This video was posted by Silver Spring Patch on April 28, 2011 as the Board of Education was poised to vote to turn this park into a middle school.
The next day the Board of Education voted to drop this Park as their first choice for the new BCC Middle School #2 and instead shifted their focus to a new location in Kensington.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Reminder: Civic Fed meeting Mon, May 9th.
Paula Bienenfeld
Education Committee Chair, Montgomery County Civic Federation
DATE: Monday, May 9, 2011
TIME: 7:45 p.m.
LOCATION: County Council Building - 1st Floor Auditorium 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, Maryland
For directions, go here.
Program: Community Policing and Community Prosecution
Speakers: Thomas Manger, Chief, Montgomery County Police Department, and
John McCarthy, State's Attorney for Montgomery County
And, don't forget to sign up to attend the Civic Fed's annual Awards Banquet on May 13th. For ticket information, go here. Reservations are due by Monday, May 9th, so hurry!
Pearson-MCPS Contract Update: Program Development Plan
All,
I was finally able to get a copy of the Program Development Plan (PDP) that was part of the original Pearson-MCPS contract. The contract appears to have been signed last June 2010. The contract stated that the PDP would be completed 14 days after the contract was inked. However, after numerous phone calls over months, to try and understand the contract, and in particular the staff, and deliverables, and obtain a copy of the PDP, I was unable to obtain a copy. In the end I sent a Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) request to MCPS. Last week I received the draft, redacted PDP. You can read it below.
Paula Bienenfeld
Education Committee Chair, Montgomery County Civic Federation
Here is the text from Section 3.B of the contract:
B. Detailed Development Plan
The parties shall in good faith mutually agree upon the Program specifications and budget in a reasonably detailed written development plan (“Program Development Plan”) within fourteen (14) days after this Agreement is signed by both parties (“Planning Phase”). If the parties fail to agree upon a written Program Development Plan within the Planning Phase, then either party may terminate this Agreement upon written notice to the other without liability to the other. The Program Development Plan may be modified from time to time during the Development Period but only by a written amendment to the Program Development Plan that is signed by each party’s duly authorized representative. The Program Development Plan shall initially cover the development of an online, web-based version of the Program, and any print version of the Program or any of its individual Components that Publisher may desire to publish. The Program Development Plan shall include the Program development costs, budget and allocation of costs for development and creation of each Component among the parties as well as a development schedule for deliverables and associated acceptance criteria. The Development Funds payable to MCPS under this Agreement shall be used to develop the Program in accordance with the performance milestones and acceptance criteria specified in the Program Development Plan.
And here is the Draft, Redacted PDP, below. Please note the date on the Cover is February 23, 2011, however the date in the footers is 5/3/2011, which is the date I received the Draft PDP.
Pearson-MCPS Draft Product Development Plan, Feb 23, 2011 (Redacted)
I was finally able to get a copy of the Program Development Plan (PDP) that was part of the original Pearson-MCPS contract. The contract appears to have been signed last June 2010. The contract stated that the PDP would be completed 14 days after the contract was inked. However, after numerous phone calls over months, to try and understand the contract, and in particular the staff, and deliverables, and obtain a copy of the PDP, I was unable to obtain a copy. In the end I sent a Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) request to MCPS. Last week I received the draft, redacted PDP. You can read it below.
Paula Bienenfeld
Education Committee Chair, Montgomery County Civic Federation
Here is the text from Section 3.B of the contract:
B. Detailed Development Plan
The parties shall in good faith mutually agree upon the Program specifications and budget in a reasonably detailed written development plan (“Program Development Plan”) within fourteen (14) days after this Agreement is signed by both parties (“Planning Phase”). If the parties fail to agree upon a written Program Development Plan within the Planning Phase, then either party may terminate this Agreement upon written notice to the other without liability to the other. The Program Development Plan may be modified from time to time during the Development Period but only by a written amendment to the Program Development Plan that is signed by each party’s duly authorized representative. The Program Development Plan shall initially cover the development of an online, web-based version of the Program, and any print version of the Program or any of its individual Components that Publisher may desire to publish. The Program Development Plan shall include the Program development costs, budget and allocation of costs for development and creation of each Component among the parties as well as a development schedule for deliverables and associated acceptance criteria. The Development Funds payable to MCPS under this Agreement shall be used to develop the Program in accordance with the performance milestones and acceptance criteria specified in the Program Development Plan.
And here is the Draft, Redacted PDP, below. Please note the date on the Cover is February 23, 2011, however the date in the footers is 5/3/2011, which is the date I received the Draft PDP.
Pearson-MCPS Draft Product Development Plan, Feb 23, 2011 (Redacted)
Patch: Delegate Miller Asks Why Parents Were Not Informed About Investigation of Bus Driver
...But, she said, MCPS should not have kept him in a position where he was the only adult responsible for children.
She said she is looking into when Montgomery County Police informed MCPS of the investigation and when MCPS informed schools.
"When any adult school employee has any child pornography charges, especially when they are the only adult with the children, I think they need to let parents know," Miller said.
