DISTRICT 8 SEAT Matthews joins race, Ervin set to announce campaign. A-4
NEWS: Largent’s Restaurant and Bar will be rebranded as Kentlands Kitchen. A-6
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SPORTS: Whitman graduate uses summer to adjust to tougher college competition. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
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Somerset seeking $550K for turf field
Time to turn the tassel
Elementary school’s grounds in poor shape despite restoration efforts n
BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
Somerset Elementary School could become the first public elementary school in Montgomery County to get an artificial turf field if two groups successfully hit a fundraising goal of roughly $550,000. The county school board voted May 26 to approve the turf field project at the Chevy Chase school. Its decision lets the Somerset Elementary School Foundation and the school’s PTA begin raising the money to make it happen. Katherine Coleman, a parent of two Somerset students, is chairing a committee
leading a campaign to raise the money in about a year. That campaign, she said, will kick off in the fall. The committee includes foundation members, parents and others in the community. The elementary’s school field has been in poor shape for years, said Jennifer Ferguson, president of Somerset’s PTA. The field turns into a “dust bowl” when it’s dry, she said, and remains muddy long after it stops raining. Kelly Morris, the principal at Somerset, said rain can make the field so muddy, it’s unsafe to hold recess outside. Coleman said she noticed that on several nice days, students weren’t outside for recess. She talked with parents and found
See TURF, Page A-10
Purple Line ridership figures raise questions
(Above) Rachel Ordan is all smiles as she turns her tassel at the conclusion of the June 3 graduation ceremony for Whitman High School of Bethesda at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington. The Class of 2015 had about 450 students.
Governor expected to make decision on rail project’s future soon n
BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
As supporters and opponents of the proposed Purple Line await Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s decision on the light-rail project, one question that remains unclear is how many riders the system is expected to carry. Hogan (R) was expected to make a decision on the project in mid-May, but he put
(Right) Katherine Currie and her classmates listen to U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D) of Pikesville, who was the commencement speaker at Whitman’s graduation.
off doing so until at least this month. A timeline for that decision has not been made, Shareese Churchill, a Hogan spokeswoman, said Monday. The proposed $2.45 billion, 16-mile line would link Bethesda and New Carrollton, stopping in Silver Spring, College Park and other areas. If approved, the federal government is expected to contribute the Purple Line’s largest share at $900 million, with the state kicking in at least $360 million. Local governments and the private sector would pick up the rest.
See PURPLE, Page A-10
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Whitman students get Bowers: Cut 340 full-time jobs life lessons in Guatemala to help fill schools’ $53M hole n
Proposal also calls for delaying purchase of laptops for students
BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
Interim Superintendent Larry A. Bowers put forward on Tuesday a plan to cut millions from Montgomery County Public Schools’ fiscal 2016 operating budget to align it with county-approved funding. To help fill a $53 million budget gap, Bowers recommended the district eliminate about 340 fulltime-equivalent school employee positions, not buy more Chromebook laptops next fiscal year and delay by a couple of weeks employee compensation increases.
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The county school board will vote on a final budget on June 16. Board members will consider at the same meeting whether to include Bowers’ changes. The board faces a $2.32 billion operating budget for fiscal 2016 that the Montgomery County Council approved. The amount leaves the district with about $53 million less than what the board asked for, according to district officials. “There are no easy answers when you have to make a budget cut of this size, especially in an organization like MCPS, where 90 percent of our budget goes toward paying for the people who do the important work every day,” Bowers said in a school system press release Tuesday. Bowers recommended that the district eliminate more than 340
school employee positions, including teacher, media specialist and instructional data specialist positions. In March, he held back about 370 such positions because of a gloomy budget outlook. His recent proposed reduction would trigger class-size increases at all county schools, though less so at schools with higher percentages of students who receive free or reduced-price meals, an indication of poverty, according to Dana Tofig, a school system spokesman. The school-based positions, combined with an earlier cut of about 40 central office positions, marks a $25.5 million shift to fill the gap, according to the release. The proposal would restore about 30 positions Bowers had held
See BUDGET, Page A-9
BY JORDAN
BRANCH
SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
When 10 students from Whitman High School arrived at a small, rural community in Guatemala in April, they were greeted with children, clapping, cheering and waving American flags. For their spring break, the Bethesda students journeyed to Quiché, Guatemala, to complete a new school built in the community of Chitucur II by School the World, a nonprofit devoted to providing children around the world with a proper education. “They had been waiting six years for us,” said Lisa Larracuente, a teacher at Pyle Middle School in Bethesda who was also on the service trip. “When we first came to the village, we were just so taken aback emotionally, because they had this beautiful ceremony set up for us.” But after the celebrations, the students soon saw the conditions in which the Guate-
PHOTO BY JUSTIN POLLACK
Whitman High students say goodbye to the Guatemalan children they bonded with in April.
malan children, who ranged in age from 5 to 13, lived and were being taught. “When we went to the village, it was a very eye-opening experience. We pulled up to
See GUATEMALA, Page A-10
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HEAVY SEAS Baltimore’s Clipper City Brewing is the second largest brewery in Maryland and will soon be celebrating its 20th anniversary. B-4
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