New development next to our over capacity ES

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The county council has approved construction of a huge new apartment complex in our neighborhood, but our local ES is already over capacity with no new updates/improvements on the horizon. Do the council and MCPS talk to each other about this sort of thing? How do they approve these types of projects without having a plan on where the kids can go (besides adding portables which is not a solution). There doesn’t seem to be any thought as to the long term impacts to our schools……

Portables ARE the permanent solution in MCPS. County council loves them and has been using them for 45 years. Schools will always be overcrowded. The council loves the optics of looking like poor Montgomery county needs more money for its sad overcrowded schools.
Overcrowded schools are needed to get the budget increased every year. MCPS is then free to waste as much money as they like.
Next year schools will still be overcrowded and MCPS will go back and cry for more money again.

This. Look at Einstein and RM. Permanent portables.

I agree hat the county council loves to ask for more money, while the BOE and MCPS waste so much money on useless initiatives.

For example, the new high schools at Woodward and Crown...

They're probably talking about the endless antibias audits and studies that never go anywhere or emotional wellness programs like Leader in me.

Both will open over capacity.

No school opens over capacity.

LOL you are in the wrong forum. This is MCPS where the portables arrive when a school opens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The county council has approved construction of a huge new apartment complex in our neighborhood, but our local ES is already over capacity with no new updates/improvements on the horizon. Do the council and MCPS talk to each other about this sort of thing? How do they approve these types of projects without having a plan on where the kids can go (besides adding portables which is not a solution). There doesn’t seem to be any thought as to the long term impacts to our schools……

Portables ARE the permanent solution in MCPS. County council loves them and has been using them for 45 years. Schools will always be overcrowded. The council loves the optics of looking like poor Montgomery county needs more money for its sad overcrowded schools.
Overcrowded schools are needed to get the budget increased every year. MCPS is then free to waste as much money as they like.
Next year schools will still be overcrowded and MCPS will go back and cry for more money again.

This. Look at Einstein and RM. Permanent portables.

I agree hat the county council loves to ask for more money, while the BOE and MCPS waste so much money on useless initiatives.

For example, the new high schools at Woodward and Crown...

They're probably talking about the endless antibias audits and studies that never go anywhere or emotional wellness programs like Leader in me.

Both will open over capacity.

No school opens over capacity.

LOL you are in the wrong forum. This is MCPS where the portables arrive when a school opens.

BS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The county council has approved construction of a huge new apartment complex in our neighborhood, but our local ES is already over capacity with no new updates/improvements on the horizon. Do the council and MCPS talk to each other about this sort of thing? How do they approve these types of projects without having a plan on where the kids can go (besides adding portables which is not a solution). There doesn’t seem to be any thought as to the long term impacts to our schools……

OP, the county council does not approve construction, that's not how it works.

What is your neighborhood? Which is your local ES?

OP here- they may not “approve” it but they are all for it and even have a goal of adding 40k new housing units across the county. My question is how are these decisions made and how can we as a community protect our schools from being more crowded than they already are? We already have several portables and this will only add significantly more….

You build more schools.

With population growth, there's always the need for more housing. Next you build more schools. Don't view it as "protecting schools," which sounds like staking a claim to a public good to me.

[Anonymous]

Why build more schools when you can just add a bunch of portables to the existing ones? Seems like an easier solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The county council has approved construction of a huge new apartment complex in our neighborhood, but our local ES is already over capacity with no new updates/improvements on the horizon. Do the council and MCPS talk to each other about this sort of thing? How do they approve these types of projects without having a plan on where the kids can go (besides adding portables which is not a solution). There doesn’t seem to be any thought as to the long term impacts to our schools……

OP, the county council does not approve construction, that's not how it works.

What is your neighborhood? Which is your local ES?

OP here- they may not “approve” it but they are all for it and even have a goal of adding 40k new housing units across the county. My question is how are these decisions made and how can we as a community protect our schools from being more crowded than they already are? We already have several portables and this will only add significantly more….

You build more schools.

With population growth, there's always the need for more housing. Next you build more schools. Don't view it as "protecting schools," which sounds like staking a claim to a public good to me.

That would be ideal, but MCPS doesn't just build more schools. They have a whole bunch of studies, and then nothing. Or they put portables. Or modules. Or nothing. Just take a look at Ashburton Elementary School for example

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MoCo expects 200,000 people to move in over the next 25 or so years. Gotta go somewhere. The council and planning have thrown their hands up at MCPS' lack of effort to manage their end of it.

They can limit building -> housing crunch

They can fund school facility needs -> increased taxes or budget crunch

They can do neither -> overcrowded schools

My guess is #3. They don't really care about this aspect of education and haven't for a couple of decades.

The approved six-year MCPS Capital Improvement Plan is $1.771 billion, including funding for the planning, design, and/or construction of 10 elementary school capacity projects, 3 middle school capacity projects, 4 high school capacity projects, and 11 major capital projects—5 at the elementary school level, 2 at the middle school level, and 4 at the high school level.

