Thursday, November 24, 2011

‎"As we enter into a new site selection process..." [Thanksgiving Day repost]


‎"As we enter into a new site selection process for the new middle school, a priority is to avoid the pitfalls we experienced on the Rock Creek Hills Local Park site selection."
- from Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joshua Starr's memo "Site Selection Process for Bethesda-Chevy Chase Middle School #2".

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Board Rescinds Park Choice, Restarts Site Search.

This evening, at the recommendation of Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joshua P. Starr, who began in that position on July 1st, our Montgomery County Board of Education voted unanimously to begin a new site selection process for the second Bethesda - Chevy Chase Middle School, rescinding their April 28th resolution that had selected the site of Rock Creek Hills Park.

We are confident that the new process will yield solutions superior to the site of Rock Creek Hills Park, which fails to meet the overwhelming majority of the specified site evaluation criteria.

Monday, November 14, 2011

"... this is a breath of fresh air!" [Testimony at tonight's Board of Ed hearing]


Good evening. My name is Lynne Kaplan, and I want to express my thanks to Dr. Starr, Mr. Barclay, and to the Board for providing this opportunity to testify before you today. I also want to thank you, Dr. Starr, for taking action to “restart the process in a transparent and inclusive manner”; this is a breath of fresh air! I value and encourage support for your request by Board and County Council representatives. We are grateful that you have recognized many of the significant challenges attached to the selection of the Rock Creek Hills Park site.

I want to share just a few notes about my personal and professional expertise to provide some context for my thoughts:
  • I am a mother of two adult children who matriculated at public schools and speak now passionately about the value of learning in a diverse and welcoming environment.
  • I am a professional facilitator who works with organizations you all know to help them explore complex issues and identify workable solutions. Disney, Nike, the NCAA, and the NFL are just a few of the clients I have supported through my business.
  • I am a neighbor of the Rock Creek Hills community.

The decision to “restart the clock” on the BCC Middle School #2 site selection process is greatly appreciated.  The last process was flawed in both design and execution. Both the identification and the decision to select the Rock Creek Hills Park site were rushed and ignored many of the real restrictions that encumber the land.  The Feasibility Study team actually reinvented the term. Staff said their job was not to figure out if a school was feasible but how to make it fit. This yielded a recommendation for a school that will be too small from day one, too expensive because of the costs associated with preparing the site, and created a potential legal landmine for Montgomery County due to inherent facility inadequacies and lack of parity.

I believe a more transparent process is both possible and essential to address the needs of Montgomery County citizens. I support your recommendations outlined in the November 8 memorandum.  I also urge the team to look beyond the existing sites to identify viable options that will fit the identified criteria.

That said, I ask you to consider broadening your approach to develop a process that brings together qualified individuals to reexamine all the possible strategies for addressing the overcrowding of Downcounty schools.  Given the dynamics of population growth, are there other options that would meet the need and manage scare resources effectively?

Finally, I implore you to protect the Core Values and Best Practices that made Montgomery County a Malcolm Baldrige winner. The values you espouse demand that you take action to protect the racial and socio-economic balance of the BCC community. As a professional, one of my greatest pleasures is designing and facilitating leadership training for men and women who came from disadvantaged neighborhoods. For many of them, a quality public school education was one of the life lines that helped them break the cycle. All students need to learn in diverse environments so that they are prepared to live and flourish in our multicultural world.

I want to thank you again for your visionary leadership and want to confirm our community’s intent to be of service to find the best possible solution for the children of Montgomery County.

Friday, November 11, 2011

"I'm here ... to show my support for Dr. Starr's recommendation..." [Testimony at last night's Board of Ed hearing]


[Testimony from Ms. Sandra van Bochove]

I’m here today as a resident of Rock Creek Hills neighborhood but foremost, as a mother of a third grader at NCC, to show my support for Dr. Starr’s recommendation to begin a new site selection process for BCC Middle School #2 with transparency, true community involvement, and viable sites that will include private partnerships.

I applaud Dr. Starr’s leadership in recognizing a flawed process, and applaud the Board for recognizing the need for improvement within inter-agency communications, especially with Parks and Planning, and the County Council, both of whom are integral pieces to this complex puzzle.