She said she plans to propose legislation in Annapolis to ensure students are protected in the future.
“It’s kind of a mini Reston Town Center.”
Washington Business Journal reporter Missy Frederick wrote,
The project, at Old Georgetown Road and Rock Spring Drive in Bethesda…received site plan approval from Montgomery County in February.Read more at the Washington Business Journal.
It will include about 550,000 square feet of office space within two buildings, 210,000 square feet of ground level retail, a 200-room hotel, 161 housing units and a movie theater.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Weast's Supersized McKenney Hills Elementary School
What does it look like when a neighborhood elementary school for students is replaced with a supersized elementary school for 740 students? Take a look.
Here is the original 29,278 sq. ft. McKenney Hills Elementary School built to hold around 350 students that sat on this site for decades (image on left). That building was demolished and a new 95,475 sq. ft. building is going to be built in its place (image on right). Superintendent Jerry Weast has said the new building was going to be built up. Well, the new building is actually going up and out compared to the old building!
Now you can see why the Board of Education demanded that parts of the old forest be cleared to support Superintendent Weast's new supersized elementary school. This is going to be one large elementary school!
Here is the original 29,278 sq. ft. McKenney Hills Elementary School built to hold around 350 students that sat on this site for decades (image on left). That building was demolished and a new 95,475 sq. ft. building is going to be built in its place (image on right). Superintendent Jerry Weast has said the new building was going to be built up. Well, the new building is actually going up and out compared to the old building!
Now you can see why the Board of Education demanded that parts of the old forest be cleared to support Superintendent Weast's new supersized elementary school. This is going to be one large elementary school!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Parents move kids from suburban schools into D.C. | Lisa Gartner | DC | Washington Examiner
...In 2008, Roxana Moayedi was living in Potomac. Her children were enrolled in the nationally acclaimed Montgomery County Public Schools: middle school at Herbert Hoover, then high school at Winston Churchill.
Then Moayedi, a sociology professor at Trinity Washington University, picked up and moved her family to Mount Pleasant...
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2011/05/parents-move-kids-suburban-schools-dc#ixzz1LVhXd6TB
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Parks releases transfer agreement for Rock Creek Hills Local Park
The Montgomery County Parks department has made available to the public the Transfer Agreement for the Rock Creek Hills Local Park site. This site was formerly the site of the Kensington Junior High School. This site is now the Board of Education's #1 choice for the location of the BCC Middle School #2.
Kensington Junior High School site transfer agreement
Kensington Junior High School site transfer agreement
Leggett: "look more closely" at Rock Creek Hills Local Park
County Executive Ike Leggett's last minute letter to the Board of Education on April 28, 2011, suggesting that the Board of Education "look more closely" at the use of the Rock Creek Hills Local Park for the site for the BCC Cluster Middle School #2. A few hours after this letter was sent to the Board of Education, the Board voted for the Rock Creek Hills Local Park site as their #1 choice for the site of the new BCC middle school.
April 28, 2011 County Executive Leggett letter to Board of Education on BCC Site Selection
April 28, 2011 County Executive Leggett letter to Board of Education on BCC Site Selection
Patch Opinion: Hitting the 'Reset Button' on School Spending
Patch: County Council takes courageous step. Will the school board follow suit?
By Richard Parsons
By Richard Parsons
The Montgomery County Council, led by Council President Valerie Ervin, voted unanimously this week to hit the "reset button" on education spending. This could be one of the Council's most politically courageous acts in decades. So how did this happen?...
...Anyone following the budget closely has seen this day coming since the great recession hit in 2008. It was inevitable that a major adjustment had to be made. Yet, conventional wisdom had it that local leaders would try to duck the issue again this year by hiding behind more short-term budget gimmicks. This week, the council surprised many observers by showing the two traits most lacking in elected officials today: backbone and leadership...
...In politics, no good deed goes unpunished, but this is the job they applied for when they ran for public office. In practical terms, the county will likely face a $29 million fine next year for not reaching the maintenance of effort funding levels, but that is a small price to pay. Taking this one-time hit in order to put school spending back on a more sound financial footing will save hundreds of millions over the years to come and, quite frankly, it had to be done...
Council & Leggett Rescind Request for Waiver of Maintenance of Effort
April 28, 2011 Statement from Montgomery County Council:
The Montgomery County Council unanimously decided this week not to apply for a waiver from the State Maintenance of Effort (MOE) funding level for FY12. We take this step so that we can create a stable, sustainable future for our schools and all County agencies. Our commitment to the County’s world-class school system is unwavering. The budget we expect to pass for the school system in FY12 will increase from last year’s amount, while the budgets of many County departments will decrease. Our goal is to protect classroom instruction while ensuring that scarce resources are available for all of our critical priorities – including safety net human services, public safety, and other vital parts of County government. Our County has sought to reform the State Maintenance of Effort law to provide some modest flexibility in times of great fiscal crisis, particularly for counties like ours that have significantly exceeded maintenance of effort requirements over the last decade. These legislative changes were not adopted, and therefore we take this step to achieve an equitable and sustainable future for our community.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Tofig reveals names of Edwards' taxpayer-funded dinner party participants
Earlier this year, we reported that MCPS Chief of Staff Brian Edwards used his MCPS-issued American Express card to pay for a $362.86 dinner at the posh Azalea Restaurant in New York the night before the Broad Prize announcement.
