New Site Provides Information About Montgomery County’s Health

Only one-third of the adult population in Montgomery County engages in regular moderate physical activity. 17.5% of Montgomery County residents are obese. That’s not very good!

Today a new website, HealthyMontgomery.org, was launched. This site is a one-stop online source for population-based data and community health information. More than 90 topics related to the health and well being of our community can be found in an easy-to-read format. Comparisons to other communities across the nation are a click away.

County Councilmember George Leventhal, left, chair of the Council’s Health and Human Services Committee; County Health Officer Ulder Tillman; and Department of Health and Human Services Director Uma Ahluwalia helped the site get off to a healthy start. Photo by Neil Greenberger.

This morning County officials gathered in the Rockville Memorial Library to announce the start of the site which was created by the Healthy Communities Institute, a California-based company that has developed web-based technology to bring health and socioeconomic data together to improve the health and well being of communities across the United States. The site was funded by the Kaiser Permanente Community Benefits Program. Funding for the community health improvement process was provided by the five Montgomery County hospitals and the County.

In the press release for the announcement, County Councilmember George Leventhal, chair of the Council’s Health and Human Services Committee and co-chair of the Healthy Montgomery Steering Committee commented on the possibilities:

The Healthy Montgomery website is the data pillar of our new community health improvement process. The steering committee is comprised of leaders from across the community. Our ultimate goal is to improve access to health and social services for all residents, to achieve health equity for all, and to enhance the physical and social environment to support optimal health and well-being for all.

Uma Ahluwalia, director of the County’s Department of Health and Human Services added:

Having reliable data on which to base our budget decisions on is critical, especially in these lean budget years. In addition, this website will be a great resource for students, health planners and the public.

In June 2008, the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services and the Montgomery County Collaboration Council brought together various organizations which work to improve the health and well‐being of Montgomery County residents. The group assessed how well ten essential public health functions are carried out in the County. All the organizations expressed the need to have “valid, reliable and user-friendly data related to health and the social determinants of health.”

The information on the website will assist County policy makers and partners in identifying key priority areas and will help guide decisions about strategies to meet various needs. For example, it costs nearly $70,000 for a family of three to live in Montgomery County without receiving any public subsidy for child care, food, housing or transportation. When officials decide on policies, this type of information will certainly play a part in making educated decisions.

Healthy Montgomery links to other resources in the community and also has a section on Promising Practices for Health, Environment, Economy, Transportation, Government and Politics, Education and Public Safety. Visit and take a look at our new Community Snapshot.

Shady Grove Road To Be Improved

The Division of Highway Services (DHS) received about $6.7 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding to improve seven roadways including more than 10 lane miles of Shady Grove Road from I-270 to Darnestown Road. The deteriorated condition of all of these roads made them high priority projects for the County.

DHS’s repairs include removing and replacing pavement surfaces, defective curbs, and sidewalks; full depth pavement patching; and installing pavement line markings and raised, reflective pavement markers. All seven projects should be completed in fall 2011.

In addition to Shady Grove Road the other roadways are:

• Nearly 10 lane miles of Barnesville Road from Mt. Ephraim Road to Maryland Route 117;
• About four-and-one-half lane miles Randolph Road from east of Nebel Street to Rock Creek Bridge;
• About 3.6 lane miles of Forest Glen Road from Maryland Route 97 to Brunett Avenue;
• More than 10 lane miles of Old Columbia Pike from Maryland Route 198 to U.S. Route 29, Columbia Pike on-ramp;
• Nearly five lane miles of Travilah Road from Dufief Road to River Road; and
• 3.7 lane miles of Wightman Road from Brink Road to Goshen Road.

Altogether Montgomery County’s Department of Transportation received nearly $15.4 million in ARRA funding to help improve the County’s economy and transportation infrastructure while jump starting the ecomomy.

The Division of Transit Services (DTS) also received $6.55 million to replace existing buses with 12 energy efficient, diesel-electric hybrids and one clean diesel bus. The buses will be delivered in September.

Information about other ARRA funds awarded to the County is available on the County’s website.

