**BOE Finds $562,721 for Plastic Grass at RM High School.** Not Money for Teachers, Classrooms, Lead Remediation, Mold Remediation, Repairs, Grass Seed... BOE Intentionally Let Warranty EXPIRE! Did Council Appropriate these Funds for this Purpose?

The Montgomery County Board of Education intentionally let the warranty on the defective Richard Montgomery High School artificial turf field expire and now they are going to use $562,721 of Operating Budget funds to replace this one plastic football field. 

The MCPS Real Estate department has been squirreling aways cash.  This money will be used to buy a new plastic field for Richard Montgomery High School.  Those funds are not listed in the MCPS Operating Budget documents in any discoverable location.  The image to the left shows the only mention of this fund in the FY19 MCPS Operating Budget.

Note that the Resolution (below) before the Board of Education on June 25, 2018, does not mention any approriation of these funds by the County Council.

The money in this "fund" has allegedly come in to MCPS through outside sources and is being immediately diverted to pay for plastic football fields without any discussion of the best use of these public school dollars. 

Probably the biggest source of cash for this fund is coming from Cell Tower revenue. 

That means that the high FARMS rate schools that have cell towers on their playgrounds and fields are paying for the plastic grass purchase at Richard Montgomery High School.  

In addition, MCPS has used Field Trip fees to fund Artificial Turf purchases. 

Remember that the actual Artificial Turf PLAN was that these fields would pay for themselves through field rental fees.  That has not happened. 

The Board of Education has not provided the public with an accounting for the funds being used to pay for the Richard Montgomery High School artificial turf field replacement nor are they bringing these outside funds before the County Council for appropriation. 

The failure to present a transparent budget Resolution to the public is on the Board of Education members four of whom are candidates in this year's elections. 

   Award Cont Replace Turf Richard Montgomery HS by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

Students make MCPS PR Dept. Irrelevant

The MCPS Public Relations Department has been felled by students.


Fulfilling Superintendent Joshua Starr's dream to get everyone on Twitter!

Students heard the call.

And they went to Twitter.  

And yesterday, they reported what they saw. In detail.

WTOP is reporting:  "Two teachers got into a fist fight in front of students on Friday at Roberto Clemente Middle School in Germantown, officials say."  
The story contains the usual public relations verbiage from the MCPS PR Department. 

But over on Twitter, the students are detailing the names of the teachers, who said what, why they got into a fight, what happened, who was stronger, and who "won" the fight. 

No more fluff MCPS can store sod in a shed for the winter cover-up Press Releases for MCPS.  
The truth squad has arrived.  
And they are over on Twitter.

Sod farmers wanted a chance to bid on football fields too

On the left is a map of the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve.
On the right is a map of the County Council Districts.
The PINK district is District 2. District 2 encompasses the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve.

In April 2005, when speaking about the Montgomery County Agricultural Preserve former Councilmember Mike Knapp said:

Twenty five years ago, public officials recognized that the best way to preserve farmland and open space is to preserve the business of farming. As the population in our region continues to grow, this principle will become even more important in the future, and I intend to do all that I can to ensure this tradition is not only sustained, but flourishes.

Click here for the Maryland Turfgrass Association public comment to the Montgomery County Council on the no-bid MCPS contract to put artificial turf at MCPS high schools. Like the many vendors that sell artificial turf football fields, Maryland sod farmers are also not permitted to bid on high school football field projects.

MCPS contractor proves sod farmers wrong

Landscaper develops method to store sod for months

Local sod farmers say that it can't be done, but an MCPS contractor stored the sod from the Walter Johnson High School football field for most of last winter. Unfortunately, they ran into some problems that were apparently compounded by the unusually severe winter weather. In a more typical winter, though, MCPS contractors JB Kline Landscaping and Walker Willis Corporation can, apparently, store sod for several months in a warehouse, then replant it in the spring.

