Save Rock Creek Hills Park? Well, we sure tried!: "... a middle school in Rock Creek Hills Park is a bad decision" [Testimony at tonight's Board of Ed meeting]

Monday, June 27, 2011

"... a middle school in Rock Creek Hills Park is a bad decision" [Testimony at tonight's Board of Ed meeting]

Good evening, my name is Shannon Hamm. This is my third time testifying about why a middle school in Rock Creek Hills Park is a bad decision.

The site selection advisory committee process is broken.

The report does not reflect facts nor was it conducted in a fair and open process.
You did not send it to MNCPPC for a mandatory referral as required.

The Feasibility advisory committee process is underway.

It does not have the proper representation, which includes MNCPPC and Department of Transportation.
It needs an impartial facilitator, one that does not interject his opinions.
It needs minutes appropriately recorded by an independent court reporter.

Rock Creek Hills Park is 13.38 acres.

It would be the smallest middle school in Montgomery County without an adjacent park.
That will ensure it will be inadequate with respect to Westland and all other middle schools in Montgomery County.

It is clear that the quality of education is not driving this decision.

What is driving this decision is the fear of a building moratorium.

Shame on all of you for being on the Board of Education and putting development first. Shame on me for not paying attention to your poor record as the BOE. My eyes are wide open.

I am advocating for great schools in great locations.

Stop the Feasibility and Re-open the Site Section Process – Make the Right Decision.

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Who Said That?

"When the [Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission] developed [Rock Creek Hills Park] in the early 1990s they accepted funds from the Program Open Space. This is a program managed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to distribute funds from the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund to preserve open space. The use of Program Open Space funds was inconsistent with the reclamation terms of the transfer agreement under which the M-NCPPC took title to the property. This was the case since use of these funds places restrictions on future public use of parks, in contradiction with the terms of the original transfer agreement..."
– Dr. Joshua Starr, Superintendent, Montgomery County Public Schools.

From the MCPS Site Selection Advisory Committee Minority Reports:

The B-CC High School NAACP Parents' Council wrote that they "... cannot support the recommendation to build the new middle school in a potentially racially divisive and socially isolating location. ... We, therefore, ask the Superintendent and the Board of Education to decline to adopt Rock Creek Hills Local Park as the site for the new middle school."

The Lyttonsville Civic Association wrote that "...MCPS staff set inappropriate boundaries for discussion... ...MCPS staff cut off discussion to insist that a vote be taken before the committee had finished considering all their options. Staff ... made procedural rulings that affected the ability of some representatives to speak freely. Some representatives voiced concerns that they were being led to a predetermined conclusion."

Ms. Brooke Farquhar (Parks Department) wrote: "Costs were not thoroughly evaluated in the process and misinformation may have prejudiced the votes of committee members.... The process lacked a robust analysis. The potential sites should have been analyzed more thoroughly, based on detailed information that would allow consistent comparison across the sites."

Mr. Frederick V. Boyd (Planning Board) wrote: "[T]he rating process used for selecting sites did not provide a real opportunity to consider the community character and quality of life consequences of choosing a candidate site. ... [D]escriptions appear to have been written to enable easier consideration of some public sites..."