TAKING THE HELM School board picks firm to find new superintendent. A-6
NEWS: New dog grooming salon opens for Montgomery’s pampered pooches. A-9
The Gazette GERMANTOWN | CLARKSBURG
SPORTS: Seneca Valley makes a reversal on the basketball court after one win in two seasons. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
25 cents
New condo, HOA law hits thousands n
Basic training mandated for new board members BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
Members of the governing boards of the county’s 1,000-plus condo associations and HOAs will soon be required to watch a free, two-hour, online video about the basics of running a common ownership community. The Montgomery County Council approved the new education requirement with a 6-3 vote on Feb. 2. The law takes effect on Jan. 1, 2016. The goal of Bill 45-14 is to require board members to read about the basics of running an association, including the need for sound financial management and for observing the open meeting laws at meetings with residents.
Dancing the night away Clarksburg High raises almost $20,000 in honor of classmate n
BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
Students at Clarksburg High have created a new game called Human Bowling. To play, a student pushes another student down a hall in a chair with wheels toward a wall of empty cardboard boxes piled on top of each other. “You starfish it — you open up your legs and arms,” said senior lead organizer Sydney Lufse about the winning strategy to knock down as many boxes as possible. Human Bowling, along with Manhunt — a giant schoolwide game of tag — were only two of the activities enjoyed by 80 participating students during the school’s annual overnight
Dance Marathon fundraiser in memory of Sam Moore, a Clarksburg High freshman who died of a brain tumor in 2012. The proceeds totaling $19,238.25 from this year’s 12hour event and other related fundraising projects go to the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation in Germantown, which raises money to find a cure for pediatric brain cancer. Earlier in the year, students broke into groups and held fundraisers at restaurants, Lufse said. Eleven students also volunteered to have their heads shaved, accepting pledges from contributors. Two students tied for bringing in the most money and each won a $50 gift card to Hair Cuttery, she said. Organizers also initiated a new letter drive, drafting a letter for student volunteers and asking them to send it to friends
See DANCE, Page A-5
See LAW, Page A-5
County lawmakers back overdose bill n
Measure targets dealers behind fatalities; protects those who try to help BY
DANIEL LEADERMAN STAFF WRITER
PHOTOS BY CATIE IADAS, SAYIAM KUMAR AND ALEXIS EAUCLAIRE
More than 70 Clarksburg High School students participated in the school’s third annual overnight dance marathon on Friday in honor of schoolmate Sam Moore, who died from a brain tumor in 2012. For complete caption information, visit Gazette.net.
Montgomery County’s chief prosecutor and lawmakers from the county are targeting the dealers behind overdoses of heroin and another dangerous drug called fentanyl. A new bill, written by State’s Attorney John McCarthy and Del. Kathleen M. Dumais (D-Dist. 15) of Bethesda, who is the proposal’s lead sponsor, would make it a separate felony to distribute either of the two drugs if they are a “contributing cause” of someone’s death. Distributing these drugs or possessing them with intent to distribute them is already a felony. Overdose deaths from heroin and fentanyl have been increasing across the state in recent years, and the problem has struck Montgomery County as well, Dumais told The Gazette. The drugs responsible for overdose deaths in the county toward the end of 2014 are suspected to have come from a common source, she said. Overall, there were 25 deaths from heroin-related overdoses in 2014, and many of the victims were mixing
See HEROIN, Page A-8
Split board agrees to change school bell times Middle and high school days to shift 20 minutes
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BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
Montgomery County middle and high school students can sleep in another 20 minutes starting next school year. Following another round of heated debate on the issue, the school board voted 5-3 Tuesday to shift bell times. High schools and middle schools will start and end 20 minutes later. Elementary schools will start 10 minutes later and end 20 minutes later. School officials
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said the extra 10 minutes of the day will be for longer lunches and recesses. High schools currently start at 7:25 a.m. Middle schools start at 7:55 a.m. and elementary schools, which are split into two tiers, start at 8:50 and 9:15 a.m. At the board’s request, Superintendent Joshua P. Starr presented a range of options for a possible change — some that would cost a few million dollars, some that wouldn’t cost anything. Board President Patricia O’Neill said after Tuesday’s vote that Starr’s proposal made in 2013 would have been the best solution, but its $21 million price tag wasn’t possible for the district to take on. O’Neill said the 20-minute
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shift is “a step in the right direction.” “You just have to do what you think is right and I became convinced, and some of my other colleagues did, that we need to give our high school and middle school kids a bit of relief and this is as good as we can do given the fiscal climate,” she said. Board members Christopher Barclay, Judith Docca and Michael Durso voted against the change. Docca said she didn’t support any of the options. She pointed to several concerns, saying some families can’t afford child care if altered bell times were to change when their
See BELL TIMES, Page A-8
ENTERTAINMENT
PERFORMANCE A-N-X-I-E-T-Y
‘Young’ actors grow up fast during traumatically funny show, ‘25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’.
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TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Lisa Silverberg (left) and son Jesse, 12, chant with other Montgomery County Public Schools students and their parents during a protest.
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