PLS Help Save the McKenney Hills School! Silver Spring/Kensington parents pls read....

[Anonymous]

If your children do or will go to Oakland Terrace or the slated to be built McKenney Hills school (DC ES #29) please read this post and consider writing a letter to the Montgomery County Parks and Planning board. In a nutshell a group of opponents to the construction of the school as it is currently planned have formed a group called the McKenney Hills Forest Preservation Group. They object to the construction of the school as it is currently planned for ostensibly "environmental" reasons. They've formed this group and enlisted the help of a lawyer and the Audobon Naturalist Society, which is based in Chevy Chase.

They may be able to derail the construction of the school if they get their way! Our children could have to continue to go to school in a shamefully overcapacity building if this vocal minority gets their way.

As is explained well in this post on justupthepike.com http://www.justupthepike.com/2010/10/to-make-omelet-you-have-to-crack-few.html the MCPS has planned this school with many "environmental bona fides, from a green roof to geothermal wells, which collect heat from the Earth's core and use it to produce energy for the building." "In addition, Montgomery County Public Schools says they've taken many steps to reduce the impact of the new campus. The new school will be three stories high, meaning it takes up less land; parking lots will be shared with the adjacent Glenwood Recreation Center; and instead of the usual two playing fields, the new school will have just one."

If you support the construction of this school PLEASE write a letter to the Planning Board and attend the meeting this Thursday October 28th.

- Write a letter to the Montgomery County Parks and Planning Board showing your support for the new school facility before they convene on Thursday, October 28th. Written comments should be submitted at least 24 hours in advance of the Planning Board hearing date with reference to the matter to ensure that all comments will be included in the record before the Commission. Comments should be transmitted via e-mail to [e-mail], faxed to Chair Françoise Carrier at 301-495-1320, or addressed to: Françoise Carrier, Chair, Montgomery County Planning Board, 8787 Georgia Avenue Silver Spring, Maryland 20910.

- Unsure of what to write? Use this template for your letter.

[Anonymous]

Please post the template for the letter. Thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention.

[Anonymous]

Here is the template and THANK YOU in advance for your attention to this issue!

[Date]
[Your Address]

Francoise Carrier
Chairwoman
Montgomery County Planning Board
8787 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20910
[e-mail]

Re: (Downcounty Consortium ES #29) McKenney Hills School Site Plan # 420091330

Dear Ms. Carrier,

I’m writing you today to ask you and your Planning Board to please vote in favor for the new McKenney Hills school site plan # 420091330 when it is presented to you by the Montgomery County Public School’s Construction Division on Thursday, October 28.

I cannot emphasize enough how very serious the issue of a needed new school is for our neighborhood. Our current elementary school, Oakland Terrace, is one of the most overcrowded schools in the entire county. The school is so over-capacity that this year’s Kindergarten class is not even at the school. They have been bused to Sligo Middle School. With the school already 200 percent over capacity there is just no place to put all of our children. Next year’s Kindergarten class will be just as large. Parents have reluctantly allowed their 5 and 6 year olds to attend school outside of our neighborhood at a middle school because they have been repeatedly assured that this much needed new school at the McKenney Hills site will open in the fall of 2012.
Over the past year and a half, Jim Tokar, project manager of Montgomery County Public School’s Construction Division, has kept the community informed of the plan and designs for the new school during a series of public meetings held on the issue. He also attended a civic association meeting in our neighborhood on Tuesday, September 28 were he explained many of the state-of plans for a truly environmentally-conscious new school for our neighborhood that includes a green roof to collect rainwater and a geothermal power unit to reduce the school’s reliance on polluting fossil fuels. Ultimately, the school will be LEED certified.
Throughout these meetings, MCPS Construction Div. has consistently stated that it is possible that some of the surrounding trees may need to be removed in order to allow for this school to be built. Throughout, we have been very pleased that MCPS Construction Div. has used every opportunity possible to make sure that the impact on the surrounding woods be mitigated and will continue to do when actual construction begins in January 2011. Plans up to this point have included working with the neighborhood pool to use their parking lot during the school year. They also worked closely with the Park and Planning group to redesign the site plans to place the facility closer to the front of the site so as to mitigate the impact on the surrounding woods. Similarly, they chose to omit a softball field from the plans in order to keep existing woods around the perimeter of the school site. In addition, after the school is completed, the surrounding woods will be turned into a Forest Conservation Preserve and turned over to Mont. Co. Park & Planning to be maintained as a protected green site for our neighborhood.
Ms. Carrier, I urge you and your Planning Board to please vote in favor of the new McKenney Hills school site plan # 420091330 when it is presented to you by the MCPS Construction Division. Please do not make our children wait another minute to attend school at this facility that they so desperately deserve and that our neighborhood so very much needs and wants.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
[Your Name]

[Anonymous]

Thanks! I'll email my letter tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

bump

[Anonymous]

Also, please parents, if you feel comfortable doing so...spread the word!

[Anonymous]

Bump

[Anonymous]

Just a note that the meeting is this Thursday (October 28th), so tomorrow is the last day to send in a letter!

Thanks for your consideration on this important issue!

[Anonymous]

Is there any Plan B, like an alternate site, or is the plan to keep sending the overflow to Sligo Middle School????????

[Anonymous]

No, there is no plan B. The group of people opposing this construction formed an ad hoc group just a few weeks ago. Who knows what will happen if this delays construction of the school.

Anyone wanting to attend the Planning Board meeting it is TODAY! October 28th...2:30. Look at the Montgomery County Planning Board website for more information. If you can make it out that would be great and helpful. County officials NEED to hear from concerned parents and even being a face in the crowd can help.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

This isn't my child's school, but I'm curious to hear how the meeting went.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to everyone who wrote! The Planning Board voted to approve the Forest Preservation Plan (the county submitted plan that had some detractors) and move ahead with the construction! This is great news for those who support building the school on time. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that there aren't any other obstacles along the way to breaking ground in January.

[Anonymous]

And now Jerry Weast is putting a cell phone tower at Sligo Middle School

[Anonymous]

And now Jerry Weast is putting a cell phone tower at Sligo Middle School

What? Is this a fund raising move? I'm pretty ignorant about cell towers, but aren't there studies that say it is dangerous to be too close to one? Why would they put one where our dear children spend the bulk of their day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And now Jerry Weast is putting a cell phone tower at Sligo Middle School

What? Is this a fund raising move? I'm pretty ignorant about cell towers, but aren't there studies that say it is dangerous to be too close to one? Why would they put one where our dear children spend the bulk of their day?

Welcome to Montgomery County Public Schools. Haven't you seen the cell tower on the playground at Daly Elementary School? You have no say in the placement of cell towers on school land. Jerry Weast puts the cell towers where ever he wants and Sligo Middle School is next. The money from the cell towers goes into a slush fund for the local principals. The money doesn't go to pay for teachers or textbooks.

The Board of Education never votes on these placements. They have turned over all of the decision making to Jerry Weast and he signs the cell tower leases in the name of the Board of Education.

This is how the elected Board of Education represents constituents - by ignoring their responsibility.