Woodward Auditorium Construction Advocacy Ahead of Monday County Council Meeting

[Anonymous]

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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.

Which high school is that?

The one that they knew was needed, but, because of a lack of consideration, planning for which was abandoned with justification from poor mock-ups and land acquisition cost estimates to pave the way for alternate use of the capital for Wooodward.

Are you talking about the hospital site in Takoma Park? I think it would be a great site for a new HS.

Which money would MCPS buy it with?

I know! All the money should go to Bethesda because they pay the most taxes.

Nobody said that. Which money would MCPS buy the former Adventist hospital site in Takoma Park with?

Whether that or some other site, it would be the same funds used for other capital improvements. Immaterial are the facts that MoCo doesn't pony up enough to cover the need and that the metric for meeting the need is not how much money is spent for an area but how well the system provides public facilities for an area relative to the other areas served. Some places cost more than others to provide similar service levels.

Well, no, it wouldn't. Because MCPS doesn't need to buy property it already owns.

Well, sure. Then a zero cost (other than the admin work involved in the transfer) would come from the same capital improvements budget. MCPS didn't own the hospital site, though. Or the Discovery site. And each had drawbacks.

There were others they might have considered, or considered differently, but thinking about those may have been limited if the purpose of the study was simply to show how difficult it would be so that focus could shift to Woodward.

Such as?

Jessup Blair Park was one.

Owned by M-NCPPC, therefore not legally possible. What other sites?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

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.

Which high school is that?

The one that they knew was needed, but, because of a lack of consideration, planning for which was abandoned with justification from poor mock-ups and land acquisition cost estimates to pave the way for alternate use of the capital for Wooodward.

Are you talking about the hospital site in Takoma Park? I think it would be a great site for a new HS.

Which money would MCPS buy it with?

I know! All the money should go to Bethesda because they pay the most taxes.

Nobody said that. Which money would MCPS buy the former Adventist hospital site in Takoma Park with?

Whether that or some other site, it would be the same funds used for other capital improvements. Immaterial are the facts that MoCo doesn't pony up enough to cover the need and that the metric for meeting the need is not how much money is spent for an area but how well the system provides public facilities for an area relative to the other areas served. Some places cost more than others to provide similar service levels.

Well, no, it wouldn't. Because MCPS doesn't need to buy property it already owns.

Well, sure. Then a zero cost (other than the admin work involved in the transfer) would come from the same capital improvements budget. MCPS didn't own the hospital site, though. Or the Discovery site. And each had drawbacks.

There were others they might have considered, or considered differently, but thinking about those may have been limited if the purpose of the study was simply to show how difficult it would be so that focus could shift to Woodward.

Such as?

Jessup Blair Park was one.

Interesting site, with a historical house in the middle of it. That park is 15 acres. In contrast, BCC HS is 16 acres and a really tight fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Which high school is that?

The one that they knew was needed, but, because of a lack of consideration, planning for which was abandoned with justification from poor mock-ups and land acquisition cost estimates to pave the way for alternate use of the capital for Wooodward.

Are you talking about the hospital site in Takoma Park? I think it would be a great site for a new HS.

Which money would MCPS buy it with?

I know! All the money should go to Bethesda because they pay the most taxes.

Nobody said that. Which money would MCPS buy the former Adventist hospital site in Takoma Park with?

The City of Takoma Park is dumping money into up-zoning for the Washington Adventist Hospital site. They are planning a luxury high-rise, with more to follow down Maple Ave, per the dreams of the city council. The city just received approval from the county council for a minor master plan to make this happen. Who knows where the additional children will go to school. We have no space left in the nearby elementary schools.

Is it really UPzoning to turn a former hospital site into housing?

"Luxury" apartments just means "new" apartments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Which high school is that?

The one that they knew was needed, but, because of a lack of consideration, planning for which was abandoned with justification from poor mock-ups and land acquisition cost estimates to pave the way for alternate use of the capital for Wooodward.

Are you talking about the hospital site in Takoma Park? I think it would be a great site for a new HS.

Which money would MCPS buy it with?

I know! All the money should go to Bethesda because they pay the most taxes.

Nobody said that. Which money would MCPS buy the former Adventist hospital site in Takoma Park with?

