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:

Overcrowding problem persists at Montgomery County school

Adam Longo to Board of Ed.: "Your projections are wrong. I urge you to connect with the great folks in your planning office and dig down deeper. Find out why the numbers are wrong." #ClarksburgElementarySchool

Adam Longo
Testimony to the Montgomery County, Maryland
Board of Education
March 5, 2020
Re: Clarksburg Cluster ES #9 Proposed Amendment

President Evans.
Members of the Board
Dr. Smith.

Good evening.
My name is Adam Longo and I address you today in opposition of the
proposed amendment to close Clarksburg Elementary School in
September of 2022 when the new Clarksburg Elementary #9 school is set
to open.
I currently have two children at Clarksburg Elementary School and next
year it’ll be three.
This is a fantastic school.
I’d like to publicly praise the teachers and staff at CES who are amazing,
deeply engaged and highly responsive.
But most of all incredibly caring and empathetic.
The Principal, Carl Bencal, assistant principal Darshan Jain.
The office administrators Shinita and Yvette and everyone who’s been
involved in my daughters’ education and success. There are obviously too
many to name.

I know when I send my kids off to Clarksburg Elementary each morning I
don’t have to worry because I know they’re in good and capable hands.
My worry instead rests with the decisions made by Montgomery County
leaders when it comes to the Clarksburg area.

The Planning Board, the County Council, the Superintendent and this
Board of Education.
I know none of you live in Clarksburg.
But it’s the wild west up there.

A cumulative lack of foresight and planning by each of the afore mentioned County boards has led to an explosion of development and growth while infrastructure and education .. have been an afterthought.

My biggest question for everyone on those Boards and this one: why aren’t we building schools and roads AT THE SAME TIME we’re building new neighborhoods?

But one step at a time .. let’s get to the meat of what we’re all here to
discuss.
The numbers and projections this Board will use to make it’s decision are
wrong.
(**see attachment)

This enrollment projection document was introduced to
the board in November of 2017 .. so 2 years and 3 months ago.
It was produced by the Site Selection Advisory Committee for CES #9.
So just two years ago, it was projected Clarksburg Elementary would have
462 students.
Guess what, we’re at 640 students. More than DOUBLE the intended
capacity of the facility.

The projections for 2023-2024 is that there’d be 589 students .. 4 and a half
years from now.
Again .. We’re at 640 students.

Its my understanding the planning office estimates CES will have 722
students .. in 6 years.
Nice try everyone. We’ll have that many next year.

Your projections are wrong. I urge you to connect with the great folks in your planning office and dig down deeper.  
Find out why the numbers are wrong. 

Take fifteen minutes and drive around in Clarksburg.

Bring your boots and saddle and stop in at the saloon.

We’ve got no less than 3 major neighborhood developments happening
simultaneously within the Clarksburg Elementary School zone: The Cabin
Branch development, rapid construction of townhomes on Shawnee Lane
within sight of Clarksburg high school and another single family home
development on the west side of 355 about a mile north of Clarksburg high
school.

And these are only the developments ACTIVELY under construction. How
much land is left that’s zoned for residential development that could be
bought and shovel ready within a few months?

We needed the new #9 elementary school like yesterday.

It’s already been delayed by a year .. and word going around is it could be
delayed ANOTHER year if the Capital Improvement Plan isn’t fully
funded??

Are we going to have to start stacking portables ON TOP of the school?

It’s clear to me the MCPS administration doesn’t have the right vision.
There’s no vision on how to address the current overcrowding situation at
Clarksburg elementary school.

There’s no vision about opening a new #9 school in 2 and a half years that
.. if you close Clarksburg Elementary .. will be over capacity the minute it
opens its doors.

Do not close Clarksburg elementary school in 2022. We need more
schools. Smaller schools. Not monstrosity education farms where a child could go all the way from K to 5 without the principal knowing their name.

Let me close by being real with you.

As a news reporter for the past 20 years, I have spent countless hours in
school board meeting rooms like this across the country.
Suffice to say, I’ve seen it all.
Here’s one thing I haven’t seen: School Board members actually lending
weight to the testimony they hear from the public.

