Woodward Auditorium Construction Advocacy Ahead of Monday County Council Meeting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought the school district is providing a black box theater for the Woodward facility.

Yes, they are. It has a capacity of less than 200 seats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MoCo Council’s Joint Operating Committee for Government Opportunities and Economic Development will be meeting at 9am Monday morning (4/29). Several councilmembers have put forward bills and are requesting to fund them using the County’s reserves. The merits of these bills notwithstanding, they should be funded through the regular budget as operating expenses. Reserves are intended for special, one-time cases like the auditorium at Woodward High School. The Northwood community is asking for parents to contact the County Council prior to the meeting tomorrow (4/29) to express concern and ask that these funds be used for the auditorium.

In the case of many Northwood families, please email: [e-mail]

Here's a sample letter that you can use:
***
Dear [Councilmember Stewart],

My name is ___________ and I live in ____________. I/my child(ren) attend/graduated Northwood High School and they will attend Northwood@Woodward, also known as NorthWoodward.

After decades of fighting for a new high school and being promised that our holding facility would provide the full range of academic and programmatic infrastructure, it is egregious that construction of the auditorium at Woodward is being delayed to Phase III. I am requesting that the County Council allocate $20 million from its reserves for this one-time, non-recurring expense to keep the auditorium’s construction on schedule and part of Phase II.

I am disappointed that there are several bills currently under consideration that would tap into the reserves. Those proposals should be funded through the budget as operating expenses. I urge you and your colleagues to instead use reserve funds to ensure students in the Down County Consortium have equitable access to high school programming.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Street Address
City State
Email

If this is meant for Northwood stakeholders, it'd better say "to ensure the auditorium is completed by this summer" instead of "part of Phase II." Phase II is whst helps the WJ folks -- construction while Northwood temporarily occupies Phase I.

It's not that I don't think the students/community that ultimately occupies a completed Woodward shouldn't have an auditorium, but let's not co-opt Northwood folks to advocate for anything less than having access to an on-campus auditorium themselves.

Completing the auditorium by this summer is not on the table. Northwood families knew their first year at Woodward would be without an auditorium. But they were expecting it to be available for the second (and now, third) year. That can still happen if funding is secured.

Then they should be getting Woodward families to advocate for its completion by next summer at the latest. Asking Northwood families to advocate for something that would only benefit them for a single year if it doesn't slip again (as many of these things do) is asking DCC to carry the W's water.

It's pretty bad, no matter how you look at it, but, without getting something more substantive, the political capital is better spent elsewhere.

There are no Woodward families yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there other capital projects that have been delayed for over a decade? Is the auditorium more important?

Do you have HS students? Ones who perform in school plays or musicals? Ones who play an instrument in the band or orchestra? Ones who sing in a chorus? Do you participate in grade-level meetings for parents? All of these and more take place in the auditorium that every other HS in the county has. This is about access and equity, and yes, it's more important than other capital projects, because you don't build 97% of a new HS, you build 100%

Woodward, rebuilt ahead of multiple other capital projects that were on the list for rebuilding first. Take your 97% of a school and be grateful.

The perennial MCPS Capital projects problem: Overcrowded schools get funded before schools that aren't overcrowded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MoCo Council’s Joint Operating Committee for Government Opportunities and Economic Development will be meeting at 9am Monday morning (4/29). Several councilmembers have put forward bills and are requesting to fund them using the County’s reserves. The merits of these bills notwithstanding, they should be funded through the regular budget as operating expenses. Reserves are intended for special, one-time cases like the auditorium at Woodward High School. The Northwood community is asking for parents to contact the County Council prior to the meeting tomorrow (4/29) to express concern and ask that these funds be used for the auditorium.

In the case of many Northwood families, please email: [e-mail]

Here's a sample letter that you can use:
***
Dear [Councilmember Stewart],

My name is ___________ and I live in ____________. I/my child(ren) attend/graduated Northwood High School and they will attend Northwood@Woodward, also known as NorthWoodward.

After decades of fighting for a new high school and being promised that our holding facility would provide the full range of academic and programmatic infrastructure, it is egregious that construction of the auditorium at Woodward is being delayed to Phase III. I am requesting that the County Council allocate $20 million from its reserves for this one-time, non-recurring expense to keep the auditorium’s construction on schedule and part of Phase II.

