Current Councilmembers Who Gave Away an Entire MCPS High School for Free: Floreen, Leventhal, Berliner, Navarro, Elrich #educationfirst #MaybeNot

Is your local Montgomery County Public School overcrowded? Are your children spending their days in classroom trailers instead of school buildings?

Peary High School, Rockville, Maryland

You can thank the Fabulous 5 that are still on the Montgomery County Council for the loss of public school classrooms.  As recently as 2010, current Councilmembers Nancy Floreen, George Leventhal, Roger Berliner, Nancy Navarro and Marc Elrich all voted to give away an entire MCPS high school building for free.

State Delegate Ben Kramer and State Senator Roger Manno were instrumental in shepherding this sweetheart deal through the Maryland Board of Public Works.

And let's not forget the person behind this deal, County Executive Ike Leggett who made sure that public school children were robbed of classrooms at a time when MCPS was using over 400 classroom trailers.  The deal that County Executive Ike Leggett sealed called for the buyer to only pay for the land and get the entire public high school building (a building that was bought and paid for with your property taxes) for free.

#EducationFirst
#FooledYou 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

 Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010

County Council approves sale of Peary High School

Andrews opposes deal, but many in Aspen Hill say decision was appropriate

by Erin Cunningham and Margie Hyslop | Staff Writers

Montgomery County government will sell the former Robert E. Peary High School to the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy despite protests from the county's Board of Education...
...The County Council voted 8-1 on Tuesday to allow the sale, which is expected to become official in the next several weeks.
Councilman Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg voted against the sale, saying the site in Aspen Hill could be needed for a public school in the future.
The council's decision ratifies a deal proposed by County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) to sell the 19.5-acre site in Aspen Hill for $1.9 million. It includes a provision making it possible for the county to repurchase and occupy the site five years after a judge decides the county needs it for a school.
The state's Board of Public Works, which is composed of Maryland's governor, comptroller and treasurer, must sign off on the deal...

However, Leggett's plan has drawn criticism from those who say the price is too low and from the county school board, which says the move is ill-advised given public school enrollment is growing, and large tracts of land are scarce in the downcounty area.
Those claims were disputed Tuesday by some council members who said the school system has 51 unused school buildings and no immediate need for the Hebrew Academy site.
"The school system is accustomed to having it all," said Councilman George L. Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park. "The school system wants everything. It wants its cake and to eat it, too."
Council Vice President Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring said Monday the school system was not persuasive in making its case for the school. Ervin is expected to be sworn in as council president next week...

...Leventhal said it was not convincing to hear school officials say they don't need the site now, but might at some unspecified date...

 http://www.gazette.net/stories/12012010/rocknew220733_32534.php

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

Manno and Kramer Give Away a Public High School, Want More School Construction Dollars

Peary High School 1984

In 2010, Senator Roger Manno and Delegate Ben Kramer worked very, very hard to make sure that a MCPS high school building was given away for FREE to a private interest.  They attended local meetings, gave public comment before the Board of Public Works and even showed up at a little known meeting in Baltimore.  What a team!

Yes, an entire public high school building that had been paid for with Maryland State tax dollars was given away for free in 2010.  MCPS schools were overcrowded in 2010, But Senator Manno and Delegate Kramer made sure that this high school would never again be used for public school students. 

Now, here we are in 2014, and Senator Roger Manno and Delegate Ben Kramer are whining for school construction money. Maybe Senator Manno and Delegate Kramer should have noticed back in 2010 that MCPS buildings were already severely overcrowded?

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

Peary sale was theft

Gazette Letter: Peary sale was theft

Peary school's 19.5 acres of public property in Aspen Hill sold for $1.9 million to a private party? The blatant corruption of this outrageous theft of public property to benefit private parties highlights the extent to which the governing class of Montgomery County has sold itself to special interests. Every council member who voted for this is corrupt, as are the recipients of this stealing of public property. Yes, I know, all done under the color of legality. No one can be prosecuted, but it is theft nonetheless. All should be ashamed.

John Haynes, Kensington

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr. Haynes might want to check on that "color of legality" thing. He might be interested to read the County Regulation on selling of public school land and see if any of the Regulation was followed in the Peary High School sale. He might also be interested to know how the public was excluded from speaking when this issue went before the Governor on December 15, 2010. The Governor and the Board of Public Works flipped the agenda for that day and didn't allow the public in the room to speak in opposition to the sale. This made for a nice happy-to-sell-Peary-High-School-site video which we will post soon. 

Leggett gives away public school site, proposes cuts to County services

In the same week that County Executive Ike Leggett pushed hard (even sending his staff attorney to Baltimore for the Nancy Grasmick committee review) to see a 19.5 acre public school site sold to a private organization for an estimated net proceeds of $800,000 to the County, he is also proposing cuts to vital county services including ambulance services. 


Note to County Executive Ike Leggett: If you needed an extra $14 million from the ambulance fees legislation that didn't pass why didn't you sell the 19.5 acre Peary High School site for market rate? 


Also note: No mention of cutting up the County credit cards floating around...or cutting day trips to Baltimore for his staff.

FY11 Savings Plan

MoCo Board of Education a No-Show at Today's IAC Meeting

At the IAC meeting held today in Baltimore to approve the transfer of Peary High School to the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy, the Montgomery County Board of Education failed to show up or submit their view in opposition to the sale to the IAC.

The IAC committee members stated that they received four submissions: two from private citizens opposing the property transfer, one from some members of Montgomery County's Legislative Delegation, and one from the County Executive in support of the sale. At least two members of the Montgomery County delegation (Senator-elect Roger Manno and Delegate Ben Kramer) were present at the IAC meeting, along with a representative from the Berman Hebrew Academy and a representative from County Executive Ike Leggett's office.

Next the Board of Public Works reviews this public school site transfer on December 15, 2010.

Sen. Manno, Del. Kramer, Cullison & Arora Support After Thanksgiving Land Sale

It is that time of year, the After Thanksgiving Sales are everywhere!

This week only! 19.5 acres of county land on sale at the Montgomery County Council!

Grab 19.5 acres of County land at a super low price of just $1.9 million!  

And this super sale is supported by the entire District 19 delegation to the Maryland General Assembly:  Senator Roger Manno, Delegates Ben Kramer, Bonnie Cullison and Sam Arora.  

Maybe the District 19 Delegation should read this report? This may not be the best time to be selling a County asset at a bargain basement price?

Here's the last minute memo from the Planning Board that was made public after the Planning Board's vote. The Planning Board's staff had recommended that the sale not be approved by the Planning Board, but as the Planning Board hearing began a new recommendation was announced.  

Maryland state law actually has a procedure for disposing of public school land, has that procedure been followed in this fast-tracked sale?