Oddly, OP still hasn't told us which school and which building project they're complaining about. Which is odd, because it's not possible to answer OP's questions without that information. Without it, all we know is that there is supposedly some Title 1 elementary school somewhere in Montgomery County which is over capacity and is near a site where a "huge new apartment complex" is supposed to be built.

For reference, the Title 1 elementary schools in 2023 are Arcola, Bel Pre, Brookhaven, Brown Station, Burnt Mills, Clopper Mill, Cresthaven, Capt. James Daly, Fairland, Gaithersburg, Galway, Georgian Forest, Greencastle, Harmony Hills, Highland, Jackson Road, JoAnn Leleck, Kemp Mill, Lake Seneca, New Hampshire Estates, Roscoe Nix, Oakview, Rolling Terrace, Sargent Shriver, South Lake, Stedwick, Strathmore, Summit Hall, Twinbrook, Viers Mill, Washington Grove, Watkins Mill, Weller Road, Wheaton Woods, Whetstone.

Of these Title 1 (in 2023) elementary schools, here are the ones that were over capacity in the fall of 2021: Burnt Mills (but a new addition will be finished in August 2023), Gaithersburg (but Harriet Tubman ES opened in August 2022), Greencastle (but a new addition will be finished in August 2025), JoAnn Leleck (Cresthaven and Roscoe Nix were supposed to get additions, but that didn't work; now there is a site selection process for a new grade 3-5 elementary school), Lake Seneca, Oakview, Sargent Shriver, South Lake (but there's an approved addition, which still might not be enough and then there might be boundary changes), Summit Hall (but Harriet Tubman ES opened in August 2022), Watkins Mill.

Does anyone know of a "huge new apartment complex" that is supposed to be built within the boundaries of JoAnn Leleck ES, Lake Seneca ES, Oakview ES, Sargent Shriver ES, South Lake ES, or Watkins Mill ES?

Not OP but I assume this is what they are talking about. This housing complex will be in the boundaries for Sargent Shriver ES which is definitely over capacity and already has 9 portables. The Randolph Road Community with have 195 “deeply affordable” homes, many with 3-4 bedrooms.

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2023/01/montgomery-co-breaks-ground-on-randolph-road-community-affordable-housing-development/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MoCo expects 200,000 people to move in over the next 25 or so years. Gotta go somewhere. The council and planning have thrown their hands up at MCPS' lack of effort to manage their end of it.

They can limit building -> housing crunch

They can fund school facility needs -> increased taxes or budget crunch

They can do neither -> overcrowded schools

My guess is #3. They don't really care about this aspect of education and haven't for a couple of decades.

The approved six-year MCPS Capital Improvement Plan is $1.771 billion, including funding for the planning, design, and/or construction of 10 elementary school capacity projects, 3 middle school capacity projects, 4 high school capacity projects, and 11 major capital projects—5 at the elementary school level, 2 at the middle school level, and 4 at the high school level.

Oddly, OP still hasn't told us which school and which building project they're complaining about. Which is odd, because it's not possible to answer OP's questions without that information. Without it, all we know is that there is supposedly some Title 1 elementary school somewhere in Montgomery County which is over capacity and is near a site where a "huge new apartment complex" is supposed to be built.

For reference, the Title 1 elementary schools in 2023 are Arcola, Bel Pre, Brookhaven, Brown Station, Burnt Mills, Clopper Mill, Cresthaven, Capt. James Daly, Fairland, Gaithersburg, Galway, Georgian Forest, Greencastle, Harmony Hills, Highland, Jackson Road, JoAnn Leleck, Kemp Mill, Lake Seneca, New Hampshire Estates, Roscoe Nix, Oakview, Rolling Terrace, Sargent Shriver, South Lake, Stedwick, Strathmore, Summit Hall, Twinbrook, Viers Mill, Washington Grove, Watkins Mill, Weller Road, Wheaton Woods, Whetstone.

Of these Title 1 (in 2023) elementary schools, here are the ones that were over capacity in the fall of 2021: Burnt Mills (but a new addition will be finished in August 2023), Gaithersburg (but Harriet Tubman ES opened in August 2022), Greencastle (but a new addition will be finished in August 2025), JoAnn Leleck (Cresthaven and Roscoe Nix were supposed to get additions, but that didn't work; now there is a site selection process for a new grade 3-5 elementary school), Lake Seneca, Oakview, Sargent Shriver, South Lake (but there's an approved addition, which still might not be enough and then there might be boundary changes), Summit Hall (but Harriet Tubman ES opened in August 2022), Watkins Mill.

Does anyone know of a "huge new apartment complex" that is supposed to be built within the boundaries of JoAnn Leleck ES, Lake Seneca ES, Oakview ES, Sargent Shriver ES, South Lake ES, or Watkins Mill ES?

Not OP but I assume this is what they are talking about. This housing complex will be in the boundaries for Sargent Shriver ES which is definitely over capacity and already has 9 portables. The Randolph Road Community with have 195 “deeply affordable” homes, many with 3-4 bedrooms.