The City of Takoma Park is dumping money into up-zoning for the Washington Adventist Hospital site. They are planning a luxury high-rise, with more to follow down Maple Ave, per the dreams of the city council. The city just received approval from the county council for a minor master plan to make this happen. Who knows where the additional children will go to school. We have no space left in the nearby elementary schools.

Is it really UPzoning to turn a former hospital site into housing?

"Luxury" apartments just means "new" apartments.

First, someone has to spend a few million to tear down the hospital. The city plans to have a very expensive high rise go up; they want tax dollars. Of course, if you are willing to pay $750K to $1 million for a condo, you might not want to look out your window at the 1974 medical building that the Adventist community is holding on to. In addition to the hospital site, the city's minor-master plan includes the whole of Washington Adventist University, which is financially unstable. Given the spectacular fail of the city's multi-million dollar effort to turn a parking lot into an office building at Takoma Junction, with the end result being a parking lot, what could go wrong with the latest plan by the city to sweep in on the Adventist properties?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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.

Which high school is that?

The one that they knew was needed, but, because of a lack of consideration, planning for which was abandoned with justification from poor mock-ups and land acquisition cost estimates to pave the way for alternate use of the capital for Wooodward.

Are you talking about the hospital site in Takoma Park? I think it would be a great site for a new HS.

Which money would MCPS buy it with?

I know! All the money should go to Bethesda because they pay the most taxes.

Nobody said that. Which money would MCPS buy the former Adventist hospital site in Takoma Park with?

The City of Takoma Park is dumping money into up-zoning for the Washington Adventist Hospital site. They are planning a luxury high-rise, with more to follow down Maple Ave, per the dreams of the city council. The city just received approval from the county council for a minor master plan to make this happen. Who knows where the additional children will go to school. We have no space left in the nearby elementary schools.

Is it really UPzoning to turn a former hospital site into housing?

"Luxury" apartments just means "new" apartments.

First, someone has to spend a few million to tear down the hospital. The city plans to have a very expensive high rise go up; they want tax dollars. Of course, if you are willing to pay $750K to $1 million for a condo, you might not want to look out your window at the 1974 medical building that the Adventist community is holding on to. In addition to the hospital site, the city's minor-master plan includes the whole of Washington Adventist University, which is financially unstable. Given the spectacular fail of the city's multi-million dollar effort to turn a parking lot into an office building at Takoma Junction, with the end result being a parking lot, what could go wrong with the latest plan by the city to sweep in on the Adventist properties?

So don't bid on the development. And the PP who is worried about school capacity can stop worrying. Good news all around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is pretty disingenuous when you are asking for advocacy for an auditorium and other communities are advocating for space to relieve overcrowding in school or to fix mold or provide ADA accommodation.

Make the case for why this auditorium is more important than all those other needs and more important Thant what the council is already proposing.

DP. Why is it disingenuous? If Northwood families don't advocate for themselves, who will advocate for them?

Because it said “Interested parties from all clusters should be coming together to advocate for this funding to be restored.” The reality is that no one in another cluster or another school for that matter is an interested party in getting the auditorium. Particular if it means that other equally or more needed projects continue to get delayed

Any of the clusters included in the Woodward study might have an interest.

[Anonymous]

What happened at the hearing today?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is pretty disingenuous when you are asking for advocacy for an auditorium and other communities are advocating for space to relieve overcrowding in school or to fix mold or provide ADA accommodation.

Make the case for why this auditorium is more important than all those other needs and more important Thant what the council is already proposing.

DP. Why is it disingenuous? If Northwood families don't advocate for themselves, who will advocate for them?

Because it said “Interested parties from all clusters should be coming together to advocate for this funding to be restored.” The reality is that no one in another cluster or another school for that matter is an interested party in getting the auditorium. Particular if it means that other equally or more needed projects continue to get delayed

Any of the clusters included in the Woodward study might have an interest.

The Woodward Study should be renamed. This is really a realignment of several middle school and high school boundaries - it's just not about Woodward. The DCC needs to be part of the name of the study. That current name is intentional, so DCC families don't realize they need to pay attention to it. This has been going on for five years now.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

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.

Which high school is that?

The one that they knew was needed, but, because of a lack of consideration, planning for which was abandoned with justification from poor mock-ups and land acquisition cost estimates to pave the way for alternate use of the capital for Wooodward.

Are you talking about the hospital site in Takoma Park? I think it would be a great site for a new HS.

