County school bus depots and the Rockville follies

One of the most common stories in local news for the last few weeks is the drama surrounding the relocation of the county school bus depot.

Currently residing in the Shady Grove corridor, where it has been for years, the county school system has to move the bus depot by the first of next year because the county is trying to develop the area around the Shady Grove Metro for retail outlets and suitable living space.

Part of the so-called “Smart Growth” move to encourage such development around the county’s red-line Metro stops, the county has been planning this move for years.

And that, sadly, is the problem.

The county has planned additional development which will further stress its infrastructure without taking care of the infrastructure it already needs to handle the development it already has.

The school system is stuck right in the middle – between angry residents who don’t want the bus depot anywhere near them – and the county council which has punted the issue down the road without addressing it adequately....

 http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1926%3Acounty-school-bus-depots-and-the-rockville-follies&Itemid=750

Tour the Public School Building that the BOE wants to Demolish for Bus Depot

Ewing School

Would you like to visit the Blair G. Ewing Center?
If so, now is your chance!
MCPS is arranging two tour dates so residents can see the school for themselves:

- Wednesday (tomorrow) April 29, 2015 at 2:30pm
and
- Thursday May 7, 2015 at 3:30pm

To participate, visitors need to sign in at the main entrance. The Ewing Center's address is:
14501 Avery Road
Rockville, MD 20853

Sentinel Cartoon: Addressing School Capacity Issues

http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/images/cartoons/SENTINEL_2015-04-09_New_MCPS_Bus_Depot.jpg

Board of Education Members Refuse to Meet with Community on Bus Depot Issue

From the Save Blair Ewing community group:

We represent several communities. Our issues involves millions of dollars, serious environmental impacts, traffic and safety issues, student needs and widespread school overcrowding. We have been demanding more openness and transparency, and better decision-making.

We have been instrumental in pushing for a delay in the declaration of "no further need" for the CSP East/Jeremiah Park property, where MCPS currently parks over 400 school buses... because MCPS clearly still needs that depot on Crabbs Branch Way.

And we have been asking to meet with the Board of Education members to discuss these issues. Their response? See below:

"Dear Mr. Smilowitz,

You recently contacted the Board office requesting meetings with individual Board members to discuss issues with the use of the English Manor property and overcrowding. I regret to inform you that Board members’ tight schedules currently make it a huge challenge to arrange face-to-face meetings. I suggest that you send the Board your thoughts via email correspondence. If you send it to boe@mcpsmd.org, they will all receive your correspondence.
Again, I am sorry we cannot accommodate your request at this time.

Ikhide Roland Ikheloa
Chief of Staff-Ombudsman
Montgomery County Board of Education
301-279-3617"

Today: BOE to Discuss Bus Depot Move in Closed Session

Ewing school to be demolished for 

developer.

From the Agenda for today's Closed Session of the Montgomery County Board of Education: 

Resolved,
That the Board receive legal advice about pending litigation before the Maryland State
Board of Education concerning English Manor, the Blair Ewing Center, and the Shady Grove Bus Depot...

 http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/9UWBRF744427/$file/Resolution%20for%20Closed%20Session.pdf

County still looking for a new MCPS bus depot

ROCKVILLE – As the county considers how to make room for smart growth in Shady Grove, the selected developer has not found a solution for a key part of the development: the current Montgomery County Public Schools bus depot on the site.

 http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1755:county-still-looking-for-a-new-bus-depot&Itemid=766

it’s “absolutely clear” that the development proposal request had a requirement that a developer find a solution for moving the [MCPS bus]depot.

Plan for school district bus depot’s next home remains hazy

...Greg Ossont, deputy director of the county’s Department of General Services, said developers pitched ideas in their proposals, but “none of them offered us a panacea.” Developers under consideration could increase their bid in lieu of offering both money and land for the depot, he said.
Elrich, however, said it’s “absolutely clear” that the development proposal request had a requirement that a developer find a solution for moving the depot.
“I guess I’m curious as to why we didn’t hold them to the terms of the deal,” he said.
The request said the bus depot now fills 35 acres, but “developers may not need to identify the same total number of acres and the county will consider multiple sites of fewer acres.”
A developer wouldn’t be expected to design or construct facilities on a new site, the request says.
Ossont said the language was meant to help developers offer more viable proposals for relocating the bus depot, but it wasn’t an obligation.
Elrich said the county should adjust the sale date, so developers don’t get the land until they find a depot solution...

 http://www.gazette.net/article/20150304/NEWS/150309764/1022/plan-for-school-district-bus-depot-x2019-s-next-home-remains-hazy&template=gazette

Will Gov. Hogan Vote to Demolish a Usable MCPS Public School Building?