As many of you have identified, RCHLP continues to be a site with many challenges, ranging from a fee simple conveyance of part of the site that does not identify a reclaim right, to clarification on restrictions imposed by the use of federal funds (LWCF) administered through Program Open Space. The need for clarification has sparked three Congressional inquiries to the DOI and DNR.

Although these challenges are the results of decisions made more than 20 years ago, it is reassuring that you as our educational leaders recognize the need to “cast a wider net on sites and on community engagement”, that goes beyond the role of PTAs.

In that spirit I would also like to voice my concerns regarding the proposed elementary school boundary changes. As a member of that boundary committee, like Dr. Starr, I also voted for Option #5, based on demographics, enrollment projections and appropriate classroom additions for three schools: NCC with 8; BE with either 4 or 8; RHPS with 6.

As a parent of a child at NCC I am very concerned with the current projected enrollment which out of all three schools, puts NCC at the highest capacity of 201% by next year, but yet its 8-classroom additions has been diminished to only a 6-room addition that will not accommodate a significant surge in student influx due to new boundary changes.

I would implore you to review our decision based on outdated data and consider not only the enormous capacity levels at NCC, but also the detrimental impact of these boundary changes along socio-economic lines and the diversity make-up of the BCC community which contributes to the success of our cluster nationwide.

As always, we are great supporters of all you do for our schools and the tremendous task you have in front that will be alleviated with true transparency and true community outreach to all stakeholders at hand. I applaud your forward thinking, integrity, and your pursuit to gather support by the community at large.

Thank you.

"You have done our children and community a great service ..." [Testimony at last night's Board of Ed hearing]


Good evening,

My name is Teddy Springer and I am a resident of Chevy Chase View. I am here to applaud wholeheartedly Dr. Starr’s recent recommendation to reopen the site selection process for the new middle school in the B-CC cluster.  It has not been an easy situation for all involved, with differing opinions and differing approaches. Dr. Starr has taken a difficult step and shown the community that he is willing to do the right thing. He has shown great leadership in doing so, and it is very much appreciated. Now I ask that the members of the Board continue this forward momentum by approving the Superintendant’s recommendation.

I am also pleased to see that Dr. Starr has addressed many of my concerns regarding the Site Selection Advisory Committee. Reaching out to and including various stakeholders, soliciting various site options, and providing the public with the report (if no private property is under consideration) are all vital components in making an informed decision concerning the new middle school site. Equally important is that you direct MCPS staff to provide an objective analysis of truly viable sites, ones that meet your own criteria for a middle school complex, and to tap their creative side to identify options other than parkland.

Naturally, my concerns with the size and adequacy of Rock Creek Hills Park and the cost of building the school there still remain. These concerns consistently lead me back to the issue of equity with Westland and the issue of socio-economic diversity. Our cluster has worked hard over many years to integrate various neighborhoods into the assorted elementary schools, and the caliber of B-CC High School is a testament to our success. I implore you not to turn back the clock and undo this hard-fought achievement by siting the school in a deficient location. A site more centrally situated will ensure the ability of the school system to keep the balance that has produced so many enlightened, well-educated students.

I now look forward to a site selection process that will proceed with input from all affected groups and communities.  I sincerely hope that MCPS staff will work diligently to provide well-researched, viable options and that they will think creatively when bringing ideas to the table.  As a mother of children in MCPS and a member of the community, I pledge to do all that I can to help this process move forward in a positive and productive manner.  And I urge members of other communities, and even those in my own community, with varying opinions to work together in a constructive, affirmative and respectful manner to reach the goal that we all want: a top-notch middle school in our cluster. So although I feel there are still issues that must be studied in order for this school to be built in the best place for our children and our cluster, I am hopeful that we are now closer to that end.

So to Dr. Starr: many thanks for your good work. You have done our children and community a great service by putting a stop to the flawed process and giving us all the chance to do it right. And to the members of the Board: please proceed in this positive direction and approve the recommendation. By doing so, you will ensure that we will build a quality middle school at an appropriate site, something all parents – and taxpayers – want.

Thank you.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

"As we enter into a new site selection process..."


‎"As we enter into a new site selection process for the new middle school, a priority is to avoid the pitfalls we experienced on the Rock Creek Hills Local Park site selection."
- from Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joshua Starr's memo "Site Selection Process for Bethesda-Chevy Chase Middle School #2".

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

"... I am here today to support Dr. Starr’s recent recommendation ..." [Testimony at today's Board of Ed meeting]


Good morning, Dr. Starr, Ms. Brandman, and members of the Board.

