Superintendent recommends asking for $21.6 million in local funding

FACT CHECK:  In the article below, Superintendent Thomas Taylor says "none of the key personnel" are still with MCPS.  That is FALSE.  Superintendent Taylor has hired former MCPS Associate Superintendent of Operations back as the MCPS Chief of Staff.  The MCPS Associate Superintendent of Operations is a key person in the Capital Budget process. 

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MCPS error leads to $39.3 million state aid shortfall for Woodward High construction

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is facing a $39.3 million shortfall in funding for the ongoing construction of Charles W. Woodward High School in Rockville due to its state aid calculation errors in 2021, but won’t lose out on state funding in the long run, district staff said Thursday. 

To close the funding gap, MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor is recommending to the school board that $17.7 million be reallocated from other district projects and also asking the County Council to provide an additional $21.6 million for the project. 

“I want to make it clear that this issue was entirely MCPS’ fault,” Taylor said at a school board work session on Thursday. “We are working to correct it, and though this will not have a net negative impact on state construction revenues over the long run, it does have an impact on these projects and I’m sorry for that.” ...

...At Thursday’s work session, Taylor said “none of the key personnel” involved in the erroneous submission to the state are still working for MCPS... 

MCPS error leads to $39.3 million state aid shortfall for Woodward High construction

WUSA9: Montgomery Co. Public Schools loses out on $39M in funding due to a submission error

The multi-million-dollar loss was due to an error in the Montgomery County Public Schools submission for aid in the Charles W. Woodward Project.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Montgomery County Public Schools has lost more than $39 million in funding due to a submission error, according to a letter from Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor.

The 288-page letter outlines a recommended capital budget for Fiscal Year 2026 and includes suggestions on how the district can make up for the huge loss in state aid...

...Janis Sartucci, a member of Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County wants to know how an almost 40-million-dollar mistake slipped through the cracks.

“There are multiple steps and lots of people involved in approving these construction contracts. This isn’t just someone making a minor error. And, who suffers? The community, schools, this 17 million could be going to other needs in our system.” Sartucci, said...

MCPS loses out on $39M in funding due to a submission error | wusa9.com

@mcps Chief of Staff Essie McGuire Approved a Woodward HS Contract using Non-Prevailing Wages in 2021

 

In 2021, Essie McGuire was the MCPS Associate Superintendent of Operations.  In that capacity she reviewed the Award of Contract for the Project Site Work at the Woodward High School site.  

The Resolution submitted to the Montgomery County Board of Education was brief, but clearly stated that the "project was bid to include both prevailing and non-prevailing wages." 

Using non-prevailing wages means the contracts would not be complying with Maryland procurement law.  

Woodward High School's project was attempting to use Maryland's Built to Learn (BTL) funding.  The BTL funding information sheet makes clear that complying with Maryland's prevailing wage law is required. 

EM approved this Resolution for presentation to the Board of Education.  In 2021, EM was Essie McGuire, MCPS Associate Superintendent for Operations.

Today, Essie McGuire has been hired back by Superintendent Thomas Taylor to work as MCPS' current Chief of Staff. 

FYI: Maryland's Prevailing Wage Law

 Overview - Prevailing Wage for State Funded Construction Contracts

Overview
In government contracting, a prevailing wage is defined as the hourly wage, usually benefits and overtime, normally paid to the majority of workers, laborers, and mechanics within a particular area. Prevailing wages are established by regulatory agencies, such as government, for each public works trade and occupation, as well as by State Departments of Labor or their equals.

Annual Survey
The Prevailing Wage Unit compiles a list of registered contractors, contractor's associations and labor organizations who will be notified electronically when to voluntarily participate in the annual Prevailing Wage Rate Survey. The Commissioner encourages all interested groups to voluntarily electronically submit data detailing wage rates paid to workers on various types of construction in all localities in Maryland.

The Prevailing Wage Unit conducts an annual survey of wages paid throughout the State during the months of September and October. Contractors, subcontractors, trade associations, and labor groups who wish to participate in the survey must register with the Prevailing Wage Unit in order to be notified when the survey begins and ends. If you would like to be notified when the survey period begins, please register online. If you have not registered prior to the beginning of the survey period, you may still register online and participate in the survey at any time between September 1st and October 31st.

Prevailing Wage Law
The Prevailing Wage law regulates the hours of labor, rates of pay, conditions of employment, obligations of employers and duties of certain public officials under contracts and subcontracts for public works in Maryland.