85,400 sq. ft. Ewing School

The Board of Education has voted to put parking for 400+/- school buses on a school site that is currently the location of a 85,400 sq. ft. school building.  The school building is the Ewing School Center and the building is in use today. 

In order to park the 400+/- school buses on this land, the Board of Education will have to demolish the 85,400 sq. ft. school building.

In order to demolish the school building, the Board of Public Works will have to approve the demolition.

The Board of Public Works is made up of the Governor, the Treasurer and the Comptroller. 

Will Governor Larry Hogan vote to demolish a perfectly usable, functioning public school building? How about Comptroller Peter Franchot, how will he vote?

County Committee Orders Two Studies for MCPS Alternative Education Program

Opponents of a Montgomery County Public Schools’ plan to move the county’s Alternative Education Program from the Blair G. Ewing Center to the English Manor School property off Bestor Drive won a small victory Thursday afternoon.

 The Montgomery County Council’s Education Committee approved a plan Thursday that has the county’s school system looking at both the Blair site and English Manor building for the program that currently includes 138 students. The council committee agreed to allow the school system to spend $1.5 million for two feasibility studies- one that looks at renovating to Ewing site off Avery Road and another that allows the school system to check out if the English Manor property or another school system-owned site would work for the programming...

 http://www.mymcmedia.org/county-committee-orders-two-studies-for-mcps-alternative-education-program-photos/

ABC7: Residents battle MCPS over controversial bus depot plan

ROCKVILLE, Md. (WJLA) – Resistance is growing against a plan to build a new bus depot for hundreds of school buses in Montgomery County. The problem, some say, is that construction crews will have to demolish a functioning school and playground to make way for the new depot.

“This doesn’t make sense from any angle whatsoever,” opponent Jamison Adcock remarked. “Day by day, more and more people are finding out about this. The county council and the county executive, the Board of Education and the superintendent of schools all need to understand how angry they are about this.”

As it stands, Montgomery County Public Schools would vacate its Derwood bus depot by January 2017, moving roughly 370 busses to the Blair G. Ewing Center along Avery Road in Rockville. In turn, all 155 Blair Ewing students would relocate to the former English Manor Elementary School in Aspen Hill, which opponents say is older, smaller and in serious need of repair.

“Demolishing a perfectly good 85,000-square-foot building makes absolutely no sense,” Adcock added. “This site is less than half the size of the current bus depot. You can’t fit 10 pounds of sugar in a 5-pound bag and that’s what the school system is trying to do.”

Others argue fuel tanks could pose environmental concerns to nearby Rock Creek. Increased traffic from hundreds of busses and countless staff vehicles is another serious concern.

Read more: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2015/01/residents-battle-mcps-over-controversial-bus-depot-plan-110985.html#ixzz3QFbhHYn3
Follow us: @ABC7News on Twitter | WJLATV on Facebook

@Marc_Elrich to @MCPS: for a myriad of reasons I don't buy what you are saying.

@Marc_Elrich to @MCPS: for a myriad of reasons I don't buy what you are saying. pic.twitter.com/EtHNkZwp7k
— krista brick (@lmjpbrick) January 29, 2015

Quote from today's Montgomery County Council Education Committee meeting on the demolition of the Ewing School Center building.  

Council to Demolish 600 Seat School without Review of Facts

Ewing School

On Thursday, January 29, 2015, the Montgomery County Council's Education committee will vote on whether or not to rob the Ewing School Center building of it's renovation funding. The Ewing School building has the capacity to hold up to 600 MCPS students.  If the building loses it's renovation funding the building will deteriorate and be demolished. Once demolished, those 600 seats will be lost to MCPS students forever.

Here is an open letter to the Montgomery County Council in response to the Memorandum from Council staff on this issue.  Councilmembers will use the staff Memorandum to cast their votes.  Shouldn't Councilmembers have all of the facts before they decide to demolish a usable, paid for, 600 seat public school building?