Which money would MCPS buy it with?

I know! All the money should go to Bethesda because they pay the most taxes.

Nobody said that. Which money would MCPS buy the former Adventist hospital site in Takoma Park with?

Whether that or some other site, it would be the same funds used for other capital improvements. Immaterial are the facts that MoCo doesn't pony up enough to cover the need and that the metric for meeting the need is not how much money is spent for an area but how well the system provides public facilities for an area relative to the other areas served. Some places cost more than others to provide similar service levels.

Well, no, it wouldn't. Because MCPS doesn't need to buy property it already owns.

Well, sure. Then a zero cost (other than the admin work involved in the transfer) would come from the same capital improvements budget. MCPS didn't own the hospital site, though. Or the Discovery site. And each had drawbacks.

There were others they might have considered, or considered differently, but thinking about those may have been limited if the purpose of the study was simply to show how difficult it would be so that focus could shift to Woodward.

Such as?

Jessup Blair Park was one.

Owned by M-NCPPC, therefore not legally possible. What other sites?

You haven't seen them use park land before???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Which high school is that?

The one that they knew was needed, but, because of a lack of consideration, planning for which was abandoned with justification from poor mock-ups and land acquisition cost estimates to pave the way for alternate use of the capital for Wooodward.

Are you talking about the hospital site in Takoma Park? I think it would be a great site for a new HS.

Which money would MCPS buy it with?

I know! All the money should go to Bethesda because they pay the most taxes.

Nobody said that. Which money would MCPS buy the former Adventist hospital site in Takoma Park with?

The City of Takoma Park is dumping money into up-zoning for the Washington Adventist Hospital site. They are planning a luxury high-rise, with more to follow down Maple Ave, per the dreams of the city council. The city just received approval from the county council for a minor master plan to make this happen. Who knows where the additional children will go to school. We have no space left in the nearby elementary schools.

Won't this make the non-existant schools even more overcrowded?

It would make the non-existent school even more needed than it had been when they eschewed it for Woodward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Which high school is that?

The one that they knew was needed, but, because of a lack of consideration, planning for which was abandoned with justification from poor mock-ups and land acquisition cost estimates to pave the way for alternate use of the capital for Wooodward.

Are you talking about the hospital site in Takoma Park? I think it would be a great site for a new HS.

Which money would MCPS buy it with?

I know! All the money should go to Bethesda because they pay the most taxes.

Nobody said that. Which money would MCPS buy the former Adventist hospital site in Takoma Park with?

Whether that or some other site, it would be the same funds used for other capital improvements. Immaterial are the facts that MoCo doesn't pony up enough to cover the need and that the metric for meeting the need is not how much money is spent for an area but how well the system provides public facilities for an area relative to the other areas served. Some places cost more than others to provide similar service levels.

Well, no, it wouldn't. Because MCPS doesn't need to buy property it already owns.

Well, sure. Then a zero cost (other than the admin work involved in the transfer) would come from the same capital improvements budget. MCPS didn't own the hospital site, though. Or the Discovery site. And each had drawbacks.

There were others they might have considered, or considered differently, but thinking about those may have been limited if the purpose of the study was simply to show how difficult it would be so that focus could shift to Woodward.

Such as?

Jessup Blair Park was one.

Interesting site, with a historical house in the middle of it. That park is 15 acres. In contrast, BCC HS is 16 acres and a really tight fit.

You should look at the thoughts they mocked up for use of the Discovery site. Just an office building. No campus.

Even with traditional facilities (ball fields, etc.), you can fit a HS on less if you spend the $ to build up. Happens in some city environments.

Historical structures can be moved. The park goes nearly unused, especially by MoCo residents -- it's closer to many in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

Which high school is that?

The one that they knew was needed, but, because of a lack of consideration, planning for which was abandoned with justification from poor mock-ups and land acquisition cost estimates to pave the way for alternate use of the capital for Wooodward.

Are you talking about the hospital site in Takoma Park? I think it would be a great site for a new HS.

Which money would MCPS buy it with?

I know! All the money should go to Bethesda because they pay the most taxes.

Nobody said that. Which money would MCPS buy the former Adventist hospital site in Takoma Park with?

Whether that or some other site, it would be the same funds used for other capital improvements. Immaterial are the facts that MoCo doesn't pony up enough to cover the need and that the metric for meeting the need is not how much money is spent for an area but how well the system provides public facilities for an area relative to the other areas served. Some places cost more than others to provide similar service levels.

