Weast wants $1.5 billion for Montgomery school construction
By: Alan Suderman
Examiner Staff Writer
October 29, 2009
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| Montgomery County schools Superintendent Jerry Weast (Greg Whitesell/Examiner file) |
Montgomery County schools Superintendent Jerry Weast proposed Wednesday that the county spend $1.5 billion on school construction projects, including expanding nine schools and building two new ones, over the next six years to address overcrowding.
Weast's capital improvement plan calls for a new elementary and middle school to be built in the rapidly growing Clarksburg area. He also is asking that Clarksburg High School be expanded.
He said the county had an "awesome" opportunity to take advantage of a favorable bond market and low construction prices to meet the schools' growing enrollment.
"It's kind of counterintuitive ... the country has got an economic problem, there's an economic downturn," Weast said. "For us in the construction business ... that's where preparation meets opportunity."
Enrollment at Montgomery County's public schools is up 2,400 students this year and rose by 1,500 students last year, mostly in elementary schools, according to school records. Of the schools' 437 portable classrooms, 88 percent of them are at elementary schools.
Weast is proposing expansions at Bradley Hills, Darnestown, Georgian Forest, Somerset, Viers Mill, Waters Landing, Westbrook and Wyngate elementary schools.
The proposal must be approved by the school board before it is sent to County Executive Ike Leggett, who combines the school construction plans with his own capital improvement plans to be approved by the County Council.
Council President Phil Andrews, D-Gaithersburg/Rockville, said he expected projects that addressed overcrowding in schools to be well-received.
"School construction projects have always been a high priority for the County Council," he said.
Weast also is proposing that the county conduct boundary studies for schools in the Bethesda and Damascus areas, replace roofs at Montgomery County Public Schools facilities, and install new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning units at various schools and facilities.
Weast's announcement came at the newly renovated Francis Scott Key Middle School in Silver Spring, a green building that uses geothermal power for heating and has water-saving bathroom fixtures.
After the news conference, Weast took a tour of the new school and went for a brief climb on the school's climbing wall.
