School Overcrowding In The Richard Montgomery Cluster

One point became very clear at the Public Hearing for Rockville’s Municipal Growth Element (MGE) last Monday, all of the schools in the Richard Montgomery Cluster are overcapacity. With the recent court decision for Beall’s Grant II requiring the City to use data beyond MCPS figures to determine if the City’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) is met regarding student overcrowding, many are questioning what will be done. Also this week, the Planning Commission denied the addition of  two portable classrooms at College Gardens also due to the APFO. What is the real situation at these schools and what is Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) doing about it? Is all residential and school development in Rockville stopped?

At the Public Hearing, Christopher Kelly, the Richard Montgomery Cluster Coordinator, stated that the APFO would result in a moratorium for all schools in RM cluster. He commended the planning staff for significantly revising the school section of the MGE. MCPS must make the situation in Rockville a very high priority and financial support should more accurately reflect enrollment. Newly-modernized schools in the Cluster are over capacity. The Cluster is worried about the future of Julius West Middle School. A formal dialog on long-range growth and the over-crowding of schools must begin.

Here’s a snapshot of our RM Cluster schools and where they are in the modernization and expansion plans.

Projections indicate enrollment at Julius West Middle School will exceed capacity by six classrooms or more in the next five years. MCPS intends to monitor enrollment to determine the need for a future project. Relocat¬able classrooms will be utilized until additional capacity can be added. In the meantime, restroom renovations are approved and will be completed in the 2011–2012 school year.

RPES

Ritchie Park Elementary has five portables. Two added this summer were not ready for the beginning of school. The feasibility study for the school has been completed so Ritchie Park is ready to be renovated. The next step is to get into the Superintendent’s proposed CIP this fall to fund the needed addition. However, new projects are funded every other year and this is an amendment year. It’s not impossible to be funded but fewer new projects are typically added. If the funds are approved and the project starts, it will take about three years for the addition to be completed. In the meantime, restroom renovations are approved and will be completed the 2015–2016 school year.

The Beall and Twinbrook Elementary Schools are in the middle of feasibility studies which should be completed this year. If they qualify for an additions, both would most likely request funding in the next full CIP in the fall (October) 2011. Both have portables in use as classrooms.

BES

Beall Elementary has seven portable buildings visible at the back and at least one is used by more than one classroom. Again, while the school waits, restroom renovations are approved and will be completed in the 2013–2014 school year.

TES

Twinbrook Elementary has four portables visible on the side of the school. Rising enrollment projections for the next several years at Twinbrook indicate an increase of 175 students, for a total of 687 students by 2016. Twinbrook Elementary has been approved for restroom renovations to be completed in the 2014–2015 school year.

The feasibility study also looks at whether current buildings need to be updated or replaced. Buildings are studied against a checklist of criteria and given a score. Based on the score of each building, MCPS makes a decision about the future needs of the current school building but this is separate from the decision about the need for an addition.

CGES

College Gardens Elementary was just reopened after being torn down and replaced. At the MGE Public Hearing, Andrea Hall, who lives in College Gardens said the school has over 700 students and it was built for 673. The school has two portables on site but this week the Planning Commission denied a waiver to allow their occupancy because only two fire stations are within a 10-minute response time to the school, instead of the required three. The Planning Commission did not have the super majority necessary to grant the waiver. The kids who would occupy the classrooms are already crowded into the school and they cannot use the new classrooms. Beyond this immediate issue, the school would like to get in the queue to build new classrooms that are already part of their master plan. Now in addition to needing funding for the feasibility study for this project, the school would need the County to build the new fire station planned for the Shady Grove area or the APFO would need to be changed. What does this mean for all the schools in the RM Cluster?

The Montgomery County Public Schools Division of Long Range Planning issued a planning document in October 2009 which stated the following:

To address the overutilization of schools in this cluster, the County Council approved the Richard Montgomery Cluster Elementary Schools Solution project, which includes funds to plan, design, and construct eight permanent elementary school classrooms in the cluster. These additional classrooms would meet capacity requirements under the Growth Policy, avoiding a residential moratorium in the cluster. The County Council anticipates that ultimately the Board of Education will request one or more specific projects that will add these classrooms by the start of the 2016-2017 school year and that these funds would be used for that purpose.

Of course, the MCPS budget will be tight for the foreseeable future and competition for modernization funds will be stiff. The process to build additions takes several years. First the feasibility study for a year, then the push for funding in a future budget, then the three-year timetable to actually build the addition. As is apparent with the descriptions above., MCPS has a tendency to project over enrollment then wait until it occurs before starting the process.

During the MGE Public Hearing, people testified on a variety of issues concerning the schools. Because of the economic downturn two families are sometimes living in homes meant for one and more families are renting, so many believe we must reexamine how to better determine number of students. Some testified about moving special programs, such as Chinese Immersion, out of the Cluster, or refusing hardship cases who want a transfer to RM Cluster schools.

Laura Berthiaume, who is on the Board of Education, also spoke at the Public Hearing. She is more than happy to facilitate any fact finding the City wants to start with the Board of Education. School overcrowding is a complex issue. The fact is that although this cluster is overcrowded, so is every other part of a county. An entire grade of an elementary school had to be moved to the bottom of a middle school. The situation is particularly bad in the Silver Spring area.

School overcrowding is a serious problem throughout the County. Now adequate fire protection has come into question when trying to alleviate the situation in Rockville.  The Mayor and Council Worksession on the Municipal Growth Element is scheduled for October 11, 2010. Testimony is still being accepted until October 8th by e-mail to mayorcouncil@rockvillemd.gov (provide your full name and address) or by mail to City Clerk, City of Rockville, 111 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, MD, 20850. What do you think?

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