Redgate Management, School Portables and Business Relations At The Mayor And Council Meeting 2/17/11

The Mayor and Council Meeting was officially over at 9:54 PM last night which is actually very early. Here are some highlights to keep you informed.

Socially-Responsible Investments

At the request of the Human Rights Commission, the City will be pursuing more socially responsible investments. HRC asked the City to look into a divestment policy pertaining to Sudan. City Manager Scout Ullery reported that staff reviewed State law and County ordinances but they only address actively-managed accounts which does not present an issue for the City. The Retirement Board will consider the issue at their February 18th meeting and come forward with recommendation.

The Rockville Chamber of Commerce gave a quick update including:

• Rockville Rewards Card has over 70 businesses participating for weekly and daily specials to help 15 nonprofits in the City. You can still purchase one.
• Sign Ordinance met with City Staff about recommendations for changes, gathering comments from members and working with Sign Review Committee.
• They have already started to plan the Taste of Rockville for Hometown Holidays.

Compensation Commission

Former Mayor James Coyle was reappointment as member until 2014 and Tom Moore was appointed as Chair until 2012. Congratulations to them both!

Guess What? We Need More Salt!

I’m sure it is not a surprise but all the ice means we’re using a lot of salt this year. The Mayor and Council approved a purchase up to $86,500 from the Eastern Salt Company, Inc. under a cooperative contract with Montgomery County. International Salt was unable to respond quickly enough to help meet the demand which would have been within the City Manager’s approval authority. It’s been that kind of winter.

Portable Classrooms Policy With MCPS

The City Manager asked the Mayor and Council to approve the policy on the placement of portables by Montgomery County Public Schools so it can be finalized. The policy was sent to MCPS and James Song, Director of Department of Facilities Management, commented.

The three points made by Mr. Song were:

1. MCPS doesn’t want to produce traffic reports for more than six portables so traffic reports would not be required no matter how many portables are added.
2. MCPS needed clarification of what the term “significant trees” meant.
3. MCPS emphasized that they can, through the mandatory referral process, chose not to comply with any part of the zoning ordinance.

During the discussion, Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio seemed dismayed that Mr. Song believed it would be premature to drop the proposed State bill MC11-11 even though MCPS and the City have been positively working together on a process for the placement of portable classrooms in the City limits.

The Staff recommended adjusting the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) in respect to the fire response standard and move forward to develop an agreement for new school construction, additions and remodeling.

The Mayor and Council unanimously agreed to direct the City Staff to proceed as requested by Mr. Ullery.

Hopefully MCPS officials and City staff will continue to develop a better working relationship as we go forward with all the projects necessary to alleviate our school overcrowding.

Community—Business Communication

Councilmember John Britton encouraged ongoing communication through an annual gathering or summit. REDI and the Chamber have agreed to participate in a forum to discuss ideas and he hopes at least 150 people representing a cross-section of the community would participate. About 15 years ago, the City had a half-day business summit and this is an idea to “come around again”.

The Mayor and Council directed the City Staff to identify the core planners, which should not just be Staff but also REDI, Chamber, and Councilmember Britton to begin planning the event. Staff will return to the Mayor and Council with a proposed plan for the Summit in order to secure feedback and support before implementation.

Redgate Golf Course

With two motions, the Mayor and Council voted to keep all their options open, which means they did not make a decision as to the exact course of action involving the management of the Redgate Golf Course.

The NGF recommendation was to outsource the golf course operation, which is the prevalent type of arrangement in the golf industry at this time and this is estimated to be approximately $120,000 per year.

The motion eventually passed by the Mayor and Council was made by Councilmember Bridget Newton and it followed the staff’s recommendation and contract with NGF for consulting services to development an RFP. The RFP will include a management services option but it also included an option to lease the Redgate Golf Course which was not supported by NGF. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Britton and passed unanimously. The fee to the NGF to develop the RFP would be approximately $6,000.

