2011 11 30 RCHCA Reply to County
I am pleased to tell you that Sandra van Bochove will the principal
representative for RCHCA on the new site selection advisory committee the
Board of Education to advise it on the site for a new BCC Middle School #2.
I will serve as the alternate. There will be four meetings over 2 months
beginning January 16.
In addition, the Board of Education has filed a motion to dismiss our
pending action before the State Board of Education regarding the Board’s
April 28 decision to select RCH Local Park as the site for the new middle
school. The motion is appropriate given the April 28 decision has been
rescinded and therefore there is no longer any legal basis for the action.
Our reply to the Board motion [is] posted [here 2011 11 30 RCHCA Reply to County] (see below for text version).
We will keep you apprised.
Regards,
John Robinson
Rock Creek Hills Citizens Association
9616 Old Spring Road
Kensington, MD 20895
Local – 301-949-5452
Office – 202-502-6808
Cell – 240-997-4447
[email protected]
November 30, 2011
Office of the Attorney General
Maryland State Department of Education
Attn: Jackie C. La Fiandra – State Board of Appeals
200 St. Paul Place, 19th Floor
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Re: Rock Creek Hills Citizens
Association, et al., Appellants
v.
Montgomery County Board of
Education, Respondents
Appellants’ Response to the Montgomery
County Board of Education’s Motion to
to Dismiss dated November 24, 2011
Dear Ms. La Fiandra:
The Appellants in the captioned proceeding are in receipt of the Montgomery County Board of Education’s (County Board) November 23, 2011 Motion to Dismiss in the captioned proceeding. Appellants concur in the facts as stated paragraphs one through three of the County Board’s motion, including that as of this date there are no official minutes or adopted resolutions supporting the County Board’s November 17, 2011 rescission of Resolution No. 221-11. It was that resolution that selected the Rock Creek Hills Local Park as the site for a new middle school for the Bethesda Chevy-Chase Cluster. The Appellants agree that rescission of the Resolution No. 221-11 will moot the instant proceeding. While Appellants took immediate steps to inform your office of the County Board’s November 17 action, they were not prepared to withdraw their complaint until such time as Appellants could review the official minutes containing the adopted resolution. This would have preserved an opportunity to comment on the County Board’s action if that should prove necessary. However, given the draft minutes submitted with the County Board’s November 23 Motion to Dismiss, it appears at this point Appellants will not be required to comment further in this proceeding.
Of particular importance to the Appellants is the fact that the County Board’s resolution appears to incorporate Superintendent Starr’s November 8, 2011 memorandum into the County Board’s November 17, 2011 resolution. Dr. Starr’s November 8, 2011 memorandum not only contains the procedures for a new site selection process, but equally important, the substantive standards for selecting a site in response to the County Board’s November 17 resolution. Appellants also note that Appellant RCHCA was requested today to nominate a primary and alternative member to the new Site Selection Advisory Committee pursuant to Dr. Starr’s November 11 memorandum and has done so. This resolved the remaining outstanding issue with which the Appellants were concerned regarding the County Board’s April 28 resolution. Therefore, assuming that the minutes of County Board’s November 17 are in form and substance similar to the draft minutes attached to the County Board’s November 23 Motion to Dismiss, the Appellants do not oppose that motion. In closing, I wish to state my appreciation of the professionalism displayed by your office in handling this difficult proceeding.
John M. Robinson
/s/
Rock Creek Hills
Citizens Association
Counsel to the Named
Appellants
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that on this 30th day of November, 2011, I mailed a copy of the forgoing, postage prepaid, to: Judith S. Bresler, Esq., Carney, Kelehan, Bresler, Bennet & Scherr, LLP, 10715 Charter Drive, Suite 200, Columbia, MD 21044.
______/s/______________ John M. Robinson