Reply to Town of Chevy Chase responsible for loss of CCES computer lab

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[quote=Anonymous]In this case, it really appears that the Town Mayor and staff took all this action without including the CCES Principal.  Instead, the Town contacted the MCPS people in charge of building/construction, and negotiated with them.  As a result, decisions were made without considering the instructional impact.  I think this is why parents are upset.  There are also some differences between Town residents -- some see the public school as an intrusion and not as a benefit to the neighborhood since they send their kids to private schools.  Others Town residents are highly supportive of public education, whether or not they send their children there.  So there is some suspicion that the Mayor's actions reveal that she favors those residents who do not support the public school.  Overall, I would say that the vast majority of neighbors still send their kids to public school.  I think it's lame that the Town mayor would hold these meetings without consulting with the Principal and the broader community before working out a jointly agreeable plan both for trailer placement AND for communication of these issues to both the Town residents and CCES parent/student community.   That seems like Governance 101 -- be transparent, coordinate with all the stakeholders, and announce compromises jointly to the public.

Due to the failure of the Mayor to coordinate properly, everyone has wasted a lot of time gossiping about what is going on and speculating about motives, etc.    ( I should say the same for the Principal, who appears not to be coordinating very well herself if the CC community didn't know that the trailers were only going to be a temporary solution.)

FWIW, the computer lab was part of a deal that was made long ago when the community agreed to paired school arrangements linking CCES, NCC, BE and RHPS and splitting schools K-2 and 3-6.  As part of that deal, community members argued that MCPS should provide increased academic support and programs to make the pairing successful.  CCES and RHPS had special math/science/technology status with some increased academic and physical supports in these areas as well as the ability to retain the 6th grade at the elementary level.  Over the years, these programs and funding have been eliminated although the pairing arrangement remains.  Really, the only remnant of those times is the computer lab.

The original plan was to put the 2 6th grade classes in the trailers until they move to the newly constructed school.  This actually seemed to be a sort of nice plan since the 6th graders will be leaving anyway.

As a broader Chevy Chase resident, I actually find it rather odd that the Town Council believes that the community's desire to use the "field" at CCES should carry so much weight.  I am unaware of other schools where the community's desire to use school fields can actually impact the way the school runs.  The school fields were never converted park property as far as I know, as it was with the Rock Creek Hills site.  Now, knowing that both the State and the Town contributed money to the renovation of the field and playground, it seems clear that the Town essentially feels that they "bought" a share in these facilities and should have the ability to say what can and cannot be done with them. 
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