Well, no, it wouldn't. Because MCPS doesn't need to buy property it already owns.

Well, sure. Then a zero cost (other than the admin work involved in the transfer) would come from the same capital improvements budget. MCPS didn't own the hospital site, though. Or the Discovery site. And each had drawbacks.

There were others they might have considered, or considered differently, but thinking about those may have been limited if the purpose of the study was simply to show how difficult it would be so that focus could shift to Woodward.

Such as?

Jessup Blair Park was one.

Interesting site, with a historical house in the middle of it. That park is 15 acres. In contrast, BCC HS is 16 acres and a really tight fit.

You should look at the thoughts they mocked up for use of the Discovery site. Just an office building. No campus.

Even with traditional facilities (ball fields, etc.), you can fit a HS on less if you spend the $ to build up. Happens in some city environments.

Historical structures can be moved. The park goes nearly unused, especially by MoCo residents -- it's closer to many in DC.

Those mock-ups were for the purpose of finding a site to be a holding school for Northwood to move to temporarily, not to be a full-fledged high school of its own.

[Anonymous]

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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.

This is pretty disingenuous when you are asking for advocacy for an auditorium and other communities are advocating for space to relieve overcrowding in school or to fix mold or provide ADA accommodation.

Make the case for why this auditorium is more important than all those other needs and more important Thant what the council is already proposing.

DP. Why is it disingenuous? If Northwood families don't advocate for themselves, who will advocate for them?

Because it said “Interested parties from all clusters should be coming together to advocate for this funding to be restored.” The reality is that no one in another cluster or another school for that matter is an interested party in getting the auditorium. Particular if it means that other equally or more needed projects continue to get delayed

Any of the clusters included in the Woodward study might have an interest.

The Woodward Study should be renamed. This is really a realignment of several middle school and high school boundaries - it's just not about Woodward. The DCC needs to be part of the name of the study. That current name is intentional, so DCC families don't realize they need to pay attention to it. This has been going on for five years now.

It’s doubtful that it will really impact DCC. So, why would they care. It may pull from Rockville but that’s it.

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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.

Which high school is that?

The one that they knew was needed, but, because of a lack of consideration, planning for which was abandoned with justification from poor mock-ups and land acquisition cost estimates to pave the way for alternate use of the capital for Wooodward.

Are you talking about the hospital site in Takoma Park? I think it would be a great site for a new HS.

Which money would MCPS buy it with?

I know! All the money should go to Bethesda because they pay the most taxes.

Nobody said that. Which money would MCPS buy the former Adventist hospital site in Takoma Park with?

Whether that or some other site, it would be the same funds used for other capital improvements. Immaterial are the facts that MoCo doesn't pony up enough to cover the need and that the metric for meeting the need is not how much money is spent for an area but how well the system provides public facilities for an area relative to the other areas served. Some places cost more than others to provide similar service levels.

Well, no, it wouldn't. Because MCPS doesn't need to buy property it already owns.

Well, sure. Then a zero cost (other than the admin work involved in the transfer) would come from the same capital improvements budget. MCPS didn't own the hospital site, though. Or the Discovery site. And each had drawbacks.

There were others they might have considered, or considered differently, but thinking about those may have been limited if the purpose of the study was simply to show how difficult it would be so that focus could shift to Woodward.

Such as?

Jessup Blair Park was one.

Interesting site, with a historical house in the middle of it. That park is 15 acres. In contrast, BCC HS is 16 acres and a really tight fit.

You should look at the thoughts they mocked up for use of the Discovery site. Just an office building. No campus.

Even with traditional facilities (ball fields, etc.), you can fit a HS on less if you spend the $ to build up. Happens in some city environments.

Historical structures can be moved. The park goes nearly unused, especially by MoCo residents -- it's closer to many in DC.

With the DCC school choice kids who don’t do sports don’t need the fields and they could do something special like a music or theater or other speciality programs. Kids could do sports at other schools.

[Anonymous]

The topic at hand was advocating for the tens of thousands of students who over the years will attend Woodward, currently with no schedule to ever have an auditorium built, which every other HS in MCPS has. Leave it to DCUM to go off the rails about where other MCPS schools *should* be, when there are no plans for any of them