I’d like to give this board the benefit of the doubt.
But then I watched from the sidelines what you did with the boundary
changes involving Seneca Valley, Neelsville and Cabin Branch.
Despite the enormous public outcry.
Not cool.

This is the first time I have ever addressed a group of elected officials in my
personal capacity.
Perhaps I’ve been jaded into thinking it’s a waste of my time and it won’t do
any good.

Please prove me wrong.
Thank you for the opportunity.
I yield the balance of my time.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/BMEP2W602DD6/$file/Attachment.pdf

WXY Studio does Diversity Plans. They do not primarily do boundary/capacity studies.

The Montgomery County Board of Education has hired a company called WXY Studio to do what they are calling a "boundary" analysis. However, WXY Studio has primarily done Diversity Plans and maybe one or two plans that actually dealt with overcrowding.

WXY Studio appears to have worked with school systems about 3-4 times to create DIVERSITY PLANS. Below is the current Diversity Plan that WXY is doing for District 28 in Queens, New York.  Here are the Process Goals for that project. Notice that capacity/overcrowding issues are not mentioned.

PROCESS GOALS

In addition to the overall goal of increasing school diversity in each of the districts, District 28 specifically hopes to achieve the following process goals: 

• Increase access to D28 middle schools for all D28 students.

• Position student voice at the center of our work.

• Find new opportunities for social emotional learning, community building, and equitable resources for students across the district.

• Foster more inclusive and integrated middle schools. 

http://d28diversityplan.com/

MCPS Might Reclaim Housing Opportunities Commission Headquarters

As the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission prepares to move its headquarters to Silver Spring, the county school district is contemplating taking over the Kensington facility the agency was using.

The Housing Opportunities Commission — a commission formed in 1974 to respond to the county’s need for affordable housing — plans to move to a new location in Silver Spring within three years, according to county officials. The commission’s headquarters is now in a former school on Detrick Avenue in Kensington.

MCPS spokeswoman Gboyinde Onijala wrote in an email last month that MCPS is “considering the option but [we] haven’t made any specific plans for the site.”

In the Walter Johnson High School cluster, the 45,206-square-foot school has 19 rooms. It sits on 4.54 acres, according to MCPS documents.

Because it is a school site, MCPS gets first dibs, according to Greg Ossont, deputy director of the county’s Department of General Services...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/news/mcps-might-reclaim-housing-opportunities-commission-headquarters/

School Capacity Meeting Mon Oct 7 6PM B-CC Cafeteria

Friedson says process ‘raises broader concerns’ about communication, planning #WoodwardHSsite #overcrowding

Montgomery Council Member Questions Future of Woodward High School

A Montgomery County Council member wrote to the leader of the county’s school system Thursday, concerned about the future of Woodward High School in Rockville.

Council member Andrew Friedson, who represents Bethesda, pressed MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith in the letter on “unexplained changes in philosophy” not relayed to the council as school system leaders explore the idea of including a performing arts magnet program at the facility.

Woodward, on Old Georgetown Road, currently is a temporary home for Tilden Middle School and will later hold Northwood High School students while their school undergoes extensive renovations. When Northwood students move back to their permanent school, Woodward is expected to reopen as a new high school.

The County Council has allocated $120 million to the Woodward renovation project, but was unaware of Montgomery County Public Schools’ vision of an arts magnet program, Friedson said.

“In addition to the significant delay for Woodward alleviating overcrowding at [Walter Johnson] … this latest revelation appears to be yet another backtracking of commitments made to the community,” Friedson wrote. “… This process raises broader concerns about communication, sufficient public input, and questionable planning.”..

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/montgomery-council-member-questions-future-of-woodward-high-school/

Rockville City Council studying options that would not stifle development but could crowd school

In an emerging debate over economic growth and school crowding, Rockville City Council members seem split on a proposal that would allow hundreds of additional students at Richard Montgomery High School.

New enrollment-growth projections for the school could trigger a moratorium on residential building and Rockville City Council member Mark Pierzchala has suggested increasing a cap so development could advance.

