The Board of Education did not have to authorize a NEW lease. The Board of Education could have decided that public school land should be used for building classrooms for students instead of for commercial uses of private companies.
The Board of Education could have voted to not approve a NEW lease.
But they didn't.
The Board was fed a series of falsehoods, fell for them, and voted for the NEW lease.
To date, none of the 12 cell towers existing on Montgomery County Public School land were ever approved by the Board of Education. They were all approved by former Superintendent Jerry Weast without notification or approval of the Board of Education. The Board of Education is the landowner. It is up to the landowner to decide what part of their land is to be leased.
Below is the video from the August 24, 2021, Montgomery County Board of Education meeting where the unanimous Board of Education voted to approve a NEW lease for the Woodwards Road Future School site.
In the discussion, MCPS staff (not under oath and not legal counsel) told the Board of Education members:
- That the Board has delegated their authority to the superintendent (False. They have not).
- MCPS staff called this vote the "renewal of the entire lease" (False. It's a NEW lease.)
- MCPS staff claimed that bringing this lease to the Board was for transparency (False. It is legally required.)
- MCPS staff told Board members they were not turning over land to another company. (FALSE. It is a lease for PUBLIC SCHOOL LAND.)
