&
SWEET MICHELANGELO
Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer finds inspiration in classic ‘David’ statue. A-10
The Gazette DAMASCUS | CLARKSBURG
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
25 cents
Council committee moves funds for schools n
Proposal would fund school system’s full budget request BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
Rather than increase the amount that Montgomery County will have to provide to its public schools in upcoming years, the County Council is faced with a plan to use money from various school funds to meet the school system’s budget requests for the upcoming fiscal year. But school board members are warning that the solution can’t become a regular occurrence. The council’s Education Committee voted 3-0
See COUNCIL, Page A-7 DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
The free Ride On bus 94 waits at the Germantown MARC station for passengers on Monday.
Clarksburg slow to catch free bus ride Germantown campus goes science/tech n
County promoting free trips for communters BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
Jonathan Jones is a big time transit fan. “Driving nearly drove me nuts,” said Jones, 25, who lives in the Arora Hills section of Clarksburg. “Now I can relax on the train instead of sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic.” Jones rides the new No. 94 commuter Ride On bus from Clarksburg to the Germantown MARC station, then catches a train to his job in Silver Spring. He works for the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, which pays up to $120 a month of his commuting costs if he uses transit. The Ride On bus is free, and the monthly MARC pass costs him $100, which means the
half-hour bus ride and the 15-minute train ride cost him nothing. “I love everything about public transit,” Jones said. “It gets me there, and it gets me home.” But as enthusiastic as Jones is about his new commute, ridership remains light four months after the service debuted on Jan. 13. Only a handful of commuters make the early morning trips from Clarksburg and late afternoon and evening return trips from Germantown. “For the month of March 2014, the route 94 averaged 56 riders [56 one-way trips] per day,” said county Public Information Officer Esther Bowing in an email. The total includes the five morning runs starting at 5:38 a.m. from Clarksburg and the eight afternoon and evening runs leaving Germantown and ending in Clarksburg at 8:41 p.m., Monday through Friday. “We do not have data on individual day
ridership, but generally Ride On ridership is higher mid-week,” Bowring said. The low turnout doesn’t surprise David Stein, a Clarksburg Village blogger serving 500 households, who informally posed the question online— ‘Would you use the new No. 94 bus?’ Of the 14 who responded by Tuesday, only two said yes. Bowring, however, said low numbers are not unusual with a new route. “Generally a new Ride On route is allowed 18-24 months to reach maturity,” she said. Many residents may also not have heard about the service, which Ride On officials plan to remedy by distributing information flyers with the route and schedule in Clarksburg and Germantown within the next four weeks. Flyers will be placed on car windshields in the four parking lots at the Germantown
See BUS, Page A-6
County foundation, fundraising support suggested as ways to boost fairness BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
Some Montgomery County schools community members say the playing field could be evened for private contributions that pay for facility improvements at local schools. Possible methods, they say, could include a central funding pool or guidance to schools with less fundraising experience and fewer resources. Three public meetings in early May drew
ELECTION
2014 Learn more about the candidates running in the June 24 primary. Check out our online voters guide at www. gazette.net/voters guide2014.
1910252
about 50 parent-teacher association members, booster club leaders and other people from around the county. They discussed private contributions that pay for nonessential facility projects and items in Montgomery County Public Schools, such as playground equipment, scoreboards and butterfly gardens. The meetings are part of a larger effort to explore the possible need for school system policy changes. The goal is to see if board action is necessary to make the situation fairer for schools in less affluent areas. The policy on private contributions for facility improvements includes money from PTAs, booster clubs, businesses and local government agencies. Large contributions come up once in a while, but more often in the county’s more
affluent communities, according to Bruce Crispell, director of the school system’s Division of Long-range Planning. Contributions under $1,000 were most common from 2011 through 2013, followed by contributions in the $1,000 to $3,000 range. At all three meetings, participants discussed the potential use of the Montgomery County Public Schools Educational Foundation, Inc. as a central point for contributions. The foundation — a nonprofit organization the county school board established to receive money from a variety of sources — could distribute money to facility improvement projects around the county, some said. Yolanda Johnson Pruitt, the foundation’s executive director, said at the May 7
See PRIVATE, Page A-6
SPORTS
PENN STATE TURNPIKE?
Nittany Lions get commitments from three defensive linemen they targeted in Montgomery County.
B-1
Automotive Calendar Classified Community News Entertainment Opinion Sports
Please
RECYCLE
Renovations planned for outdated lab space BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
The opening in late August of Montgomery College’s new Bioscience Education Center sitting atop a windblown hill on the Germantown campus is big news, but there is also another major project on campus in the pipeline. When the biology, chemistry and biotech programs move out of the nearby Science and Applied
See CAMPUS, Page A-6
Private donations to schools face change n
n
United in defeat
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Fans cheer for the Clarksburg High School volleyball team before they lost to Wootton in the Montgomery County boys volleyball championship at Magruder High School on Tuesday.
B-12 A-2 B-8 A-3 A-10 A-8 B-1
Check out our Services Directory ADVERTISING INSIDE B SECTION