At a Monday night public meeting, the idea drew concerns...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/rockville-proposal-to-allow-more-students-at-richard-montgomery-high-questioned/

Montgomery schools’ executive director for operations, said its enrollment projections are about 99 percent accurate at a county level.

...Essie McGuire, Montgomery schools’ executive director for operations, said its enrollment projections are about 99 percent accurate at a county level. But she said the countywide calculations have masked changes in individual neighborhoods. Statistically speaking, she said, it’s also more difficult to predict the future at a more detailed school level.

The school system recently hired a consulting group to help update its enrollment forecasting models and respond more quickly to rapid changes, particularly in high-growth areas...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/as-school-systems-grapple-with-overcrowding-parents-wonder-why-enrollment-projections-are-so-off/2018/09/09/7f8abda4-95cd-11e8-810c-5fa705927d54_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.84dd12cebecd

Blair's portables address student overflow but present new problems. Addition will put Blair at 3,600 Students.

At the far end of Blair, past the SAC doors and the student courtyard, sit four brand new portables, a mass of beige and wood lazing in the afternoon sun. The portables, a result of Blair's expanding student population, are a new addition meant to help with the increasing Blazer population. 

The new Blair building, which first opened for the 1998-1999 school year, was meant to hold only 2820 students, but currently holds about 3100 students and 307 staff members. According to Blair principal Renay Johnson, Blair's student population will continue to increase each year. "I've been told that every year we get 200 more students until we get up to 3600 students, and then it may stabilize a little bit," she says. 

After Blair reached its capacity last year, MCPS assigned four new portables to Blair that would help alleviate the classroom shortage. "We got brand new portables; sometimes the county refurbishes them from different schools, but these were brand new, constructed on site and they put decking in the front," Johnson explains. 

The recent increase in high school students is a result of an influx of students from elementary and middle schools nine years ago. Student enrollment has gone from 2900 students to 3100 students, and is expected to reach 3300 students by the 2018-19 school year. To help with the second wave of new students, Blair will receive four more portables next year. 

In order to address the growing number of enrolled students, Blair has met with architects and has plans to be renovated and receive additions sometime in the near future. "We had a meeting last April with architects, and they showed us some plans of what it would look like to expand Blair so it would be 3600 students without portable classrooms...

...The time it takes for students to get to the portables has definitely been an adjustment for teachers such as math teacher John Giles who teaches in portable four during periods one, three, seven, eight and nine. He finds that a lot of his students show up late to ninth period because the shortened passing period leaves little time for students to get all the way out to the parking lot on time, sometimes from the complete opposite end of the school. "It's a hike to get here so unless they're like lined up at the door ready to bolt the second the bell rings it is kind of hard for them to get here in five minutes, so they are kind of routinely late," Giles says...

...Agbonselobho Yakubu, the building services manager, described the portables as an increase in the work that is already asked of the building services staff. "It's an extension of what we are doing already, we take on the new workload, that's what it is," Yakubu explains...

https://silverchips.mbhs.edu/story/13612

Montgomery Co. starts work on Md.’s largest high school

WASHINGTON — Construction crews in Germantown, Maryland, officially started work this week on a massive project to build a new Seneca Valley High School, eventually tearing down and replacing the current facility, which dates back to 1974.

The new high school, which is expected to open by the fall of 2020, will be the largest in the state in terms of its size.

“It will have space for 2,400 students,” said Jack Smith, superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools. “It will help the Germantown-Clarksburg area because of the tremendous growth that exists.”

Enrollment at the current school is about 1,300...

http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2017/09/montgomery-co-starts-work-states-largest-high-school/

City Councilmember conflict of interest discovered in Oct., not revealed until Dec. 19th @GburgMD #conflict #ethics

   City of Gaithersburg - Rosenzweig - Open Meetings Complaint Response 2.15.17 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

Petition to County Council on MCPS Overcrowding

Montgomery County Council's November 15 vote on the Subdivision Staging Policy stands to eliminate ANY disincentives to build until schools are over 120% of their capacity. The Council plans to discontinue the School Facility Payment that is currently charged on development when schools are between 105-120% of capacity.
They say they'll make up the money with a higher impact tax. But that does nothing to discourage development or prevent worsening overcrowding.

