"Supersizing the school is unneeded, unwise, and unsafe."

[Testimony before the Montgomery County Council, 6 October 2015 (as prepared).]

My name is Dr. James Pekar. I am here as President of the Rock Creek Hills Citizens’ Association to ask you to vote against funding the addition - what MCPS calls a “cold dark shell” - because supersizing the new middle school to 1200 students is unneeded, unwise, and unsafe.

It is unneeded, according to MCPS’s 2015 forecasts, which state that the new school would hold no more than 803 students through 2024.

It is unwise, because the opening capacity of 949 students already exceeds recent guidance from the State of Maryland, calling for middle schools to be no larger than 900 students. The addition would push the total to 1200, far above the state recommendation.

It is unsafe, because hazards identified by our County’s Planning Board remain unaddressed, as was recently noted in the letter to Mrs. O’Neill from County Planning Board Chair Mr. Anderson and Councilmember Rice. Over a one-hour period every school morning, over 800 vehicle trips (on top of high levels of commuter traffic) will access this school via narrow, hilly, curving, neighborhood streets. Restricted visibility for pedestrians and cars will increase accident risk for children accessing the site. A single steep driveway, plagued with blind spots and low visibility, must be shared by all student drop-offs, crosswalks, deliveries, parking, and emergency vehicles. Interactions between walkers and vehicles would inevitably create hazards. While many MCPS schools are embedded in neighborhoods, few, if any, have such a combination of traffic and site challenges, which would be exacerbated by expansion to 1200.

For context, Rock Creek Hills Park is significantly reduced from the former site of Kensington Junior High School. After the old school was torn down, an elder-care facility was built on much of its footprint, taking a third of the land and a vehicle entrance. The remainder fails to meet almost all official County site standards, including size, topography, and access. Once built, this will be the only middle school with less than the new 15-acre requirement without an adjacent park to provide additional space. Due to this critical lack of space, this school will have no regulation soccer field, no large playing field, and just 2 of the 4 softball fields, 4 of the 6 tennis courts and 2 of the 3 basketball courts required by standards approved by the Board of Education. The soccer and softball fields are “overlaid” meaning just one athletic activity at a time. Classrooms are below standard size. If expanded to 1200 students, cafeteria and auditorium seating will be 25% undersized, necessitating “operational” solutions, such as staggering lunch throughout the day. Despite additional costs for retaining walls up to 22 feet high to maximize useable space, the site will not have a separated student drop off, and, if expanded to 1200 students, would be short almost 25% of car and bus parking required by MCPS.

So please, say no to this CIP amendment. Supersizing the school is unneeded, unwise, and unsafe. Instead, limit the size to 949 students, to improve outcomes, minimize harm, and, most importantly, protect children.

"So please, uphold the law, adopt your staff recommendation. Save some trees, protect a creek, and most importantly, protect children."

[Testimony before the Montgomery County Planning Board, 26 March 2015 (as prepared).]

My name is Dr. James Pekar. I reside at 9723 Kingston Road, Kensington, directly across Saul Road from Rock Creek Hills Park. I serve as President of the Rock Creek Hills Citizens’ Association. I won’t need more than five minutes of your time, to testify in support of your staff recommendation.

As you may know, we’ve worked to preserve Rock Creek Hills Park, because it is our neighborhood’s central green space, and because the site is obviously inappropriate and inadequate to the proposed school, and will yield a middle school that does not provide parity with others in the County.

In 1986, a memo from your staff assessed the Park, stating: “Development outside the flat portions of the site should be restricted... The site slopes steeply on three sides, and drains into a tributary of Rock Creek…” And that year, our County Council resolved that: “Primary consideration [shall be given] to the conservation of the trees and other unique natural features for the continuing enjoyment of the … community.”

The park fails to meet the Board of Education’s official middle school site criteria for location, size, topography, and access. Indeed, the site fails to meet each element of the "access" criterion: Frontage on a primary (70’ right-of-way) road; three access points (for safety, to separate cars, buses, and trucks); community sidewalks.

