A standing-room-only crowd almost entirely composed of supporters of Monocacy Elementary School filled a Board of Education public hearing last week to plead their case for not shutting down the school.

Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast announced Oct. 23 his recommendation to close the Dickerson school and consolidate it with Poolesville Elementary by August due to projected enrollment declines at both schools. The Board of Education is scheduled to vote on whether to approve the proposed procedures for closure and consolidation on Thursday.

Parents said they are not being given enough time to participate in the process and the school system has not provided sufficient evidence of why the school should be closed, and they asked the board to consider alternatives to increase enrollment in the rural cluster.

"[Monocacy] is a close-knit family and central to the surrounding community," Monocacy PTA President Dawn Albert said. "The school is academically and socially successful and has been for 50 years. Such a success should be applauded, not have its doors closed."

The Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations is concerned that the proposed closure procedures do not provide enough time for adequate community input or consideration of the recommendation's implications, President Kay Romero wrote in her testimony to the board.

Parents have sent the school system a Maryland Public Information Act request to learn more about the recommendation, Poolesville Cluster Coordinator Sarah Defnet said.

"You, the elected members of the board, need to know that the distrust felt in our extended community about the manner in which this decision was reached and communicated is palpable," said Barbara Davidson of Barnesville, parent of a former Monocacy student.

Parents said they are concerned Poolesville Elementary could become overcrowded with students from Monocacy and because of future development in Poolesville, which school planners did not factor into the cluster's six-year enrollment projections. If students from both schools were at Poolesville Elementary this school year, the facility would be at 102 percent capacity.

Boardmember Laura Berthiaume asked whether Poolesville Elementary would be a priority if and when it needs a four- to six-room addition as anticipated in Weast's recommendation.

"We'll have to get back to you on that because it will depend on how overcrowded other schools are at the time," said Joseph Lavorgna, acting director of facilities management.

The Clarksburg cluster would support a liberal transfer policy allowing interested Clarksburg students to attend Monocacy, Cluster Coordinator Donna Pfeiffer said.

Highlights from upcounty cluster coordinators' testimony on Superintendant Jerry D. Weast's recommended fiscal 2011 capital budget and fiscal 2011-16 Capital Improvements Program. For a full list of upcounty testimony, visit www.gazette.net.

Gaithersburg

-Supports modernizing Gaithersburg High.

-Requests that the school system keep planned modernizations on schedule, perform regular routine maintainence of school facilities, modernize schools as "green" buildings to achieve energy efficiency and accelerate bids for school modernizations to take advantage of construction market.

Watkins Mill

-Supports building a classroom addition at Whetstone Elementary and renovating bathrooms at South Lake Elementary, Watkins Mill Elementary and Watkins Mill High.

-Concerns include rocky and uneven athletic field, leaky roof, worn carpets, broken floor tiles and bathrooms in need of renovation at Montgomery Village Middle; incomplete gymnasium lights, warped and damaged gymnasium floor, antiquated lockers, moldy and torn carpets and the need for exterior lights at the rear of Neelsville Middle; and old auditorium sound system, leaky roof and windows that do not function properly at Watkins Mill High.

Quince Orchard

-Supports completing interior modifications at Ridgeview Middle and keeping the modernization of Brown Station Elementary on schedule.

-Concerns include overcrowding at Rachel Carson Elementary and pedestrian safety problems at Thurgood Marshall Elementary.