Services Covered Under The Prevailing Wage Law
The Prevailing Wage law applies to a construction project valued at $250,000 or more if either of the following criteria are met:

1. the contracting public body is a unit of State Government or an instrumentality of the State, and there is any State funding for the project; or
2. the contracting public body is a political subdivision, agency, person or entity (such as a county) and the State funds 25% or more of the project including school construction.

Please see the State Finance and Procurement Article for more information regarding Services Covered Under the Prevailing Wage Law...

Overview - Prevailing Wage for State Funded Construction Contracts - Division of Labor and Industry

TONIGHT: October 9th, 2024, Tour New MCPS High School Building ***Northwood/Woodward (11211 Old Georgetown) ***

Come take a tour and attend a community meeting at Northwood/Woodward (11211 Old Georgetown) Wednesday, October 9, 2024, cafeteria. This is an opportunity to hear updates from @MCPS @mcpnews @cmkatestewart and more. You can pre-submit a question:https://t.co/Dhgi5ChlY9 pic.twitter.com/jrM1kSi5f9

— 2D Commander (@2dCommander) October 8, 2024

Northwood HS at former Woodward Site: 43 buses

First Day at Northwood Brings Optimism Mixed with Traffic Challenges

...According to officials from the MCPS Department of Transportation, 43 buses entered another parking lot to deliver students. Meanwhile southbound SUV’s trying to make turns into the school grounds were impeded by bike lane posts. They had to maneuver a Y turn which led to backups in both lanes. Some parents mistakenly used the bike lanes to exit school grounds amid the first day confusion.

https://www.mymcmedia.org/first-day-at-northwood-brings-optimism-mixed-with-traffic-challenges/?fbclid=IwY2xjawE6yGtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHVWFQV2EprWSmGf-PoxdD7t20BulQQQ3gkAaNJhcgvEqK93gAt3bOknr8A_aem_Ui4LX4rNJgDgjoyYZbkHnQ

Parents, students alarmed by plan to postpone construction of auditoriums at new Woodward, Crown high schools

Parents and students in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) communities that would likely feed into the new Charles C. Woodward and Crown high schools are concerned by a school board decision Tuesday to delay the construction of auditoriums at the schools until after they open.

The Montgomery County Board of Education approved changes to the project scope of the reopening of Woodward in Rockville and the construction of the new Crown High School in Gaithersburg, adding an additional phase to construct auditoriums for both projects. Officials did not say when they plan for the auditoriums to be completed...

https://moco360.media/2024/03/22/parents-students-alarmed-by-plan-to-postpone-construction-of-auditoriums-at-new-woodward-crown-high-schools/

Parents, students alarmed by plan to postpone construction of auditoriums at new Woodward, Crown high schools

School board cites budget shortfalls, supply chain disruptions as reasons for the delays

Parents and students in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) communities that would likely feed into the new Charles C. Woodward and Crown high schools are concerned by a school board decision Tuesday to delay the construction of auditoriums at the schools until after they open.

The Montgomery County Board of Education approved changes to the project scope of the reopening of Woodward in Rockville and the construction of the new Crown High School in Gaithersburg, adding an additional phase to construct auditoriums for both projects. Officials did not say when they plan for the auditoriums to be completed...

https://moco360.media/2024/03/22/parents-students-alarmed-by-plan-to-postpone-construction-of-auditoriums-at-new-woodward-crown-high-schools/

WSSC Water files lawsuit over 'forever chemicals'

The Montgomery County Board of Education and Montgomery County Council LOVE PFAS chemicals found in artificial turf football fields!  They can't get enough of them and are about to put down another plastic sheet at the new Woodward High School in Bethesda.  

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MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - Maryland’s largest water provider is suing a number of companies, alleging they are polluting the water supply with toxins. 

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission's water serves almost two million people in Montgomery and Prince George's County.

 https://www.fox5dc.com/news/wssc-water-files-lawsuit-over-forever-chemicals

 

Board of Education and County Council Put Massive Sheet of Plastic over Field at New High School. #heatisland #plastic

Concerned about global warming?  That's not a concern here in Montgomery County, Maryland. 

The Montgomery County Board of Education and the Montgomery County Council have finalized their plan to put down a massive sheet of plastic on the playing field at the new high school under construction on Old Georgetown Road. The Board of Education and the Montgomery County Council have made a choice to cover the ground with plastic and create a heat island.  