In light of the foregoing, I wish I could ask you tonight to recognize that, “If it does not fit, you must not permit!”  –  not because we disagree with your staff’s recommendation, but because the decision to build is wrong. We understand, however, that this hearing assumes that the school will be built on the site of the park, and seeks the best possible outcome. With that understanding, I am compelled to testify in support of your staff recommendation to uphold Maryland’s Forest Conservation Law by moving the car entrance up the hill, preserving a riparian forest stand. This doesn’t just save trees and protect the creek – it reduces retaining walls, reduces stormwater runoff, and improves pedestrian safety. It represents the safest, most balanced approach to the site.

There are many reasons to support the recommendation of your staff (which is consistent with your staff memo from almost three decades ago). Let me mention just one. As noted in your staff’s transportation memorandum of February 27th (of this year), “…the relocated access point would have more than the minimum 200-foot sight distance required on secondary residential streets…” In contrast, the car access point proposed in the submission has intersections just 100 feet and 150 feet away (on either side), well within the 200 foot sight distance requirement, raising serious concerns about safety.

So please, uphold the law, adopt your staff recommendation. Save some trees, protect a creek, and most importantly, protect children. Thank you.

"Taking away a park ... is not only an incalculable loss but a serious breach of public trust."

[Testimony by Ms. Ginny Barnes, Vice-Chair, Conservation Montgomery, at the April 9th meeting of the Montgomery County Planning Board]

Conservation Montgomery’s commitment to the environment in Montgomery County is based in large part on preserving and protecting public parkland. We have one of the most extensive and diverse park systems in the region. They are no accident but the result of real vision and careful, long term planning. It is disheartening to realize our much admired public school system is not engaged in the same approach to their future needs. How can it be when it assumes parkland is simply ‘vacant’ land, ‘free,’ theirs for the taking. Parks are not undeveloped land just waiting to be used. No parkland is ‘free,’ and no park is completely undeveloped. Taking away a park from a neighborhood or community is not only an incalculable loss but a serious breach of public trust.

Parks are our community schools of the outdoors. Our family classrooms where we play; where we learn to get along with each other through games, and touch the natural world beneath leafy canopies of trees. We exercise our imaginations as Robin Hood’s merry men or princesses of rural kingdoms and when we have children of our own, we bring them to do the same in the parks we loved when young. This is a rightful legacy. It should be inviolate. We should never have to make a choice between a school and a park. We don’t have to now.

From the beginning of this site selection process, there have been flaws piled one upon the other. First, in assuming the ‘right of recall’ was a given without need of justification. Then in holding the belief parkland is ‘vacant.’ The Board of Education has prioritized parkland because they don’t have to buy it. But what do they intend to give in exchange for taking it back after 20+ years? Anything? Serious process flaws in the second act of this drama are just as numerous as the first time. Why not include available private land in the site consideration? Failure to do so only makes parkland continue to be seen as the obvious priority. How can any valid choice be made without a principal component on the table?

Though resource atlas generated maps were available to the Site Selection Advisory Committee, Parks staff was not asked to give an evaluation of sites using the resource atlas tool. This is where science really serves establishment of the greater good. As a member of the Trails Working Group, I’ve seen firsthand how the resource atlas can provide invaluable multilayered data that verify, without spending scarce dollars, the physical constraints and environmental costs of one route over another, and even lead to options as yet unconsidered. In this case, that analysis, were it available to participants in the selection process through the parks staff, expertise with the tool itself would have benefitted all concerned.

We support the Staff recommendation that the first priority should be the purchase of a private site and not the taking of any parkland from any community. When the Planning Commission wants land for parks, it has to buy it. Why shouldn’t the Board of Education do the same?

"I am here tonight to support the recommendation of your staff..."

