Contributor Opinion By Laura Berthiaume: Oppose Peary Site Sale
Nov 23, 2010 13:48 - 7 Comments
Tonight at 7:30 p.m. the County Council will hold its hearing on the sale of the Peary High School site, which is approximately 20 acres of county owned land proposed to be sold for less than $2 million. The sale would represent the effective loss of a future middle school site in the Rockville area, at a time when Montgomery County Public Schools is projecting 10,000 more students arriving in the next six years. The middle school wave will be hitting us all very soon. The Board of Education has already sent two letters firmly opposing the sale of this site.
The Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations has also voted to oppose the sale. This is the MCCPTA email that went out yesterday:
“As noted in an earlier email, the MCCPTA Board of Directors voted in November to oppose the sale of the Peary High School site. County Executive Ike Leggett is seeking approval from the County Council to sell the former Peary High School site to its current tenant, the Milton J. Berman Hebrew Academy. The County Council rejected a similar proposal to sell the property in 2006, and we believe that the changes made in the proposal do not overcome the Council’s previous concerns.
A MCCPTA representative will testify before the County Council on Tuesday to oppose the rush to sell the property this month. We will be proposing instead that before the Council considers the proposal to dispose of a “rare asset” – the largest former school site in its current inventory – it should require the Board of Education to produce an analysis of feasible future locations for middle and high schools in the mid-county area. With severe overcrowding already in the Richard Montgomery cluster, a predicted increase of 10,000 students across the county in the next six years, and planned development at the Science City, White Flint and Shady Grove Metro sites, it is imperative that the county ensure adequate sites are available before taking any action on the Peary School proposal. We’ve seen enough overcrowding in our schools and don’t want the county to make the situation worse by disposing of this property.
Let’s show the county council that we’re engaged in the issues and active in our advocacy for all children. “
Anyone in the Rockville area who is concerned about school overcrowding should be paying attention tonight. It is particularly concerning that a lame duck County Council is rushing this process through. In fact, it appears there might have been a vote on this sale without even a hearing had County Council Member Valerie Ervin not required that tonight’s hearing be set. The vote will be taken by a lame duck Council, including two outgoing members, one of whom (Duchy Trachtenberg) has been the Council Member pushing to have this sale take place. The voters have spoken. A new Council will be sworn in come December. A step of this magnitude should not be taken by a lame duck Council, led by a lame duck Council Member who will not have to accept responsibility for the portables, the 1:30 lunch times, the classes taking place in hallways, or the lack of recess play areas because all the blacktop is unavailable — all because we already do not have enough classroom space.
So please come to the hearing and make sure our Council members understand that they should set their priorities correctly – solidly with the future education of our children. Public assets for public school children.
Laura Berthiaume
Montgomery County School Board
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thank you for writing this! i have to participate in the Edison/Wheaton “iame duck” roundtable tonight or i would be there!
The Parents’ Coalition has learned that it is anticipated that Councilmembers Roger Berliner, Nancy Floreen, George Leventhal, Nancy Navarro, and Duchy Trachtenberg will all support the sale of this property. That would be a majority of the Council.
It is disappointing to see that Roger Berliner is one of the supporters of the sale. Wasn’t he supported by all the PTAs during his re-election campaign? Bethesda – Chevy Chase HS, Whitman HS, Westbrook ES, etc. What do they think now? Hopefully, Councilmember Berliner will change his mind,
According to today’s Gazzete looks like the vote will be in favor of the sale on the grounds that a persuasive case against the sale was not present.
http://www.gazette.net/stories/11292010/montnew160423_32554.php
Mr Berliner has my strong support for coming to the right decision after reviewing the facts and not the rhetoric.
@Thomas,
Roger Berliner wasn’t at the Council’s joint committee meeting yesterday.
Facts? That wasn’t the point of yesterday’s meeting. I attended and video taped.
The private school was given the floor to make a combined 30 minute presentation.
That was the point of the meeting. There wasn’t “discussion” by the Council members present.
Dutchy Trachtenberg, Nancy Navarro and Mike Knapp were clear their minds were made up. In fact, Knapp said the meeting was a waste of everyone’s time.
And the Council members have been completely clueless on the fact that the State of Maryland can take some of the proceeds of this sale. That hasn’t been discussed at all.
Windfall Profit for Berman Academy Potential:
In the just released November 29, 2010 Montgomery County Council staff memorandum on County Executive Ike Leggett’s proposal to sell 19.5 acres of public school land (former Peary High School site) to a private entity (Berman Academy) for $1.9 million the public learns that the sale could result in a “windfall profit” for the purchaser.
According to Montgomery County Council staff, here is how that would happen.
From Page 5 of the Memorandum:
The County would have 90 days to tender the price paid by the Academy, adjusted by the consumer price index, plus the lesser of the Academy’s construction costs or the replacement costs of the Academy’s improvements minus depreciation. Failure of the County to repurchase the Property would trigger a developer’s right to remove the covenant regarding the use of the property.
From Page 7 of the Memorandum:
Under the Executive’s recommendation, if the County does not repurchase the Property after the Property has been offered to a developer, the restriction to use the site as a private school would be removed. The result would be a windfall profit.