August 31, 2010 Letter to Shpur

Press Release: The MCPS Two-Field Walter Johnson Project

In the summer of 2009, the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland discovered and made public that a beautiful new natural sod football field, with an underground sprinkler system, had been installed at Walter Johnson High School (located in Bethesda, MD).   At the exact same time as the installation of this natural sod football field, the MCPS Board of Education and the Montgomery County Council were discussing and voting on funding the installation of a $1.2 million artificial turf football field for the school.

The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland stands by the facts as stated on our blog postings based on documents that have been made public by the Board of Education, Superintendent Jerry Weast, and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) staff.

Unfortunately, at this time the public documents and the statements of MCPS staff detailed below cannot be reconciled and the public is left with more questions than answers.

Here is the timeline for the events leading up to this week's ABC7 news report by Julie Parker:

June 8, 2008:  Superintendent Jerry Weast informs the MCPS Board of Education in a memo on artificial turf installations that, "The 10-year life-cycle cost to install artificial turf is approximately the same as the 10-year life-cycle cost to install and properly maintain a natural grass field."  MCPS staff informed the Montgomery County Council that the cost to sod a football field was $210,000 and the cost of an underground sprinkler system and irrigation was $55,000. In addition, lines for a grass football field were $7,500, one year of water was $6,000, and one year of maintenance was $40,000.

June 19, 2009: Thanks to the on scene reporting of  ABC7 reporter Greta Kreuz the public is made aware that a brand new natural sod football field with underground sprinkler system was in the process of being installed at Walter Johnson High School.

June 22, 2009: In response to the disclosure of the installed natural sod field and underground sprinkler system MCPS Director of Facilities Joe Lavorgna stated to the Board of Education (minute 10 of video):

"Last fall we sodded the field. Um...Anticipating that we had to meet the permit requirements, and had we not sodded the field and planted grass seed, it would have been washed away with the recent weather we have had. So we had to sod the field.  Um...We will... when the artificial turf goes in, remove the sod and re-use it in other fields that have to be rehabilitated.  There is a misconception about the cost of the field. The sod and the sprinkler system together are about $125,000. All of it will be reused or recycled in other athletic fields in the county."

January 5, 2010: The Parents' Coalition obtains photographs of the Walter Johnson High School natural sod field being excavated.

January 11, 2010: The Parents' Coalition obtains photographs of huge piles of dirt on top of the sod on the Walter Johnson High School football field.  Cars and trucks are seen in the photographs parked on the sod football field.

May 11, 2010: MCPS Director of Facilities James Song, when asked about the temporary grass football field at Walter Johnson High School, states to the Board of Education "We saved about 80% of the sod." Mr. Song also reveals, for the first time, that Wheaton High School (located in Wheaton, MD) was the recipient of the used Walter Johnson High School football field sod and the associated underground sprinkler system.

August 16, 2010: ABC 7's Julie Parker reports on the results of a Maryland Public Information Act request by the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland for the costs associated with removing and relocating the used Walter Johnson High School football field sod and sprinkler system. The story states, "Hearing that a grass field and irrigation system was torn out after five football games at a cost of $86,000 of taxpayer money isn't sitting well with some parents."

August 18, 2010: MCPS Public Relations Director Dana Tofig releases a Press Release stating:

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TEMPORARY FIELD: The sod and soil, and the sprinkler system, were removed from Walter Johnson High School this year and the artificial turf was installed. The sprinkler system and the top soil were moved to Wheaton High School, which was in need of a field renovation. MCPS stored the actual sod from the temporary field in a warehouse to use at Wheaton, but the long winter and wet spring delayed installation and in mid-May we learned that the grass did not survive. The renovation of the Wheaton High School field cost $86,493.50, including the transfer of the soil and sprinkler system from WJHS and the purchase and installation of other materials and new sod. A full field renovation normally costs in the neighborhood of $150,000. The Parents' Coalition claims “the "relocation" of the grass football field cost taxpayers $86,493.50.” This is false.

This statement from the MCPS Public Relations Department contradicts previous statements by MCPS staff as to the successful removal of the natural sod. This statement also brings into play a new cost, that of the warehousing of sod for the winter. The Parents' Coalition has not seen any public documentation of the cost of warehousing this sod. Today,a Maryland Public Information Act request was filed with MCPS for this information. We are hoping for a prompt and complete response from MCPS.