Councilmember Newton also made a motion to engage NGF for advice on establishing a new director of golf staff position, which was seconded by Councilmember Britton. The motion passed 3 to 2. Councilmember Mark Pierzchala disagreed because if you go with a management company then you don’t need a director of golf. Councilmember Piotr Gajewski could not support the motion without knowing the cost involved.

With these votes, the Mayor and Council could receive many proposals for outsourcing management, leasing the course, and hiring a new director. A decision still needs to be made.

The next meeting of the Mayor and Council is Monday, February 14, 2011.

New Montgomery County Library Rules

In case you missed it this week, Montgomery County Public Libraries instituted new policies on February 1st regarding food and drink, cell phones, and your library account:

• Food and drink – other than water – is no longer permitted in the library, due to a decrease in the County’s ability to clean library branches.
• Cell phones must be set on vibrate as a courtesy to other library users.
• In order to ensure accuracy of library accounts, customers without their library cards must show proof of identity when checking out materials. Borrowers must have an active library account and be in good standing to check out materials. Customers should have their library cards in hand when checking out.

These all seem very reasonable. Cell phones shouldn’t be ringing and disturbing fellow patrons. But if they needed to make this rule formal, they must have been ringing. If you’re hungry or thirsty while in either of our Rockville libraries, you can easily pop over to local businesses for some refreshments.

Did You Pay PEPCO For Power When You Had None?

TBD is reporting a new investigation into whether Pepco charged customers for electricity when their power was out.

In her article, Pepco charging customers during power outages, Elahe Izadi writes:

The Maryland Public Service Commission has initiated an investigation (yes, another one) into Pepco’s bill stabilization adjustment system, which is the same thing that smooths out your electric bills during extreme winter months. But the PSC says that the system may have also let Pepco charge for electricity that wasn’t actually delivered. A hearing date has been set for Feb. 22.

Read the article for a statement from Montgomery County Councilman Roger Berliner containing the phrase “perverse disincentive” which explains what he thinks PEPCO should do about it. They’ve also posted a copy of the PSC order for the investigation.

For years I’ve wondered if PEPCO was doing this and always suspected they were. Now we’ll find out.

Pet Care, Shelter, Power Restoration And Plowing

Photo by Cindy Cotte Griffiths

Here’s what you need to know if your power is out or street is not plowed.

Plowing

Rockville Public Works crews have completed all primary roads except those where there are wires down or trees felled. They will continue to work around the clock until all the roads have been cleared. Now they are focusing their efforts on secondary roads and expect to have them all open by 5 AM on Friday, January 28. Crews are also out working to remove fallen trees.

Outside of Rockville, Montomery County has plowed all primary and secondary roads in the County and now residential street plowing is underway. More than 200 trees are down and 60 road are closed.

Power Restoration

This afternoon, 109,408 County households served by Pepco were still without power. About 200 traffic signals in the County were affected. Police and other public safety personnel are directing traffic at some intersections and temporary stop signs have been placed at others. I know people have been very appreciative of the temporary stop signs particularly at Park Road.

Pepco has announced that they expect the “vast majority” of customers to be restored by 11 PM tomorrow, January 28th. Yes, you heard me right - more than 24 hours without power still to come. Crews which include those assisting from neighboring states, will continue to work nonstop until all customers have their power restored. If your power is not back on by this time, call 1-877-737-2662. Here’s the County Executive’s residential survey and business survey on how you think PEPCO is doing with service. You must respond by January 31st so don’t delay!

Come in for shelter if you need it. Montgomery County has announced that a shelter at Richard Montgomery High School is open. Although it means sleeping on a cot in the gym, it’s warm and they provide food.

Pet Care

If your power is out, put your bird, bunny or other small mammal in the smallest cage you have and cover it on three sides. Put the 4th side to the sunlight during the day so your pet will eat. Animals can generate their own body heat and you can help keep the heat in with a small cage and cover.

Buses and Back to Normal …. ?

Good to know that County Ride On buses are operating on a Saturday schedule today but will resume the regular weekday service tomorrow. Maybe we can get back to normal. No, wait. Here’s the BIG question. With power outages rampant across the County, will there be school tomorrow?