I am disappointed that there are several bills currently under consideration that would tap into the reserves. Those proposals should be funded through the budget as operating expenses. I urge you and your colleagues to instead use reserve funds to ensure students in the Down County Consortium have equitable access to high school programming.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Street Address
City State
Email

If this is meant for Northwood stakeholders, it'd better say "to ensure the auditorium is completed by this summer" instead of "part of Phase II." Phase II is whst helps the WJ folks -- construction while Northwood temporarily occupies Phase I.

It's not that I don't think the students/community that ultimately occupies a completed Woodward shouldn't have an auditorium, but let's not co-opt Northwood folks to advocate for anything less than having access to an on-campus auditorium themselves.

Completing the auditorium by this summer is not on the table. Northwood families knew their first year at Woodward would be without an auditorium. But they were expecting it to be available for the second (and now, third) year. That can still happen if funding is secured.

Then they should be getting Woodward families to advocate for its completion by next summer at the latest. Asking Northwood families to advocate for something that would only benefit them for a single year if it doesn't slip again (as many of these things do) is asking DCC to carry the W's water.

It's pretty bad, no matter how you look at it, but, without getting something more substantive, the political capital is better spent elsewhere.

There are no Woodward families yet.

This. Eventually, Woodward families will come from WJ, DCC, and maybe even Whitman and BCC. But in true MCPS fashion, no one yet knows who will be a Woodward family

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MoCo Council’s Joint Operating Committee for Government Opportunities and Economic Development will be meeting at 9am Monday morning (4/29). Several councilmembers have put forward bills and are requesting to fund them using the County’s reserves. The merits of these bills notwithstanding, they should be funded through the regular budget as operating expenses. Reserves are intended for special, one-time cases like the auditorium at Woodward High School. The Northwood community is asking for parents to contact the County Council prior to the meeting tomorrow (4/29) to express concern and ask that these funds be used for the auditorium.

In the case of many Northwood families, please email: [e-mail]

Here's a sample letter that you can use:
***
Dear [Councilmember Stewart],

My name is ___________ and I live in ____________. I/my child(ren) attend/graduated Northwood High School and they will attend Northwood@Woodward, also known as NorthWoodward.

After decades of fighting for a new high school and being promised that our holding facility would provide the full range of academic and programmatic infrastructure, it is egregious that construction of the auditorium at Woodward is being delayed to Phase III. I am requesting that the County Council allocate $20 million from its reserves for this one-time, non-recurring expense to keep the auditorium’s construction on schedule and part of Phase II.

I am disappointed that there are several bills currently under consideration that would tap into the reserves. Those proposals should be funded through the budget as operating expenses. I urge you and your colleagues to instead use reserve funds to ensure students in the Down County Consortium have equitable access to high school programming.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Street Address
City State
Email

If this is meant for Northwood stakeholders, it'd better say "to ensure the auditorium is completed by this summer" instead of "part of Phase II." Phase II is whst helps the WJ folks -- construction while Northwood temporarily occupies Phase I.

It's not that I don't think the students/community that ultimately occupies a completed Woodward shouldn't have an auditorium, but let's not co-opt Northwood folks to advocate for anything less than having access to an on-campus auditorium themselves.

Completing the auditorium by this summer is not on the table. Northwood families knew their first year at Woodward would be without an auditorium. But they were expecting it to be available for the second (and now, third) year. That can still happen if funding is secured.

Then they should be getting Woodward families to advocate for its completion by next summer at the latest. Asking Northwood families to advocate for something that would only benefit them for a single year if it doesn't slip again (as many of these things do) is asking DCC to carry the W's water.

It's pretty bad, no matter how you look at it, but, without getting something more substantive, the political capital is better spent elsewhere.

There are no Woodward families yet.

Should be relatively obvious from the communities most heavily engaged during Woodward planning.

Read: "W families. Mostly WJ."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MoCo Council’s Joint Operating Committee for Government Opportunities and Economic Development will be meeting at 9am Monday morning (4/29). Several councilmembers have put forward bills and are requesting to fund them using the County’s reserves. The merits of these bills notwithstanding, they should be funded through the regular budget as operating expenses. Reserves are intended for special, one-time cases like the auditorium at Woodward High School. The Northwood community is asking for parents to contact the County Council prior to the meeting tomorrow (4/29) to express concern and ask that these funds be used for the auditorium.

