Board of Education Meeting: November 19, 2009

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Approval of the Agenda

Boundary Recommendations for East Silver Spring, Piney Branch, Sligo Creek, and Takoma Park Elementary Schools and Silver Spring International and Takoma Park Middle Schools

The Board voted on boundary changes at four elementary schools (East Silver Spring, Piney Branch, Sligo Creek, and Takoma Park) as well as Silver Spring International and Takoma Park middle schools.

The boundary changes will take effect in August 2010, when expansion projects at East Silver Spring and Takoma Park elementary schools are scheduled to open.

The changes are based on the recommendations of a Boundary Advisory Committee that met for three months and feedback from parents and community members. Dr. Weast presented his boundary change recommendation in October.

The Board adopted an alternative to the superintendent’s proposal.

Recommended Procedures for Considering Consolidation of Monocacy Elementary School at Poolesville Elementary School

The Board voted not to accept the superintendent’s recommendation to consolidate Monocacy Elementary School at Poolesville Elementary School, which would have saved more than $1 million a year in operating costs.

Board members asked that a discussion group be put together to investigate all available options to address the declining enrollment at Monocacy Elementary and the entire Poolesville cluster. The group will include representatives from the Clarksburg and Northwest clusters and will make recommendations to the superintendent.

Any plans to address enrollment in the Poolesville area will be made as part of CIP recommendations in 2010.

Superintendent's Recommended FY 2011 Capital Budget and the FY 2011-2016 Capital Improvements Program

The $1.49 billion Capital Improvements Program covers recommended projects for six years, FY 2011–2016. The plan includes a request for $253.2 million in expenditures for FY 2011, an increase of about 16 percent from previously approved allocations for next fiscal year.

Among the recommendations in the CIP:

• Expansion projects at Bradley Hills, Darnestown, Georgian Forest, Somerset, Viers Mill, Waters Landing, Westbrook, and Wyngate elementary schools and Clarksburg High School.
• Construction of a new elementary school and middle school in the Clarksburg Cluster.
• Infrastructure improvements at Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) facilities, including roof replacements and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance efforts.
• Countywide heating, ventilation and air conditioning replacement projects at several different district schools and facilities.

The CIP recommendation also calls for several schools to be modernized, as well as boundary and capacity studies for schools in different clusters around the county.

• See the Board's alternative for boundary changes
• Capital Improvements Program for Fiscal Years 2011-2016

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