'Save Kelley Park' advocates oppose sacrificing green space for new elementary school

FYI = There is an empty, dedicated elementary school site just about 2 miles away from the location of this park that the Board of Education wants from the City of Gaithersburg.  Why won't the Board of Education build on the elementary school site they own?  The Board of Education leased that land to Comcast, AT&T, SBA Comm, T-Mobile and Verizon.  Instead of using the land they own, the Board of Education was to level a local public park.

Because private companies are more important than public school children.

Albornoz’s first piece of legislation on property disposition passes in county, providing more clarity

ROCKVILLE — On July 30, Montgomery County Councilmember Gabe Albornoz saw his first piece of legislation enacted by the full council.

Bill 13-19, or the County Property-Disposition-Reuse Analysis, is designed to change the procedures for disposal of county property. The new legislation requires the county executive to submit a reuse analysis to the council, which would include any proposals for the property from an outside agency...

https://mont.thesentinel.com/2019/08/08/albornozs-first-piece-of-legislation-on-property-disposition-passes-in-county-providing-more-clarity/?fbclid=IwAR24LB31PtvldKv2vU5x-xMqxU4FgQDYxzFVRcc_XXCNvHlMSY5WQQUVdJ4

Woodward High School Site has 1.75 Acre Parcel For Expansion

This week the Montgomery County Board of Education discussed the Initial Concepts for the re-opening of the Woodward High School site.  MCPS staff seem to think the site is constrained and will not be able to accomodate a stadium.

However, MCPS staff and the Board of Education have failed to include the entire school site in their planning.  The Woodward High School site includes a 1.75 acre parcel on Edson Road.  Neighbors and advocates fought hard back in 2004 to keep that parcel and two others open for future school use.  

January 2004:  “All of our schools are overcrowded,” said Janis Sartucci, cluster coordinator for the Churchill PTA. “We have enough trailers on the ground to make a new elementary.” Sartucci added that Cabin John Middle School splits its graduates between Churchill and Wootton high schools.#“We don’t know what the future holds for this cluster other than growth,” Sartucci said. “I don’t think were at the point where we can say ‘we’ll never need it for a new school.’”   The future is now.  

The red dot shows the location of the unused Edson Lane parcel.  This is land that was dedicated for public school use and can be reclaimed for that use today.

From MD land records. 

Location of unused, dedicated public school land shown in red.
MCPS Initial Concept drawing presented to Board of Ed.

Reminder Why Schools are Overcrowded: 178.66+ acres of school land declared surplus since 1994

178.66 acres of school land declared surplus since 1994:

Residents want land reserved now for future Montgomery Co. schools

WASHINGTON — More public schools eventually will be needed in Montgomery County, and land should be set aside for them today.

That’s what several residents told county leaders at a public hearing Tuesday night.

The Montgomery County Council is considering a plan for new development in a 460-acre, bowtie-shaped area centered near the intersection of Rockville Pike and Montrose Road.

The White Flint 2 Sector Plan recommends changing largely commercial properties, especially shopping centers, into mixed-use centers.

That could lead to as many as 6,000 new homes in the area, and existing residents say more schools are needed sooner than later.

“Two years ago, we testified that a tsunami of students is headed to the Walter Johnson Cluster. It is now arriving,” said Wendy Calhoun.

“Take this opportunity now to reserve land in this plan, and don’t kick the can down the road. We just can’t afford it,” Kip Edwards, president of the Garrett Park Estates-White Flint Park Civic Association, told the council...

http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2017/09/residents-want-land-reserved-now-future-moco-schools/

Update!! Exclusive Breaking News: Bowers Gives Away 61.25 Acres of MCPS School Land

UPDATE:

Is your local MCPS school overcrowded? Have you heard the Board of Education complain that they do not have any place to build more schools and that they can only build multi-level, overcrowded schools on too small lots?

Do you like being tricked?

Well Trick or Treat time is here, and the Parents' Coalition has heard that the Board of Education and Superintendent Larry Bowers have a big trick for parents this week!

The Trick is that without any public process or Board of Education public discussion or vote, Superintendent Larry Bowers is giving away 61.25 acres of open public school land.  

The Treat is that the land is being handed over to a no bid vendor.  

