Updated at 4:50 p.m. – More than 100 students gathered in front of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School on Wednesday morning to prevent a tree-cutting crew from removing a tree in front of the school.
Students protesting the tree-cutting said they were told the trees were being removed to make way for portable classrooms that needed to be relocated for the school’s upcoming addition project.
But school system spokesman Derek Turner said Wednesday that a contractor from Pepco is cutting down the trees because they were dying and identified as a potential hazard. In a prepared statement, Pepco said three dying trees were marked for removal as part of a state mandate to clear trees that threaten overhead power lines.
Pepco said it got permission from a school system supervisor to do the work, took down two of the trees but has delayed the removal of the third tree after the protest.
"This afternoon we met with several students at the school, listened to their concerns and answered their questions," Pepco said in a statement. "For now, we have deferred removing the third tree and will work with the students and school administration on a mutually acceptable resolution."
Bethesda-Chevy Chase Principal Donna Redmond Jones said Pepco didn't inform her of the work until the tree-cutting operation began this week.
Jones said it's possible more trees on the side of the school along East West Highway will have to be removed to make way for portable classrooms during the addition project, but the exact details are under review by the school system.
"I expressed concern about that to MCPS," Jones said. "They are looking at a revised option now."
A group of students organized the Wednesday morning protest through Facebook after seeing one tree, thought to be about 80 years old, being cut down Tuesday afternoon near the entrance to the school’s bus loop and parking lot on East West Highway.
A second tree had been cut down nearby.
Emily Leon-Salans, a senior protesting the tree-cutting Wednesday, said students planned to take shifts throughout the day to prevent the third tree, near the corner of East West Highway and Chelton Road, from being cut down.
“We’re part of this community and we want our trees to stay,” Leon-Salans said. “We should’ve been part of the whole process.”
— The Tattler (@tattlerbcc) January 6, 2016
