Boys and Girls Club Moving to City School
After several years of discussion, information requests and public deliberation, the BOE voted in favor of a motion to relocate the Frederick County Public Schools' SUCCESS Program and Child Find to the vacant Lincoln A Elementary School, and to accept the Boys and Girls Club of Frederick County as a financial partner. The vote was 6 to 1 in favor. Board member Colleen Cusimano was the dissenting vote. [Photo above, Lincoln A Elementary School, by Gillian Grozier]
The BOE reached a resolution when Monocacy Montessori Communities Inc., the not-for-profit with oversight for the county's two Montessori charter schools, was unwilling to include SUCCESS as a co-occupant and was satisfied with its original proposal that included Child Find only.
In a statement explaining the charter school's position, MMCI President Amy Duvall said that while her organization had met with SUCCESS and the BGCFC to discuss each of the programs’ needs, the square-footage requirements for the charter school could not be met if additional programs were included. MMCI Vice President Kathleen Lutrell explained: “The amount of space we need currently is 12,000 sq. ft. and we are looking to expand. While sharing space with any of these programs would be a privilege, our space needs mean we can only accommodate Child Find.” MMCI currently has 300 students enrolled and a waiting list. Duvall says: “Our vision (for a new location) is to be able to accommodate at least 900 students. So our community has decided on a stand-alone program.”
Child Find identifies, evaluates and provides services to children from birth to age 21 who are suspected of having a disability. Child Find, a state-mandated program, is currently housed at FCPS’ Hayward Road location. SUCCESS helps disabled students ages 18 to 21 meet their individual and vocational goals, and is currently located in Walkersville. FCPS also operates an employee training program in the same building.
Several residents of the Washington Avenue neighborhood adjacent to Lincoln A spoke at the meeting. Although in favor of the FCPS programs that the move will now accommodate, neighbors voiced concerns about parking, traffic, noise and speeding. “We need to be a part of the process,” resident Liz Tinker said. It was agreed the motion should include a traffic study.
Cusimano expressed concern that the financial needs associated with the move to Lincoln A have been underestimated, and that the BOE still lacks adequate information on the BGCFC partnership. BOE Vice President Liz Barrett, who proposed the motion, also voiced concern about financial risk, and Michael Bunitsky has underscored the importance of making sure the legalities are met in working with the BGCFC.
While statements of support by individual board members were made on numerous occasions, BOE members Dr. April Miller and Joy Schaefer both shared an expanded vision for the Lincoln A as a “hub for services” with the flexibility to add FCPS programs such as those offered by the Career Technology Center. President Brad Young detailed his support for the SUCCESS program and how public transportation was a very real factor in enabling students to access the jobs offered.
Young says that teachers had at times used their own cars to transport students where no other means were available. Student Board member, Will Anderson offered a fresh perspective when he pointed out that the Charter School had an oversight entity in MMCI while the Success Program had only the BOE. For this reason, he cast his non-binding vote in favor of the motion. Several Board members apologized to FCPS staff for a contorted and lengthy process in reaching this resolution and hoped it was a learning experience for the BOE, applicable to future deliberations.
The Role of Extracurricular Activities
Board member, Michael Bunitsky introduced the topic of student activity times. He had been approached by parents questioning whether the BOE had a policy that could offer some limits to late night practice for extracurricular activities that would provide students with sufficient time to avoid excessively long days and to complete their homework.
From the discussion it was clear that extracurricular activities fulfilled an important role but the ways in which these activities did so differed widely from student to student. Examples given were practice times for a championship football team compared to an individual student’s tryout for an activity in which he or she had a beginning interest. Kevin Kendrow, Supervisor for Athletic & Extracurricular Activities and Randy Rumpf, PhD., Curriculum Specialist and Secondary VPA both shared guidelines currently in use for student athletes and band members.
Consensus which followed was for a non-prescriptive, generic statement affirming the FCPS core mission with clear goals as to how extracurricular activities are organized in support of that mission. BOE members acknowledged that “the road to excellence is different for different kids,” and the matter was referred to the FCPS Policy Committee for their consideration.
