Proposal to close SSIMS in 2031

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS could've gutted and renovated the historic part of SSIMS years ago, not unlike the thorough renovation of the old B-CC HS. It's a shame because SSIMS is in a walkable neighborhood convenient to transit and close to downtown Silver Spring. A holding facility makes no sense.

Taylor thinks its proximity to the purple line makes it unsuitable for walkers. I guess that’s not an issue for a holding facility.

Years and years of planning to put purple line there and now suddenly Taylor says that is a problem?

Taylor just got here 2 years ago.

But has it ever come up before he got here? Is Taylor just smarter than everyone else or something?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS could've gutted and renovated the historic part of SSIMS years ago, not unlike the thorough renovation of the old B-CC HS. It's a shame because SSIMS is in a walkable neighborhood convenient to transit and close to downtown Silver Spring. A holding facility makes no sense.

Taylor thinks its proximity to the purple line makes it unsuitable for walkers. I guess that’s not an issue for a holding facility.

Years and years of planning to put purple line there and now suddenly Taylor says that is a problem?

Taylor just got here 2 years ago.

But has it ever come up before he got here? Is Taylor just smarter than everyone else or something?

Taylor has been here 1 year and 3 months.

Apparently he now makes all decisions by himself behind closed doors without the elected Board of Education.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]They are currently rebuilding SSIMS... what a waste. Taylor needs to go. [/quote]

They are NOT rebuilding SSIMS. Whatever work they were doing at SSIMS was cancelled in June. MCPS needs to do a lot of work at SSIMS just to keep it open for the next four years as SSIMS, and then for the holding school communities that will follow in that currently dilapidated, sick building. I don't understand how Taylor acts like that building is OK for a holding school.

[/quote]

lol are you ok? Have you seen the recent developments there? Prob not, but not. A sick building? Wow. Get the help you need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS could've gutted and renovated the historic part of SSIMS years ago, not unlike the thorough renovation of the old B-CC HS. It's a shame because SSIMS is in a walkable neighborhood convenient to transit and close to downtown Silver Spring. A holding facility makes no sense.

Taylor thinks its proximity to the purple line makes it unsuitable for walkers. I guess that’s not an issue for a holding facility.

Years and years of planning to put purple line there and now suddenly Taylor says that is a problem?

Taylor just got here 2 years ago.

But has it ever come up before he got here? Is Taylor just smarter than everyone else or something?

Taylor has been here 1 year and 3 months.

Apparently he now makes all decisions by himself behind closed doors without the elected Board of Education.

This is a proposal. The BOE would have to approve it, and the council would have to fund it.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]They are currently rebuilding SSIMS... what a waste. Taylor needs to go. [/quote]

They are NOT rebuilding SSIMS. Whatever work they were doing at SSIMS was cancelled in June. MCPS needs to do a lot of work at SSIMS just to keep it open for the next four years as SSIMS, and then for the holding school communities that will follow in that currently dilapidated, sick building. I don't understand how Taylor acts like that building is OK for a holding school.

[/quote]

lol are you ok? Have you seen the recent developments there? Prob not, but not. A sick building? Wow. Get the help you need.[/quote]

There is a new gym replacing the unused old Blair auditorium. Nothing else was rebuilt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Taylor did a little bit of research, he would have discovered that many Montgomery Blair parents back in 1997 wanted a large, band new high school campus equal to the newer school facilities MCPS was building at the time. But there were also parents and students against moving Montgomery Blair who preferred a renovation of the historic campus, and liked its central location. There was never a debate on whether or not the building/site itself was suitable for kids which is what he is insinuating. (Decades of deferred maintenance will of course make any building unsuitable for people of any age.)

The building and site are ideally located for a state-of-the-art, renovated, walkable, and transit friendly school to serve the community.

The old Blair property was never going to be big enough for the uber-large school that Blair was envisioned to become in the 1990s at its current campus.

I agree, but it's certainly big enough for a MS, the building just need to be upgraded/renovated. Does he ultimately want to lease or sell the land to make money or something? I am really struggling to understand the reasoning behind this proposal.

Probably or lease it. Mcps has a history of selling off valuable land.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS could've gutted and renovated the historic part of SSIMS years ago, not unlike the thorough renovation of the old B-CC HS. It's a shame because SSIMS is in a walkable neighborhood convenient to transit and close to downtown Silver Spring. A holding facility makes no sense.

Taylor thinks its proximity to the purple line makes it unsuitable for walkers. I guess that’s not an issue for a holding facility.

Years and years of planning to put purple line there and now suddenly Taylor says that is a problem?

Taylor just got here 2 years ago.

But has it ever come up before he got here? Is Taylor just smarter than everyone else or something?

Taylor has been here 1 year and 3 months.

Apparently he now makes all decisions by himself behind closed doors without the elected Board of Education.

This is a proposal. The BOE would have to approve it, and the council would have to fund it.

In recent years, has the BOE ever not approved something put forward by MCPS? Serious question.

