We did get an announcement on the listserv about the meeting from the PTA president. This is taken directly from the email.

That official reported to the Town that some other schools (like Bethesda Elementary) were eliminating their computer labs as a result of tech mod, and that that room could substitute for one of the portables without harming CCES. This is a blatently false statement, it took 5 minutes of searching on Google to find that this was not true.


Bethesda Elementary has a computer labs in their proposed plan (page 6a)

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/schools/bethesdaes/news/PPB%20Final%2004-09-13(2).pdf

Rock Creek Forest has a computer lab in their proposed plans (page 6a)

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/agenda/2011-12/2012-0614/8.0%20Prelim%20Plans%20Rock%20Creek%20Forest%20ES%20Mod%20Project.pdf

NCC is also getting a tech mod and they are not losing their computer lab.

So why is CCES having to cram all our computer lab equipment into classrooms and media center? Because the Town of Chevy Chase does not want to view a portable? Or is it that MCPS does not want to pay for a second portable?

Anonymous wrote:

The next Town meeting is TONIGHT, Wednesday, June 11th at 7pm at the Lawton Center. Many parents and Town residents will attend to ask questions and make comments. I imagine news media are welcome as well, as this is an open, government meeting.

Some useful questions for the Town Mayor (and CCES Principal, if she is there) -- how many meetings did the Mayor or other CCES Town officials hold with MCPS officials about the portables (my understanding is that there were 2, but the Mayor, at least initially, tried to make it seem as if there was only one meeting at which MCPS magically and willingly offered to change the number of portables)? was the CCES Principal, Mrs. Smith, invited to all meetings with other MCPS officials about any issues that impact CCES? If not, why not? If so, but she declined, why did she decline to attend? What is the plan going forward for the Town and CCES to coordinate better? Will the Mayor ask for Mrs. Smith to be on the Town listserv so she can better understand the Town citizens? Will Principal Smith agree to meet with the Mayor and jointly develop a plan to inform Town residents about happenings at CCES, even inviting their input when appropriate? Will the Mayor agree to contact the CCES Principal directly and initially in all matters involving the school and not immediately go over her head or laterally to another MCPS office in order to cut her out?

CCES is not on the meeting agenda.

http://www.townofchevychase.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/06112014-211

(Which is not to say that people can't talk about it! Just that the Town didn't put it on the agenda.)

Both of my children attend CCES, we moved here from another school in Maryland. Communication from the school is very poor, and as parents we are rarely informed of anything. I heard such great things about this school and have been very disappointed by the lack of transparency. I don't know what the PTA does here, there is rarely any communication from them on the listserv other than upcoming events.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its true that the Town residents by and large don't sent their kids there, they primarily go to private schools.

CCES is basically a dog park for the wealthy to run their dogs nights and weekends. What's the education of your neighbor's children as opposed to having a large "open space" to run your designer dog?

You could not be more wrong. The large majority of parents here have their kids in MCPS.

Then why are they letting the Town government tell MCPS what the school can and can't do with the school's field?

Did you not read upthread? Because the Town paid part of the money to redo the field a number of years ago and because the Town turned to an old legal agreement made at the time of that contribution and basically threatened in a veiled not explicit way, that if MCPS didn't cooperate, the Town would raise objections that might have some legal foundation. That was enough, it seems, to make MCPS come back with a compromise offer to place only 1 portable. (Especially since they were exactly the same kind of legal objections that have tied up MCPS in court regarding the new middle school placement).

It seems, in light of a regular, every 5 years, technical modernization of the school that neither the Town nor the CCES parents knew about, that the school might have enough computers next year to do without the computer lab.

My question actually was, why do the parents who live in the Town of Chevy Chase and have children at Chevy Chase ES let the Town government tell MCPS what to do? Why not show up at the next Town meeting and yell? The Town government is supposed to be representing its residents.

The next Town meeting is TONIGHT, Wednesday, June 11th at 7pm at the Lawton Center. Many parents and Town residents will attend to ask questions and make comments. I imagine news media are welcome as well, as this is an open, government meeting.

Some useful questions for the Town Mayor (and CCES Principal, if she is there) -- how many meetings did the Mayor or other CCES Town officials hold with MCPS officials about the portables (my understanding is that there were 2, but the Mayor, at least initially, tried to make it seem as if there was only one meeting at which MCPS magically and willingly offered to change the number of portables)? was the CCES Principal, Mrs. Smith, invited to all meetings with other MCPS officials about any issues that impact CCES? If not, why not? If so, but she declined, why did she decline to attend? What is the plan going forward for the Town and CCES to coordinate better? Will the Mayor ask for Mrs. Smith to be on the Town listserv so she can better understand the Town citizens? Will Principal Smith agree to meet with the Mayor and jointly develop a plan to inform Town residents about happenings at CCES, even inviting their input when appropriate? Will the Mayor agree to contact the CCES Principal directly and initially in all matters involving the school and not immediately go over her head or laterally to another MCPS office in order to cut her out?

Portables are unaesthetic, and people in the Town of Chevy Chase shouldn't have to look at unaesthetic things. Or so I learn from the Gazette.

http://www.gazette.net/article/20140610/NEWS/140619873/1022/chevy-chase-school-to-get-portable-classroom&template=gazette

Anonymous wrote:

Well, it sounds like they are in the right. A deal is a deal. If they made a legal agreement then what is wrong with insisting it be honored?

The "deal" was an open space agreement signed in 1990. It is no longer valid because the equipment and improvements no longer exist. If the public schools were in violation then they would have to pay for the improvements that were funded.