In the case of many Northwood families, please email: [e-mail]

Here's a sample letter that you can use:
***
Dear [Councilmember Stewart],

My name is ___________ and I live in ____________. I/my child(ren) attend/graduated Northwood High School and they will attend Northwood@Woodward, also known as NorthWoodward.

After decades of fighting for a new high school and being promised that our holding facility would provide the full range of academic and programmatic infrastructure, it is egregious that construction of the auditorium at Woodward is being delayed to Phase III. I am requesting that the County Council allocate $20 million from its reserves for this one-time, non-recurring expense to keep the auditorium’s construction on schedule and part of Phase II.

I am disappointed that there are several bills currently under consideration that would tap into the reserves. Those proposals should be funded through the budget as operating expenses. I urge you and your colleagues to instead use reserve funds to ensure students in the Down County Consortium have equitable access to high school programming.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Street Address
City State
Email

If this is meant for Northwood stakeholders, it'd better say "to ensure the auditorium is completed by this summer" instead of "part of Phase II." Phase II is whst helps the WJ folks -- construction while Northwood temporarily occupies Phase I.

It's not that I don't think the students/community that ultimately occupies a completed Woodward shouldn't have an auditorium, but let's not co-opt Northwood folks to advocate for anything less than having access to an on-campus auditorium themselves.

Completing the auditorium by this summer is not on the table. Northwood families knew their first year at Woodward would be without an auditorium. But they were expecting it to be available for the second (and now, third) year. That can still happen if funding is secured.

Then they should be getting Woodward families to advocate for its completion by next summer at the latest. Asking Northwood families to advocate for something that would only benefit them for a single year if it doesn't slip again (as many of these things do) is asking DCC to carry the W's water.

It's pretty bad, no matter how you look at it, but, without getting something more substantive, the political capital is better spent elsewhere.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there other capital projects that have been delayed for over a decade? Is the auditorium more important?

Do you have HS students? Ones who perform in school plays or musicals? Ones who play an instrument in the band or orchestra? Ones who sing in a chorus? Do you participate in grade-level meetings for parents? All of these and more take place in the auditorium that every other HS in the county has. This is about access and equity, and yes, it's more important than other capital projects, because you don't build 97% of a new HS, you build 100%

Woodward, rebuilt ahead of multiple other capital projects that were on the list for rebuilding first. Take your 97% of a school and be grateful.

The perennial MCPS Capital projects problem: Overcrowded schools get funded before schools that aren't overcrowded.

The DCC schools were overcrowded before WJ. It's just that westside parents have more influence so you went to the front of the line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there other capital projects that have been delayed for over a decade? Is the auditorium more important?

No but who cares if they're somewhere else

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there other capital projects that have been delayed for over a decade? Is the auditorium more important?

Do you have HS students? Ones who perform in school plays or musicals? Ones who play an instrument in the band or orchestra? Ones who sing in a chorus? Do you participate in grade-level meetings for parents? All of these and more take place in the auditorium that every other HS in the county has. This is about access and equity, and yes, it's more important than other capital projects, because you don't build 97% of a new HS, you build 100%

Woodward, rebuilt ahead of multiple other capital projects that were on the list for rebuilding first. Take your 97% of a school and be grateful.

The perennial MCPS Capital projects problem: Overcrowded schools get funded before schools that aren't overcrowded.

The DCC schools were overcrowded before WJ. It's just that westside parents have more influence so you went to the front of the line.

Please stop all this east side/west side stuff. Interested parties from all clusters should be coming together to advocate for this funding to be restored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MoCo Council’s Joint Operating Committee for Government Opportunities and Economic Development will be meeting at 9am Monday morning (4/29). Several councilmembers have put forward bills and are requesting to fund them using the County’s reserves. The merits of these bills notwithstanding, they should be funded through the regular budget as operating expenses. Reserves are intended for special, one-time cases like the auditorium at Woodward High School. The Northwood community is asking for parents to contact the County Council prior to the meeting tomorrow (4/29) to express concern and ask that these funds be used for the auditorium.

In the case of many Northwood families, please email: [e-mail]

Here's a sample letter that you can use:
***
Dear [Councilmember Stewart],

My name is ___________ and I live in ____________. I/my child(ren) attend/graduated Northwood High School and they will attend Northwood@Woodward, also known as NorthWoodward.

