Seven Locks: Take 2

Controversy subsides temporarily as task force puts all options back on table for new elementary school

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Laurie DeWitt⁄The Gazette Carah Abod, 10, testified in favor of rebuilding her school, Seven Locks Elementary, at its current Seven Locks Road site before the Montgomery County Council on March 7. She awaits word from a task force of county officials examining the pros and cons of rebuilding the school or constructing a new one at nearby Kendale Road.

After years of contentious argument, it offered a couple weeks cooling off period as options are evaluated for rebuilding the school at its current location on Seven Locks Road.

‘‘My reaction was, this is a good thing, let [the task force] regroup and figure out how to proceed now,” said Bert Klein, president of the Potomac Elementary School PTA, which voted earlier this month to build the new school at its current site. ‘‘There’s no point in looking back, dwelling on the past. We know [county officials] are listening to our concerns.”

The Potomac Elementary PTA now joins the Seven Locks Elementary PTA in asking the county to build the new school on Seven Locks Road. The new school with a core capacity of 740 students will serve both Seven Locks students as well as about 150 students from overcrowded Potomac Elementary.

The rebuilding option is also favored by the Save Seven Locks Coalition, an advocacy group long opposed to the Kendale site and vocal about its perceptions that county officials ignored community concerns about closing a beloved neighborhood school and the suitability of the new site.

‘‘We welcomed the news the council, school board and MCPS are working together to find a solution for all concerned,” said Sandy Vogelgesang of the coalition.

‘‘We suggested doing this a year ago...of finding a way to reduce the tension, sitting down at the table and looking at all the needs and choices,” she said. ‘‘Obviously, people had gotten their backs up and were not communicating well.”

The six-member task force, comprising council and Montgomery County Public School staff, will report back to the Education Committee on March 23. But the school board and superintendent raised the possibility Tuesday that this task force will look at issues more far-reaching then the Seven Locks school.

County officials said the decision to put all options back on the table would delay opening of the new school from September 2007 to September 2008.

The school is willing to live with the delay, Klein said.

‘‘Some people felt that if we gave up the Kendale site then nothing would be built,” he said. ‘‘But ultimately, this is a replacement for Seven Locks. It will bring us relief, but in the final analysis, the opinion of Seven Locks should be paramount.”

A boundary study advisory group planned for Monday may be delayed since such studies are normally conducted a year in advance of a school opening.

‘‘In light of the [announcement], we’re evaluating the timing of the meeting,” said Bruce Crispell, MCPS director of long-range planning. ‘‘More information will follow at a later date.” Meanwhile, the council is also considering a $3.3 million appropriation to boost construction costs initially estimated at $14 million.

Last month, a myriad of developments contributed to putting the brakes on the momentum leading to the construction of a new school.

Councilman Howard A. Denis (R-Dist. 1) of Chevy Chase introduced on Feb. 28 a budget amendment to rebuild at the school’s current site, while Inspector General Thomas J. Dagley reported Feb. 15 that the school system failed to consider all its options.

But it was the public testimony at a council hearing last week that proved especially ‘‘powerful”, said Harlivleen Gil, president of Seven Locks Elementary PTA.

‘‘We know what our position is — keep Seven Locks at Seven Locks,” she said. ‘‘If the task force comes out with that decision, we’ll be happy.”

The March 7 hearing only highlighted the groundswell of support for that option, she said.

‘‘The council witnessed the overwhelming feeling against the Kendale site as person after person testified...and no voices spoke in favor of it,” Gil said. ‘‘It was a very powerful night.”

Carah Abod, of Potomac, a fifth-grader at the school, proved an especially effective speaker, she said.

‘‘I just told them how I feel,” 10-year-old Abod said in a telephone interview. ‘‘I said at the Kendale site there won’t be sidewalks so nobody can walk to school. The trees will have to be all cut down there, but at Seven Locks it’s already cleared.”

When asked if she knew of anyone in favor of the Kendale site, she reluctantly mentioned that some of her peers may back it.

‘‘The boys thought there will be more playground space at Kendale,” she said.