

O'Malley, Franchot and Kopp will Approve Peary Sale without State Share

Good news from Annapolis! 


On December 15, 2010, the Board of Public Works made up of Governor Martin O'Malley, Peter Franchot, and Nancy Kopp will approve the transfer of the deed for the Peary High School site to a private entity without a determination of the State share of the proceeds. (What's a million here and there...?) 


The State will determine their share of the proceeds...later... (What is the point of those State audits anyway?)


This after the State discovered last week that Peary High School had not been demolished as they had been informed by Montgomery County. (Missing: 1 State funded public school building. Last seen on 270 heading North. Please call if spotted.)


The Board of Public Works Agenda is here, but you won't see the Peary High School item listed. It was just added this week and didn't make the published Agenda. (Does fast-tracked have a hyphen?)


The public can request time to comment on this Agenda item by calling 410-260-7335. 

The Peary Sale: Did the County Government follow the law? Read the Regulations and See for Yourself

When the County Council voted 8-1 (all in favor with the exception of Councilmember Phil Andrews [D-District 3]) to sell the publicly-owned 19.5 acres of downcounty property for $1.9 million to a private school, the Berman Academy, was the law followed?  The Board of Education opposes the sale.  The Montgomery County Civic Federation opposes the sale.  The Montgomery County Council of PTAs opposes the sale.

Read the regulations: COMCOR 11B.45.02, Reuse, Leasing, and Sale of Closed Schools, and see for yourself.  If you don't think the law was followed, let the Board of Public Works know.  Call 410-260-7335. The Board (Nancy Kopp, Treasurer, Martin O'Malley, Governor, and Peter Franchot, Comptroller) will be voting on the sale soon, on December 15th.  This secret deal was fast-tracked by insiders in your county and state government, and even the federal government.  According to insiders, 'the pressure was unbelievable.'

Reuse, Leasing, And Sale of Closed Schools

Peary HS Deal: What Really Happened

At the Montgomery County (MD) Council Public Hearing on the proposed sale of Peary High School property (19-1/2 acres) to the private parochial Berman Academy, held on the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 23rd, Mr. Drew Powell testified against the sale.  He was challenged by the councilmembers as to his testimony but not allowed time to respond.  That exchange was recorded in the RockvillePatch by reporter Sean Sedam, as follows:

"If you have evidence to the contrary I urge you to bring it forward. If you do not, I suggest that linking these very disparate situations in the manner in which you did does a disservice to this community and to yourself."

"I would like to respond," Powell said.

"There is no response," said County Council President Nancy M. Floreen..."

Here is Mr. Powell's response.

November 29, 2010

Montgomery County Council

100 Maryland Avenue

Rockville, MD 20850

Re: Requested response to Montgomery County Council regarding possible sale of MCPS property

Montgomery County Council,

Per Councilmember Berliner’s request, I respectfully wish to respond in writing, regarding the proposed sale of Peary High School and its relationship to the sale of Belt Junior High School as well as other similar transactions involving publicly owned Montgomery County School properties. I would have provided this information live at the November 23rd hearing, but after being asked to produce information on this subject, was silenced by County Council President, Nancy Floreen.

Before I begin, I would again wish to state that the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy is, by all accounts, an upstanding educational institution and a good neighbor in the Aspen Hill community. I am not aware of any

wrong doing on the part of the Academy, but am very concerned with the process that has bought the

Montgomery County Council to point of selling off county this school property. I am very supportive of the

Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy leasing Peary High School for the term of the lease (2023) and possibly

decades longer as provided by mutually agreed upon lease extensions.

According to Councilmember Leventhal, “…some elected officials and some community members might

confuse the Yeshiva Academy with the Hebrew Academy.” I can assure you that there is no confusion.

My journey on this matter started in 2002, when researching campaign contributions on behalf of the citizen based county watchdog group Neighbors for a Better Montgomery. At that time many citizens were concerned with the possible role of potential developer influence on land use decisions made by the Montgomery County Council. It was thought that some of this influence might present itself in the form of campaign contributions from developers and development related interests to county council candidates.

It came as a great shock to Montgomery County citizens, when it was found that in many cases more than half of many candidates’ political contributions came from development related interests. In some cases, as much as 70% or more came from these sources. Neighbors’ researchers continued to explore the sources of campaign contributions. As part of that investigation, a seemingly innocent contribution of $4,000 from, of all places, Guam, made to then County Executive Doug Duncan in 1999, caught our attention. As is well documented in three articles by the Washington Post, other contributions were discovered, which linked that money and donations from the Pacific island of Saipan to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff (Post-1, Post-2, Post-3). The Post articles then connected the dots regarding contributions from Abramoff and other Yeshiva board members, including Dennis Berman and Jeffrey Lee Cohen. According to the Post “The Saipan contributions occurred a month before Duncan signed a lease -- over community and school system opposition…” The Post articles delineated the role of then Duncan aid, Jerry Pasternak, in the engineering of the Belt Junior High School deal.

Although there may have been no wrong doing on the part of the Academy, its operatives or sympathetic elected officials, it appears that many of the same people involved with the Belt Junior High School transaction are now and have been involved with the Peary transaction. Additionally, many of the same methods and instruments used to guaranty the purchase of Belt have been employed in the efforts to secure Peary.