Where is this land located in the County?  It doesn't matter.  
Public school land is a valuable asset and its disposition should be discussed in public by the land owner, the Board of Education.  
The land could be used to build a school, it could be sold, or it could be traded.  The possibilities are endless, but, once again, usable public school land will disappear from the Board of Education inventory without any public process.  





We have seen over 176 acres of MCPS public school land lost since 1994.  

 
Say good-bye to another 61.25 acres this week and add it to the list of dedicated, public school land that was given in trust to the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education for the benefit of public school children, but not used for the educational benefit of our children.  

Happy Halloween!  

 

Exclusive Breaking News: Bowers Gives Away 18.5 Acres of MCPS School Land

PLEASE SEE UPDATE!

Is your local MCPS school overcrowded? Have you heard the Board of Education complain that they do not have any place to build more schools and that they can only build multi-level, overcrowded schools on too small lots?

Do you like being tricked?

Well Trick or Treat time is here, and the Parents' Coalition has heard that the Board of Education and Superintendent Larry Bowers have a big trick for parents this week!

The Trick is that without any public process or Board of Education public discussion or vote, Superintendent Larry Bowers is giving away 18.5 acres of open public school land.  

The Treat is that the land is being handed over to a no bid vendor.  

Where is this land located in the County?  It doesn't matter.  Public school land is a valuable asset and its disposition should be discussed in public by the land owner, the Board of Education.  The land could be used to build a school, it could be sold, or it could be traded.  The possibilities are endless, but, once again, usable public school land will disappear from the Board of Education inventory without any public process.  

We have seen over 176 acres of MCPS public school land lost since 1994.  
Say good-bye to another 18.5 acres this week and add it to the list of dedicated, public school land that was given in trust to the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education for the benefit of public school children, and not used for the educational benefit of our children.  

Happy Halloween!  

Doug Duncan: It's a "no brainer" - Cell Towers on School Playgrounds.

Former Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan is now apparently in the business of hawking cell towers for a company called Milestone Communications.  

And, Mr. Duncan isn't just recommending cell towers, he's going one step further and recommending that they be placed on public school playgrounds.  He says it's a "no brainer" according to the Milestone write up shown below. 

Milestone Communications has "partnered" with the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE).  MABE is a private members only club that the MCPS Board of Education joins every year.  Annual dues to our BOE?  $48,062 in FY 2012.

By law, our local Board of Education is to make decisions about which vendors to do business with through a public bidding process.  The MABE "partnership" appears to be trying to circumvent the public process by "partnering" with vendors with out a public vetting.  MABE is a private club and, as such, they don't have any public accountability for their decision making.  We don't know how they decided to "partner" with this company, and we don't know how much money, if any, they are receiving for this partnership.  

Absent, of course, is any public process as to whether parents in Maryland actually want cell towers/telecommunications transmission compounds on public school playgrounds.  
Why is MABE subverting the public process?

Dropping the $48,062 in dues to this BOE club is a no brainer. 
-------

MABE Partners with MilestoneThe Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) is partnering with Milestone to share exciting revenue earning opportunities with Maryland's School Districts.
Milestone's wireless tower development program earns school boards recurring revenue streams. Last year, the program earned Fairfax County Public Schools over a $1 million.
"Using school assets to create revenue is a no brainer," said Doug Duncan, former County Executive for Montgomery County.
Milestone has been partnering with school districts for over ten years. It has developed over 25 stealth wireless towers.
To read more about the partnership and other Milestone news, download our October newsletter.

Who said Brickyard Middle School site was not needed for a school?

Not the Board of Education.

County Executive Ike Leggett must have made that decision all by himself.  The legal process in Maryland for determining that a public school property is not needed for a school is that the property is determined to be "surplus" to the needs of the public school system.  But, County Executive Ike Leggett didn't ask for the Board of Education to surplus the land, he asked for the land. Period.

Here's the transcript of a Live Discussion with the County Executive where the question centered on the use of the Brickyard Middle School site.  Is the County going to develop public soccer fields on the site? No.  County Executive Leggett is turning the land over to a private club.  Coincidentally, the same private club that was e-mailing its members to support the Board of Education turning the land over to the County Executive, long before the Request for Qualifications was ever issued, ended up getting the lease of the property.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012:  Live Discussion with Ike Leggett.