Snowstorm Update On January 27

Montgomery County has declared a Snow Emergency for Montgomery County. County officials are urging residents to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary. Under this declaration:

Vehicles on the road must have all-weather or snow tires or chains, and taxi cabs operating in Montgomery County are allowed to charge $1.00 extra per trip. County snow removal crews are currently concentrating their efforts on the nearly 1,000 lane miles of primary/arterial roadways, with particular emphasis on maintaining access to the County’s five hospitals.

Here’s how the plowing is going from the City of Rockville:

Rockville Public Works crews continue to work diligently to clear roads as quickly as possible. Crews have been working through the night to clear primary roads first, and then move to secondary roads, where they have tried to make at least one initial pass. Crews will most likely have to return to neighborhoods to clear roads after the first pass. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. We also encourage everyone to stay off the roads, so that road crews can clear roads.

The City clears primary roads first which consists of major arterial roads, emergency routes, central business districts and primary residential roads near schools, then secondary roads which are the remainder of neighborhood streets, alleyways and cul-de-sacs.

Shoveling Your Sidewalks

Snow and ice must be cleared from all paved sidewalks abutting your property within 24-72 hours of the end of the snowfall, depending on the snowfall totals (up to three inches = 24 hours; three to nine inches = 48 hours; 10 inches or more = 72 hours). We probably have 48 hours since we definitely have more than three inches.

Also from the City of Rockville, if today is your recycling and refuse collection day, your service has been suspended. Those with a Thursday collection will have their recycling and refuse collected Saturday, January 29th.

Transportation

Motorists are asked to drive with extreme caution and to treat all intersections where traffic signals are not operating as four-way stops.

Ride On bus service will resume at 10 AM today and operate on a Saturday schedule.

If you want to know the condition of the Montgomery County roads, here’s the new Snow Map which shows which roads have been plowed.

If you had to abandon your car on the road last night, it may have been towed so the road could be plowed. To identify the towing company and retrieive a vehicle, call the Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center at 301-279-8000.

Closings and Delays for January 27th

Federal agencies in the Washington, DC, area are open under 2 hour delayed arrival and employees have the option for unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework.

Montgomery County Government is opening two hours late for non-essential personnel. Liberal leave will be in effect for Montgomery County Government non-essential employees.

Montgomery County Public Schools and all administrative offices are closed today. All school and community activities in school buildings are canceled including day care programs.

Two County office buildings, the Executive Office Building located at 101 Monroe Street and 401 Hungerford, both in Rockville, have no power and will be closed all day. Employees who work in those buildings should not report to work today.

The City of Rockville will also continue to give updates about program and facility operations. A decision about whether Rockville community centers and the swim center will open will be made at 9 AM Thursday.

The Rockville Senior Center will open at 9:30 AM. For information on any other program, call the recreation center or the weather line at 240-314-5023.

Voice Your Opinion About PEPCO on Jan. 5

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett formed a PEPCO Work Group to seek residential and commercial customer comments on their experiences with PEPCO outages and their overall level of satisfaction with Pepco’s service. In January you will have a chance to do just that at a public hearing:

Wednesday, January 5, 2010
6:30 PM
Stella Werner Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville.

As we know, the Maryland Public Service Commission has been investigating PEPCO’s performance. Meanwhile PEPCO says they need another 4-5 years to improve service since their last plan failed.

The PEPCO Work Group, comprised of community leaders, was formed in October to “investigate the underlying reasons for Pepco’s poor service reliability throughout the County.” The Work Group’s final recommendations will be given to PEPCO and the Maryland Public Service Commission (Pepco’s regulatory authority).

Since the hearing is right here in Rockville, if you would like to speak registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. There will be a cut off of 50 speakers so register now before the holidays by calling 240-777-3764. Each speaker will have three minutes. The Work Group wants comments from the general public NOT elected officials.

Written comments can be submitted by January 6 to the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection at [email protected] with “Pepco Comment” in the subject line. Elected officials can provide written comments.

Sign language interpreter services will be provided only upon request with notice as far in advance as possible, but no less than 72 hours prior to the event. If these or other services or aids are needed to participate in this activity, call 240-777-3636 or MD Relay 1-800-735-2258 or e-mail [email protected].

