Residents in a North Bethesda neighborhood on Monday lashed out at Montgomery County Public Schools for not including them in discussions on the collocation of a special needs school with a new Tilden Middle School.
Many who spoke at a Board of Education public hearing on the proposal, which has the backing of Interim Superintendent Larry Bowers, said the work of the Rock Terrace School/Tilden Middle School Roundtable Discussion Group proves the move is all but a done deal.
“What we’re objecting to is the way this entire process has been handled,” said Della Stolsworth. “What we’re asking you is to slow this down. It’s fine to make a mistake.”
Bowers and MCPS staff would like to collocate Rock Terrace — a Rockville school for students age 12-21 with special needs — with the new Tilden Middle School when it moves from its current spot on Old Georgetown Road to 6300 Tilden Lane.
Many in the Luxmanor neighborhood around Tilden Lane claim the extra traffic generated by the Rock Terrace School will be too much for area streets to handle. Some parents of future Tilden students say they’re concerned about their kids having to share certain aspects of the new school building.
MCPS senior planner Deborah Szyfer said the collocated schools would require 32 buses, just five more buses than Tilden has now because some routes could serve both Tilden and Rock Terrace students.
But many who testified in front of the Board on Monday said they don’t believe the preliminary traffic numbers being thrown out by MCPS staff since no formal traffic study has been done.
“Nobody can comment on the traffic because no traffic studies have been done,” said Lawrence Baffin. “So everybody’s guessing. You have to do a traffic study before you ratify this.”
The Board is expected to make a final decision on May 12. At that point, a feasibility study including a look at traffic impacts on the neighborhood would start.
“When I learned that the decision was virtually made, that there was this super-rushed process and that no one from the Luxmanor community had participated in any of the roundtable discussions on this matter, I was really astonished,” said Pamela Navel.
Many of the speakers pointed to the roundtable group.
Szyfer, who ran the meetings, said the roundtable was in place to discuss big picture issues if the schools were to be collocated. Members included staff and parents from Tilden Middle School and Rock Terrace School.
One meeting in January included almost a dozen concept plans from architects on where to put the new school’s gyms, cafeterias, parking lots and bus drop-off areas, and if Tilden and Rock Terrace should have separate entrances and classroom wings.
Abbe Milstein, a Luxmanor resident, said she asked to be in the roundtable group but was “politely smiled at and summarily dismissed.”
“The lack of transparency in this process was what was appalling,” Milstein told the Board. “I learned that the collocation of Tilden and Rock Terrace was essentially a done deal.”
Szyfer again emphasized that all public meeting requirements were followed.
Rock Terrace is currently in a 65-year-old building and the school system says it’s in need of significant improvements.
Bowers also has said collocating the special needs school in a general education environment “aligns with the Board of Education’s goals of having disabled and nondisabled students interact to the maximum extent appropriate.”
MCPS also knows that the state of Maryland may no longer provide funding to rebuild or renovate standalone special needs schools, “because they do not support the goal of special education students receiving instruction in a general education setting when appropriate.”
The Tilden Middle School project is the next revitalization/expansion project scheduled and MCPS officials say it is central enough in the county to be a good location for Rock Terrace students who come from all over the county. They’ve also pointed to existing special needs programs at Tilden and nearby Walter Johnson High School, which could come into play for Rock Terrace’s older students.
But some future Tilden parents are still concerned about their middle school-aged students interacting with older Rock Terrace students.
“Putting them in a middle school, which is a lively, loud, engaging community might not be the best plan,” said Barbara Schwartzbach, referring to special needs students who might have sensory issues. “I am hearing that this is a done deal and that to me is unacceptable.”
Carol Scott, a Rock Terrace parent who served on the roundtable, said she was offended by the hostile reaction of Luxmanor residents to the collocation idea at a March 4 community meeting that attracted nearly 80 people.
“I was shocked and appalled by the vitriol that was directed toward Rock Terrace School,” Scott told the Board. “The characterizations were grossly inaccurate.”
That drew groans from many Luxmanor residents at the public hearing. Some who testified said they aren’t necessarily against the idea of collocating Rock Terrace with the new Tilden, but against the process.
Still, many indicated their all-out opposition to the collocation idea by claiming it would mean too many students and too much traffic for the neighborhood.
“It’s like moving Rockville Pike into a community neighborhood,” said Gilbert Hearer. “You might as well just move a CVS or Giant supermarket onto the corner.”
