BLOG: Ignoring the Facts, Disregarding the Elderly
Photos
Videos
Last Friday, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) issued a news release that repeated this erroneous and misleading description of Rock Creek Hills Park:
"The property was previously owned by the Board of Education and was the location of Kensington Junior High School, which closed in 1979. The Board transferred the land to the county, with the provision it could be reclaimed if the land was ever needed for a school. The property was subsequently transferred to the Maryland-National Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) in 1990 for use as a park."
By now, it should be apparent to anyone following this issue that this statement is inaccurate. The Kensington Park Retirement Community stands on approximately one-third of the site of the former Kensington Junior High (KJH), including its Northern access road.
[ See aerial photos above, also available at http://bit.ly/H59tvn ]
After KJH was closed, the site was broken up, with about the northern third deeded to our county's Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC), which financed with tax exempt bonds the building of a facility providing independent living, assisted living, and Alzheimer's care to over 200 senior citizens. Thus, the old KJH site is now a dual-use site, balancing compatibility among three constituencies: The elder-care facility, park users, and the community.
Rock Creek Hills Park, itself, is substantially reduced from the former KJH site — it is significantly smaller, and lacks a former access road to the North, as well as a through North-South roadway. Rock Creek Hills Park fails to meet the overwhelming majority of the MCPS middle school site evaluation criteria; the 2011 MCPS feasibility study proposed building on the steep slope of the small site, in contravention of concerns expressed by our Planning Board and County Council decades ago.
Friday's error is disappointing, but not surprising, given MCPS's history of repeatedly ignoring facts and manifesting indifference towards the existence of the elderly residents of Kensington Park:
- In April of 2011, before the Board of Education voted to select the site of Rock Creek Hills Park as the location for B-CC middle school #2, MCPS failed to notify the HOC, Kensington Park management, or Kensington Park residents.
- In May of 2011, before the Board of Education voted to approve a feasibility study for B-CC middle school #2 on the site of Rock Creek Hills Park, MCPS failed to notify the HOC, Kensington Park management, or Kensington Park residents.
- In December of 2011, when MCPS assembled the recent, supposedly inclusive, site selection advisory committee, they failed to provide representation to the HOC, Kensington Park management, or Kensington Park residents.
During the feasibility study conducted over the summer of 2011, MCPS officials were asked what steps would be taken to protect the elderly residents of Kensington Park from what was estimated to be a two-year period of heavy construction right next to their home. The answer was, "That has not been an issue that's been brought up." [See video above, also available at http://youtu.be/TaWG_lvd9Jg ] After this issue was brought up, MCPS failed to address it.
Communities are comprised of multiple constituencies that live in harmonious balance with one another. Friday's news release shows that MCPS continues to ignore the facts about the site, and to manifest indifference towards the existence of the elderly of our community. Let us hope that our County Executive, whose concurrence the Board of Education must secure for the property to be transferred from the Parks Department (another fact that MCPS continues to overlook) will respect the needs of all in our community.
Scott
12:13 pm on Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Clearly the board has done what is expediant for them and not what is right for the children that will be coming to this shcool. I think parents will view this as an inferior school and will lobby hard to get their kids into Westland. There is going to be a lack of fields and there appears to be inadequate parking for employees and buses. An expansion plan that envisions the school growing to 1200 children and looks to put temporary trailers on the basketball court which also is supposed to be part of the bus parking can't be looking at this in any kind of a logical process. Not to mention that the independant review of the building cost estimates puts the county's cost off by something like 18M dollars.And no one has talked about the impact on the retirement community. Clearly it's time to hit the reset button and do the proper due dilegence for this school. The county has a set of guidelines for middle schools and you would like to think they would look at it while going through this process.
Mike2K
3:31 pm on Sunday, April 15, 2012
Kensington Park is a retirement home to over 200 elderly residents and a number of them do suffer from dimentia. You can check their website:http://www.kensingtonretirement.com/
Joe Thomas
6:53 pm on Thursday, April 12, 2012
The residents of the old folks home don't need to be protected from anything. The construction will be during the day when they are up and about. I doubt if the noise will affect them at all. Its not an issue.
Howard Gleckman
8:33 pm on Thursday, April 12, 2012
I am a researcher and writer on long-term care issues and there is no question that the residents of Kensington Park will be adversely affected by what will be a major, commercial-size construction project. They will face all-day noise and dust for months, if not years, with some work occuring within 100 yards of their homes.
This will be especially difficult for dementia residents of the "old folks home." Careful research shows that loud noise is especially detrimental to dementia patients.
The dirt and dust will effect all residents but especially those suffering from heart or pulmonary disease. Construction vehicles on narrow street may impede access by emergency response vehicles. The residents of this senior residents will suffer significant injury as a result of this project. And when it is done, they will lose the only place they have to walk since it is unsafe for them to walk in a neighborhood with virtually no sidewalks.
Joe Thomas
10:57 pm on Tuesday, April 17, 2012
That is so much b.s Gleckman. If anything the construction will be interesting for the folks. Your wild speculation that construction equipment will block access for ambulances is more than a stretch.
Let me add that the property was once home to Kensington Jr. High. If you choose to move into an old folks home next to a property owned by the county you might expect that another school could be built there.