Plus the deal was with the state-- not the Town.

I honestly don't know if the outcome is bad here or not, but the process stinks. Seems like MCPS and the Town both handled this badly.

Well, it sounds like they are in the right. A deal is a deal. If they made a legal agreement then what is wrong with insisting it be honored?

The "deal" was an open space agreement signed in 1990. It is no longer valid because the equipment and improvements no longer exist. If the public schools were in violation then they would have to pay for the improvements that were funded.

Something is very fishy about this whole deal. How a municipality can tell MCPS what they can or can't do on their property is very suspicious.

Did the school PTA advocate at all?

The PTA was not informed until AFTER the fact, the school administration did not inform the PTA or parents about what was happening until the final decision had been made.

My BFF lives in CC and is on the PTA board and some of the members are extremely upset while others think it is just a lost cause. The entire school community is very upset, the people who are most upset are the parents who live in the Town.

Anonymous wrote:I feel so sorry for those 6th grade kids who are going to be so far behind their peers in computer skills when they matriculate to Westland. All the other feeder schools will have provided computer labs for their kids.

Many 6th graders are all ready way ahead in the computer skills area that they likely will blend right in. Fear not!

Did the school PTA advocate at all?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My question actually was, why do the parents who live in the Town of Chevy Chase and have children at Chevy Chase ES let the Town government tell MCPS what to do? Why not show up at the next Town meeting and yell? The Town government is supposed to be representing its residents.

There is indeed an ongoing argument about this on the town listserve. The Town government intervened before discussing with the residents.

Oh, that's interesting. Thank you for the information.

In fact, I think they banned the discussion because it became too heated.

Even more interesting.

I love this. People in CC once banned a discussion about Halloween candy at school parties too. "Too heated" means it's not going the way they want. Shut it down before I lose....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My question actually was, why do the parents who live in the Town of Chevy Chase and have children at Chevy Chase ES let the Town government tell MCPS what to do? Why not show up at the next Town meeting and yell? The Town government is supposed to be representing its residents.

There is indeed an ongoing argument about this on the town listserve. The Town government intervened before discussing with the residents.

Oh, that's interesting. Thank you for the information.

In fact, I think they banned the discussion because it became too heated.

Even more interesting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its true that the Town residents by and large don't sent their kids there, they primarily go to private schools.

CCES is basically a dog park for the wealthy to run their dogs nights and weekends. What's the education of your neighbor's children as opposed to having a large "open space" to run your designer dog?

You could not be more wrong. The large majority of parents here have their kids in MCPS.

Then why are they letting the Town government tell MCPS what the school can and can't do with the school's field?

Did you not read upthread? Because the Town paid part of the money to redo the field a number of years ago and because the Town turned to an old legal agreement made at the time of that contribution and basically threatened in a veiled not explicit way, that if MCPS didn't cooperate, the Town would raise objections that might have some legal foundation. That was enough, it seems, to make MCPS come back with a compromise offer to place only 1 portable. (Especially since they were exactly the same kind of legal objections that have tied up MCPS in court regarding the new middle school placement).

It seems, in light of a regular, every 5 years, technical modernization of the school that neither the Town nor the CCES parents knew about, that the school might have enough computers next year to do without the computer lab.

Well, it sounds like they are in the right. A deal is a deal. If they made a legal agreement then what is wrong with insisting it be honored?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My question actually was, why do the parents who live in the Town of Chevy Chase and have children at Chevy Chase ES let the Town government tell MCPS what to do? Why not show up at the next Town meeting and yell? The Town government is supposed to be representing its residents.

There is indeed an ongoing argument about this on the town listserve. The Town government intervened before discussing with the residents.

Oh, that's interesting. Thank you for the information.

In fact, I think they banned the discussion because it became too heated.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My question actually was, why do the parents who live in the Town of Chevy Chase and have children at Chevy Chase ES let the Town government tell MCPS what to do? Why not show up at the next Town meeting and yell? The Town government is supposed to be representing its residents.

There is indeed an ongoing argument about this on the town listserve. The Town government intervened before discussing with the residents.

Oh, that's interesting. Thank you for the information.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its true that the Town residents by and large don't sent their kids there, they primarily go to private schools.

CCES is basically a dog park for the wealthy to run their dogs nights and weekends. What's the education of your neighbor's children as opposed to having a large "open space" to run your designer dog?

You could not be more wrong. The large majority of parents here have their kids in MCPS.

Then why are they letting the Town government tell MCPS what the school can and can't do with the school's field?

Did you not read upthread? Because the Town paid part of the money to redo the field a number of years ago and because the Town turned to an old legal agreement made at the time of that contribution and basically threatened in a veiled not explicit way, that if MCPS didn't cooperate, the Town would raise objections that might have some legal foundation. That was enough, it seems, to make MCPS come back with a compromise offer to place only 1 portable. (Especially since they were exactly the same kind of legal objections that have tied up MCPS in court regarding the new middle school placement).

It seems, in light of a regular, every 5 years, technical modernization of the school that neither the Town nor the CCES parents knew about, that the school might have enough computers next year to do without the computer lab.

My question actually was, why do the parents who live in the Town of Chevy Chase and have children at Chevy Chase ES let the Town government tell MCPS what to do? Why not show up at the next Town meeting and yell? The Town government is supposed to be representing its residents.

There is indeed an ongoing argument about this on the town listserve. The Town government intervened before discussing with the residents.