The above statement by MCPS also contradicts the MCPS documents provided in response to a public information request that was made for the removal and transfer costs of the Walter Johnson High School temporary sod field. Again, the documentation on this project is incomplete and these numbers cannot be reconciled with out additional cost data and a break down of the specific costs. The Parents' Coalition can only make public that which it receives from MCPS. If the Board of Education and MCPS believe clarification is necessary, we anxiously await the details.

In addition, the MCPS August 18, 2010 Press Release makes the following statement:

THE COST OF PUTTING GENERIC SOD ON WJHS’ FIELD: The site work and grading for the new WJHS field was performed before the 2009-2010 school year. A temporary field and sprinkler system were installed after the site work was done to prevent erosion and to allow the field to be used before the installation of the artificial turf. The cost for the sod, top soil and sprinkler system was $56,264. The Parents’ Coalition claims the temporary field for WJHS cost $432,500. This is false. They derived that figure from a report to the County Council on the estimated cost to develop a high-quality Bermuda turf field from scratch. That field was not built.

This statement is in direct contradiction to what MCPS' previous Director of Facilities, Joe Lavorgna told the Board of Education on June 22, 2009 (see video of statement at link) about the cost of the temporary sod field at Walter Johnson High School. At that time Mr. Lavorgna informed the Board of Education that the temporary sod field and underground sprinkler system had cost "about $125,000."

In sum, here is what the public now knows, or doesn't know:

• Walter Johnson High School's football field was covered twice within approximately a one-year time period; once with natural sod and once with artificial turf.
• MCPS installed a temporary natural sod football field with underground sprinkler system for one season of use at Walter Johnson High School.
• The public does not know the total cost incurred by the installation of the temporary sod football field and underground sprinkler system.
• MCPS has all of the relevant invoices and documents to provide the public with the total cost of the two-field project at Walter Johnson High School.
• Wheaton High School was apparently the recipient of the used sod/soil and sprinkler system parts from Walter Johnson High School.
• The Walter Johnson High School artificial turf project cost less than the budgeted $1.2 million. The public does not know how the surplus funds were spent.

If the Board of Education and MCPS have documents that will clarify the actual costs of the installation, maintenance, lining, watering, removal, storage and relocation or disposal of the temporary Walter Johnson High School natural sod football field, the Parents' Coalition requests that those documents be made public as soon as possible.

The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland advocates for transparency and accountability in the $2.2 billion MCPS budget. MCPS is about to enter another budget cycle where belt tightening will be required. The Parents' Coalition stands ready to assist MCPS in these lean budget times.

Further, MCPS must revisit their sod storage policy and procedures as the winter storage of the Walter Johnson High School sod was not successful, which apparently resulted in the loss of sod worth many tens of thousands of dollars.

The Parents' Coalition hopes for a new day in Montgomery County Public Schools where public procurement documents are readily accessible to the public.

About The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland: The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland was formed in 2003. The group seeks to achieve the goals of coherent, content-rich curriculum standards; high expectations combined with timely remediation and acceleration; a wider range of educational options for parents and children; greater transparency and accountability; and meaningful community input.

In May of 2009, the Montgomery County Civic Federation awarded the Parents' Coalition the Gazette Award for Public Service. The Civic Federation's Gazette Award is given annually to an individual or group who demonstrates outstanding public service to the people of Montgomery County.

On June 4, 2009, The Washington Post had the following to say about the Parents' Coalition:

"The coalition might be the best-known parent advocacy group in the region. Its members represent several constituencies, including parents of special education and gifted education students and fiscal watchdogs. The group's defining victory came this school year when the school system scaled back the fees charged to families for course materials. Coalition leaders have drawn attention to the misuse of funds collected from students for activities, the broadcast of a commercial radio service on school buses and, with their "Weast Watch" blog, the travel habits of Weast and his lieutenants."

