Accusations of influence-peddling and bad-faith negotiations flew Thursday over the replacement of a Potomac school while parents at neighboring schools continued to wait for relief from overcrowding.
Montgomery County Council Chairman George Leventhal accused the School Board of making promises to Potomac Elementary School parents in exchange for support of controversial plans to replace Seven Locks Elementary School on nearby Kendale Road. The replacement would relieve overcrowding at Potomac and Bells Mill elementary schools.
“Be careful what you agree to for another community,” Council Member Howard Denis cautioned. “Your community may be next”
The District 1 Republican sought to “put a stake through the heart” of the Kendale Road plan because of traffic and environmental conditions, as well as community opposition.
The county inspector general reported earlier this year that the school system did not provide the council with all alternatives in seeking funding for the replacement school.
The School Board voted Tuesday to reaffirm its original plan following a two-month study of alternatives ordered by the council.
Time might be running out to solve the question of replacing Seven Locks Elementary School on its original schedule.
“In order to open in 2008 as planned, we’re going to have to get [a plan] out on the street immediately,” school facilities chief Dick Hawes told the council.
After three hours of debate Thursday, however, the council put the question off until Monday.
The council killed $3.3 million in supplemental funding to cover cost overruns on the proposed Kendale project.
Board members said they can’t build the school with the $14 million originally appropriated.
What’s on the table
The Montgomery County Council is considering several options to relieve overcrowding in Potomac area schools:
» Rebuild a larger Seven Locks Elementary School on its original site
» Redistrict five existing schools
»Rebuild a larger Bells Mill Elementary