After decades of fighting for a new high school and being promised that our holding facility would provide the full range of academic and programmatic infrastructure, it is egregious that construction of the auditorium at Woodward is being delayed to Phase III. I am requesting that the County Council allocate $20 million from its reserves for this one-time, non-recurring expense to keep the auditorium’s construction on schedule and part of Phase II.

I am disappointed that there are several bills currently under consideration that would tap into the reserves. Those proposals should be funded through the budget as operating expenses. I urge you and your colleagues to instead use reserve funds to ensure students in the Down County Consortium have equitable access to high school programming.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Street Address
City State
Email

If this is meant for Northwood stakeholders, it'd better say "to ensure the auditorium is completed by this summer" instead of "part of Phase II." Phase II is whst helps the WJ folks -- construction while Northwood temporarily occupies Phase I.

It's not that I don't think the students/community that ultimately occupies a completed Woodward shouldn't have an auditorium, but let's not co-opt Northwood folks to advocate for anything less than having access to an on-campus auditorium themselves.

Completing the auditorium by this summer is not on the table. Northwood families knew their first year at Woodward would be without an auditorium. But they were expecting it to be available for the second (and now, third) year. That can still happen if funding is secured.

Then they should be getting Woodward families to advocate for its completion by next summer at the latest. Asking Northwood families to advocate for something that would only benefit them for a single year if it doesn't slip again (as many of these things do) is asking DCC to carry the W's water.

It's pretty bad, no matter how you look at it, but, without getting something more substantive, the political capital is better spent elsewhere.

I’m OP. This is in fact why I posted this. I don’t have access to WJ, etc PTAs. We Northwood parents appreciate your support.

And for the 97%’er, nothing says you’re not valued to a down county kid than an uncompleted school and grounds and having to get up ridiculously early to accommodate everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there other capital projects that have been delayed for over a decade? Is the auditorium more important?

Do you have HS students? Ones who perform in school plays or musicals? Ones who play an instrument in the band or orchestra? Ones who sing in a chorus? Do you participate in grade-level meetings for parents? All of these and more take place in the auditorium that every other HS in the county has. This is about access and equity, and yes, it's more important than other capital projects, because you don't build 97% of a new HS, you build 100%

Woodward, rebuilt ahead of multiple other capital projects that were on the list for rebuilding first. Take your 97% of a school and be grateful.

The perennial MCPS Capital projects problem: Overcrowded schools get funded before schools that aren't overcrowded.

The DCC schools were overcrowded before WJ. It's just that westside parents have more influence so you went to the front of the line.

Please stop all this east side/west side stuff. Interested parties from all clusters should be coming together to advocate for this funding to be restored.

Not that PP.

Great. Now let's see all clusters, especially W's, from where, presumably, the necessary tax revenue would disproportionately come on a per-household basis, advocate for that very much needed, inside-the-beltway/east of Rock Creek high school that was strawmanned down to clear the way for capital to be spent on the Woodward reopening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MoCo Council’s Joint Operating Committee for Government Opportunities and Economic Development will be meeting at 9am Monday morning (4/29). Several councilmembers have put forward bills and are requesting to fund them using the County’s reserves. The merits of these bills notwithstanding, they should be funded through the regular budget as operating expenses. Reserves are intended for special, one-time cases like the auditorium at Woodward High School. The Northwood community is asking for parents to contact the County Council prior to the meeting tomorrow (4/29) to express concern and ask that these funds be used for the auditorium.

In the case of many Northwood families, please email: [e-mail]

Here's a sample letter that you can use:
***
Dear [Councilmember Stewart],

My name is ___________ and I live in ____________. I/my child(ren) attend/graduated Northwood High School and they will attend Northwood@Woodward, also known as NorthWoodward.

After decades of fighting for a new high school and being promised that our holding facility would provide the full range of academic and programmatic infrastructure, it is egregious that construction of the auditorium at Woodward is being delayed to Phase III. I am requesting that the County Council allocate $20 million from its reserves for this one-time, non-recurring expense to keep the auditorium’s construction on schedule and part of Phase II.