My name is James Pekar, and I am here today to support Dr. Starr’s recent recommendation to re-do the B-CC Middle School Site Selection, as doing so offers a much-needed period of reflection and assures input from all affected interested parties. I am grateful that you are recognizing some of the significant challenges associated with the Rock Creek Hills Park site.

Dr. Starr noted that all sites considered will be considered again. As I testified and Dr. Starr acknowledged, threshold issues exist regarding the availability of Rock Creek Hills Park for conversion to school use. Given the controversy surrounding the process up to this point, it is imperative that the status of the park be clarified in an open and transparent manner, with specific documentation available for inspection and analysis.

For example, under the Maryland Code, conversion restrictions apply to land “acquired or developed” with Program Open Space funds. Absent is any language limiting enforcement of this restriction, which is noteworthy because, as you know, there is third-hand information indicating that DNR may draw such a distinction as a matter of “practice”. This lack of clarity, coupled with the fact that the only documentation found so far states that the park was developed with Land and Water Conservation Fund money, is what prompted the inquiries pending with the state and with the federal government.

As you conduct your review, we ask that you join our request to secure the following information to clarify this situation:
  • The sources of the development funds used for development of the park;
  • The specific documentation that DNR has regarding the use of LWCF and/or POS funds for the development of the park;
  • The documentation regarding any limitations that were attached to the funds used for the development of that park;
  • Should any reported DNR “practice” to limit enforcement of any statutory conversion restrictions exist, the statutory basis for that “practice”; and
  • The statutory or regulatory provisions supporting any conclusions on the legal status of the LWCF and/or POS funds discussed.
As always, we stand ready to assist the Board in finding a site that maximizes educational benefits to all students in this cluster.

Thank you.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

"A Wise and Considered Decision."

WEEKEND UPDATE.

BACKGROUND:
On April 28th, our Montgomery County Board of Education voted to conduct a feasibility study for a new Bethesda-Chevy Chase middle school #2, to be located on the site of Rock Creek Hills Park. Precisely half a year later, on Friday October 28th, Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joshua Starr released his Capital Improvement Program (CIP) recommendations, which included the construction of a middle school for 944 students, at an estimated cost of $46,485,000.00, to open in 2017, on the site of the park. No other information was available, as the feasibility study report for the project had not been made available, including in draft form.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT:
On November 2nd, when Dr. Starr briefed the Board of Education on his CIP recommendations, he recommended that the site selection process for B-CC middle school 2 be re-opened. According to a "public announcement" posted on the MCPS website, Dr. Starr explained that:
"In their opposition to the use of Rock Creek Hills Local Park for the new middle school the community has raised concerns over the process used to select the site and the suitability of the site for a middle school. The controversy over this site has spread beyond the immediate community. At this point I am concerned that we may not have the support of the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) — that is critical to having the property transferred back to the Board of Education — and of the County Council — who we need to fund construction of the school."
Dr. Starr provided the Board with an impressively comprehensive history of the Rock Creek Hills Park site, starting in 1937! In particular, Dr. Starr reviewed funds used to develop the park in the 1990's:
"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. Starr made his recommendation:
"I am recommending that a new site selection process be conducted to review all sites that were previously considered as well as other candidates that may be identified through this process. In the next few days I will be sending a memorandum to the Board of Education outlining how the site selection process would be conducted and the timeframe for the study. The new site selection process for B-CC Middle School #2 will take advantage of the M-NCPPC/MCPS Joint Working Group that is exploring ways to improve site selection procedures."

REACTIONS:
After Dr. Starr made his recommendation Wednesday night, Board members expressed support. Board President Christopher Barclay said "I think that this recommendation satisfies some real concerns that have been expressed." Board member Laura Berthiaume began her remarks by "commending the Superintendent on a wise and considered decision". In the days following, Montgomery County Council members Hans Riemer and George Leventhal expressed support, with Mr. Riemer praising Dr. Starr's decision as "a stand for integrity".

LOOKING AHEAD:
We urge the Board to accept the Superintendent's recommendation to restart site selection, and we look forward to the Superintendent's memo on the new process. We are pleased that the M-NCPPC, which is the County agency with responsibility for land use and planning, will be involved. Our community is looking forward to participating an open, transparent, and fact-based site selection process that seeks a wide range of solutions to the needs of our children. We are confident that such a process will find better solutions than the Rock Creek Hills Park site, which fails to meet essentially all of the Board of Education's official criteria for a middle-school site.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

"I am recommending that a new site selection process be conducted to review all sites that were previously considered as well as other candidates that may be identified ..."