I was willing to give some of the other recent proposals by MCPS a chance but this is just stupid and short sighted. It honestly makes me wonder if Taylor is in cahoots with developers who want the land.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS could've gutted and renovated the historic part of SSIMS years ago, not unlike the thorough renovation of the old B-CC HS. It's a shame because SSIMS is in a walkable neighborhood convenient to transit and close to downtown Silver Spring. A holding facility makes no sense.

Taylor thinks its proximity to the purple line makes it unsuitable for walkers. I guess that’s not an issue for a holding facility.

Schools all over Europe are located adjacent to tram lines. Students even ride the trams to school. For all the talk about smart growth, walkability, supporting public transit, etc., MCPS really lacks vision with this decision.

I’m with you on that. We are at SCES/ future SSIMS and have been excited about the purple line being right there, but….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, so they're going to make Eastern a 1500-student school and Sligo a 1200-student school? How does that compare to other middle schools in the county and can folks speak to the pros and cons of being at a middle schools that's that big?

And Option C has East Silver Spring ES move to SSIMS for middle school. This was not in the original 4 options. TPMS is the closest ES by far, SSIMS is still walkable, but Sligo/Einstein not at all.

These developments are hugely relevant to the boundary study.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, so they're going to make Eastern a 1500-student school and Sligo a 1200-student school? How does that compare to other middle schools in the county and can folks speak to the pros and cons of being at a middle schools that's that big?

And Option C has East Silver Spring ES move to SSIMS for middle school. This was not in the original 4 options. TPMS is the closest ES by far, SSIMS is still walkable, but Sligo/Einstein not at all.

These developments are hugely relevant to the boundary study.

Sligo/ Eastern

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS could've gutted and renovated the historic part of SSIMS years ago, not unlike the thorough renovation of the old B-CC HS. It's a shame because SSIMS is in a walkable neighborhood convenient to transit and close to downtown Silver Spring. A holding facility makes no sense.

Taylor thinks its proximity to the purple line makes it unsuitable for walkers. I guess that’s not an issue for a holding facility.

Years and years of planning to put purple line there and now suddenly Taylor says that is a problem?

Taylor just got here 2 years ago.

But has it ever come up before he got here? Is Taylor just smarter than everyone else or something?

Taylor has been here 1 year and 3 months.

Apparently he now makes all decisions by himself behind closed doors without the elected Board of Education.

This is a proposal. The BOE would have to approve it, and the council would have to fund it.

In recent years, has the BOE ever not approved something put forward by MCPS? Serious question.

I was willing to give some of the other recent proposals by MCPS a chance but this is just stupid and short sighted. It honestly makes me wonder if Taylor is in cahoots with developers who want the land.

If he wanted to sell the land, why would he want to convert it to a holding school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, so they're going to make Eastern a 1500-student school and Sligo a 1200-student school? How does that compare to other middle schools in the county and can folks speak to the pros and cons of being at a middle schools that's that big?

And Option C has East Silver Spring ES move to SSIMS for middle school. This was not in the original 4 options. TPMS is the closest ES by far, SSIMS is still walkable, but Sligo/Einstein not at all.

These developments are hugely relevant to the boundary study.

Yes- one option (I think it was B) had part of Flora SInger (that is very close to Sligo MS) move to SSIMS. Are they deliberately trying to be as disruptive as possible?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS could've gutted and renovated the historic part of SSIMS years ago, not unlike the thorough renovation of the old B-CC HS. It's a shame because SSIMS is in a walkable neighborhood convenient to transit and close to downtown Silver Spring. A holding facility makes no sense.

Taylor thinks its proximity to the purple line makes it unsuitable for walkers. I guess that’s not an issue for a holding facility.

Years and years of planning to put purple line there and now suddenly Taylor says that is a problem?

Taylor just got here 2 years ago.

But has it ever come up before he got here? Is Taylor just smarter than everyone else or something?

Taylor has been here 1 year and 3 months.

Apparently he now makes all decisions by himself behind closed doors without the elected Board of Education.

This is a proposal. The BOE would have to approve it, and the council would have to fund it.

In recent years, has the BOE ever not approved something put forward by MCPS? Serious question.

I was willing to give some of the other recent proposals by MCPS a chance but this is just stupid and short sighted. It honestly makes me wonder if Taylor is in cahoots with developers who want the land.

If he wanted to sell the land, why would he want to convert it to a holding school?

I assume PP means after the use as a holding school is up. There's no where else to put students during construction otherwsie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Taylor did a little bit of research, he would have discovered that many Montgomery Blair parents back in 1997 wanted a large, band new high school campus equal to the newer school facilities MCPS was building at the time. But there were also parents and students against moving Montgomery Blair who preferred a renovation of the historic campus, and liked its central location. There was never a debate on whether or not the building/site itself was suitable for kids which is what he is insinuating. (Decades of deferred maintenance will of course make any building unsuitable for people of any age.)

The building and site are ideally located for a state-of-the-art, renovated, walkable, and transit friendly school to serve the community.

Hey, it's east county, non-Takoma Park. So, you get ignored and marginalized.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I smell another boundary study!

Is it closing because of a LOT of pushback from vocal parents in neighborhoods where SSiMS was considered an option in the current boundary study? Can you imagine the horror of kids riding the purple line light rail from Bethesda through the "rough" parts to arrive SSIMS..?