Fred from Silver Spring 
I’m from down county but I am very concerned about what is planned for the County’s brickyard property in Potomac. I was a soccer dad, coached soccer for more than 10 years and both my kids were avid soccer players. But the organic farm that has been developed over 30 years on this county land is potentially a huge asset to all of us who live in Montgomery County. It’s proposed use as a learning center would be a great benefit for the entire county. Isn’t there something that can be done to stop the senseless plans to destroy this asset in the name of yet more soccer fields?

Mr. Leggett: Thank you for your question. As you may know, the 20 acres leased by a private commercial farmer for the past 30 years for $1,500 a year are publicly-owned land that under the Potomac Master Plan is specifically designated to be used for ball fields if it is not used for a school. The County leased the land last year from the Board of Education for the purpose of constructing desperately-needed soccer fields for youth to meet growing demand. There are only a little over 100 rectangular regulation fields in the entire County for soccer, football, lacrosse, and other such sports. I agree that organic farming is important. My objective was to increase the amount of organic farming in the County and provide additional fields for soccer. In this regard, I met with the private commercial farmer and walked the land with him. The County offered to relocate him on other properties in the 90,000 acre County agriculture reserve. This not only would have maintained organic farming, but could have substantially increased the number of acres far and above what he currently farms. He declined that offer. 

From the time the County rented the tract from the County Board of Education in the spring of 2011, the County engaged the community on uses for the land and followed its standard open process. The County held two large public meetings to garner feedback and ideas from the community. These meetings resulted in ideas being incorporated into the Request for Qualifications later issued. In the Request for Qualifications issued by our Department of General Services to seek private entities to “partner” with the County in a public-private partnership, the County included a preference for “dual use” proposals that included soccer fields and left open the possibility for other community amenities, including agriculture. The process was wide open to all potential bidders and there were no “deals” of any kind. 

We received one qualified proposal in response to our Request for Qualifications, from Montgomery Soccer Inc., a non-profit youth soccer organization. Their proposal actually included a space for an Organic Agricultural Education Center. The project will go before the County Planning Commission under the Mandatory Referral process. The commercial farmer has a licensing agreement with the County that allows him to use the land until August. I remain open to helping the farmer find alternative locations in the County for organic farming.

Board of Education Stakes Claim to School Land

The sign shown was put up today on the Brickyard Middle School future school site.


The sign is a bit late, as the Board of Education has already turned this 20 acre future school site over to County Executive Ike Leggett.  Leggett has already turned the land over to MSI Soccer for their private use.   

"Chock full of errors and misrepresentations"

In response to a blog posting today of a letter from the Brickyard Coalition to all members of the Montgomery County Council, the Parents' Coalition received the response shown below from Montgomery County's Director of Public Information.  

We look forward to a more detailed response from Montgomery County officials to the statements made in the Brickyard Coalition letter.  A point by point response would go a long way to educate the public as to the position of Montgomery County government on this land deal.  

Thanks in advance to the Montgomery County Public Information Director for shining some light on the specifics of the Brickyard Middle School site land lease. 

Brickyard Middle School Lease to Leggett is a Disguised Surplusing of the Property

The letter below was hand delivered to all Montgomery County Councilmembers on December 12, 2011 by the Brickyard Coalition.
The letter discusses the surprise lease of a 20 acre public school site by the Board of Education to Montgomery County at the request of County Executive Ike Leggett.  
At a time when public school land is a precious resource for public school students, County Executive Ike Leggett has taken 20 acres of public school land and plans to turn it over to a private club. 

UPDATE: Response from Montgomery County Director of Public Information.
Brickyard Coalition Letter to Berliner and Council

Planning Board wants Closed Session related to School Land purchase?

Note:  In order for a public body to go into a Closed Session, they must first meet in the Open and vote to go into a Closed Session.  The public has the right to attend the Open Session of the meeting and witness the discussion and vote of the public body to Close the meeting.  

The Maryland Open Meetings Act favors Open meetings over Closed meetings and gives the public the right to observe when a public body decides to take a matter into a Closed session. 

Attend the Planning Board Lunch (See Agenda announcement below) on December 1st if you want to witness this public body's decision to go into a Closed session to discuss a matter relating to School Site Selection.  

