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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Stupid question, why don't they just tear down the structure and build a more modern one? Many area schools have been completely rebuilt. Recent one was Woodlin ES in Silver Spring. Do they only focus on ES, until overcrowding becomes an issue at a MS or HS - such as a new HS that will be near Walter Johnson HS in North (!) Bethesda/Rockville.[/quote]

They don't really need to, as far as I understand. The bones of the building are fine. It's just sort of the wrong size and shape for a middle school and there was a plan to do a comprehensive fix that would have also relocated the elementary school that is co-located with the middle school right now.

However, belt tightening made the project smaller, and a [b]botched[/b] rollout of the elementary school relocation [b]panicked a bunch of families[/b], so the plan got scratched and a smaller renovation is underway.[/quote]

They deliberately did not consider options suggested that could actually have served the community instead of splitting them between yet another ancient building with inadequate refurbishments (Parkside) and one expanded to decimate playground space on already-minimal property that would be overcapacity from day 1 (HVES).  "Botched" is accurate.  "Panicked," indicating an irrational reaction, is not.

It seems they use that, "We'll give you this broken thing -- how's that?  No good?  Oh, well, I suppose we can't help you then." ploy to torpedo anything not in their preferred plan of action.  Like that smaller renovation that doesn't come close to bringing the SSIMS facility up to the standard of any other middle school with recent improvement, pandemic exigencies notwithstanding (the plan was so even before Covid).[/quote]

I'm the PP and a SCES parent, and I used "panicked" not to imply an irrational response but because the announcement was so sudden. Even as someone who pays attention at PTA meetings and on the neighborhood list, it seemed like the Parkside idea dropped out of the clear blue sky, and then was presented to the parent community as a fait accompli despite the fact that it would have required either the relocation of the French program (fine) or a boundary revision (also fine, but never explained). [/quote]

Understood.  Apologies for any misinterpretation of "panicked."  I think the other aspects -- another limited renovation for the area (delivering conditions below other projects), additional crowding at HVES, etc./the things that tended to hint, "We don't really want to be bothered to bring you something equtable," -- were worse than an immersion program move or boundary changes.[/quote]

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