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Styrofoam lunch trays are bad for the planet, several students from Piney Branch Elementary School told the county school board Monday. They want the Styrofoam replaced with reusable plastic trays.

The students, who are members of the Takoma Park school's Young Activists Club, testified to the board during its meeting in Rockville that the Styrofoam trays used at the school contain neurotoxins that are released into the air when they are burned after use.

The neurotoxins are bad for the environment, said the students, who have circulated a petition to have Styrofoam banned from the school and have raised $10,000 toward the purchase of a new dishwasher to clean reusable trays.

The school system estimates it would cost roughly $57,000 to buy the dishwasher; the students estimate a $6,550 price tag.

"We don't need a Cadillac of a dishwasher for our pilot project," Julian Parish-Katz, a rising sixth-grader at Takoma Park Middle School who attended Piney Branch last year, told the school board.

For Margot Bloch, a rising fourth-grader at Piney Branch, the switch to reusable trays and purchasing a dishwasher would be practical.

"The dishwasher uses only a small amount of water — about 1 gallon for each rack of trays — and it only takes about one minute to wash them," Bloch told the board. "Doing a pilot project in our school is a good idea because it will save money and the environment."

Piney Branch spends roughly $8,700 per year on the Styrofoam trays, according to the students.

Last month, the Takoma Park City Council unanimously passed a resolution to support the efforts of the Piney Branch students. School board member Christopher S. Barclay, who lives in Takoma Park, has said he backs the students' plan.

Nadine Bloch, who also attends Piney Branch Elementary, wants the school system to track the savings and costs associated with using the plastic trays. Also, she said, the cost of using plastic is cheaper than paying to drive the Styrofoam trays to the incinerator to be burned.

"In its first year, our pilot will save the school system money, not cost you money," said Heather DeMocker, a rising sixth-grader at Takoma Park Middle School who attended Piney Branch last year.

Montgomery College partnership

Montgomery College has partnered with the University of Maryland University College on a pilot program that would give some scholarship money and support from a resource adviser to students transferring from the county's two-year community college to the four-year college in Adelphi.

The program is funded through a donation from Evelyn Bata, who works at UMUC and is a member of its board of visitors.

"Many students who transfer to UMUC after graduating from a community college need focused assistance in the area of academic support, and this generous contribution promises to help us provide that support — along with significant tuition assistance — in a program tailored specifically to the needs of these students," UMUC President Susan C. Aldridge said in a statement.

Bata is giving $250,000 to the college over a three-year period. Eligible Montgomery College students must have at least 40 credits. Preference will be given to students enrolled in information technology, homeland security or accounting.

The resource adviser will have regular contact with the transferring students, beginning with their registration at UMUC. Additional money will be provided to cover the cost of textbooks and other supplies.

Community superintendent appointed

Bronda L. Mills, who most recently served as a director in the school system's Office of School Performance, was appointed Monday as community superintendent of the Downcounty Consortium, which covers the Montgomery Blair, Albert Einstein, Northwood and John F. Kennedy clusters.

Mills replaces Heath E. Morrison, who left the county school system to be the new superintendent of the Washoe County school system in Reno, Nev.

Prior to coming to Montgomery County, Mills was director of Middle School Initiatives for the Maryland State Department of Education from 2000 to 2006.

From 1997 to 2000, she was the principal of Sudbrook Magnet Middle School in Baltimore County.

Staff writer Jeremy Arias contributed to this report.