COMMUNICATION LAPSE Parents should have known of sex allegations sooner. A-8
NEWS: Gaithersburg veteran and retriever Rosie among Hero Dog grads. A-9
The Gazette ROCKVILLE | ASPEN HILL | POTOMAC | OLNEY
SPORTS: Churchill, Wootton among teams to beat as ice hockey opens its season. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
25 cents
Rockville eyes plans for school
Paying tribute to veterans
Former Hungerford Elementary site is location for new building; more community meetings planned n
BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (left) shakes hands with retired Navy Cmdr. Everrett Alvarez Jr. of Potomac, who was the longest-held prisoner of war in Vietnam, after Monday’s dedication of Memorial Plaza and unveiling of the Eternal Memorial Flame in Rockville. At right is Montgomery County Council President Craig Rice.
County slowest to report voting results n
Elections board to discuss what took so long BY
KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER
Montgomery County’s final Election Day results rolled into the state at about 2:25 a.m. on Nov. 5, and local elections officials are expected to discuss the timing of its reporting at their next meeting.
Montgomery County has 250 Election Day precincts, fewer than only Baltimore city and Prince George’s County, which have 296 and 274 precincts, respectively. Yet both Baltimore and Prince George’s County, along with every other county in the state, counted ballots faster than Montgomery County after the polls closed Nov. 4. Nikki Charlson, deputy administrator of the State Board of Elections, said Montgomery County was the
last jurisdiction to report results to the state. “It’s a long process,” she said. “Montgomery is a big county.” Working into the wee hours of the morning on Nov. 5 was on par with past elections, county Board of Elections spokeswoman Margie Roher said. “I can’t remember a time when I have been out of here earlier than 1:30 or 2 a.m.,” she said. “Really, it was pretty typical.” But Roher said the board does
plan to discuss the “lateness” of the results at its Monday meeting. She said the board will look at best practices and discuss the new voting system the state will use for the 2016 election to see how both could impact the timing of reporting. Charlson said the state will move to a paper-based voting system starting with the 2016 primary, but exactly what effect that could have on how
See RESULTS, Page A-12
A new elementary school in Rockville isn’t expected to open until 2017 at the earliest, but plans for the new facility are already starting to take shape. The school is to be built on the site of the Montgomery County Children’s Resource Center at 332 W. Edmonston Drive. That site formerly was the location of Hungerford Park Elementary School, which closed in July 1982 due to declining enrollment. About a dozen parents and community members met Nov. 5 at Richard Montgomery High School with architects and Montgomery County Public Schools staff to discuss the project, the first of at least four such meetings planned. The next meeting is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Beall Elementary School in Rockville. Construction on the new school is expected to start in the first few months
See SCHOOL, Page A-12
UPCOMING SCHOOL MEETINGS IN ROCKVILLE n Where: Beall Elementary School, 451 Beall Ave. n When: 3:30 p.m. Nov. 13 n Where: Ritchie Park Elementary School, 1514 Dunster Road n When: 3:30 p.m. Nov. 20. n Where: Richard Montgomery High School, 250 Richard Montgomery Drive n When: 7 p.m. Dec. 9
Voter turnout high in special school election in Potomac Clear winner emerges: Democracy n
BY
“I was in the duck group. I said, ‘Vote for duck.’ We tried to get the kids excited.”
PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
There were long lines at the polls last week in Potomac. But while their parents were lining up to vote for a new governor and other assorted politicians, youngsters voting at Geneva Day School had an equally weighty decision to make. Should the school’s mascot be a hawk, a duck or a butterfly? Those were the finalists after an early fall primary that was inspired when kindergartner Owen Struzziero, 5, of Bethesda asked why the school didn’t have a mascot. After all, Owen’s sister’s school, St. Jane de Chantal in Bethesda, had one: Duke, a dog that
INDEX Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Opinion Sports
B-13 A-2 B-9 B-5 A-15 B-1
Mary Hill, 5-year-old from Bethesda PHOTO FROM GENEVA DAY SCHOOL
Brady Yoo of Bethesda votes as his kindergarten classmates at Geneva Day School in Potomac wait their turn during the school’s election last week for a school mascot. The winner? The butterfly. was brave, loyal, kind and faithful. Owen’s teachers Ann Hepburn and Debra Lieberman also wondered why not a mascot for their private school,
which has students from age 2 to kindergarten. “We talked to our director, Suzanne Funk, and she thought it was a great
idea,” Hepburn said. Primary season at Geneva began with the kindergartners brainstorming ideas for the mascot. Suggestions ran the gamut from a children’s book character called Pete the Cat “to the sun — we have a sun on our logo — to a unicorn,” Lieberman
ENTERTAINMENT
AN OOKY GOOD TIME
Kensington Arts Theatre to put on ‘Addams Family’ musical.
B-5
Volume 27, No. 25, Two sections, 32 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette Please
RECYCLE
November 20, 2014 1932800
said. “The kindergarten voted from the suggestions, getting it down to six candidates, then the teachers voted for the final three.” A hawk was a finalist because many hawks fly around the area of the school; a duck made it because every year the kindergarten hatches duck eggs as part of its science curriculum; and a butterfly was the third candidate, because another class project is hatching and releasing monarch butterflies, Hepburn said. Students were then randomly divided into groups to create campaign posters and come up with reasons why their candidate was best. Then they took their message to the voters: all of Geneva’s other students. “I was in the duck group,” said Mary Hill, 5, of Bethesda. “I said, ‘Vote for duck.’ We tried to get the kids excited.”
See ELECTIONS, Page A-12