Montgomery County Planning Board Agenda

Thursday, December 1, 2011
12:30 PM

LUNCH 

Closed Session - REVISED

Pursuant to State Government Article Annotated Code of Maryland 10-508(a)(3) to consider the acquisition of real property for a public purpose and matters directly related thereto and pursuant to State Government Article Annotated Code of Maryland 10-508(a)(14) to discuss a matter directly related to a negotiating strategy or the contents of a bid or proposal before the contract is awarded or bids are opened, if public discussion or disclosure would adversely impact the ability of the Commission to participate in the competitive bidding or proposal process TOPIC: Joint MCPS/MNCPPC Working Group on School Site Selection

178.66 acres of school land declared surplus since 1994

For your information, here is a listing of MCPS school sites that have been declared surplus by the Board of Education.  


The yellow highlighted properties were declared surplus since 1994.

Click on the image to enlarge the text.

40 acres of public school land gone in 6 months!

Brickyard Middle School site turned over to County Executive Ike Leggett


Let's keep our kids in classroom trailers and overcrowded school buildings for as long as possible! 


The Board of Education just voted to turn 20 acres of public school land over to the County Executive Ike Leggett for an unspecified use as no final document was before them today.  That's 20 more acres of public school land gone on top of the 20 that went to the County Executive's proposal in January at the Peary High School site. 


The Board didn't even have before them the final Lease that will be executed between the Board of Education and Montgomery County. The Board has no clue what's going to happen to this land. The vote today was to allow the Board President and Superintendent Weast to sign off on an unseen document. 


And here's a little bonus information. IF the Board of Education ever tries to get this property back for a public school, Superintendent Jerry Weast informed the Board that the taxpayers will have to reimburse the renter for any improvements to the property.


To get this property back for a public school, is going to cost us! 


Board members voting in favor of this fast-tracked turn over of this 20 acre middle school site:

Shirley Brandman
Christopher Barclay
Judy Docca
Mike Durso
Patricia O'Neill
Alan Xie (student member of the Board)

County Exec. Doug Duncan wanted Brickyard school land, too. Board said no.

County Executive Doug Duncan wanted the Brickyard Middle School site too. 
But the Board of Education didn't turn it over to him.


Here is the Board's March 2004 Resolution on the Brickyard site with the plan to evaluate the needs of the school clusters that might be able to make use of this 20 acre dedicated public school site. The 20 acre Brickyard Road Middle School site was not declared surplus to the needs of public school children. 

RESOLUTION NO. 195-04

Re: BRICKYARD ROAD SCHOOL SITE

On motion of Mr. Felton and seconded by Mrs. O’Neill, the following resolution, as amended, was adopted unanimously:

WHEREAS, On October 20, 2003, the county executive requested that the Board of Education surplus the school site, known as the Brickyard Road site, owned by Montgomery County Public Schools; and

WHEREAS, The superintendent presented a recommendation to the Board of Education on February 23, 2004, concerning the county executive’s request to surplus the Brickyard Road site; and

WHEREAS, On March 3, 2003, the Board of Education held a public hearing on CIP items,including the superintendent’s recommendation on the request to surplus the Brickyard Road site; and

WHEREAS, Before a decision is made on surplusing the Brickyard Road site, further examination is needed regarding other potential middle school sites, preferably in the Thomas S. Wootton Cluster; now therefore be it
Resolved, That the Board of Education accept the superintendent’s recommendation to defer action on the disposition of the Brickyard Road site; and be it further

Resolved, That the Board of Education direct the superintendent to evaluate alternative future middle school sites in the Churchill, Whitman, and Wootton clusters.

87+/- year old trees to make way for super-sized school

The following comes to us from a member of the McKenney Hills Forest Conservation Group, which has devoted countless hours since September to save the forest surrounding the site of the former McKenney Hills Elementary School.  

MCPS, in a belated response to overcrowding at Oakland Terrace ES in Kensington and other elementary schools, designed a school for three times the number of students compared to the school that stood on the site (until they razed it to the ground last year).  As a consequence, MCPS had asked the M-NCPPC Planning Board for permission to expand the site by cutting 90 - 120 trees on slopes that M-NCPPC staff describes as "steep and highly erodible".  

If you have Google Earth on your computer, enter the location of the school (2600 Hayden Drive Silver Spring MD 20902) to see the site and surrounding forest, all of which belongs us, the citizens of Montgomery County.


The image in this blog post is of the McKenney Hills site taken from the location of the former school. The former school was demolished in 2009. The trees shown in this photograph are the ones along the part of the site that borders the Legacy Open Space land that the late Wayne Goldstein worked to protect.  


Here's an update on how the Board of Education tricked the community into thinking that a smaller school would be built on this site.

