Steve Burns
WMAL.com
BETHESDA – (WMAL) Montgomery County has been patting itself on the back for decades over the new development and growth of places like Bethesda, Rockville, and Silver Spring. But with an infusion of new residents comes an infusion of new kids – and now officials are confronting the reality that all of its filled-in land has left little room for much-needed new schools.
As the County Council puts the finishing touches on an updated Bethesda Master Plan, Montgomery County Council President Roger Berliner advocated for the inclusion of language promising a new solution to the lingering problem.
“We are calling upon our planners, and our school system, to look at every particular site (planned for development), and see whether or not that is where we need to have an additional school,” Berliner told reporters. “Getting land down-county is the critical issue. It isn’t simply just building it. It is, ‘where can we find the land?'”
Berliner indicated others on the council were amenable to his proposal.
“From my point of view, you really want to bend over backwards to demonstrate to the community that we hear them, and we are absolutely serious about addressing this issue,” Berliner said.
The combination of more kids, more turnover of existing housing, and new development are contributing to the need for new schools, he said.
Berliner also urged Montgomery County Public Schools to be more creative in finding space for new schools in the future, mentioning other districts that have used vacant office buildings as space for new schools.
“We need our school system to look at this issue differently.”
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Montgomery County Govt.)