School Announcement Due To The Snow

Montgomery County Public Schools will close at the regularly scheduled time today.

However, with 1 -2 inches of snow expected fore 9 PM this evening, all school-sponsored after-school and school-sponsored evening activities are canceled.

I don’t know about you all, but I was totally looking forward to my son’s first chorus performance at Ritchie Park Elementary tonight.

County Council Votes To Sell Peary High School Site

Yesterday, the Montgomery County Council voted 8-1 to approve the sale of the former Peary High School property in Aspen Hill to the Berman Hebrew Academy. As was noted in the Contributor Opinion by Laura Berthiaume, the Board of Education was against the sale which 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.”

Councilmembers Roger Berliner, Marc Elrich, Valerie Ervin, Nancy Floreen, Mike Knapp, George Leventhal, Nancy Navarro and Duchy Trachtenberg approved the sale, which was proposed by County Executive Isiah Leggett. Councilmember Phil Andrews, who represents Rockville, voted against the resolution.

The County Council press release on the vote describes the site’s history:

Peary was closed in 1984 due to declining enrollment. The facility deteriorated while vacant, but in 1996, then County Executive Douglas Duncan negotiated a lease agreement with the Berman Academy. The agreement included an option for the school to purchase the property. The proposed sale terms include a provision that would allow the County to repurchase the school if it is needed for public school use. More than 500 people attended a public hearing on the issue on Nov. 23.

The Berman Academy has estimated that it has spent more than $9 million to refurbish the property that is surrounded by a residential neighborhood. Enrollment at the Academy is estimated at 700 students.

The purchase price, which ratified the terms of the 1996 lease, was set at $1,914,860. A potential repurchase price is tied to the price paid plus the lesser of the fair market value of improvements made by the tenant or the depreciated actual costs of improvements. The Academy’s use of the site is limited to school uses and the public will continue to have use of the fields, gymnasium and auditorium during non-school use times. The County may reclaim the school for public school use through a legal condemnation proceeding at the repurchase price plus relocation costs. Through this proceeding, the County could retake possession of the property five years after the condemnation action is final and non-appealable.

The County Planning Board and the Aspen Hill Civic Association approved of the sale along with a “substantial majority” of the approximately three dozen speakers at the November 23rd hearing. Those in opposition included the County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations and the Montgomery Civic Association.

The next step lies with the Board of Public Works which must approve the sale.

Richard Montgomery Cluster Testimony To The Board Of Education

Cheryl Moss Herman Holds old Hungerford Elementary T-shirt while proclaiming "We are ready!".

Last night this Testimony prepared by the Montgomery Cluster Coordinators, Cheryl Moss Herman, Cheryl Peirce, and Christopher Kelly, was presented to the Montgomery County Board of Education in regards to the Superintendent’s Recommended FY 2012 Capital Budget and Amendments to the FY 2011 – 2016 Capital Improvements Program.

As Dr. Weast noted in his press release of October 27, our cluster “is seen by many as a great place for families to live and send their child to school.” We wholeheartedly agree. Our excellent and diverse schools, including the tri-level IB program and the Chinese Immersion program, draw people to our cluster. Our community strongly supports our children – and our schools.

We expected to testify today, armed with statistics and stories, in order to convince you that the RM cluster had grown and is going to continue to grow. We expected to share with you that in addition to turnover of older neighborhoods, changing demographics and living patterns, and some new development, have all contributed to our over capacity schools.

We are glad we don’t have to do that.

We know that the numbers speak for themselves – the cluster elementary school utilization rate is at 122% now and is expected to rise to over 130% by 2012. Our middle school utilization at Julius West will also be over 130% during the six-year planning period, as the wave of elementary enrollment progresses.

In addition, future County growth plans that focus development near Metro stations affect our cluster. We are also concerned about projected growth just outside the borders of our cluster, such as the “Science City” development, and the impact it would have on student enrollment.