Mr. Edwards did not respond to repeated requests for the names of the people whose dinners were covered by the $362.86 charge.
After a lengthy delay -- in response to a Maryland Public Information Act request -- MCPS Public Information Director Dana Tofig finally revealed the names of the dinner party participants. Here is the list that Mr. Tofig sent:
A quick calculation reveals that the dinner cost at least an average of $40.32 per person.
The American Express card member transaction log that Mr. Edwards completed states "Split check - dinner for 10 - Broad", yet the list provided by Mr. Tofig shows only 9 attendees. Mr. Tofig explained the discrepancy by stating "This is due to a clerical error [by Brian Edwards] on the American Express member transaction log."
Mr. Tofig did not explain why Mr. Edwards ignored our earlier requests for the names of the dinner party participants, or why Mr. Edwards, who is paid approximately $200,000 per year by MCPS, has difficulty counting to 10.
Update: We have reason to believe that the $362.86 payment is just a portion of the total bill, and that the bill might have been split among two or more participants based on the note "Split check" on the credit card log. Unfortunately, it is likely to take a considerable amount of time to acquire the additional documentation that reveals the total amount of the bill.
Mr. Edwards did not respond to repeated requests for the names of the people whose dinners were covered by the $362.86 charge.
After a lengthy delay -- in response to a Maryland Public Information Act request -- MCPS Public Information Director Dana Tofig finally revealed the names of the dinner party participants. Here is the list that Mr. Tofig sent:
The American Express card member transaction log that Mr. Edwards completed states "Split check - dinner for 10 - Broad", yet the list provided by Mr. Tofig shows only 9 attendees. Mr. Tofig explained the discrepancy by stating "This is due to a clerical error [by Brian Edwards] on the American Express member transaction log."
Mr. Tofig did not explain why Mr. Edwards ignored our earlier requests for the names of the dinner party participants, or why Mr. Edwards, who is paid approximately $200,000 per year by MCPS, has difficulty counting to 10.
Update: We have reason to believe that the $362.86 payment is just a portion of the total bill, and that the bill might have been split among two or more participants based on the note "Split check" on the credit card log. Unfortunately, it is likely to take a considerable amount of time to acquire the additional documentation that reveals the total amount of the bill.
"Ervin...county could not fund the school system at the level required...at least for the next six years."
Montgomery won't seek waiver for state school funding requirement
Council president hopes to lower education funding bar
Gazette: School board drops Silver Spring park from consideration
Kensington park chosen as site for middle school to serve Bethesda-Chevy Chase students
by Sarah Gantz and Andrew Ujifusa | Staff Writer
Montgomery County Public School officials backed down Thursday night from a proposal to put a middle school in a Silver Spring park, after weeks of protest from community groups.The school board abandoned a recommendation that a middle school be built in Rosemary Hills/Lyttonsville Park and approved the school for a park in Kensington. The 6-1 decision, with member Michael A. Durso opposed, came in response to opposition from the Silver Spring community and the Montgomery County Planning Board, whose chairwoman Wednesday released a letter that blasted the school system for the proposal.
The new site, Rock Creek Hills Park, at 3701 Saul Road, in Kensington, was tapped by the project's site selection committee as the second-best option and was included in the resolution that came to the board Thursday as an alternate location. The board's approval of Rock Creek Hills Park as the preferred location for the school set in motion the next step for the project, a feasibility study.
"Some neighborhood is going to say, ‘We don't want it. It's been a park. It's been whatever.' But our obligation is to kids in the [Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School] cluster," board member Patricia O'Neill said at Thursday's meeting. O'Neill of Bethesda said the Silver Spring site was preferable, but supported the change of location because of the urgency associated with moving the project forward and the "enormous obstacles" at the Silver Spring site.
About 15 people attended Thursday night's meeting wearing green shirts with "Save Our Park" on the front and "Preserve Our Communities" on the back. Many testified vigorously against the proposal to the school board, questioning its decision-making process and whether the recommendation was racially and economically motivated.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
School board backs off plan to build at Chevy Chase park | Lisa Gartner | Education | Washington Examiner
School board backs off plan to build at Chevy Chase park | Lisa Gartner | Education | Washington Examiner
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/education/2011/04/montco-panel-backs-plan-build-school#ixzz1L8X9L5zk
"My neighbors and I are victims of negligence of due process, as we only recently discovered that our park was being considered for development, let alone having risen to the top of the candidate list for a new middle school," Silver Spring resident Susan Buchanan told the school board. "The quick and secretive nature in which the site selection process was handled left us feeling panicked, disenfranchised, and some even sadly feel unempowered."
The Department of Parks told the school board they too had "serious concerns about the overall MCPS site selection process," which landed on park property.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/education/2011/04/montco-panel-backs-plan-build-school#ixzz1L8X9L5zk
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