I am disappointed that there are several bills currently under consideration that would tap into the reserves. Those proposals should be funded through the budget as operating expenses. I urge you and your colleagues to instead use reserve funds to ensure students in the Down County Consortium have equitable access to high school programming.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Street Address
City State
Email

If this is meant for Northwood stakeholders, it'd better say "to ensure the auditorium is completed by this summer" instead of "part of Phase II." Phase II is whst helps the WJ folks -- construction while Northwood temporarily occupies Phase I.

It's not that I don't think the students/community that ultimately occupies a completed Woodward shouldn't have an auditorium, but let's not co-opt Northwood folks to advocate for anything less than having access to an on-campus auditorium themselves.

Completing the auditorium by this summer is not on the table. Northwood families knew their first year at Woodward would be without an auditorium. But they were expecting it to be available for the second (and now, third) year. That can still happen if funding is secured.

Then they should be getting Woodward families to advocate for its completion by next summer at the latest. Asking Northwood families to advocate for something that would only benefit them for a single year if it doesn't slip again (as many of these things do) is asking DCC to carry the W's water.

It's pretty bad, no matter how you look at it, but, without getting something more substantive, the political capital is better spent elsewhere.

There are no Woodward families yet.

This. Eventually, Woodward families will come from WJ, DCC, and maybe even Whitman and BCC. But in true MCPS fashion, no one yet knows who will be a Woodward family

You think MCPS should have completed the boundary study 3 years before the school is supposed to open? I don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there other capital projects that have been delayed for over a decade? Is the auditorium more important?

Do you have HS students? Ones who perform in school plays or musicals? Ones who play an instrument in the band or orchestra? Ones who sing in a chorus? Do you participate in grade-level meetings for parents? All of these and more take place in the auditorium that every other HS in the county has. This is about access and equity, and yes, it's more important than other capital projects, because you don't build 97% of a new HS, you build 100%

Woodward, rebuilt ahead of multiple other capital projects that were on the list for rebuilding first. Take your 97% of a school and be grateful.

The perennial MCPS Capital projects problem: Overcrowded schools get funded before schools that aren't overcrowded.

The DCC schools were overcrowded before WJ. It's just that westside parents have more influence so you went to the front of the line.

Please stop all this east side/west side stuff. Interested parties from all clusters should be coming together to advocate for this funding to be restored.

Not that PP.

Great. Now let's see all clusters, especially W's, from where, presumably, the necessary tax revenue would disproportionately come on a per-household basis, advocate for that very much needed, inside-the-beltway/east of Rock Creek high school that was strawmanned down to clear the way for capital to be spent on the Woodward reopening.

I have no problem with MCPS deciding to rebuild a school on a property they already own that's located between WJ, Wheaton, and Einstein. The issue is they should have been rebuilding and opening it in a timely and equitable manner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MoCo Council’s Joint Operating Committee for Government Opportunities and Economic Development will be meeting at 9am Monday morning (4/29). Several councilmembers have put forward bills and are requesting to fund them using the County’s reserves. The merits of these bills notwithstanding, they should be funded through the regular budget as operating expenses. Reserves are intended for special, one-time cases like the auditorium at Woodward High School. The Northwood community is asking for parents to contact the County Council prior to the meeting tomorrow (4/29) to express concern and ask that these funds be used for the auditorium.

In the case of many Northwood families, please email: [e-mail]

Here's a sample letter that you can use:
***
Dear [Councilmember Stewart],

My name is ___________ and I live in ____________. I/my child(ren) attend/graduated Northwood High School and they will attend Northwood@Woodward, also known as NorthWoodward.

After decades of fighting for a new high school and being promised that our holding facility would provide the full range of academic and programmatic infrastructure, it is egregious that construction of the auditorium at Woodward is being delayed to Phase III. I am requesting that the County Council allocate $20 million from its reserves for this one-time, non-recurring expense to keep the auditorium’s construction on schedule and part of Phase II.

I am disappointed that there are several bills currently under consideration that would tap into the reserves. Those proposals should be funded through the budget as operating expenses. I urge you and your colleagues to instead use reserve funds to ensure students in the Down County Consortium have equitable access to high school programming.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Street Address
City State
Email

If this is meant for Northwood stakeholders, it'd better say "to ensure the auditorium is completed by this summer" instead of "part of Phase II." Phase II is whst helps the WJ folks -- construction while Northwood temporarily occupies Phase I.

