New Middle School Site Selection Released

The board of education and Dr. Weast released yesterday the recommendation that a new middle school to serve the eastern half of the BCC cluster be built on the site of the current Coffield Center and park.

The site was identified by a group of parents who represented each of the PTAs in the cluster and MCPS staff as being the best available for a new school. Among the considerations used are the size of the lot, which is quite a hurdle in this very congested area. MCPS recommends that a middle school have 20 acres of land.

Neighbors have been very surprised to find out that the parkland they have grown accostomed to, and indeed purchased their homes for, may be in jeopardy. As is often the case, MCPS has done a terrible job explaining the process and has left these neighbors feeling like this recommendation is a done deal and the true process was hidden away.

These feelings have been compounded by the rush to bring this recommendation to a vote on Monday, March 28.

Having spent more time than I like on MCPS facilities issues, I am not surprised at the recommendation to try to locate the school at Coffield Center: Show me another parcel in the cluster that matches it for size, county ownership and accessibilty via Grubb Road/Lyttonsville.

However, I would like to see the Board of Education delay this vote and send the planning office out to meet with the community to explicitly explain the process of site selection and the process for feasibility studies going forward.

Neighbors are concerned that a new building will be dropped in their midst tomorrow and want to know what it will look like, where it will go, how many kids and buses, where the entrance will be and how much greenspace will remain.

MCPS has not figured any of these things out yet, but the process is so confusing that anyone who has not spent way too much time with the CIP would not know that all this recommendation is is the first step in a multi year process. Literally all the site selection committee does is point to the most likely piece of land and recommend it.

So, MCPS/BOE - delay this vote, take some time to explain the process to the neighborhood and then decide if this really is the best site.