~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

January 28, 2015
 
councilmember.Leventhal@montgomerycountymd.gov 
councilmember.berliner@montgomerycountymd.gov 
councilmember.elrich@montgomerycountymd.gov 
councilmember.floreen@montgomerycountymd.gov councilmember.hucker@montgomerycountymd.gov
councilmember.katz@montgomerycountymd.gov
councilmember.Navarro@montgomerycountymd.gov councilmember.Rice@montgomerycountymd.gov
councilmember.Riemer@montgomerycountymd.gov

Esteemed Council Members,

I am providing this email to refute much of what [County Council Staff member] Ms. McGuire has provided within her recommendation to the County Council regarding the relocation of the AEP [Alternate Education Program] program to the former English Manor School.

Here are a couple of links for reference:

Ms. McGuire's memo - http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/Resources/Files/agenda/cm/2015/150129/20150129_ED2.pdf

The COMPLETED Ewing Center Renovations feasibility study (see Option #3) - http://www.saveblairewing.org/uploads/4/2/7/3/42739627/bgewingctrmodfeasibilitystudy.pdf

Please take these items into account during your work session. At minimum, please ask for concrete proof for what she states.

1) MCPS Attendees for the [January 29, 2015, Education Committee] work session. Only representatives from the Facilities Dept are attending. While they may have some ideas regarding structural issues, they are not the ones who have designed the AEP program and cannot reliably state that their construction plans for English Manor will truly serve the program better. MCPS Administration staff presence is vital for this session.

2) There are no developed construction plans for English Manor, this vote is really around defunding the Ewing School Center. No feasibility studies have been conducted, so any discussion of how much an English Manor renovation would cost is purely speculation. The memo states (on page circled 14) "With the revised AEP, if the architects were to compare the current facility with English Manor, the study would show that English Manor is better suited to support the AEP and would be more cost effective." This is speculation. No concrete documentation has been provided to support this statement.

The memo states that "the approved $16.6 million should be sufficient to make the systematic renovations to English Manor..." "Should be sufficient" is not enough. These funds are proposed for a relatively small number of students, while a much larger number are being put in portable classrooms. In this fiscal climate, "should be sufficient" is irresponsible and should not be allowed.

She repeats Superintendent Starr's assertion that if additional funds are needed, they will be requested in the next CIP. MCPS cannot support their assertions that $16.6 million will be enough for an English Manor renovation as they have not completed any feasibility studies.

3) The proposed approval of funds for an English Manor renovation is for a building that MCPS does not currently own. Ms. McGuire references state law and county regulations in regards to transferring the property back to MCPS, but she does not provide any specific citations. These laws cannot be considered until citations are provided to prove their existence. To the contrary, COMCOR clearly states at section 11B.45.02.03 that the County Executive must activate the schools reuse and must include the community's input.   Also in COMCOR 11B.45.02.04, the Planning Board also must be involved before any action is taken. None of this is included in her memo.

4) No site selection process. Ms. McGuire claims that MCPS looked at other sites for the programs, but a site selection process was NOT conducted. Based on Board Meeting minutes, there does not seem to be any discussion amongst the Board of Education regarding any alternative sites. She needs to provide documentation showing that these other locations were considered as well as what concrete evidence directed them to English Manor (other than the perceived convenience of moving a Bus Depot to the current Ewing location).

5) Ms. McGuire has not included the second Resolution from the Board of Education.  This Resolution was a request to transfer $100,000 of the approved Ewing renovation money to the bus depot Feasibility Study. This needs to be included as those funds are part of what was approved for the Ewing renovations.

Resolved, That the Board of Education requests an amendment to the adopted Fiscal Years     2015–2020 Capital Improvements Program to transfer $100,000 from the approved Blair G. Ewing Center Improvements project to the Facility Planning project to conduct a feasibility study for the redevelopment of the current Blair G. Ewing Center site for the Shady Grove Transportation Depot; and be it further

So in essence, the Council cannot vote on moving $16.6 million to English Manor as $100,000 of that total is being requested to move to the bus depot.

6) The memo is wrongly comparing the potential solutions of English Manor with the EXISTING structure of the Ewing Center. This document needs to compare these solutions with those presented in the completed Ewing renovation feasibility study (link provided above). That study solves all of issues that this memo asserts can only be solved by English Manor. Here are some examples -

•  A) The memo states that in the current Blair Ewing facility (circled page 15), "the specialty classrooms (Le. art, music, science, drama, and PEl are located in different parts of the facility, which would create more interaction between middle and high school students than desired." Page 41 of the Ewing renovation feasibility study shows that option #3 puts all of these classrooms in the same location, thus eliminating the issue being cited.