There are some a good changes in the works, but the County Council continues to view the SSP as a revenue model and not as a staging policy. THERE IS NOTHING IN PLACE TO STEM DEVELOPMENT UNTIL SCHOOLS REACH 120% OF CAPACITY. We ask that they postpone the vote scheduled for November 15th and address the the MCPS crisis more fully. Our schools cannot be left to struggle for the next four years (when this policy will be up for review again). MCPS has NO answers and can't clean up the Council's mess.

While individual school tests are a step in the right direction, more must be done to ensure that our schools don’t get worse before they get better. MCPS capacity and renovation projects can’t keep pace with development. Capital improvement projects that will be completed in 4 or 5 years cannot be counted as adequate capacity, leaving schools and their staff to cope with increasing enrollment in the interim. Impact taxes aren’t an adequate economic incentive to put our children through this. School impact taxes account for only 12% of the CIP funding, and they do nothing to cover incremental operational costs – busing, staffing, materials, etc. – all of which are a net burden to MCPS, and not a boon at all. For these reasons we propose the following

.https://www.change.org/p/stop-mcps-overcrowding?recruiter=23217726&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink

Audit: "MCPS paid the vendors approximately $1.3 million more than the contract amounts approved by the Board."

Whatever...clearly MCPS administrators do not care or pay any attention to Board of Education votes.  

This section of the 2016 Maryland State Office of Legislative Services audit of MCPS speaks for itself.

Montgomery County taxpayers, you pay for this. 


Parents, these dollars represent LESS teachers in classrooms.  Money spent without Board of Education approval steals money from classrooms and increases class size. 

Westbard Neighborhood Objects to Planned Overcrowding of Community and Schools

PETITION TO MONTGOMERY COUNTY COUNCIL

This petition is sponsored by the Citizens Coordinating Committee on Friendship Heights, consisting of 19 civic organizations, comprising over 7,000 households, in and surrounding the Westbard Sector Plan area.

We, residents living within or nearby to the Westbard Sector Plan area, petition the Council to revise substantially the draft Planning Board Westbard Sector Plan.

1. We endorse the goals of the draft plan, to create "a vibrant village center", with "preservation of local retail", to provide "neighborhood goods and services serving the surrounding residential community". Development is to be on a "neighborhood scale", "preserving compatibility with adjacent residential uses". [pp.6,18]

2. The draft plan is inconsistent with these goals because of the amount, type and height of development.
       A. The large amount of retail is well beyond what is needed or appropriate for a neighborhood serving center and is more like a regional mall. It will promote large stores not serving neighborhood needs; attract visitors from a wide geographic area; local businesses on which residents have depended are unlikely to survive.
       B. The large number of dwelling units will generate students overcrowding our already overcrowded schools for which no realistic plan to accommodate them has been offered, especially on middle and high school levels.
       C. The plan does not address the need for housing, including affordable, for seniors who comprise a substantial population (24%) in this area of the county, a type of housing that will not overburden the schools.
       D. The proposed height of some buildings is not on a neighborhood scale and is not compatible with nearby single family homes, e.g., 110 ft on Westbard Ave. near Westbard Mews townhouses; 90 ft on Westwood 2 site, near Springfield homes; 75 ft uniformly along both sides of River Rd., creating an urban "canyonization" effect....

https://www.change.org/p/nancy-floreen-roger-berliner-marc-elrich-tom-hucker-sidney-katz-george-leventhal-nancy-navarro-craig-rice-hans-riemer-keep-the-westbard-sector-plan-on-a-neighborhood-scale?recruiter=464658506&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive&utm_content=dt_shortened_links---url_short

Lyttonsville Neighborhood Objects to Planned Overcrowding of Community and Schools

The Lyttonsville neighborhood in Silver Spring has started a Petition to the Montgomery County Planning Board and the Montgomery County Council concerning the planned overcrowding of the neighborhood and schools. 
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The community petition asking the Planning Board and the County Council to limit growth in the western section of the planning area, to reduce densities (FARs), and to protect the park and community center is now online and ready to go at

http://bit.ly/lyttonsville

If this link is not clickable, please copy and paste it into your browser. is the link.

