Annapolis Mayor Ellen Moyer is attacking the county executive?s proposal to merge three schools, calling it an assault on neighborhood schools and an attempt to balance the county budget on the backs of schoolchildren.
“Evidently County Executive [John R. Leopold] believes bigger is better and that community participation is non-essential,” Moyer wrote in a letter Thursday urging county councilmen to reject the idea.
“Without the benefit of participation from the public, zero discussion with the community and no information on construction needs, the County Executive would close these schools and replace them with a single mega-school.”
But Bob Leib, county spokesman for the Base Realignment and Closure expansion at Fort Meade, said Friday that Moyer misunderstands the proposal and Leopold never intended to merge Annapolis and Germantown elementary schools with the Phoenix Center, a school for students with disabilities.
“There?s absolutely no substance to it, and there?s no effort to build one combined school,” Leib said.
Leopold?s idea was to save money by having one firm conduct the feasibility studies for renovations of the three schools, not to combine the schools, Leib said
“The money comes from one pot and there?s not enough money for everything,” Leib said.
But Moyer said Leopold is recanting the statement he made at a recent meeting of the Greater Severna Park Council.
“His comments to the public were not about merging feasibility studies, they were about merging the schools,” she said.
“I think he was probably floating the idea, and now he?s re-thinking it.”
Moyer said Leopold cut the school construction budget to $136 million from the requested $189 million.
“Let?s face it, the feasibility studies for these schools were taken out of the budget last year and again this year,” Moyer said.
“The real target here is Annapolis Elementary, because it sits on valuable property in the heart of city.”
Alex Szachnowicz, the school system?s chief facility officer, said combining studies is prudent for schools close to each other.
Anne Arundel School System spokesman Bob Mosier said “there has been no conversation here about creating a mega-school,” and combining general elementary schools with an alternative education facility would create “significant challenges.”