[Testimony at the April 9, 2012 meeting of the Montgomery County Planning Board]

Good evening, Ms. Carrier, and fellow Commissioners.

My name is Dr. James Pekar, and I am a resident of Rock Creek Hills. I am here tonight to support the recommendation of your staff, and the testimony of Mr. John Robinson. I will not repeat any of the points they have made.

I would like to address, briefly, some specifics of the middle school that Montgomery County Public Schools proposes to build upon the site of Rock Creek Hills Park, according to the feasibility study they completed last summer, even though the park fails to meet the overwhelming majority of their middle school site evaluation criteria.

• The feasibility study proposes construction on the steep slope of the small site, in contravention of concerns expressed by this body [County Planning Board] and the County Council decades ago. This, and substantial regrading of the entire site, would raise costs; an Independent Construction Budget Estimate, commissioned by the Rock Creek Hills Citizens Association, puts 2017 total costs at $64.5 million, almost 40% above the MCPS estimate. Entrances for those arriving by car and and by bus would be located on different levels of the school, heightening security demands and increasing staffing requirements.

• A middle school on this site would be the one on the smallest site, in the entire county, without an adjoining (or “co-located”) park to provide space for student recreation and sports. All final feasibility study options used "overlaid" playing fields, which would limit student athletics.

• The MCPS Director of Construction confirms that "none of the three options provide the 125 on-site parking [spaces] called for in the educational specifications," and parking is restricted in the narrow surrounding streets.

• The site fails to meet each element of the official "access" criterion: Frontage on a primary [70 foot right-of-way] road; three access points (for safety, to separate cars, buses, and trucks); community sidewalks. None of the final feasibility study options have three access points, or a separate service drive.

Under your stewardship, Rock Creek Hills Park is a success story of multipurpose recreational greenspace, serving the needs of three constituencies: the elderly, park users, and the community. It would be a shame to lose it for a school that fails to provide parity with other middle schools in the county.

Thank you.

"These officials have a broad stewardship responsibility; they are charged with balancing greater community interests. When they point to a flawed process, weak analysis, and a directed result, it is our duty to take note."

[Testimony at the March 26th meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Education]

Good evening, Dr. Starr, President Brandman, and members of the Board.

My name is James Pekar, and I am here again to ask you not to build a middle school on the site of Rock Creek Hills Park, which fails to meet the overwhelming majority of your middle school site evaluation criteria.

The recently concluded site selection advisory process gave committee members the opportunity to file Minority Reports. I would like to call to your attention two dissenting Minority Reports filed by members of our Park and Planning Commission. These officials have a broad stewardship responsibility; they are charged with balancing greater community interests. When they point to a flawed process, weak analysis, and a directed result, it is our duty to take note. [Copies of their reports are attached to my written testimony.]

Ms. Brooke Farquhar, Supervisor, Park and Trail Planning with the Parks Department, writes, in part: "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, Community Planner with the Planning Board, writes, in part: "Implicit throughout committee discussions was the idea that a decision had to be made quickly… [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. Six of the eight criteria considered specific physical qualities of a site — its location, size, topography, access, availability of utilities and physical condition — in isolation from its neighborhood and from broader issues of recreation and environmental stewardship. The remaining two — availability and cost — are equally aimed at specific properties. Indeed, their descriptions appear to have been written to enable easier consideration of some public sites; cost is defined as 'The cost to acquire a site is considered, compared to sites that may be in public ownership.' This implies that there are fewer acquisition or other costs associated with public ownership than with private sites."

The capital budget approved by our County Council for B-CC middle school #2 has the first spending occurring on the design phase, in the 2013-2014 fiscal year, which is more than a year from now. So, without endangering the planned 2017 opening date, there is time to find a location superior to the site of Rock Creek Hills Park, which fails to meet the overwhelming majority of your middle school site evaluation criteria.

Thank you.

"... 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.

"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.

"... 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.

