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Kipling classic takes a tour through South Asia. A-11
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Wednesday, April 2, 2014
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Schools draw up new snow waiver request State balks at first plan, which leaves start of summer vacation unclear
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LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
Montgomery County Public Schools on Tuesday prepared a request to waive four days of instruction lost due to wintry weather, after its five-day request was denied Monday. State Superintendent of Schools Lillian M. Lowery denied the school system’s original request in a March 26 letter because it “does not demonstrate
an effort to modify the school calendar to make up for lost instructional time.” In a Tuesday letter, Starr submitted a modified, four-day waiver request that, if accepted, would involve the school system adding one day to the school year and changing Easter Monday from a holiday to an instructional day. Starr sent another letter to Lowery on Tuesday asking for permission to make Easter Monday an instructional day. Lowery said in her March 26 letter that she would consider a modified request from the school system. The state requires school districts to
hold 180 instruction days. While the school system built four snow days into its calendar, county students have had 10 days off this school year because of snow. In its first request, the school system had asked the state to waive five days — the maximum number of days the state allowed school districts to request. The system had planned to add one day to its calendar if the waiver was accepted. Dana Tofig, a county school system spokesman, said the school system weighs the effect of adding school days when considering a waiver request. “It is a balancing act between want-
ing to make up meaningful instructional time and respecting the existing schedules that our students, staff, families and communities already have in place, including jobs, internships, camps, and more,” Tofig said in an email. As of Tuesday, Lowery had responded to waiver requests from four counties, including Montgomery, Anne Arundel, St. Mary’s and Carroll, said William Reinhard, a spokesman for the Maryland State Department of Education. Lowery denied Anne Arundel’s request and accepted St. Mary’s and Carroll’s, he said. The three counties had
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n Decades-old nonprofit attracts enough volunteers to stay in business
In Chevy Chase, procedures, not topics discussed, are the issue BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
This year, the shop has set aside $20,000 for charities including A Wider Circle and the Frederick Rescue Mission, according to a press release from the shop. After the shop was threatened with closure last year, the community responded to the shop’s pleas for help.
The Chevy Chase Town Council violated rules for holding a closed meeting last year when it interviewed a law firm it was considering retaining. The council did not follow the correct procedures for meeting in closed session at a Nov. 26, 2013, meeting, according to a March 20 opinion from the state Open Meetings Compliance Board. The council was meeting with an attorney it was considering hiring to advocate the town’s position on the Purple Line light-rail system, which is planned to run through Chevy Chase on its 16-mile route from Bethesda to New Carrollton. The Open Meetings Act requires government bodies to make most of their meetings open to the public. The act outlines 14 topics that government bodies may discuss behind closed doors, such as personnel matters, pending litigation and collective bargaining negotiations. Before government bodies can meet in closed session, however, they must meet in public, open session to vote on whether to go into closed session and provide some information about what they will discuss. They must also provide information about the closed session in the minutes of the next open
See OPEN, Page A-10
See RULES, Page A-10
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
A Chevy Chase thrift shop that benefits charities is staying, thanks to help from volunteers. The Opportunity Shop, a nonprofit thrift and consignment store on Walsh Street, is operated by St. John’s Norwood, a nearby Episcopal church. The “Op Shop” was threatened with closure last year due to a lack of volunteers. Before the lease was up and the shop closed its doors, however, an influx of new volunteers made it possible to keep the shop going. Luisa Lopez, the store’s coordinating manager, started volunteering in December after hearing that it might close. She said she has a background in social work and didn’t want to see the shop die. “It’s such a strong community gathering,” she said. “People come
See WAIVER, Page A-10
State: Council violated open meetings rules
‘Op Shop’ to remain open for business BY
also asked for a five-day waiver. Reinhard said, as of Thursday, the state had received 15 waiver requests. Following the state’s denial of the school system’s first waiver request, city governments were bracing to possibly change their plans for summer camps. Jan Golden, a recreation program supervisor for the city of Rockville, said the city currently is scheduled to start its first camp session the Monday after school lets out. “It’s a big concern to parents,” she said. “We’ve gotten a lot of calls.” The city, which runs some of its
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Geary and Judy Fisher of Chevy Chase browse at the “Op Shop” on Tuesday. Geary Fisher says he and his wife usually are looking for vases or cut glass at the Chevy Chase thrift store, whose proceeds benefit local charities. and have fun there, and when they volunteer, they seem to have fun as well as the shoppers.” The Op Shop was founded in 1951. It sells donated and consigned items and gives the money raised to local charities. In 2012, the shop brought in about $225,000, organizers said last year. Profits are down from its heyday of the mid-1990s, when
the shop would routinely bring in $500,000 a year — before online sales of second-hand items quickly grew. After paying rent and a portion of sales to consigners, the shop has money left over to donate to for charities. In the past, the money has gone to Bethesda Cares, the Children’s Inn at NIH and the Interfaith Housing Coalition, organizers said.
Humane Society rescues nearly 200 animals from puppy mill Rescued pets arrive in Gaithersburg for adoption n
BY JENN DAVIS STAFF WRITER
When Tia Pope visited a suspected puppy mill in Jefferson County, Ark., in late January she noticed a small, red 10-year-old Italian greyhound living in deplorable conditions. Pope, manager of the Puppy Mill Response for the Humane Society of the United States, said she wasn’t sure if the dog was going to survive.
“At the time, it was 20-something degrees and she was outside in a chain link concrete pen with really no shelter,” Pope said. “For a dog of her size, she had no body fat and there was nowhere for her to stay warm. She was shaking.” Now, thanks to the efforts of the Humane Society, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and other organizations, the dog has been given a second chance at life. All of the animals at the mill — 121 dogs, 20 horses, 19 chickens, 11 exotic birds, and multiple bunnies, turtles and cats — were seized Feb. 27 by the Humane Society of the United
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School cafeteria closes after finding evidence of rodent, clears inspection the next day.
Hearing Olney baseball player thrives at a deaf school.
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See RESCUES, Page A-10
NEWS
MOUSE IN THE HOUSE
Jen Koca of Herndon, Va., an intern with the Puppy Mill Rescue Campaign of the Humane Society of the United States, carries a 14-year-old Yorkshire terrier from the transport truck that just arrived March 26 in Gaithersburg from Arkansas.
States. On March 26, 55 of the dogs, including the Italian greyhound, nine bunnies and three birds were brought to the society’s Gaithersburg office, where pet adoption agencies eagerly waited to pick them up and begin the process of finding them new, loving homes. The Gaithersburg office is at 700 Professional Drive. “It was nice to see that she was one of the ones who made it back to the Washington area,” Pope said about the Italian greyhound. “It was like a full circle.”
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