MCPS has numerous schools off the CIP list because of no money, but MCPS is building a pool at Piney Branch ES

[Anonymous]

How does MCPS afford building a new swimming pool to be built at a replacement building for Piney Branch Elementary School, per Thomas Taylor's CIP presentation today, when numerous schools can't be renewed or replaced due to lack of funds?

WTH?

[Anonymous]

Why would he do that? It makes no sense. The county runs pools.

[Anonymous]

It's all nuts. Build a big ES at Piney Branch. No pool. . Build a high school further south than Blair. Alleviate crowding and solve this MS insanity with SSIMS and kids being shuffled around holding schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would he do that? It makes no sense. The county runs pools.

Yes, pools are built and operated by the county's recreation department. There is this old pool at Piney Branch, built way back when, before the building was a school. But no way should the school district be rebuilding that pool, with all the schools that are being left off the CIP budget. But there it was, in Taylor's CIP presentation this morning: "Piney Branch ES, to be replaced, with a community pool."

What is the story on that? How does MCPS have money for a community pool at Piney Branch Elementary School?

[Anonymous]

And why are they spending money on building early childhood centers? Pre-K can be operated by high quality child care providers at lower cost and is much more convenient for working families. And the more Pre-K classes there are in schools, the more it destabilizes the child care market and leads to higher prices for families and child care program closures. It's one thing to go ahead with it despite that if you actually have the classroom space available. But it's just stupid to spend tens of millions of dollars on facilities cost for something that's not necessary and is arguably harmful to the county.

[Anonymous]

Swimming is a life skill. The Downcounty ES should find a way to benefit from this too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Swimming is a life skill. The Downcounty ES should find a way to benefit from this too.

Lots of things, including swimming, are life skills. That doesn't mean that MCPS should be spending money on a swimming pool. Just how much money does it cost to build and operate an indoor swimming pool? There are a lot of school communities that need new facilities and somehow an indoor pool courtesy of MCPS is being installed in Piney Branch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Swimming is a life skill. The Downcounty ES should find a way to benefit from this too.

There is a pool in Takoma park, MLK, silver spring and glenmont. They can bus the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And why are they spending money on building early childhood centers? Pre-K can be operated by high quality child care providers at lower cost and is much more convenient for working families. And the more Pre-K classes there are in schools, the more it destabilizes the child care market and leads to higher prices for families and child care program closures. It's one thing to go ahead with it despite that if you actually have the classroom space available. But it's just stupid to spend tens of millions of dollars on facilities cost for something that's not necessary and is arguably harmful to the county.

There is not a lot of affordable child care. This is good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And why are they spending money on building early childhood centers? Pre-K can be operated by high quality child care providers at lower cost and is much more convenient for working families. And the more Pre-K classes there are in schools, the more it destabilizes the child care market and leads to higher prices for families and child care program closures. It's one thing to go ahead with it despite that if you actually have the classroom space available. But it's just stupid to spend tens of millions of dollars on facilities cost for something that's not necessary and is arguably harmful to the county.

There is not a lot of affordable child care. This is good.

Building school district early childhood centers doesn't increase the amount of affordable child care (especially for families who need care for longer than the standard school day), it worsens affordable child care by pulling kids out of neighboring child care programs and destabilizing them and causing them to raise prices for the remaining families or go out of business. If you want to improve affordable child care, those millions of dollars could go way further by just subsidizing child care to make it cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And why are they spending money on building early childhood centers? Pre-K can be operated by high quality child care providers at lower cost and is much more convenient for working families. And the more Pre-K classes there are in schools, the more it destabilizes the child care market and leads to higher prices for families and child care program closures. It's one thing to go ahead with it despite that if you actually have the classroom space available. But it's just stupid to spend tens of millions of dollars on facilities cost for something that's not necessary and is arguably harmful to the county.

There is not a lot of affordable child care. This is good.

Building school district early childhood centers doesn't increase the amount of affordable child care (especially for families who need care for longer than the standard school day), it worsens affordable child care by pulling kids out of neighboring child care programs and destabilizing them and causing them to raise prices for the remaining families or go out of business. If you want to improve affordable child care, those millions of dollars could go way further by just subsidizing child care to make it cheaper.

Not al all. And it’s probably for lower income families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swimming is a life skill. The Downcounty ES should find a way to benefit from this too.

There is a pool in Takoma park, MLK, silver spring and glenmont. They can bus the kids.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And why are they spending money on building early childhood centers? Pre-K can be operated by high quality child care providers at lower cost and is much more convenient for working families. And the more Pre-K classes there are in schools, the more it destabilizes the child care market and leads to higher prices for families and child care program closures. It's one thing to go ahead with it despite that if you actually have the classroom space available. But it's just stupid to spend tens of millions of dollars on facilities cost for something that's not necessary and is arguably harmful to the county.

There is not a lot of affordable child care. This is good.

Building school district early childhood centers doesn't increase the amount of affordable child care (especially for families who need care for longer than the standard school day), it worsens affordable child care by pulling kids out of neighboring child care programs and destabilizing them and causing them to raise prices for the remaining families or go out of business. If you want to improve affordable child care, those millions of dollars could go way further by just subsidizing child care to make it cheaper.

Not al all. And it’s probably for lower income families.

Not sure you actually understand the dynamics of the child care and early learning market. And lower income families generally are the ones who need full-day full-year child care the most. Help them by making existing child care programs more affordable and more effective for them, not by dumping millions of dollars into building and renovating MCPS-run early childhood facilities for no good reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And why are they spending money on building early childhood centers? Pre-K can be operated by high quality child care providers at lower cost and is much more convenient for working families. And the more Pre-K classes there are in schools, the more it destabilizes the child care market and leads to higher prices for families and child care program closures. It's one thing to go ahead with it despite that if you actually have the classroom space available. But it's just stupid to spend tens of millions of dollars on facilities cost for something that's not necessary and is arguably harmful to the county.

Blueprint requires and lack of high quality Pre-K. Go listen to the updated they’ve provided specifically on this area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swimming is a life skill. The Downcounty ES should find a way to benefit from this too.

There is a pool in Takoma park, MLK, silver spring and glenmont. They can bus the kids.

Do the ES students even use the pool now? I used to occasionally swim at that pool and IIRC there was no swimming curicullum at the school. I agree uing MCPS funds to rebuild this pool is really wasteful given other schools have higher priority needs.