"Here's what we've done to help." [Testimony at today's Board of Ed meeting]

Good morning, Dr. Starr, Mr. Barclay, and members of the Board.

My name is James Pekar. I have appeared before you several times to speak against building a school on the site of Rock Creek Hills Park. Today, I’d like to suggest an area where, with your assistance, we may find common ground.

As I testified here two weeks ago, a threshold issue exists for you, the county, and the state, in connection with the actual availability of the park site for construction of a school. Documentation shows that, in 1992, federal Land and Water Conservation Funds were used to develop Rock Creek Hills Park. Under the law, parks developed with these funds may not be converted from park use without providing replacement land of equal value in the community. There is third-hand information that Program Open Space (POS) funding may also have been used here, and, if that is the case, restrictions similar to those of the LWCF may apply regarding conversion of the site. For this reason, and to ascertain how the Department of Natural Resources will enforce conversion restrictions, we wrote to the DNR Secretary soliciting his clarification. To date, we have heard nothing from the DNR Secretary on this matter.

Regardless of how one feels about site selection, I think we can all agree that understanding the availability of the site is key to avoiding wasting time, resources, and scarce tax dollars pursuing an option that may not exist. Here's what we've done to help: In addition to contacting the DNR Secretary to seek to clarify the sources of funds, accompanying restrictions, and enforcement, members of our community are also reaching out to Governor O’Malley, to our federal Senators and Congressional Representative, to our state Senators and Delegates, and to our local representatives, to seek clarity on the status of the park.

In the absence of the DNR Secretary's response, it would help the process greatly if you would reach out to these parties and seek their assistance to help clarify the situation. Doing so would be consistent with the due diligence that is required in any site selection, and in this case, it could help avoid enforcement actions or threats to future funding. Please know that we stand ready in this regard to assist you in any way that we can.

Thank you.

"... let’s achieve 'Starr' quality in our new middle school." [Testimony at today's Board of Ed meeting]

Good morning,

My name is Teddy Springer.  I am here once again to talk to you about the building of a middle school at Rock Creek Hills Park, to ask you to put a placeholder in the Capital Improvement Program and to explore the alternative sites for a middle school in our cluster.

Last night, Dr. Starr, had you been able to hold your “Listen and Learn” event at B-CC, I hope you would have listened to our community and learned that to achieve a quality middle school, we have to start with a quality site.  Rock Creek Hills Park is an A+ park, one used by many people from all over our county and beyond.  But it is not a good site for a middle school.

Since beginning your stewardship of our children and our schools, Dr. Starr, I hope you have taken the opportunity to learn these specifics about the park:

• Though it was once the home of Kensington Junior High, the site is no longer the same because of the senior community that sits where the school once did.
• It does not provide the necessary space for a middle school on par with Westland.
• The topography poses a huge challenge to building on this site.
• The neighboring streets are too narrow, and without sidewalks, to provide proper and safe access to a middle school complex.
• The many valuable specimen trees and a watershed stream make this site environmentally significant.

But most importantly, I hope you have learned that building a middle school at Rock Creek Hills Park is cost-prohibitive, for exactly the reasons I have just mentioned.  The price to be paid by the county taxpayer would be considerably more than the price paid for other middle schools; yet the finished product would not provide the cluster with a middle school that would give our children an excellent education.  Thus, there would be no equity with Westland.

So please, Dr. Starr, let’s achieve “Starr” quality in our new middle school.  Please put a placeholder in the CIP and advise the Board to continue the search for a middle school site, one that is an A+ site, not one that gets a failing grade.  We recognize the enormity of your task, Dr. Starr, and the myriad of issues before you, but please honor the numerous requests my neighbors and I have made to meet with you.  We want to work together to ensure our cluster continues to provide a gold “Starr” education for our children.

Thank you.

"... now we are facing more than a matter of opinion." [Testimony at tonight's Board of Ed meeting]

Good evening, Dr. Starr, Mr. Barclay, and members of the Board.