You can see the size of the giant sheet of plastic in this image from the Mandatory Referral documents filed with the Montgomery County Planning Board. 

The big purple oval shown in the image below is the massive sheet of plastic that will be installed at the Woodward High School construction site. 

The green areas on this image are the parts of the site that will be grass and dirt. 

Update: @mcps Seth Adams Blames Parents for MCPS Poor Planning. Einstein HS will lose Tennis Courts. @mcps Seth Adams to Punish Students for His Poor Planning.

Portable Classrooms Placed at Einstein High School Tennis Court

Albert Einstein High School in Kensington is losing one of its tennis courts to make way for portable classrooms, and athletes there are not happy.

The portable trailers are needed due to over enrollment at the school, explained Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) spokesperson Jessica Baxter...

Portable Classrooms Placed at Einstein High School Tennis Court - Montgomery Community Media (mymcmedia.org)

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Let's remember who is behind all of these decisions. The Board of Education delegated all of their authority so they can hide and deny knowledge of decisions like these.  

From MCPS Staff Directory:

Breaking: Board of Ed. Ditches Plan to Replace 1/2 Home Team Bleachers with a Cell Tower Compound at new Woodward High School. @mocoboe @mcps

The Parents' Coalition has learned that the Board of Education has dropped their plan to replace half of the home team bleachers at the new Woodward High School stadium with a cell tower compound. 

Below are two images showing approximately what the Board of Education had planned.  The images below use the Walter Johnson High School stadium as an example of what a typical MCPS athletic stadium looks like.   

The Woodward High School cell tower compound would have replaced the home team bleachers on one side of the field.  Spectators for the home team would have been restricted to the other side of the field.  But as of today, the Board of Education has apparently declined to pursue this construction project.  

The red area below shows the location of the planned telecommunications tower compound at the new Woodward High School athletic stadium. The image is of the current Walter Johnson High School athletic stadium.

Traffic Study for the new Woodward High School on Old Georgetown Road

 Parents' Coalition has obtained the traffic study that was completed for the new Woodward High School, now being constructed on the east side of Old Georgetown Road. The study was completed in 2020. The data are from before the operation of the expanded Luxmanor Elementary School and the Tilden Middle School/Rock Terrace co-located schools and so are out of date. One of the conclusions nevertheless is that the intersection of Tuckerman Lane and Old Georgetown Road will fail, i.e., will be 'unacceptable' during "...the morning peak hour..." (page 19 of the report). Read the study here.

Woodward High School Traffic Study-3 by freestategal on Scribd

Cell Tower Collapses on Football Stadium Bleachers. Could this happen at @mcps Woodward High School site? Absolutely.

The Montgomery County Board of Education has secretly decided to put a cell tower in the bleachers at the football/soccer/lacrosse stadium they are building at the site of the former Woodward High School in North Bethesda.

The image shown is from the flyover video shown to the Board of Education in April 2022.  

Not a single Board of Education member said a word about the placement of the cell tower in the home team bleachers.  

This image shows what happens when a cell tower catches fire and falls on the football stadium bleachers at a high school in California.  The full story is in the video: 

The Montgomery County Board of Education knows not to say a word about putting a cell tower in stadium bleachers because they already know that parents and guardians are vehemently opposed to a cell tower in stadium bleachers. 

Just watch the first 10 minutes of the Wootton High School meeting shown in the video below where the Board of Education wanted to put a cell tower under the football stadium bleachers.  

To say parents, guardians and community members were opposed to this proposal would be a massive understatement.  In order to avoid hearing from parents and guardians again on this idea, the current Board of Education just isn't going to tell them. 

Brenda Wolff and Karla Silvestre want your Vote now so they can Ignore you for another 4 Years. Watch them Vote for New Cell Tower without Public Input.

September 9, 2021, was a historic day in Montgomery County.  

It was the first time the Montgomery County Board of Education ever voted to build a new cell tower on public school land. The vote was unanimous. 

Cell towers had been constructed in the past on public school land, but never with a vote of the Board of Education. Those cell towers were put up without public notification or Board of Education votes. But once MCPS parents and neighbors discovered cell towers were taking over Montgomery County public school land they made their opposition known to the Board of Education. As a result of the public outcry, subsequent cell tower projects were rejected by the Board of Education. 

No new cell tower has been constructed on public school land in Montgomery County since 2006.  

Until now.

