When Redland Middle School in Rockville was built in the 1970s, classroom walls were seen by some as barriers to learning. Now, with more traditional methods back in favor, the open classroom format looks more like a barrier to a balanced budget.
Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast last year proposed about $22 million in modernizations to the open school in his six-year capital improvement plan. But this year, with budget shortfalls looming, Weast slashed Redland’s modernization plans, leaving slightly more than $6 million for the school, frustrating parents and activists.
“Just as we’re on the edge of sort of making things happen, the rug’s been pulled out from under us,” Ted Willard, cluster coordinator for the county’s Parent and Teacher Association, said Wednesday. “We can appreciate that times are tight and not everything can be done, but we need a functional school. We need an appropriate learning environment.”
The school got partial walls in a previous renovation, but some classrooms don’t have doors, and noise carries over from classroom to classroom. And in some situations, children in one class have to pass through another just to get to their desks.
Open schools were popularized in the 1960s and 1970s as an educational method by which many children were taught together in a large environment. It was believed to increase student interaction with their peers and teachers. It was quickly debunked as smaller class sizes became the preferred instruction method.
Most of the county’s open schools, including Ridgeview Middle and some elementary schools, have been at least partially remodeled. Redland got upgrades in the late 1970s, but parents say it remains little more than a glorified cubicle. The greater fear, though, is that it could be hard to protect students if Redland needed to be locked down because of an emergency inside the school.
Redland parents have enlisted the help of some County Council and Board of Education members. Both panels have final say over the improvement plan. The school board will vote Tuesday. It is not clear whether Weast will amend his proposal. Weast spokesman Brian Edwards could not be reached.
School board member Steve Abrams said Weast’s cuts are too deep.
“I’m not sure you’re getting any value on that dollar,” Abrams said. “It may be more cosmetic than reality.”
Willard agreed. He would like to see some, if not all, of the $22 million in improvements returned, as well as a guarantee the modernizations will be substantive.
“A Band-Aid was put on the school 30 years ago,” Willard said. “We can’t have another Band-Aid put on for another 20 years.”