My name is James Pekar. I have appeared before you several times to speak against building a school in Rock Creek Hills Park because new information just keeps coming up, information that, arguably, should have been addressed during the course of the site selection committee’s work.

Today, I point you to potential legal impediments to the conversion of the park to school use that need to be clarified. There exists documentation that, in 1992, more than $171,000 was authorized from the federal Land and Water Conservation Funds available to the county to develop Rock Creek Hills Park. (You have a copy, attached to my written testimony.) Under the law, parks developed with these funds may not be converted from park use without providing replacement land of equal value in the community. We also have learned that the state Department of Natural Resources believes state Program Open Space funds were used for such development. Under the law, conversion restrictions similar to the LWCF apply.

DNR has said that its “practice” is not to enforce POS restrictions beyond 20 years from the use of funds, but our community does not see authority for this “practice” in law. For that reason, and to identify actual fund sources, we have asked the DNR Secretary to clarify this matter. (A copy of the letter is attached.)

Understandably, people can disagree on the issues of parks versus schools, but now we are facing more than a matter of opinion. We have an issue of law, and the county’s and state’s obligation under the law. An incorrect decision here may trigger enforcement action and/or have an impact on future funding to this state.

With such issues at stake, I ask that you, as stewards of the public’s resources, act prudently. Please halt activity in Rock Creek Hills Park until the provenance of park development funds and associated restrictions is understood, so that we may avoid inadvertently triggering a violation of law.

Thank you.

_________________

Attachments:

1. February 5, 1992 Program Open Space Agenda, Board of Public Works (page 7A).

2. August 31, 2011 letter from Mr. John Robinson, President, Rock Creek Hills Citizens’ Association, to Mr. John Griffin, Maryland Secretary of Natural Resources.

From the Rosemary Hills Neighbors' Association [Testimony at today's Board of Ed meeting]

Superintendent Starr and Board Members,

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you on my community's behalf. My name is Lynn Amano, and I live in Silver Spring. I serve as Co-president of the Rosemary Hills Neighbors’ Association, representing approximately 300 houses surrounding Rosemary Hills Primary School.

We are very concerned about two issues that you are considering in the coming weeks: Proposed boundary changes to Rosemary Hills Primary School, and the new Middle School #2 which is currently being studied for Rock Creek Hills Park.

We believe a vocal constituency is working to undo the successful integration policies that have made our schools the desirable cluster they are today, under the guise of geographic convenience. Nationwide, this is known as a movement to create “Neighborhood Schools.”

The committee that developed the boundary criteria for RHPS was made up primarily of residents from just one community, while the community surrounding the school went unrepresented. The resulting criteria were based almost solely on geographical proximity. Most of the resulting options would double the FARMS and minority population at North Chevy Chase Elementary and cut the same population at Bethesda Elementary by half.

The new middle school planned for Rock Creek Hills is of concern to us for the same reason. The decision made to locate the new Middle School in the "Far North or East of the cluster" sets up a potential geographical divide along racial and economic lines in our cluster if proximity is used as a determining factor for attendance.

The decisions to send Bethesda and Chevy Chase children to Rosemary Hills Primary School and Rosemary Hills children to Westland Middle school, while not geographically convenient, were put in place to balance our cluster and provide an equal education for all BCC students. The national ranking of our schools has shown this to be a successful plan.

The Board of Education’s Quality Integrated Education policy stresses the importance of balanced demographics over geographical considerations.

We respectfully ask that the Board not allow political pressure from a vocal, self-interested minority to undo the gains to all of our cluster’s students made through integration.

Thank you,

Lynn Amano

Co-president

Rosemary Hills Neighbors' Association

"Do the right thing." [Testimony at today's Board of Ed meeting]

Good morning.