It's not that I don't think the students/community that ultimately occupies a completed Woodward shouldn't have an auditorium, but let's not co-opt Northwood folks to advocate for anything less than having access to an on-campus auditorium themselves.

Completing the auditorium by this summer is not on the table. Northwood families knew their first year at Woodward would be without an auditorium. But they were expecting it to be available for the second (and now, third) year. That can still happen if funding is secured.

Then they should be getting Woodward families to advocate for its completion by next summer at the latest. Asking Northwood families to advocate for something that would only benefit them for a single year if it doesn't slip again (as many of these things do) is asking DCC to carry the W's water.

It's pretty bad, no matter how you look at it, but, without getting something more substantive, the political capital is better spent elsewhere.

I’m OP. This is in fact why I posted this. I don’t have access to WJ, etc PTAs. We Northwood parents appreciate your support.

And for the 97%’er, nothing says you’re not valued to a down county kid than an uncompleted school and grounds and having to get up ridiculously early to accommodate everyone else.

I sympathize to a point, but it's not really fair to claim you're not valued when the whole reason for this holding school situation is to enable Northwood to get a brand spanking new and larger building of their own. As compared to several other really not valued communities who have nothing like that in sight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MoCo Council’s Joint Operating Committee for Government Opportunities and Economic Development will be meeting at 9am Monday morning (4/29). Several councilmembers have put forward bills and are requesting to fund them using the County’s reserves. The merits of these bills notwithstanding, they should be funded through the regular budget as operating expenses. Reserves are intended for special, one-time cases like the auditorium at Woodward High School. The Northwood community is asking for parents to contact the County Council prior to the meeting tomorrow (4/29) to express concern and ask that these funds be used for the auditorium.

In the case of many Northwood families, please email: [e-mail]

Here's a sample letter that you can use:
***
Dear [Councilmember Stewart],

My name is ___________ and I live in ____________. I/my child(ren) attend/graduated Northwood High School and they will attend Northwood@Woodward, also known as NorthWoodward.

After decades of fighting for a new high school and being promised that our holding facility would provide the full range of academic and programmatic infrastructure, it is egregious that construction of the auditorium at Woodward is being delayed to Phase III. I am requesting that the County Council allocate $20 million from its reserves for this one-time, non-recurring expense to keep the auditorium’s construction on schedule and part of Phase II.

I am disappointed that there are several bills currently under consideration that would tap into the reserves. Those proposals should be funded through the budget as operating expenses. I urge you and your colleagues to instead use reserve funds to ensure students in the Down County Consortium have equitable access to high school programming.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Street Address
City State
Email

If this is meant for Northwood stakeholders, it'd better say "to ensure the auditorium is completed by this summer" instead of "part of Phase II." Phase II is whst helps the WJ folks -- construction while Northwood temporarily occupies Phase I.

It's not that I don't think the students/community that ultimately occupies a completed Woodward shouldn't have an auditorium, but let's not co-opt Northwood folks to advocate for anything less than having access to an on-campus auditorium themselves.

Completing the auditorium by this summer is not on the table. Northwood families knew their first year at Woodward would be without an auditorium. But they were expecting it to be available for the second (and now, third) year. That can still happen if funding is secured.

Then they should be getting Woodward families to advocate for its completion by next summer at the latest. Asking Northwood families to advocate for something that would only benefit them for a single year if it doesn't slip again (as many of these things do) is asking DCC to carry the W's water.

It's pretty bad, no matter how you look at it, but, without getting something more substantive, the political capital is better spent elsewhere.

There are no Woodward families yet.

This. Eventually, Woodward families will come from WJ, DCC, and maybe even Whitman and BCC. But in true MCPS fashion, no one yet knows who will be a Woodward family

Sure, no one knows with absolute certainty until approval, but the writing is on the wall and you have the order a bit out of whack:

WJ, primarily.

Then adjustments to Whitman, BCC, Einstein and Wheaton, but not clearing the projected overcrowding of the latter two. More of Einstein might be sent east to Northwood when it's complete (partially). Blair would see more students passing right by on the way to Northwood, too.

A very small number of DCC students accessing the Woodward magnet program when that can be stood up (? Phase III).

The end result will be relatively comfortable capacity and relatively reasonable catchment boundaries for the Ws/BCC, and continued overcrowding and less reasonable catchment boundaries for the DCC.