Foremost is Mr. Pasternak’s role. The Post was most explicit regarding Pasternak’s role in the Belt Junior High School sale. Concurrently, Mr. Pasternak vigorously promoted the lease and sale of Peary High School. I attended an MFP meeting in 2006, where Councilmembers Praisner, Denis and Andrews received lengthy, enthusiastic support for the sale of Peary High School from Mr. Pasternak. In his presentation, sitting next to a Berman Academy representative, Mr. Pasternak continued to refer to himself and the Academy as “we,” even though he was acting as the representative of the Montgomery County Executive and theoretically the citizens of Montgomery County. The sale was tabled at that time, partly because of prior Planning Board rejection of the sale, the Belt/Abramoff revelations and the recommendations of the ZHA report, which advised the county not to sell the property.

Also at issue is Mr. Pasternak’s seemingly unlimited access to the County Executive’s office and close working relationship with the County Executive’s Assistant Chief Administrative Officer, Diane Schwartz Jones. As a former county employee, Mr. Pasternak enjoyed numerous meetings and information exchanges with Schwartz Jones concerning the sale of Peary High School. Additional exchanges may have occurred with Schwartz Jones and the Academy’s representatives from Garson Claxton, LLC (law firm), Mr. Pasternak’s current employer.

Also keep in mind that the Peary lease predated the Belt Junior High School lease by a little more than two years. Both leases were approved and signed by then County Executive Doug Duncan, an elected official the Post cited for taking campaign contributions in return for selling county school land. Both leases are extremely similar in their language and lease/purchase terms. It has been stated by some that one or both leases were prepared by Garson Claxton, LLC, the “go to” law firm in the Washington, D.C. metro area regarding leases.

For future county land sales, it may be prudent to start with a county written “boilerplate” lease, making future leases more taxpayer friendly.  Sale of Montgomery County school property to the aforementioned parties is not limited to Peary High School and Belt Junior High School. Other properties include, Arcola Elementary School, Town and Country Day School and Montgomery Hills Middle School. In each of these transactions, many citizens were concerned with the low sales price and other related costs to the county. The Post documented County costs regarding Belt Junior High School in a 2006 article “Yeshiva Facility Deals Costly for Montgomery.” It is easy to see why many might ask if these are “cookie-cutter” deals at the expense of taxpayers.

It must also be noted that in addition to contributions to former County Councilmembers and the former County Executive, Berman Academy interests have donated more than $31,000 to current Montgomery County Councilmembers as well as the current County Executive since the first proposals were made to convert the Peary lease to a sale. Most notably are contributions to County Executive Leggett for more than $17,000 and Councilmember Leventhal for over $9,000 (provided upon request). These donations do not include contributions, which may be reported in January, 2011.

Troubling, too, in this process, the sponsor to sell Peary comes in the form a lame-duck councilmember, not to mention that the proposed sale will be voted on by a lame-duck council, immediately after an election.

Many have asked why a majority of the Montgomery County Council would go forward with the sale of school property for pennies on the dollar in these austere economic times, when the Montgomery County Board of Education and even your own staff (Montgomery County Council Staff) has strongly recommended against it.

There may not have been wrong doing, but the sale of this valuable and irreplaceable Montgomery County asset is a textbook example of special interest access and potential manipulation of local government. It is a sad day indeed in Montgomery County, when concerned citizens come before the County Council to express their apprehensions about the sale of public school property and are summarily booed, jeered and dismissed with the tacit approval of councilmembers. Which of you will stand up for taxpayers and ALL the county’s children?

Most sincerely,

Drew Powell

Click here for attachments 

Council Meeting on Peary HS Sale: 19.5 acres for $1.9 million

Tomorrow morning, Monday, November 29th, at 9:30 am the Montgomery County Council (MD) Education and Management and Fiscal Policy committees will hold a joint discussion on the resolution before the County Council to sell the 19-1/2 acres of down county land to a private parochial school, the Berman Academy, for $1.9 million.(Memorandum for hearing here.) This is at a time when our schools are bursting at the seams, and our financial picture is grim.  Supporters once again plan to have hundreds of people show up to pack the room.

The Board of Education and MCCPTA oppose the sale.

At the Public Hearing last week, supporters of the sale turned out in force. They disrupted the hearing, clapping loudly and booing and hissing at those of us who are opposed to the sale during public testimony. The Board of Education and MCCPTA oppose the sale, as is the Montgomery County Civic Federation, on whose behalf I testified.

After the hearing I was accosted by supporters, who came up to me to call me an ‘anti-Semite’ and a ‘self-loathing Jew.’ I understand others were also similarly accosted.  Name calling and intimidation have no place in a true democracy.

I would strongly encourage anyone who is concerned about a democratic process in our county, and opposed to selling off irreplaceable publicly-owned property downcounty to attend the meeting tomorrow morning.  Location: Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville.

Make sure also to email or call the council.  NOW. Telephone numbers and email addresses are below. The vote on the resolution is being rushed through the Council, with the vote on the very next day, November 30th, at 1:50 pm.

Thank you.
Paula Bienenfeld

All Councilmembers 240-777-7900 To e-mail all Councilmembers, click here,

Phil Andrews 240-777-7906 councilmember.andrews@montgomerycountymd.gov
Roger Berliner 240-777-7828 councilmember.berliner@montgomerycountymd.gov
Marc Elrich 240-777-7966 councilmember.elrich@montgomerycountymd.gov
Valerie Ervin 240-777-7960 councilmember.ervin@montgomerycountymd.gov
Nancy Floreen 240-777-7959 councilmember.floreen@montgomerycountymd.gov
Mike Knapp 240-777-7955 councilmember.knapp@montgomerycountymd.gov
George Leventhal 240-777-7811 councilmember.leventhal@montgomerycountymd.gov
Nancy Navarro 240-777-7968 councilmember.navarro@montgomerycountymd.gov
Duchy Trachtenberg 240-777-7964 councilmember.trachtenberg@montgomerycountymd.gov