PBES expansion in MCPS document on downcounty elementary schools

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A heads-up for local parents and PBES pool users —

(TPSS Voice photo)

Montgomery County Public Schools has posted the interim superintendent’s recommendations for addressing elementary school overcrowding in our corner of the county. They include (page 9):

“Request FY 2017 facility planning funds for a feasibility study to explore the feasibility, scope, and cost of an addition at Piney Branch Elementary School with a completion date of August 2022.”

The motivation is that PBES is projected to have a deficit of 129 seats by 2021-2. Text includes (page 8):

“A feasibility study will need to be conducted to explore razing the existing pool to construct an addition in the future. With the smallest site of any school in the county, at 1.9 acres, there is no room in the Piney Branch Elementary School site to accommodate relocatable classrooms.”

The doc is the Interim Superintendent’s Recommendation to Address Elementary School Overutilization in the Lower Portion of the Downcounty Consortium.” It covers elementary schools that include Takoma Park ES, Piney Branch ES, and Rolling Terrace ES.

It’s posted to the MCPS Capital Improvements Program/ Master Plan Web page.

Regarding PBES —

Not reflected in the recommendations doc is that Councilmember George Leventhal and Board of Education Member Chris Barclay have asked MCPS to study building new PBES classroom space *above* the pool, keeping the pool open in the expanded school building.

One Reply to “PBES expansion in MCPS document on downcounty elementary schools”

  1. Good. The pool's obviously on the county's budget chopping list. Residents can use the Takoma Aquatic Center and/or Long Branch Rec Center's pools. The city should use this loss to negotiate a better rec deal with the county, getting us the same rebate as Rockville and Gaithersburg and/or an improved facility on New Hampshire Avenue that could include a pool.

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