All school buildings that comprise the Richard Montgomery cluster are within the City of Rockville. The City’s adequate public facilities school test resulted in all of the RM cluster elementary school areas being placed in a residential moratorium this year.

But for the approval of a generic eight-classroom addition that was added by the County Council to the FY 2011-2016 CIP last spring, the RM cluster would be in County residential moratorium next year. While the County Council’s so-called “RM Cluster ES Solution” does address its moratorium issue, it remains merely a “paper solution” for our cluster. Overcrowded schools and inadequate facilities hinder student learning and achievement. It is time now to find a way to manage our growth while providing safe, secure and modern learning facilities for our students, and to turn that paper solution into a bricks and mortar solution…with desks and chairs, teachers, modern technology and other resources to follow.

We are pleased to see that Dr. Weast recommended additional capacity for several RM cluster schools at both the elementary and middle school levels to accommodate our growing numbers.

The Richard Montgomery Cluster PTAs support approval of the recommended feasibility studies for an addition at Julius West Middle School and a new elementary school #5 at the Hungerford Park Site, so these studies — and the process of providing relief for our cluster — may begin immediately.

Moreover, we are pleased that both Beall and Twinbrook elementary schools are currently in the feasibility planning stages for additions. We remind you that Ritchie Park completed a feasibility study for an addition last year.

Going forward, the Superintendent recommended that these studies be used to develop a comprehensive plan to address our elementary school capacity needs as part of the FY 2013-2018 CIP. He also noted that the magnitude of the space deficits indicate that one or more elementary additions may also be needed.

Members of the Board, the recommendations for the CIP were released just two weeks ago. The traditional two-week period between announcement of the proposed CIP and the date we are to stand here and testify is barely enough to educate ourselves, let alone the thousands of families in our cluster, and to hold serious, meaningful discussions about the impacts – intended and otherwise – on our cluster. Two of our four elementary PTAs had meetings only Tuesday of this week and yesterday. This left no time for follow-up on questions and substantial discussion.

Given that, the views we provide today should be considered only the start of what we hope will be a continuing dialogue with you and MCPS staff about the Cluster’s future plans, with ample opportunities for future community input in a thoughtful and meaningful way.

Our communities have been actively participating in each of the individual feasibility studies; we also expect community participation in the two new feasibility studies to be initiated this year.

However, we need an expanded role in shaping the comprehensive plan that will be prepared next summer in preparation for the full CIP next fall. We view the selection of where additional capacity will be added as the first decision regarding seats in our cluster that will culminate in a boundary study to be conducted once the new school construction begins.

We know that there is no “off-the-shelf” plan for this kind of community input, but we think that parallels the fact that there is no “off-the-shelf” answer for managing the over capacity in our schools. We want to work with you to shape a process for this continuous dialogue, and we wonder if some experience with Roundtable Advisory Committees or Discussion Groups could be used as a starting place. We need to be able to prepare for such discussions before the school year ends so that meaningful input can be provided during the summer months when the feasibility studies are finished.

Also, as you know, the feasibility studies can identify capital deficiencies at a school in addition to recommending classroom additions. We want to ensure that these deficiencies – from HVAC issues to cafeteria capacity to security needs to instrumental music spaces – are not overlooked for schools that are not selected for additions.

Beyond supporting the feasibility studies and greater community involvement, we find ourselves stuck firmly in clichés – that is, the saying that “Where you stand on an issue depends upon where you sit” and the adage that “The devil is in the details.” Each elementary school has a slightly different perspective – as you would expect.

Beall Elementary, a class size reduction focus school has had relocatable classrooms since 1999, and now uses a total of eight that cover a large portion of its playground space. With the highest percentage of over utilization at about 137% and projections to be at a startling almost 160% utilization rate and 300 students over during the six-year CIP, the focus at Beall is on bringing this school to its program capacity and upgrading its facilities. Beall has had to make many adjustments in the school day, including changing dismissal and traffic patterns, and hosting six lunch periods with staggered starts every 15 minutes between 11:30 am and 1:15 pm, just to get through the day. They should not have to do that.