Following are remarks by Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joshua Starr at last evening's meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Education, as provided by Ms. Mary Cobbett, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School PTA Cluster Coordinator:


Statement of Superintendent Joshua P. Starr to the Board of Education Regarding Bethesda-Chevy Chase (B-CC) Middle School #2 (November 2, 2011)

·  Before we begin review of my Recommended FY 2013–2018 Capital Improvements Program (CIP)  I want to take some time to address one of the most important capital projects I am recommending; construction of a new Bethesda-Chevy Chase Cluster middle school.

·  As you know, there has been a good deal of controversy since the Rock Creek Hills Local Park site was adopted by the Board of Education on April 28, 2011, as the location for the new middle school.

·  I have been concerned about the issues raised by the Rock Creek Hills community that have been most vocally represented by Mr. Jim Pekar. He and other members of this community are strongly opposed to construction of the new middle school at their local park.

·  In their opposition to the use of Rock Creek Hills Local Park for the new middle school the community has raised concerns over the process used to select the site and the suitability of the site for a middle school.

·  The controversy over this site has spread beyond the immediate community. At this point I am concerned that we may not have the support of the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC)—that is critical to having the property transferred back to the Board of Education—and of the County Council—who we need to fund construction of the school.

·  At the same time as these concerns cloud the prospects for the new middle school, increasing middle school enrollment—and the need to reassign Grade 6 students from Chevy Chase and North Chevy Chase elementary schools to the middle school level—are pressing concerns of students and parents in the B-CC cluster.

·  PTA leaders in the B-CC Cluster are rightfully anxious to see the new middle school project move forward as expeditiously as possible.

·  I am sympathetic to the concerns of parents in the B-CC cluster, but I also believe we need consider the issues surrounding the use of the site and resolve these in a productive fashion.

·  Following are concerns over reclamation of the site, and concerns over the site selection process.

Reclamation of the Property and Program Open Space Funding

·  The transfer agreements that passed ownership of the Rock Creek Hills property from the Board of Education to the county, and then to the M-NCPPC, clearly stated that in the event the property is needed for public school use in the future, then it will be transferred back to the Board of Education.

·  This reclamation provision was important to the Board of Education’s action to adopt Rock Creek Hills Local Park as the site for the new middle school back on April 28, 2011.

·  Recently it has been determined that there may be more “strings” attached to our ability to reclaim the property for public school use.

·  When the M-NCPPC developed the park in the early 1990s they accepted funds from the Program Open Space (POS).  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.

·  We are currently conducting research on whether the restrictions may affect our ability to reclaim the Rock Creek Hills Park property.

Concerns with the Site Selection Process

·  Beyond the recently identified legal issue of reclaiming the park property, there is the lingering concern over the process leading up to adoption of the Rock Creek Hills Local Park site.

·  Staff has developed a detailed chronology of the site selection process, the Board of Education action, and the appeal to the Maryland State Board of Education.  In addition, correspondence related to these matters has been provided to me.

·  I have been carefully considering the chronology of events, as well as the ongoing input from the Rock Creek Hills community.

·  I want to state clearly that I believe the process that was conducted leading up to Board of Education action on April 28, 2011, was conducted in conformance to applicable Board policy and school system regulations.

·  In addition, I have confidence in the recent feasibility study that showed how the new middle school can be constructed at the Rock Creek Hills Local park site.  This study showed that nearly all of the current open space area can be preserved, including the play fields, and a state-of-the-art middle school can be constructed.

·  Although all of the appropriate steps have been followed, I have to acknowledge that there are enough issues still hanging over this project that additional steps are needed to firm up support for the new middle school.

Recommendation of New Site Selection Process

·  I am recommending that a new site selection process be conducted to review all sites that were previously considered as well as other candidates that may be identified through this process.

·  In the next few days I will be sending a memorandum to the Board of Education outlining how the site selection process would be conducted and the timeframe for the study.

·  The new site selection process for B-CC Middle School #2 will take advantage of the M-NCPPC/MCPS Joint Working Group that is exploring ways to improve site selection procedures.  This group began meeting on October 26, 2011.

