LUNAR NEW YEAR BlackRock to celebrate with three exhibiting artists. A-3
NEWS: Upcounty students place in ‘Out of the Ordinary’ juried exhibit. A-4
The Gazette
SPORTS: Worst-kept secret in county: Northwest does more than just football, track. B-1
GERMANTOWN | CLARKSBURG DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
25 cents
Starr steps down as head of county schools O’Neill says board, superintendent agree a new leader is needed n
BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
Joshua P. Starr is stepping down on Feb. 16 as Montgomery County Public Schools superintendent, four months before his four-year contract would have ended. The county school board unanimously approved on Tuesday an agreement that leads to Starr’s departure following public uncertainty of whether the superintendent had enough board support to renew his contract. School board president Patricia O’Neill said Tuesday during a press conference that board members and
Starr agreed that a new leader was needed to “carry forward the board’s vision.” “While I’m not happy certainly at the way things have turned out, at the same time it is absolutely the board’s authority to move in a direction that they see fit,” Starr said at the press conference. Starr said he is “very proud” of the work done in the district during his tenure, but sees more to be done. “It was my hope that I would be here to continue that work with our staff, our students, our families and our community,” he said. “However, I recognize and respect that the board has the right to choose the leader and the direction of the school system.” O’Neill and Starr didn’t elaborate on the reasoning behind his departure. O’Neill said the board “deeply appreciates” Starr’s work in the system.
Starr told The Gazette in January that he wanted a second term and that he was “in it for the long haul.” He said at the time that he had done what the school board has asked him to do. Tuesday’s news came two days after what was Starr’s deadline to formally ask for a second term. The board would have had until March 1 to make a decision. Starr replaced Jerry D. Weast as superintendent in Montgomery County in 2011 after leading the public school system in Stamford, Conn. His current salary is $264,002. The Gazette, after interviewing six of the eight school board members, reported on Jan. 21 that two were ready to support another term for Starr. Others didn’t commit to one side or the other. A week later, a Washington Post
Joshua Starr, here in his first school board meeting as superintendent in July 2011, is leaving in two weeks. 2011 FILE PHOTO
See STARR, Page A-5
Bright idea to harness the sun Solar farms to be discussed at upcounty meeting on Monday
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BY
Intersection to improve safety New Germantown roadway expected to benefit pedestrians, commuters
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VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
A site in the South Germantown Recreational Park could become one of two locations for the installation of energy-saving solar farms, according to the county’s parks department. Montgomery Parks will present its idea at the next meeting of the Upcounty Citizens Advisory Board on Monday in Germantown. The meeting is open, and the public is welcome to attend. After researching possibilities, the parks staff chose two sites that are expected to have the least effect on park users, facilities, natural resources and bordering properties, said Mike Riley, director of Montgomery Parks, in a Montgomery Parks press release. The second site is the Rock Creek Regional Park in Derwood. “The study also revealed numerous benefits of installing solar farms for the public, the parks department and the environment,” Riley said in the release. Planners estimate that installing the solar farms will save Montgomery Parks, part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, nearly $291,000 a year in energy costs per array. Harnessing the energy from the sun instead of burning gasoline would be equivalent to cutting the pollution generated by 300 cars,
See SOLAR, Page A-6
BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
The Montgomery County Planning Board recently approved a new intersection at Germantown Road (Md. 118) that is expected to make it easier for commuters and pedestrians to use the Germantown MARC railroad station. The board approved a plan on Thursday to realign Waters Road, which currently dead ends in a cul de sac, to form a 90-degree intersection with the west side of Germantown Road that would line up directly with the Bowman Mill Road intersection on the east side of Germantown Road leading to one of the large MARC parking lots. A traffic signal may also eventually be installed, TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Poolesville mayor Jim Brown (left), Town Manager Wade Yost (right), and executive director of Poolesville Green, Joyce Breiner, stand with the solar array at the wastewater treatment plant. The electricity generated by the panels offsets energy costs from the town’s facilities.
UPCOUNTY CITIZENS ADVISORY BOARD MEETING n What: Montgomery Parks solar farms initiative n When: 7 to 9 p.m. Monday n Where: Sidney Kramer Upcounty Regional Services Center, 12900 Middlebrook Road,
Germantown n Information: Visit ParkPlanning.org and scroll down to Upcoming Community Meetings n Comments: Contact Project Coordinator Dominic Quattrocchi at 301-650-4361 or Dominic.Quattrocchi@montgomeryparks.org, or send mail to M-NCPPC Montgomery Parks, 9500 Brunett Ave., Silver Spring
See INTERSECTION, Page A-6
Father charged in infant abduction n
Poolesville child safe following Amber Alert BY
DANIEL LEADERMAN STAFF WRITER
As music is such an integral part of the black experience, choirs associated with each featured church perform on the soundtrack, according to the release. Featured in the film is St. Paul Community Church on Sugarland Lane in Poolesville, originally known as the Sugarland Forest Methodist Episcopal Church. In an interview conducted for the docu-
A Cheverly man accused of kidnapping his infant daughter from her Poolesville home after punching and pointing a gun at the child’s mother on Jan. 27 turned himself in to police later that night. Police say Deare Marquise Denny, 26, took his 5-month-old daughter Denny from the residence in the 19000 block of Hempstone Avenue after punching the girl’s mother and displaying a handgun. He fled in a rented black SUV, according to county police. Authorities issued an Amber Alert for the girl,
See DOCUMENTARY, Page A-6
See DENNY, Page A-6
Group produces black churches documentary n
‘Cornerstones’ airs on MPT Saturday BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
The recorded memories of elders from five Montgomery County churches are featured in a 60-minute documentary produced by Heritage Montgomery based in Germantown.
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Called “Community Cornerstones: African American Communities in Montgomery County, Maryland,” the video is set to air early Saturday evening on Maryland Public Television. “Taken together, their words explain how these communities developed, illustrate life in segregated times, and convey their pride in the accomplishments of their ancestors,” according to a Heritage Montgomery press release.
Volume 28, No. 3, Two sections, 24 Pages Copyright © 2015 The Gazette
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