On June 15, 2009, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood wrote the following about the Parents' Coalition in comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC):

The Parents Coalition of Montgomery County (“PCMC”), a very active parent advocacy group and educational watchdog, was unaware for several months that BusRadio had been installed on a trial basis in fifty buses in Montgomery County. Incredibly, even Montgomery County Superintendent Dr. Jerry Weast was unaware of his district’s arrangement with BusRadio. When PCMC members and other parents learned that BusRadio was being used in Montgomery County, they flooded the school board and superintendent with calls and letters and the service was ended within days.

Contact us at contact@parentscoalitionmc.com

Follow our blog at: http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/

Visit our website: http://parentscoalitionmc.com/

Fact or Fiction? MCPS said "We saved about 80% of the sod."

On May 11, 2010, Board of Education   member Phil Kauffman (click link and see video at 4:37:09) asked MCPS Director of Facilities James Song the following question with regard to the Walter Johnson High School artificial turf project: 


"I have a question. When we were discussing the process, for Walter Johnson we were discussing removing a sprinkler system that had been installed and moving it to another school. Can you tell us how all of that played out?..."


The answer from MCPS Director of Facilities James Song included the following statement:


"We saved about 80% of the sod."


But in the August 16, 2010 ABC7 news story on the "relocating" of the brand new sod at Walter Johnson High School, that's the new sod that was removed to make way for an artificial turf field, the response from MCPS was:

"...And they acknowledge the grass field couldn't be recycled, as originally planned, because the weather prevented them from laying the sod down at Wheaton High School."

Which was it Superintendent Weast?  


Was the beautiful new sod football field, that had been used for only one football season at Walter Johnson High School, "relocated" to Wheaton High School, or was the beautiful new sod ripped up and hauled off in a dumpster?

ABC7: Parents Coalition questions turf costs at WJHS

ABC 7's Julie Parker reports: 


Parents Coalition questions turf costs at WJHS

P.S. In the process of pulling together information for this news story, the Parents' Coalition learned that the beautiful, brand new sod that was put on the Walter Johnson High School football field last summer was pulled up and thrown in dumpsters. The "weather" that MCPS now claims prevented them from "relocating" the WJ sod is called winter. When MCPS pulled up the sod it was January and the sod had already been frozen. No big surprise that it went right into dumpsters as trash. 

And what about the underground sprinkler system that was installed for one football season? "Relocated" or trash?

More New Sod Ripped up at WJ

Delay of Game at WJ


Today a bobcat loader is at Walter Johnson High School ripping up brand new, beautiful sod. The picture at the left shows the destruction in action. 


Seems that Walter Johnson High School is never satisfied with beautiful, brand new sod. 


Remember that the entire football field was sodded for just one football season. That brand new $432,500 sod was then destroyed and replaced with artificial turf. MCPS claimed the sod was going to be "recycled". Any MCPS facilities receive any frozen, recycled sod in Janaury? How is that working out for you?  


Now we see that the WJ baseball field received brand new, gorgeous sod...that is being ripped up today...Why? 


What is this project costing taxpayers?

Washington Post: For Walter Johnson baseball, a home away from home

By Josh Barr

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 5, 2010; 5:30 PM

...Because of a major renovation of the school, Walter Johnson has scheduled most of its home games this season at Povich Field. (A 14-4 victory over Rockville was played at Tilden Middle School because Povich was unavailable.) Ahearn is hopeful, though, the team soon will be able to resume playing at Walter Johnson.

"When I go back to school tomorrow, I expect the field will be near finished," Ahearn said. "But that's not a guarantee."

Part 2: Destruction of $432,500 sod field

January 11, 2010 pictures of Walter Johnson High School $432,500 sod stadium field being "removed and recycled" for installation of artificial turf.

Please note that MCPS has told the media that the sod that was put on the WJHS field for the fall season only, will be removed and used at another school in the spring. 

To date, the lucky recipient of this used sod has not been named by MCPS.  

Question: How many trucks and cars can you drive over frozen sod before it is no longer reusable?

Destruction of $432,500 sod field begins!