On September 9, 2021, the Montgomery County Board of Education unanimously voted to approve a NEW CELL TOWER for the Woodwards High School site.  The Action Item was on the Consent Agenda and the item was voted on without so much as a peep from any of the Board of Education members.  In fact, if you just watch the video of that vote you wouldn't even know what happened. 

Parents and guardians all across Montgomery County have voiced their opposition to the construction of cell towers on public school playgrounds for over 16 years.  

Brenda Wolff and Karla Silvestre voted to construct a new cell tower without following the MCPS process for new cell tower approvals and without so much as a word of discussion in a public meeting. 

Now they want your vote in the 2022 election so they can stay in their Board of Education seats for another 4 years.  You can use your vote to let them know how you feel about their failure to follow the stated MCPS process. 

McKnight Scraps Cell Tower Process, Cuts out Board of Ed., Parents, PTSA, Principal and Neighbors at Woodward HS Site. Puts New Cell Tower on 3rd Base Line of New Baseball Field.

MCPS Interim Superintendent Monifa McKnight has instituted a new Process for the placement of a New Cell Tower on Board of Education land. McKnight has cut out the Board of Education, parents, PTSA, neighbors, and principals from the approval process.

On Wednesday, November 3, 2021, McKnight will have MCPS staff tell the Montgomery County Tower Committee that all of the MCPS New Cell Tower placement processes have been followed.  Never mind that steps 2-16 of the New Cell Tower Process have been skipped.  

Here's what McKnight's New Cell Tower Process Map looks like:

MCPS Interim Superintendent Monifa McKnight has eliminated steps 2-16, instead having a cell tower vendor go right to her for approval of a New Cell Tower on a Board of Education school site.  

McKnight's "new process" is being put in to action with the placement of a new cell tower on the site of the new high school at the Woodward site on Old Georgetown Road in Rockville. The school doesn't exist, has no parents, no principal, no teachers, no PTSA, and so McKnight has eliminated all of those parties from the decision whether or not to locate a New Cell Tower on the 3rd base line of the baseball field.  

The red circle shows the location that Monifa McKnight

has chosen for the construction of a new, 120 foot tall cell tower.

Here is what the MCPS New Cell Tower Process Map looked like before Interim Superintendent Monifa McKnight took over control of MCPS:

TODAY: Watch Interim Super. McKnight Violate BOE POLICY, Cut Out Parents, Skip Principals in Construction of NEW CELL TOWER @mocoboe @mcps

Today the Montgomery County Board of Education will vote to turn over the decision of whether or not to build a NEW cell tower at the Woodward High School site under construction to Interim Superintendent Monifa McKnight.  

If Montgomery County Interim Superintendent Monifa McKnight is given this power, she will make the decision without Board of Education review and without input from the school's parents, community or principal.  

The Woodward High School site is currently under construction.  On that property a new high school will be built, one that as of yet does not have any students or staff.  

Board of Education POLICY ECN specifically calls for input on the placement of a cell tower on a public school playground from school staff, the PTSA, and community groups: 

d) Impact on the school site and operations based on input from school staff, PTSA, community groups, and facilities staff.

But at this school site there is no school. There is no staff.  

There are no parents and no PTSA.  The school doesn't exist yet. 

So instead of waiting for the school to be built and following the Board of Education POLICY, Interim Superintendent Monifa McKnight wants the power to build the cell tower NOW so she can make the decision without hearing from school staff, PTSA or parents.  

Why?

BECAUSE MCPS PARENTS OVERWHELMINGLY OPPOSE CELL TOWERS ON PUBLIC SCHOOL PLAYGROUNDS. 

If McKnight waits for the new high school to be built to build a NEW cell tower she already knows that parents will OPPOSE such a plan.  

When ever a cell tower has been publicly proposed for a MCPS school site parents have overwhelmingly OPPOSED those construction projects. 

Sligo Middle School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../breaking-news... 

Parkland Middle School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../exclusive... 

Wootton High School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../video... 

Julius West Middle School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../we-said-noand... 

Neelsville Middle School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../video-tower... 

Northwest High School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../parents... 

Clemente Middle School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../november-11th... 

Daly Elementary School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../starr-wants...

Breaking: Woodward High School on Old Georgetown Road Demolished. Only old cell tower remains.

Charles W. Woodward High School (also used as Tilden Middle School) on Old Georgetown Road in Rockville, MD has been demolished.  

As of May 16, 2021, the Woodward High School site:

Only the old cell tower remains standing on the site. 

Pictures taken by Paula Bienenfeld.