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2023/01/montgomery-co-breaks-ground-on-randolph-road-community-affordable-housing-development/

Looks like they could reassign some Shriver students to Wheaton Woods, Highland, and/or Viers Mill, all of which are adjacent and are projected to continue to have seats available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The county council has approved construction of a huge new apartment complex in our neighborhood, but our local ES is already over capacity with no new updates/improvements on the horizon. Do the council and MCPS talk to each other about this sort of thing? How do they approve these types of projects without having a plan on where the kids can go (besides adding portables which is not a solution). There doesn’t seem to be any thought as to the long term impacts to our schools……

OP, the county council does not approve construction, that's not how it works.

What is your neighborhood? Which is your local ES?

OP here- they may not “approve” it but they are all for it and even have a goal of adding 40k new housing units across the county. My question is how are these decisions made and how can we as a community protect our schools from being more crowded than they already are? We already have several portables and this will only add significantly more….

You build more schools.

With population growth, there's always the need for more housing. Next you build more schools. Don't view it as "protecting schools," which sounds like staking a claim to a public good to me.

That would be ideal, but MCPS doesn't just build more schools. They have a whole bunch of studies, and then nothing. Or they put portables. Or modules. Or nothing. Just take a look at Ashburton Elementary School for example

MCPS has been building a lot more new schools, as well as additions to schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MoCo expects 200,000 people to move in over the next 25 or so years. Gotta go somewhere. The council and planning have thrown their hands up at MCPS' lack of effort to manage their end of it.

They can limit building -> housing crunch

They can fund school facility needs -> increased taxes or budget crunch

They can do neither -> overcrowded schools

My guess is #3. They don't really care about this aspect of education and haven't for a couple of decades.

The approved six-year MCPS Capital Improvement Plan is $1.771 billion, including funding for the planning, design, and/or construction of 10 elementary school capacity projects, 3 middle school capacity projects, 4 high school capacity projects, and 11 major capital projects—5 at the elementary school level, 2 at the middle school level, and 4 at the high school level.

Oddly, OP still hasn't told us which school and which building project they're complaining about. Which is odd, because it's not possible to answer OP's questions without that information. Without it, all we know is that there is supposedly some Title 1 elementary school somewhere in Montgomery County which is over capacity and is near a site where a "huge new apartment complex" is supposed to be built.

For reference, the Title 1 elementary schools in 2023 are Arcola, Bel Pre, Brookhaven, Brown Station, Burnt Mills, Clopper Mill, Cresthaven, Capt. James Daly, Fairland, Gaithersburg, Galway, Georgian Forest, Greencastle, Harmony Hills, Highland, Jackson Road, JoAnn Leleck, Kemp Mill, Lake Seneca, New Hampshire Estates, Roscoe Nix, Oakview, Rolling Terrace, Sargent Shriver, South Lake, Stedwick, Strathmore, Summit Hall, Twinbrook, Viers Mill, Washington Grove, Watkins Mill, Weller Road, Wheaton Woods, Whetstone.

Of these Title 1 (in 2023) elementary schools, here are the ones that were over capacity in the fall of 2021: Burnt Mills (but a new addition will be finished in August 2023), Gaithersburg (but Harriet Tubman ES opened in August 2022), Greencastle (but a new addition will be finished in August 2025), JoAnn Leleck (Cresthaven and Roscoe Nix were supposed to get additions, but that didn't work; now there is a site selection process for a new grade 3-5 elementary school), Lake Seneca, Oakview, Sargent Shriver, South Lake (but there's an approved addition, which still might not be enough and then there might be boundary changes), Summit Hall (but Harriet Tubman ES opened in August 2022), Watkins Mill.

Does anyone know of a "huge new apartment complex" that is supposed to be built within the boundaries of JoAnn Leleck ES, Lake Seneca ES, Oakview ES, Sargent Shriver ES, South Lake ES, or Watkins Mill ES?

Not OP but I assume this is what they are talking about. This housing complex will be in the boundaries for Sargent Shriver ES which is definitely over capacity and already has 9 portables. The Randolph Road Community with have 195 “deeply affordable” homes, many with 3-4 bedrooms.

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2023/01/montgomery-co-breaks-ground-on-randolph-road-community-affordable-housing-development/

Thank you, PP! It's interesting that OP didn't specify this (if this is, indeed, what OP is complaining about). It's also interesting that OP referred to it as "a huge new apartment complex" and left out the parts where actually some of them will be owner-occupied because Habitat for Humanity is involved with the project. (Not that there's anything wrong with rentals or renters.)

In any case, as the other PP said, MCPS can easily address the capacity problem by reassigning the area to Viers Mill ES (280 seats). Highland ES and Weller Road ES are also nearby and under capacity. No kids living in this development will be walkers anyway, regardless of which elementary school they're assigned to, because it's surrounded on all sides by huge roads (Randolph, Veirs Mill, Connecticut).