County Council Straw Vote Favors Wheaton/Edison Modernization

The Montgomery County Council unanimously supported keeping the and the modernization on track in a straw vote during Tuesday’s council meeting.

The council’s vote is the latest swing in a series of back-and-forths for the modernization project in the county’s CIP budget. The Montgomery County Public Schools superintendent, Joshua Starr, cut the project from the school budget, but the Board of Education responded by voting unanimously to keep it on track -- even cutting or delaying other projects to keep Wheaton/Edison on schedule.

Then County Executive Isiah Leggett delayed the project once more in his CIP budget recommendations. But the council’s education committee, in a March 19 worksession,   

“This has been a fight throughout the whole year,” said Steve Augustino, who has taken the lead on CIP budget issues for the Montgomery County Council of PTAs. But he is pleased with the county council’s action: “We are very grateful that the county council listened to the PTAs.”

However, nothing is locked in until May.

"Now the job will be to ensure the priority level of this remains high enough with the decision-makers to keep the project on track with the required funding," George Gadbois, the Wheaton PTA Cluster Coordinator, wrote in an email to Patch. "Final CIP budget decisions are released in May, and we will continue pushing to make certain the Wheaton-Edison modernization remains funded starting in 2013." 

"And yes, it is a happy day for both Wheaton and Edison as both my sons attend or attended both schools," he added.

Wheaton has been a primary focus for the PTAs this year, Augustino said, because unless the Wheaton/Edison project stays on track, the backup will further delay modernizations for Wooton, Seneca Valley, and Poolesville high schools.

"Edison, we hope, is finally getting the recognition and support it deserves as our county's only career and technology education center and its only truly countywide school," Theresa Defino wrote in an email to Patch. Defino's son attended the autotech program at Edison and is now a graduating senior at Richard Montgomery High School. "We are grateful for the council's action and look forward to moving ahead with construction plans as we move out of the design phase," she added.

Gadbois credited Council Vice President Nancy Navarro and the council's education committee, chaired by Councilmember Valerie Ervin, for supporting the Wheaton/Edison community.

Navarro favors language that would prioritize the modernization; the education committee ultimately although without the priority language.

“Most if not all of the councilmembers recognize that the Wheaton/Edison modernization is a key element to Wheaton revitalization,” said Adam Fogel, Navarro's chief of staff.

Community members can come to a to see the schematic designs by Grimm + Parker Architects for modernizing the new schools.