Exclusive: See Jack Smith's New Cell Tower for Old Georgetown Road - Woodward High School Reopening

The Parents' Coalition has obtained a copy of the construction plans for the new cell tower at the Woodward High School Reopening site at 11211 Old Georgetown Road in Rockville.  

On Tuesday, May 11th, Superintendent Jack Smith attempted to get the Board of Education to approve this new cell tower.  However, Superintendent Smith's Memorandum to the Board of Education was factually incorrect and was pulled from the Agenda prior to any Board discussion or vote. 

Superintendent Jack Smith's Memorandum to the Board of Education did not include the plans for the new cell tower or any images showing what the cell tower might look like.  

The Board of Education was poised to approve this new cell tower sight unseen. 

Below is an image showing approximately where we believe the new cell tower would be placed based on the construction plans.  

This new cell tower would be toward the front of the new Woodward High School building (after demolition and construction) on Old Georgetown Road.  The new cell tower will be 75 feet high and taller than the new high school being built at this site.  There will be a 40' x 40' compound around the base of the cell tower. 

We have created this image based on the plans submitted to Montgomery County for the construction of this cell tower.  This image is our best guess as to where the cell tower would be located.  

Obviously, Superintendent Jack Smith would be in the best position to release an accurate image of the location and size of this new cell tower, but to date an official image has not been made public.   

This image is taken from the Montgomery County Board of Education's presentation of the plans for the new high school at the Woodward High School site on Old Georgetown Road in Rockville.  

We have added to the image a cell tower in the approximate location shown in the construction plans. The image shows the front of the building as it would be seen from Old Georgetown Road.

How MCPS Superintendents Fib to the Board of Education or How a New High School will Get a New Cell Tower at the Front Entrance.

 May 13, 2021 Update:  As noted in our original blog post below, the memorandum from Superintendent Jack Smith to the Montgomery County Board of Education was not factual.  The Montgomery County Transmission Facility Coordinating Group had NOT approved the placement of a new cell tower at the Woodward High School site on Old Georgetown Road.  

This agenda item was pulled from the May 11th Board of Education Agenda during the meeting because the memorandum from Superintendent Jack Smith was not correct. 

On today's Board of Education Agenda is a perfect example of how MCPS Superintendents fib to the Montgomery County Board of Education.  

The Board of Education members are well aware of these continuing fibs and approve of this method of conducting public school business.

 Board of Education members are "trained" to not question what they are told by the superintendent and by MCPS staff.  The "job" of Montgomery County Board of Education members is to be a rubber stamp for the actions of superintendents. 

Today's example:  Superintendent Jack Smith wants to build a new cell tower at the new high school site on Old Georgetown Road.  In order to do that, the superintendent has to bypass the existing Board policy and procedure that calls for the Board of Education to approve new cell towers. Superintendent Smith doesn't want to put this matter before the Board of Education because for the past 10 years all new cell tower proposals have been rejected by parents and community members in Montgomery County. 

Here are the steps involved in bypassing the existing policy and sneaking in a new cell tower:

1. Do not give the Board of Education members the actual documents they are approving!  Just write a memo (see images) that refers to documents, but gives no details.

2.  Fib about the history of the issue.  In today's Board memo, Superintendent Jack Smith says that the Board of Education previously "entered into a telecommunications lease."  That never happened. The Board of Education never entered into cell tower leases.  Cell tower leases were all executed by previous Superintendent Jerry Weast without Board votes.

3. Mention an internal approval process but give NO DETAILS.  This memo says that MCPS DFM (Department of Facilities Management) staff reviewed a plan and found it acceptable.  Where is the plan? Why can't the Board of Education see the plan? What about parents and neighbors? They haven't seen the plan. Why can't they see the plan?  By referencing some vague approval it sounds as if the plans are just fine and no one should question them.  

4. Claim the Montgomery County Transmission Facility Coordinating Group (TFCG) has approved the new cell tower when they actually haven't.   This particular cell tower is actually listed as PENDING on the TFCG website.  The proposal has not been approved. 

5. Instead of using the word "new" call the new cell tower "longer-term."  That will trick the Board of Education members into thinking they aren't really giving the Superintendent the power to erect a new cell tower.  

The May 11, 2021, memorandum shown above from Superintendent Jack Smith is an excellent example of how to get around Board of Education policies and procedures, keep Board members clueless as to what is being approved, and eliminate public notice of commercial construction projects on public school land.