What will be the State's Cut of the Peary High School Sale?

Tomorrow, November 30, 2010, the Montgomery County Council will vote to sell a 19.5 acre former public school site to a private entity for $1.9 million. That much is known for sure. Council members have stated their intentions and majority rules.


The deal has been called a win-win-win. But there's an oops that hasn't been discussed. 


Will Montgomery County get to keep any of the proceeds of this sale? 


What part of the proceeds of this sale will go to Montgomery County and what part will go to the State of Maryland? Public school land comes to each county through the State of Maryland and when the land is sold or leased the State can get their cut.


Remember last year's Maryland Reporter story on the Audit of the Board of Public Works Interagency Committee on School Construction that showed that Montgomery County OWED the State of Maryland $3.2 million in proceeds from school land transactions? Has that debt been settled yet? Will the State of Maryland be passing on any cut of the Peary High School transaction? 


And, why didn't the County Executive or County Council discuss the share owed to the State in any of their discussions of this win-win-win? 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Montgomery Co. Leases for Closed School Sites

For your information, here is the list of leases for public school sites in Montgomery County for properties that are held in the name of the County.  (This list does not include properties that are held in the name of MCPS.)


How many of these leases include an option to buy? 


How many of these leases are standard Montgomery County lease forms signed by Montgomery County staff and how many of these leases have a unique arrangement and are signed by the County Executive. 


Post your results. A quick review of these documents shows that one of these leases stands out from all the rest. 

Closed Schools

1.Peary High School 
13300 Arctic Avenue
Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy
Lease

2. Aspen Hill Elementary School
4915 Aspen Hill Road
Sheppard Pratt Health Systems, Inc.
Lease

3. Alta Vista Elementary School
5615 Beech Avenue
Beth Country Day School
Lease

4. English Manor Elementary School
4511 Bestor Avenue
The Children's Learning Center
Lease
1st Amendment

5. Lower Parkside Elementary School
9504 Burnett Avenue
Acorn Hill School, Inc.
Lease

6. Forest Grove Elementary School
9805 Dameron Drive
Holy Cross Hospital
Lease

7. Dennis Avenue Health Center
2000 Dennis Avenue
Spanish Catholic Center, Inc.
Lease

8. Holiday Park Senior Center
3950 Ferrara Drive
Mental Health Association
Lease
1st Amendment

Holiday Park Senior Center
3950 Ferrara Drive
Interages
Lease 

9. Lone Oak Center
1010 Grandin Avenue
Centers For The Handicapped Inc
Lease
1st Amendment

10. Fernwood Elementary School
6801 Greentree Road
The Woods Academy
Lease

11. Gude Drive Shelter
600 E Gude Drive
Mobile Medical Care, Inc.
Lease

12. Randolph Junior High School
11710 Hunters Lane
Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School
Lease

13. Hillandale Elementary School
10501 New Hampshire Avenue
Centers For The Handicapped Inc
Lease

14. Colesville Elementary School
14015 New Hampshire Avenue
Maryland Child Services
Lease
1st Amendment 

Colesville Elementary School
14015 New Hampshire Avenue
Casa de Montessori
Lease 

Colesville Elementary School
14015 New Hampshire Avenue
Kappa Alpha Psi
Lease 

Colesville Elementary School
14015 New Hampshire Avenue
Colesville Council of Community Congregations, Inc.
Lease
1st Amendment 

Colesville Elementary School
14015 New Hampshire Avenue
Montgomery Volunteer Dental Clinic, Inc.
Lease
1st Amendment

Colesville Elementary School
14015 New Hampshire Avenue
Raising Hispanic Academic Achievement, Inc.
Lease

Colesville Elementary School
14015 New Hampshire Avenue
Bethah Associates
Lease

15. Clara Barton Community Center
7425 MacArthur Boulevard
Clara Barton Day Care Inc.
License
1st Amendment
2nd Amendment

16. Arylawn Elementary School
5650 Oakmont Avenue
YMCA
Lease
1st Amendment
2nd Amendment

17. Georgetown Hills Elementary School
11614 Seven Locks Road
The Ivymount School
Lease
1st Amendment

18. MacDonald Knolls Elementary School
10611 Tenbrook Drive
Centers For The Handicapped Inc
Lease
1st Amendment 

19. Broome School
751 Twinbrook Parkway
Threshold Services, Inc.
Lease