You can't have it both ways. Montgomery County, wake up to this hypocrisy.

We call again on the County Council to take the Seven Locks site off the proposed list of potential housing sites.

Jay M. Weinstein, Bethesda

County officials are campaigning for more state funds to support school construction in Montgomery County. We voters applaud efforts to help meet admittedly critical educational needs in the county. At the same time, we ask that the County Council and Board of Education try their best to assure cost-savings right here in the county.

In that regard, we in the Seven Locks community of West Bethesda have been asking for months why county officials seem determined to close and tear down a perfectly good facility, Seven Locks Elementary School, and build a huge 740-student replacement school.

It makes no sense when -- contrary to school board assertions -- the full cost of that replacement school is likely to be twice as much as the proposed addition to Seven Locks ES -- an estimated $16-plus million versus less than $8 million. Why add to taxpayer burdens by closing a fine school and declaring the site surplus for a high-density housing development? What will we get, except more traffic gridlock and more children parked in school trailers?

Stop playing politics with our pocket books! Instead, keep school property for school kids and save Seven Locks. It is our beloved school, the center of our community, our only meeting place and the only large recreation area for our neighborhood children.

Carl Koenig, Bethesda

The writer is president, West Bradley Citizens' Association.