Ritchie Park, the smallest school building in our cluster, is at 133% utilization and has five portables covering most of its playground blacktop. Blacktop-only recess is only possible on the blacktop next to the portables and can be disruptive to the classes out there. During the six-year CIP, Ritchie Park is projected to reach over 150% of its capacity. Teaching teams have been split, and bathroom breaks engineered into the school day for third graders in the portables to maximize instructional time and safety. Ritchie Park also has four lunch periods and its use of every available space for teachers leaves very little space that can be used by after-school programs, thus, their offerings in this regard are few. With the feasibility study completed last year and projected needs so great, the Ritchie Park community was hoping to secure addition funding as early as this amendment year. So the Superintendent’s recommendation is viewed as a “delay” by some.

Twinbrook Elementary School, a Title I school, is the oldest building in our cluster. It was “modernized” in 1986, but not to modern standards. Its physical needs are great and it will be given a FACT assessment for modernization this year. We look forward to reviewing the final methodology and scoring rubric for FACT assessments. Unfortunately, the modernization queue is longer than the capacity addition queue, so many in the Twinbrook community feel that their needs are being ignored while a new school may be built. The cafeteria/all purpose room must be updated because the current serving area is too small for the large percentage of children who eat a food services lunch. Additional challenges are ADA compliance, including an elevator installation. Currently, access for people who have mobility challenges to parts of the school is only available by exiting and then re-entering the building, and teachers must shuffle classrooms each year to maintain program standards for a student who uses a wheelchair. This latter challenge is also present at Beall. Overall, Twinbrook is concerned about equity across the cluster – that children in their elementary school have the same access to facilities, technology and safe places to learn.

College Gardens, which was newly modernized in 2008, is already over capacity and in need of portables, as you know. College Gardens’ core is so crowded that they have five lunch periods this year, which make scheduling of other activities, such as chorus and assemblies challenging. The Superintendent recommended that the Chinese Immersion program be moved to the new school once it is built to free up seats at College Gardens. Many in the home school community support this idea, hoping to minimize future boundary changes, but the CI community has some significant concerns about the impact on their program and their community. You will hear more from the College Gardens PTA President later tonight. We also question whether relocation of that program will actually solve College Gardens over capacity situation, especially if that community continues to grow.

Finally, the cluster is concerned that an addition at Julius West may not fully address the middle school capacity needs of the cluster, or may result in a middle school enrollment capacity that is just too large. We encourage you to consider more options for our middle school capacity challenge, and we look forward to working with you on this – sooner, rather than later.

Regarding the overall CIP amendments, we support keeping restroom renovations – four in our cluster – on track. We support countywide projects on HVAC, Roof Replacements, School Security upgrades, and PLAR, including increasing HVAC to $15 million and increasing PLAR by $1 million over the County Council’s approved amount. We also want additional attention to tech mods so that appropriate technology is in place to support the new curriculum fully and our children, most of whom are in schools where technology was provided based on much smaller enrollment figures, have the technology needed to succeed.

To summarize – the Richard Montgomery Cluster PTAs fully support the decisions that need to be made now – approval of the feasibility studies for the new elementary school and for JW. We also support a continuous dialogue between MCPS and the community regarding the “comprehensive solution” that includes possible new additions, a proposal to move the CI program, alternate capacity solutions for middle school, and further out, a cluster-wide boundary study for the new school.

We clearly share a commonality in purpose and look forward to working with you to provide this relief and move forward for our children.

We invite anyone who testifies during a Public Hearing to send us your remarks, which we will consider for publication at Rockville Central as a public service. As with any opinion piece, our publication of an article does not mean we endorse the author’s opinion.

Montgomery County Sixth Richest County In America

Newsweek has published a brief report based on the Census Bureaus American Community Survey that details the ten counties in the United States with the top median income. Many DMV counties are on the list.

Maryland has 4 counties on the list, including our own Montgomery County clocking in at #6, with a median household income of $94,420.

According to the Census Bureau, in 2006-2008, there were 5.2% of individuals in Montgomery County who were living at or below poverty level.