Remember, anyone can sign the petition, i.e., all the adults living at a single address and all children over 15. You don’t have to live in the neighborhood to sign.

Please sign the petition, copies will be presented to the Planning Board and later to the County Council and Executive. Please forward this message to others.


-----------------------------

PETITION:

I believe that our neighborhood is uniquely diverse, balanced and affordable; models that Montgomery County should seek to replicate in other areas inside the Beltway. Therefore:

-I object to the large increase in housing proposed for the properties near Lyttonsville Road and Grubb Road in the western part of our sector plan area and ask that the total number of new residences be limited to 400 new units. 

-I oppose the re-zoning of these properties to the densities proposed in the draft plan and ask that they be given an FAR no higher than 1.5, the highest density usually allowed next to residential neighborhoods. 

-I request that the effects of increased population on the Lyttonsville-Rosemary Hills Park and Gwendolyn Coffield Community Center be carefully considered and that resources be made available to enhance these valuable community assets.

Rock Spring and White Flint II Master Plan Meeting Sept 17

This is a reminder about the September 17 meeting at WJHS for the Rock Spring and White Flint 2 master plan efforts.  The Planning Department staff and staff from MCPS will spend the first part of the meeting describing how their agencies address schools in the planning process.  They will then take comments for thirty minutes before transitioning to smaller table discussions as show below:

 

I.             Welcome and Introductions (Casey Anderson, Roger Berliner)- 10 minutes

II.           Purpose of Tonight’s Meeting (Gwen Wright, Glenn Kreger)-5 minutes

III.          Comprehensive (Master) Planning (Nkosi Yearwood)- 10 minutes

IV.          School Facility Planning (Bruce Crispell)- 20 minutes

V.           APFO and the Regulatory Environment (Pam Dunn)- 15 minutes

VI.          Comment Period-30 minutes

VII.         Individual Conversations with Staff @ 4 tables- 30 minutes

∙             Rock Spring (Don Zeigler, Nancy Sturgeon)

∙             White Flint 2 (Nkosi Yearwood, Andrea Gilles)

∙             MCPS (Bruce Crispell)

∙             APFO/Regulatory (Pam Dunn)

VIII.        Wrap-Up/Next Steps (Glenn Kreger)- 5 minutes

 

The Planning staff is well aware of how important this issue is to the community.  That’s why we have begun the schools discussion early in the Rock Spring and White Flint 2 master plan efforts. Some in the community are already familiar with the process and have been actively engaged.  Other community members are not, however, and it is important for everyone to have a basic understanding of the process in order to provide effective input.  We hope that all attendees will be patient while we try to explain the process.

 

 

Andrea Gilles

Area 2 Planning Division

Montgomery County Planning Department

Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission

8787 Georgia Avenue │Silver Spring, MD 20910

Direct: 301.495.4541│Web: www.montgomeryplanning.org

Council will Approve Imaginary WJHS Addition so Developer Can Build #fantasy #overcrowding #trailersRus

The Montgomery County Council appears likely to approve a placeholder classroom project for Walter Johnson High School that will allow some major White Flint development projects to move forward.
Last week, the council introduced a $3.1 million, eight-classroom addition for the Bethesda school in the county’s six-year capital budget in order to avoid a development moratorium in the area.

The project will act purely as a placeholder – the eight classrooms won’t actually be built. That will allow at least two anticipated redevelopment projects in the White Flint area to move forward in the county’s approval process...

...The high school, at 6400 Rock Spring Drive, was renovated and modernized just six years ago and has a capacity of 2,345 students. But its enrollment is projected to soar to 2,798 students by the 2020-2021 school year, according to MCPS...

 http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2015/Placeholder-Classroom-Project-Would-Allow-White-Flint-Development-to-Continue/