My name is Teddy Springer. I am a resident of Chevy Chase View and a parent of two children in MCPS schools. I sit before you today to ask that you put a “place holder” for a new middle school in our cluster in the upcoming Capital Improvement Program. I have sat here before, I have told you my concerns about building a middle school at Rock Creek Hills Local Park. And you’ll forgive me, but my words may sound very familiar, because my message has not changed. My opinion was not altered during the feasibility study process. Actually, the meetings only furthered my belief that this site is not appropriate for the construction of a middle school.

I will start with an example made clear to me Sunday night. My daughter is an eighth grader at Westland Middle School. Her Back to School Night is this Thursday, and Danny Vogelman, her principal - and an excellent one, by the way - made his usual Sunday night phone call to families. In his message, he talked about parking concerns for the evening. He warned parents that parking would be limited and suggested that we use the parking lot of the Giant located behind the school. What luck that Westland, which is built on 26 acres and yet still has limited parking, has a shopping plaza behind it. As I understand it, the plans for middle school #2 show a parking lot that is deficient in the number of spaces. What will happen at the inevitable evening events at the new middle school? Where will all the parents park? The obvious conclusion is that, because the architect has made many concessions due to the site size constraints, the cars will overflow onto the streets of Rock Creek Hills. And these streets are, in turn, too small to support the kind of traffic flow that results from school-wide events and are too small to be used as a parking lot.

Rock Creek Hills Park is a heavily-used and well-loved park, not just by neighbors, but also by residents all over Montgomery County. But it is a small park, and sacrificing it for the building of a middle school does not serve our students well or use our tax dollars wisely. Because the site is so small, the architect has scaled back the size of the school. Therefore, MCPS will be providing a school that will be too small for its own projected numbers, calling into question the use of portables. This is not the way to properly provide for our children.

Please, listen to the Parks Commission; listen to County Council members; listen to the people in our community. Do the right thing. Use a “placeholder” in the CIP. Because there are options to explore, there are other solutions, there is a way to serve your constituency and provide our children with a quality middle school.

Thank you.

"Please ... work with the Parks & Planning Commission to find a 'better way'." [Testimony at today's Board of Ed meeting]

Good morning, Dr. Starr, Mr. Barclay, and members of the Board.

My name is James Pekar, and today I am here to ask you please to build a school that will meet the projected need for classroom space for 1200 middle school students. The school that MCPS staff propose to replace Rock Creek Hills Park is too small, and challenges associated with the site would not represent prudent use of taxpayer dollars.

Consultation with the County Council confirms that it is possible to use a "placeholder" for a new BCC middle school in the upcoming Capital Improvement Program, and I encourage you to work with the Council to exercise this option.

The process of developing the plan for the middle school has been flawed from the beginning, and appears inconsistent with your policies, your regulations, and state law. As Planning Board Chairperson Carrier has informed you, there may be state and federal impediments to conversion of the site to non-park use. The appeal pending before the State Board of Education raises questions about the availability of the site. Given these outstanding questions, a CIP proposal for a school on the site of Rock Creek Hills Park would simply not be prudent.

Parks Director Bradford has said that a middle school would "obliterate" Rock Creek Hills Park, and offered: "We want to work to find a better way." Of course, the "better way" would yield a better school.

Please, make the prudent choice, spare a small park that is very important to many Montgomery County citizens, and build a better school on a better site. Please, work with the County Council on a CIP placeholder, and work with the Parks & Planning Commission to find a "better way".

Thank you.

"... with a new Superintendent, there is a great opportunity ..." [Testimony at last week's Board of Ed meeting]

Testimony by Ms. Cathy Fink at the August 24, 2011 meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Education:

I'd like to welcome our new superintendent, Dr. Starr, and encourage you, and the full Board, to consider supporting a continuance of a placeholder request from the County Council so that the BOE/MCPS can regroup to conduct a more diligent site selection process for the BCC Middle School #2.

To a certain extent, the BOE has inherited some unfortunate circumstances from past Boards. Many possible school locations, including 1/3 of Rock Creek Hills Park, were sold or leased prior to your tenure here and now, you are charged with finding enough land to satisfy the needs for classrooms and education. I don't envy that position.