The full list of “top ten” counties:

1. Loudoun County, Va.
2. Fairfax County, Va.
3. Howard County, Md.
4. Morris County, N.J.
5. Arlington County, Va.
6. Montgomery County, Md.
7. Nassau County, N.Y.
8. Somerset County, N.J.
9. Calvert County, Md.
10. Charles County, Md.

WTOP has a nice writeup on this, too.

Parents Asked To Support the RM Cluster Testimony

RPES Photo by Cindy Cotte Griffiths

Many parents have voiced their concern about school overcrowding in the Richard Montgomery Cluster during public meetings in Rockville. Now the time for testimony to the Board of Education regarding the Superintendent’s Recommended FY 2012 Capital Budget and Amendments to the FY 2011-2016 Capital Improvements Program has finally been announced.

Representatives from the Richard Montgomery Cluster will be testifying before the Montgomery County Board of Education on Thursday, November 11, 2010. The time frame for testimony is from 6:45 until 8 PM. The hearing begins at 7 PM. At Monday night’s Mayor and Council meeting, Mayor Marcuccio and Councilmembers Britton and Pierzchala indicated they were willing to provide testimony, so these elected officials will speak first followed by the Cluster Representatives.

The Richard Montgomery Cluster includes Ritchie Park Elementary, College Gardens Elementary, Twinbrook Elementary, Beall Elementary, Julius West Middle School, and Richard Montgomery High School. The testimony will include comments on the MCPS proposal to study the creation of a new school in the RM cluster and the expansion of Julius West. The testimony will also focus on the additions planned for Ritchie Park, Beall, and Twinbrook, as well as the transfer of the Chinese Immersion Program from College Gardens to the new school when it is built.

Cluster representatives have been encouraging parents to attend and show the Montgomery County Public Schools and Board Of Education that the community is very concerned about the growth in enrollment. All of the Cluster’s elementary schools are over capacity. Parents will be advocating for a plan to alleviate overcrowding in the schools within the City limits.

The testimony will be given at the Carver Center Auditorium (850 Hungerford Drive in Rockville, next to Montgomery College). Parking is available in the lot on the Rt. 355 side of the building and the North entrance is on the right set back slightly from the flagpole entrance to the building. Parents are encouraged to wear or carry their school’s spirit wear, or to bring a handmade sign the size of a piece of paper to show support. Of course, everyone attending is expected to remain quiet during the testimony and leave quietly at the appropriate time.

Many have hoped that the energy recently revealed in meetings at the schools will result in a strong showing before the Board of Education during this opportunity to testify.

Liquor Stores To Be Open On Sunday

Photo by Cindy Cotte Griffiths

The Washington Examiner reported that County Executive Isiah Leggett will release an executive order on Wednesday to allow Sunday liquor sales at the two dozen county-owned stores.

County spokeswoman Donna Bigler said Sunday sales will begin sometime this month. It’s designed as a six-month trial through the busy holiday season.

Earlier this year, County Councilman Mike Knapp estimated the county would make an additional $1.5 million to $2 million a year by opening its liquor stores on Sunday. County Councilman George Leventhal is sceptical because he believes people don’t buy hard liquor every day so they therefore would not be purchasing it on another day of the week. The County Council does not have to approve the plan.

Since the Twinbrook Liquor store was closed, the two remaining Rockville Liquor Store locations are at 832 Rockville Pike and 12015-B Rockville Pike in Montrose Crossing.

Join The County Redistricting Commission

One of the more technical aspects of governance that does not get the amount of attention it should is the drawing of legislative districts. The simple truth is that, in most places, political district boundaries are basically designed to make it easy on incumbents and especially for their parties. There are many factors that go into drawing districts, so I am not suggesting that gerrymandering is rampant — just that many district boundaries tend to reinforce the status quo.

Here in Montgomery County, residents have a chance to be a part of the redistricting process and to have a positive effect on the governance of Our Fair County. The county Council is seeking to fill one vacancy on the Commission on Redistricting, a bipartisan body that is redrawing the districts for the 2014 election.

Interested? Head on over to this page to find out more. You have until November 15 to be considered.