STEM GAME Springbrook students develop educational app. A-3
The Gazette
A&E: Kensington Arts Theatre presents “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” B-4
SILVER SPRING | TAKOMA PARK | WHEATON | BURTONSVILLE
SPORTS: Paint Branch girls track shows off its diversity heading into state championship. 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
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School board begins hunt for superintendent n
Group expected to meet this month to discuss desired qualities BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
A week before Superintendent Joshua P. Starr leaves his post, the Montgomery County school board picked a firm Tuesday to help find the next leader. The board unanimously approved a contract with Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates of Rosemont, Ill., the firm that
helped Montgomery County Public Schools discover Starr and former Superintendent Jerry D. Weast. For $35,000 “plus expenses as appropriate,” the firm will help Montgomery search for and select Starr’s successor, according to a board memo. Starr will step down on Monday. Larry Bowers, the district’s chief operating officer, will take over as interim superintendent. School board members will meet with the search firm this month to talk about what they
See HUNT, Page A-9
Starr agreement details final arrangements TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Lisa Silverberg (left) and son Jesse, 12, who attends Takoma Park Middle School, chant with other Montgomery County Public Schools students and their parents, most wearing robes and pajamas over winter clothes, during a protest outside the Carver Educational Services Center on Monday.
Board agrees to bell time change n
Middle and high school days to shift 20 minutes 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 de-
bate 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 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
n Page A-4
Our Opinion: Speak up on superintendent’s departure n Page A-12
Pampered pup
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 so-
See BELL, Page A-10
Residents blast zoning for BAE site Planners explain why they recommend neighborhood retail n
BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
Numerous residents objected last week to the zoning proposed by planning
officials for the site of a vacant 263,000-square-foot building in Aspen Hill. The highly visible, 10-acre property on Connecticut Avenue near Aspen Hill Road has had a vacant building since 2010, when defense and aerospace contractor BAE Systems moved out. The site comprises most of the 14 acres being
reviewed by county officials through a “minor” amendment process to Aspen Hill’s master plan. Most speakers at a Montgomery County Council hearing Feb. 3 asked that council members not go along with the Planning Board’s recommendation to rezone the property to neighborhood retail from
its present office designation. They preferred commercial residential neighborhood zoning, which they said would not allow such big retailers. Neighborhood retail zoning could allow a building up to 218,453 square feet and five stories tall, said Melissa Ryan,
See BAE, Page A-10
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Sarah Watkins, owner of The Studio Dog Grooming Salon in Silver Spring, grooms Bobo, an American cocker spaniel. See story, Page A-9.
Takoma Park Library options could reach up to $3.5 million Some wonder if replacing outdated building entirely would be better option
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BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
It will cost $2.1 million to $3.5 million to renovate or expand the Takoma Park Library to bring it up to code and
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meet future demand, a consultant told the City Council on Monday. The 9,400-square-foot library should be expanded by about 5,000 square feet based on future use and collections needs, said Greg Lukmire, principal in charge of the Arlington, Va.based Lukmire Partnership. “It’s a target more than anything else,” he said of recommending that the library have about 14,000 square feet.
Lukmire presented three options: renovate and rearrange collections and other areas more efficiently at a cost of about $2.1 million; add about 3,800 square feet to the south and leave the mosaic wall undisturbed, costing an estimated $3.2 million; or add about 4,500 square feet and relocate the wall at a cost of about $3.5 million. Construction likely would take a little more than a year once permits are
obtained, he said. The building, constructed about 60 years ago, does not meet federal Americans with Disabilities Act standards for restrooms and the width of collections shelving, Lukmire said. The library is not energy efficient, with no wall insulation and outdated windows, he said. It might cost about the same to replace the library rather than expand it, said Councilman Terry J. Seamens.
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SHE’S A WINNER Books pay off in Baysox Read and Hit a Home Run Reading Program poster contest.
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“If we’re putting a lot of money into this expansion, a little bit more money might not just give us a brand-new library, but a future expansion capability,” he said. Replacing the building would probably cost more than $3.5 million, Lukmire said, but he was not sure how much more.
See LIBRARY, Page A-9
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