But, with a new Superintendent, there is a great opportunity to make sure that you don't leave similar problems for future members of the Board of Education when you have moved on.

The problems of site inadequacies that are identified in the hard media and under intense discussion in social media are only the tip of the iceberg. There are serious questions to be answered about the school's diversity and enrollment. There are concerns about lack of adequate athletic opportunities. There are major concerns about the realities of traffic in a neighborhood with such small streets. This is a piece of cake in Japan, but not in Montgomery County.

As reported on the well read blog, Save Rock Creek Hills Park, the recent site selection report "lists only two meetings of the site selection committee: December 14, and January 25. Mr. Jeffrey Bourne referred to the January meeting as 'the announcement meeting', implying that the committee spent only a single meeting, that of December 14, actually evaluating candidate sites, and making their selection."

A placeholder would give time for the BOE to step back, regroup with a more diligent site selection committee and explore a fully vetted group of options for a new middle school. The best way to regain the community's trust, which BOE members have openly admitted to have lost, is to improve the process, involve a well rounded and diverse group of stakeholders, and buckle down to that work.

I thank you for your time and offer to participate in further discussions.

"Please, make the prudent choice, spare a small park ..., and build a better school on a better site. " [Testimony at today's Board of Ed meeting]

Testimony at the August 24, 2011 meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Education:

Good morning, Dr. Starr, Mr. Barclay, and members of the Board.

My name is James Pekar, and today I am here to ask you to build a school that will meet the projected need for classroom space for 1200 middle school students. The school that MCPS staff propose to replace Rock Creek Hills Park is too small, and challenges associated with the site will not represent prudent use of our tax dollars.

Although the option of "not feasible" for the site was never an option for the MCPS "feasibility study", it should have been. We need space for 1200 students, and the student body should reflect the socio- and economic diversity of our cluster. Aside from a lack of infrastructure required physically to support the school, there is also a lack of public transportation; so I have to ask, "how will the parents of students from families without cars, visit the school and become involved in their children's education?"

I recently learned that it is possible to have a "placeholder" for a new BCC middle school in the upcoming CIP [Capital Improvement Program] and I would encourage you to work with the County Council to exercise this option.

The process of developing the plan for the middle school has been flawed from its inception, and appears inconsistent with your policies and regulations, and with state law. As [Planning Board] Chairman Carrier has informed you, there may be state and federal impediments to conversion of the site to non-park use. And, the appeal pending before the State Board of Education raises questions about the availability of the site. These outstanding questions will raise concerns about a proposed budget for a school on the site of Rock Creek Hills Park.

Parks Director Bradford observed that a middle school would "obliterate" Rock Creek Hills Park, and stated: "We want to work to find a better way." To be sure, the better way would yield a better school. Please, make the prudent choice, spare a small park that is very important to many Montgomery County citizens, and build a better school on a better site. Please, work with the County Council on a CIP placeholder, and work with the Parks & Planning Commission [M-NCPPC] to find a better way.

Thank you.

"Good Afternoon, Council Members."

Testimony by Ms. Shannon Hamm at the July 25th joint meeting of the Council's Education (ED) and Planning, Housing & Economic Development (PHED) Committees:

Good Afternoon, Council Members.

My name is Shannon Hamm, I am a 19-year resident of Rock Creek Hills and a 27-year resident of Montgomery County. Both of my children are B-CC graduates in the IB program. I moved to this county to send my children to our wonderful public school system. We have Great Schools. Great Schools Need Great Locations.

There is no question in my mind that Westland is at capacity, the statistics support that. But how is this being addressed? Have we done our homework? I suggest not.

