Gov. Larry Hogan extended the closure of public schools due to the COVID-19 emergency, and Montgomery County Public Schools began distributing laptops to students needing them for distance learning. The closures are in effect until at least April 24 and all extracurricular programs, athletic programs are cancelled.
A Puerto Rico-based university will consolidate and expand its local offerings in the Inventa Towers in downtown Silver Spring. Ana G. Méndez University has agreed to lease 28,500 square feet of space in the former Discovery headquarters and plans a May 2020 opening, according to a press release from the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation.
County students in grades six through 12 can win up to $750 in a contest seeking video public service announcements about the dangers of vaping. Healthy Montgomery, the county’s community health improvement program, and Montgomery County Public Schools are cosponsoring the contest as part of an anti-vaping tobacco prevention campaign in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services.
Councilmember Evan Glass (D-At Large) has introduced the Housing Impact Fairness Tax (Bill 34-19) that would, under certain conditions, tax new home construction following the demolition of an existing single-family home. Co-sponsored by Councilmember Will Jawando (D-At Large), the bill would earmark the new revenue for school construction and affordable housing initiatives.
The Montgomery County Sports Hall of Fame will induct its first class of local honorees at 6 p.m. tonight (Friday, Sept. 13) in the Silver Spring Civic Building, the organization announced. Five athletes and one coach will be recognized during the ceremony.
As yet, the school board and MCPS officials are not free of political pressures. As of early August 2019, the school board had delayed consideration and award of the consulting contract intended to investigate the boundary issue.
While boundary change is likely to remain emotive however it is pursued, focusing on the process over the outcome could address the most trenchant opposition: a) periodic review and adjustment of boundaries, and b) an independent and binding review commission in charge of the process.
So, are the current efforts to revisit boundary change evidence of an emerging new coalition? The clearest proponents of boundary change appear to be MCPS students themselves.
Rachel Carson Elementary School has been a particularly egregious case demonstrating the need for boundary change. The school has been overcrowded by hundreds of students for over a decade, but the community has rejected boundary change that would reassign students to one of five other underenrolled schools within two miles.