• B) The memo states that (on circled page 14) "In addition, due to the current building layout and multi-levels [of the Ewing Center], it would be difficult to create a clear circulation path or improved supervision .." yet, the plan for English Manor is to locate the students on multiple levels as well. The completed feasibility study for the Ewing renovation states (page 44) "The corridors are able to widen create locker commons. These moves remove the institutional feel of the current building and provide students with 21st Century Learning Environments on par with their home school."

• C) From a footprint standpoint, this memo states twice that the facility size of English Manor is much smaller than what is required of the AEP program.On circled page 14, "The current Blair Ewing site is approximately 22.5 acres compared to English Manor which is approximately 8.25 acres. The Blair Ewing facility is over 85,000 GSF compared to English Manor which is approximately 50,000 GSF. Based on the student population and program needs for the revised alternative education programs (AEP), approximately 70,000-75,000 GSF is required to support the programs." Also on circled page 15, "Although the current English Manor facility was a former elementary school and the square footage is smaller than what is required for the AEP, the proposed addition would allow MCPS to provide the specialty and career technology education (CTE) classrooms needed to support the program." Considering that the site acreage is significantly smaller than the Ewing property, how is there space to add enough square footage as the memo states is needed? Again, no feasibility study so any statements around English Manor are speculation.

• D) The memo states (on circled page 15) that each Ewing Center classroom has their own bathrooms. Staff would like these removed. Page 47 of the Ewing renovation feasibility study shows that individual bathrooms have been removed as requested.

6) Ms. McGuire mentions nine testimonials, but does not include them in her memo. Three of the four who testified in support of the plan were MCPS employees under Mr. Starr, and not members of the public. Second, a number of people submitted written testimony against the plan, and this should have been counted as well.

A large number of questions have been raised by the community and virtually none of these have been answered or even addressed in any forum. Hundreds of separate communications, including phone calls, emails and testimony have poured in to the BOE and the County Council.

    1 - No responses have come.

    2 - The 'recommendation' doesn't even acknowledge the numerous questions raised, completely ignoring the overwhelming rejection of this plan by the public.

In reality, the response from the public was overwhelmingly negative and not balanced as the document suggests.

7) No community involvement before the School Board Vote. The memo states (on circled page 15) "The addition would provide a new building elevation to the neighborhood. For all school design projects that MCPS conducts, if the feasibility study is approved, the adjacent neighbors and neighborhood associations would be invited to participate in the feasibility study and subsequent schematic design process to share their concerns and input into the design of the project." Involving the community after the fact, is the equivalent of asking forgiveness rather than permission. That is too little too late for the community.
"Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" (Declaration of Independence). Despite efforts by the BOE to paint another picture, the public is almost uniformly opposed to this plan. In this case, there is no way that it should go forward.

I implore you to push for facts and not the fiction included in that memo. The residents in and around Aspen Hill are vehemently opposed to this plan and you owe it to us to be as thorough as possible when making your decision.

Thank you for your time and consideration.
-David K. Rowden

Councilmember Craig Rice Supports "blink of an eye" school planning. OK to skip public process. #72hours #no1cares #mcpswaste

...“(The County Council) should ask the Board of Education why they’re tearing schools down and then asking for money for school construction. It makes no sense. It’s waste,” said Jamison Adcock, vice president of the Aspen Hill Civic Association...

...The quick change does not seem unusual to [Councilmember Craig] Rice, as new research comes to light.

“We change parameters all the time...it happens in the blink of an eye and you start changing your thought process,” Rice said. “Feasibility versus really providing students with what they really need are two different things.”...

 ...[MCPS Planner] Crispell reached out to the neighborhood about 72 hours before the board’s Capital Improvements Program (CIP) hearings on Nov. 12 and 13...

...“Based on what I’ve heard, unfortunately I don’t think the community felt as though they were engaged and involved in the process. That’s unfortunate and it should never be that way,” Rice said. “What I don’t want to say is that alleged transgressions of the school board change the decision before us.”

Former state Del. Carol Petzold encouraged the group to write to county and possibly state officials. They should send copies to the school board, “so they know what kind of storm they’ve created,” she said.

Community members oppose bus depot, Ewing center moves

Residents from Rockville and other parts of Montgomery County expressed heated opposition Thursday to a school system plan to relocate a bus depot and an education center in the Rockville area...