Today’s joint hearing between the Education Committee and the Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee is my opportunity to state for the record that the Site Selection process was flawed. Members of the Board of Education are on record agreeing to this, staff from MCPS are on record agreeing that the process was flawed. Two clear examples were that the Citizens’ Association in Rock Creek Hills did not receive adequate notice before the vote was taken on April 28 by the BOE, as no one from our neighborhood was on the site selection advisory committee. Secondly and more importantly, the BOE failed to consult with the Planning Board before making its decision. Even though the SSAC report indicates that staff from MNCPPC were members, Chairwoman Carrier’s letter dated April 29, states her clear concerns over this matter.

Given that so many officials in the county agree that the Site Selection Advisory Committee process was flawed, we cannot continue to support a broken process and make another bad decision. Let’s work together to make this a great outcome for our citizen’s and our children.

I have thoroughly read the Site Selection Advisory Committee Recommendation Report for B-CC MS #2, dated March 8, 2011. I have to say as a public servant, the report lacks strong analytics, performance measures for determining the outcome, as well as lack of quantitative criteria for developing options. This is not a report I would want to put my reputation behind. I do not understand why there was such an urgency to generate this report, when MCPS has a long range planning department that projects school capacity. We have very smart staff working in the county and I am not clear how this became such an emergency.

Thus, I ask that the Council direct the BOE to start a new more collaborative process for conducting a more expansive Site Selection Process that is collaborative and inclusive. Now is the time to start thinking outside of the box, and look to public/private partnerships. Seek out new relationships with agencies and developers that moves us forward with building a Great School. Allow the BOE to recommend to the County Executive that a placeholder for constructing a new middle school in the B-CC cluster be accepted in the CIP this fall.

To continue to conduct the Feasibility Study for the B-CC MS #2 at Rock Creek Hills Park, will lead to building a clearly inadequate school that will not meet MCPS’ educational specifications due to the small acreage and topography. Specifically, the site is less than 2/3 the size it was when Kensington Junior High School existed, owing to the long term leasing of 8.22 acres to our elderly residents at Kensington Retirement Community. To date, no option presented can meet all of the educational requirements. More importantly, this middle school will divide the middle schools demographically.

I know that finding available sites in the lower county for schools is a difficult challenge. I also know that parks are not vacant land. Rock Creek Hills Park is home to 2 regulation soccer fields that support the Westland and B-CC athletes, as well as supports over 400 permits a season. Without Rock Creek Hills Park, where then will students in the cluster be sent for their athletic requirements? It appears to be a recipe for even more travel time for students.

We need to work together in the county to partner with each other to solve tough land use issues. Our Great Schools have produced Great Minds that can, if the will is there, do the right thing and find a Great Location for a much needed school.

Thank you for allowing me to speak.

"Many of the current conflicts might have been avoided ..."

"Many of the current conflicts might have been avoided if the School Board had complied with the statute and had consulted the Planning Board before making a site selection."

- from the July 18th letter from John Robinson, President, Rock Creek Hills Citizens' Association, to Valerie Ervin, President, Montgomery County Council, included in the official packet for the July 25th joint meeting of the Council's Education (ED) and Planning, Housing & Economic Development (PHED) Committees.

" ... at about 2:00 p.m. on April 28 ... the Superintendent's recommendation changed ..."

From a July 18th letter from John Robinson, President, Rock Creek Hills Citizens' Association, to Valerie Ervin, President, Montgomery County Council, included in the official packet for the July 25th joint meeting of the Council's Education (ED) and Planning, Housing & Economic Development (PHED) Committees:

"... the School Board failed to provide an adequate opportunity to comment. ... It was only at about 2:00 p.m. on April 28, 2011 that the Superintendent's recommendation changed to include the Rock Creek Hills Local Park ... Given the lack of any notice of this possible change in plans, the County Executive wisely urged in his April 28, 2011 letter to School Board President Barclay that a decision be delayed until Rock Creek Hills had a chance to present its views. However the School Board chose to proceed with the decision to select the Rock Creek Hills Local Park, even though there was more than passing recognition by several of its members that notice had been at least practically, if not legally, inadequate."