Continue with CIP Recommendation to Open B-CC MS #2 in 2017

·  My recommendation to redo the site selection process is not inconsistent with my CIP recommendation to open the new B-CC Middle School #2  in August 2017.  There is sufficient time in this schedule to allow for the new site selection process and still open the new middle school by the recommended date of August 2017.


Wednesday, November 2, 2011

BREAKING NEWS!


A tweet from Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joshua Starr, reporting on his recommendation made at this evening's meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Education:


Don't Pave Paradise. [repost]

"The notion that there is no other place to construct this school simply is nonsense..."

[An October 23rd email from Ms. Fern Shepard to Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joshua Starr.]

Dear Dr. Starr,

I am a parent of three children in MCPS schools in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase cluster, and I am writing to express my strong opposition to your staff's proposal to build a second middle school on Rock Creek Hills Park.

Your staff's proposal for a second middle school at Rock Creek Park is a mistake for three reasons.  First, this proposal will result in an unnecessarily expensive and inadequate school.  Many other viable and less-expensive options exist to redress overcrowding in our cluster schools, and you have been mislead if you have been told otherwise.  Second, we have worked hard in our cluster for racial and economic integration of our schools, and this middle school proposal threatens to unwind decades of success.  At the very least, this proposal will exacerbate racial and economic disparity in our cluster, and for absolutely no good reason because the overcrowding can be addressed while maintaining our tradition of integration.  Finally, we live in an increasingly crowded and urbanized area, and our park lands are precious resources that cannot be replaced.  The unnecessary destruction of a heavily used and important park in this cluster is a more than a waste, it is unforgivable.  The notion that there is no other place to construct this school simply is nonsense, and it demonstrates the fundamental failure of the site selection process to consider the full range of options to redress school overcrowding in our cluster.

We ask that you take the time to give us, the parents of the children in this cluster, the opportunity to share with you our options for addressing school overcrowding in our area.  This problem can be solved without controversy, without unnecessary expense, and without delay.  Please do not approve this project for the CIP without at least taking the time to talk to those of us whose children will be most affected.

Sincerely,

Fern Shepard
Kensington, MD

cc:
      County Executive Isiah Leggett
      Montgomery County Council
      Montgomery County Board of Education
      State Senator Richard Madaleno

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

"Children need both schools and parks."


[An October 27 email from Ms. Susan Buchanan to Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joshua Starr, and the members of the Montgomery County Council.]

Dear Dr. Starr and Montgomery County Council Members,

Due to the controversial nature in which the site selection took place for the BCC Middle School #2, I am writing to ask you to include a placeholder in the CIP for this facility and take some time to explore alternatives to Rock Creek Hills as the site for the new school.

I believe MCPS and Montgomery County as a whole should exhaust all options for new school sites before considering parks. Children need both schools and parks. We are an overweight, sedentary society and we should not rob children of their neighborhood outdoor space because it's the cheapest or simplest option. Please select a more balanced site selection advisory committee and give them free reign to explore outside-the-box options for a new middle school site.

For example:

  • The committee which chose Rosemary Hills/Lyttonsville and Rock Creek Hills Parks didn't explore options like reopening Lynnbrook Elementary School in East Bethesda (still in MCPS inventory) and shuffling elementary boundaries in a way that might allow either Rock Creek Forest or NCC to be renovated and become the new school. If Spanish Immersion were moved to Silver Spring International, this could work. It would also solve the BCC elementary school boundary dilemma by giving East Bethesda the true "walking school" they desire without re-segregating the mini-cluster.
  • Chevy Chase Lake company owns land they would be willing to sell to MCPS for the new school. Yet, no one from MCPS or the site selection advisory committee explored this option. Perhaps land in the MCPS inventory elsewhere in the county could be sold to raise funds to purchase a plot of land in the down county for the new middle school.
  • People keep throwing out the idea of building a "sixth grade academy" at Westland, an idea that should be further explored.

Other options and creative ideas abound. Please allow our cluster the opportunity to provide ideas and don't take action to approve Rock Creek Hills Park based on the flawed site selection process conducted for this middle school. We need our green space in the down county - so much land is already paved over and primed for redevelopment. Please don't pave a park to build a school.

Thank you for your consideration of this request,

Susan Buchanan
Silver Spring, MD