On June 19, 2009, the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland broke the news that Walter Johnson High School was getting not one, but two football fields in one year. 

In the summer of 2009, WJHS got a brand new $432,500* sod field with underground sprinkler system.  Then, after the 2009 football season, the sod field and sprinkler system were to be ripped up and replaced with a $1.2 million artificial turf field.

The Parents' Coalition obtained pictures of the new sod being delivered.  New sod, that would only be used for 3 months.

On October 5, 2009, as the football season was winding down, ABC 7 news reported the story.

Now, as promised, we bring you pictures of the WJHS football field as it is being torn up.  The white dots on the picture show where digging has begun on the field.

It appears that these back hoes are digging up areas on the field.  The areas being dug up might be where the underground sprinkler system heads are being removed. 

Superintendent Jerry Weast now has staff telling the media that the $432,500 cost for a sod football field is too high. (See the ABC7 News report.) But $432,500 is what Superintendent Weast has told the County Council a new sod football field costs when comparing the cost of a new sod field to a new artificial turf field. 

Was the cost data* that Superintendent Weast presented to the County Council for comparing a new artificial turf football field to a new sod football field grossly overstated to make sod look just as expensive as artificial turf? 

Seems as if the County Council needs to put on their agenda a review of the real cost data for sod football fields.  The Council might want to re-evaluate their decision to invest $1.2 million in an artificial turf football field project that, by the way, was never put out for competitive bid.

Total expenditure for the WJHS football field in one year will be $1,632,500, excluding the cost of removing the sod field and underground sprinkler system. We don't know how much the removal of the sod field and underground sprinkler system is going to cost.

Check back for more pictures as the brand new sod field that was used for only 5 WJHS home football games is removed.

*Source of cost data: February 15, 2008 County Council Education Committee packet, page 12 of PDF or page circle 9.

Update: Part 2 with 1/11/10 pictures of sod field "recycling".

$3,500 for a student parking space

As Walter Johnson High School prepares to rip up their brand new grass football field and replace it with an artificial turf field, other county high schools may look for ways to improve their football fields.

Here is one suggestion; in 2006, the Potomac Almanac reported on how Churchill High School in Potomac raises funds to maintain their football field.

Just like last year, the auction item that garnered the most buzz was a guaranteed parking space in Churchill’s student lot. “This is priceless,” emcee Topper Shutt said as the bidding began, and he wasn’t too far off the mark. After bidding ended for one space, Churchill Principal Joan Benz announced that three more were available — the four spaces ultimately sold for $3,500 apiece.

LaFleur said it’s a good return for the school for investing a small percentage of student parking spaces. “That pays for a lot of field maintenance,” he said.

Question: is it legal for a principal to auction off county or state property?

WJ field to be destroyed in 20 days! See it now!

It is a beautiful day! If you are out, take a drive by the Walter Johnson High School stadium on Democracy Boulevard in Bethesda, Maryland.

You only have 20 days left to see the beautiful, brand new sod football field that was installed for 5 home varsity football games this season. It's a beauty! Don't miss it. What you can't see is the underground sprinkler system that was installed to keep the grass pristine for these 5 home football games.

The exclusive Parents' Coalition images on this page show pictures of this beautiful sod back when it was being delivered to Walter Johnson's stadium, just a few months ago!

What MCPS high school wouldn't want this beautiful piece of landscape that cost taxpayers $432,500?

Well, actually, Walter Johnson High School doesn't want it.

The Board of Education doesn't want it.

The County Executive doesn't want it.

The Montgomery County Council doesn't want it.

So in 20 days it will be torn up (underground sprinkler system too) and removed so that Walter Johnson High School can get a brand new artificial turf football field. Yes, this will be WJ's second brand new football field in 6 months. Nothing but the best for the Wildcats! So drive on by today and kiss it good-bye!

UPDATE: ABC 7 News High School Field to be Replaced...Again


UPDATE:  The WJ grass football field has been given a reprieve until the Spring of 2010 when it will be ripped up and replaced with artificial turf.  Anybody want some used sod and underground sprinkler parts?