Bike Registration, Stipends and Zoning Dominate CC Meeting
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2015, 2016, 2017 MDDC News Organization of the Year! Celebrating more than 160 years of service! Vol. 165, No. 33 • 50¢ SINCE 1855 Thursday, January 23, 2020 INSIDE Throw It Down Young Fella! Bike registration, New Sector Plan Updates stipends and zoning Two individual Montgomery Council Committees met on Jan. 16 to talk about their plans for the dominate CC meeting upcoming year. Amendments. Bill 2-20 would per- By Ivan Torres mit voluntary registration of a bicy- @IvanTorres_27 Page 3 cle owned by a county resident for ROCKVILLE – During the personal use. Council Vice President weekly Montgomery County Coun- Tom Hucker and Councilmembers cil meeting on Jan. 21, the council in- Will Jawando, Evan Glass and Hans troduced multiple bills that included Riemer are the lead sponsors. Coun- bicycle registration, stipends for cil President Sidney Katz and Coun- members of county boards, commit- cilmembers Nancy Navarro and An- tees, and commissions and a zoning drew Friedson are cosponsors. measure allowing for larger solar Bill 2-20 also require the regis- collecting systems in the agricultural tration of a bicycle provided for rent reserve. in the county, which would repeal The meeting opened up with a the authority to impound an unregis- proclamation recognizing Mont- tered bicycle owned by a county res- gomery County Human Trafficking ident for personal use, repeal the au- Awareness Month, by Council Vice thority to deposit the proceeds from President Hucker and Councilmem- the sale of an impounded or aban- ‘Rapunzel’ ber Rice. doned bicycle in the Police Relief “Human trafficking is a major and Retirement Fund and generally Check out Mark Dreisonstok’s problem all around the world, and amend the laws governing the use of a bicycle in the county. review this week! sadly our county is no exception to The goal of this legislation is to this global scourge,” said Hucker. eliminate a regulatory burden on res- Page 10 “With help from our community idents who own bicycles. partners, we have made great “Many of us heard complaints progress raising awareness and fight- from constituents about hardships ing this disgrace in our county.” trying to ride their bicycle,” said PHOTO BY GEORGE SMITH From there on, the meeting was Glass. “I appreciate the collaborative James Hubert Blake High School fought back from a double-digit deficit to mostly about the introduction of take down John F. Kennedy High School, 67-62, on Jan. 21 during a boys bills. basketball match. Bengals standout Brian Ayafor slams down a monster The first bill introduced was dunk. Story on Page 20. Bill 2-20, Bicycles – Registration – See CC, Page 8 Many county public schools have ADA compliance issues year, EMG Project Architects and thing those without disabilities can. cerning interior problems. By Suzanne Pollak Rockville Wins! Engineers evaluated 198 facilities if Schools were rated by color, Only 7 of the 198 schools that @SuzannePollak the interiors and exteriors of the from green for a school with minor were reviewed received a green rat- Rockville High School deci- SILVER SPRING – Corrections ing for both their interior and exteri- mated Damascus High School dur- buildings were accessible to people issues, to yellow and red for schools have yet to be made to the thousands or. ing a boys basketball match on Jan. with disabilities, as is required by with the most egregious problems. A But even those seven were cited 17. of problems cited in an Americans law. red rating means significant capital with Disabilities assessment of The report reviewed parking ac- investment and design work are with problems. For instance, Briggs Chaney Middle School in Silver Page 17 Montgomery County Public Schools cessibility, bus loading zones, ramps, needed to get the school up to ADA (MCPS) that was conducted two handrails, paths from buildings to standards. Spring received a green rating but years ago. athletic areas, entrances and exits, re- Numerous requests by The Sen- has 54 items that need to be ad- “We are just making sure we strooms height of switches and out- tinel to the school administration by dressed. have the budget so we can address” lets, and many other items. both email and phone concerning the The inside of Thomas Wootton High School in Rockville was rated the problems, said School Board By law, not all barriers must be ADA report were not answered. green and its exterior yellow. The re- President Shebra Evans. “We are removed. However, accommoda- While no schools earned a red working on it.” tions must be made so that those with mark for their exteriors, 16 had egre- During the 2017-2018 school disabilities can get to and use every- gious issues to merit a red mark con- See ADA, Page 8 2 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL JANUARY 23, 2020 EFLECTIONS R The Montgomery County Sentinel, published weekly by Berlyn Inc. Publish- ing, is a community newspaper covering September 27, 1979: Fight on countywide finals takes shape Montgomery County, Maryland. Our of- fices are located at 22 W. Jefferson Each week the Sentinel visits a teacher’s association (MCEA) went encourage teachers to “teach the board, however, has proposed start- Street, Suite 309, Rockville, MD 20850. memorable story from its archives. on record against the uniform finals. test” instead of to the needs of the ing the finals for two subjects only: Founded in 1855 by Matthew Fields. All mail to: P.O. Box 1272, Rockville, MD According to president David Eberly, students in their classes. If the tests are geared to the av- 20849-1272. Subscription Rates for The With a public hearing approach- tests designed by the individual Last week, a task force of seven erage student, they would not chal- Montgomery County Sentinel – Weekly by mail: $40.00 per year & $26.50 for Se- ing on Oct. 25, concerned parents, teacher would have more educational administrators, headed by Associate lenge gifted ones and “may have a nior Citizens. (USPS) 361-100. students and educators are taking benefit to students. Superintendent Lois Martin, pub- harmful effect” on those with low sides on a school board proposal to The countywide council of lished an evaluation of the county- ability; Bernard Kapiloff give county high school students uni- PTA’s is withholding a formal posi- wide testing plan. If students are required to take PUBLISHER EMERITUS form final exams. tion on the testing until a panel of ex- The group concluded that the the Maryland competency tests, Lynn G. Kapiloff Last Wednesday, the county- perts discusses the issue at an Oct. 3 standard final “could enhance the ed- adding another county-wide final CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER/ wide student government association forum at Rockville High School. ucational program in the Mont- would double the number of tests PUBLISHER (MCR) adopted a resolution oppos- School board president Marian gomery County public schools if students now have to take; [email protected] ing the uniform finals. Greenblatt says countywide tests, they are implemented sensitively.” Legal complications could arise, Mark Kapiloff The students also voted to op- patterned after the regent’s exams of However, they raised the fol- particularly if results are different for ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER pose two other proposals included in New York and California, “Will raise lowing potential problems: different racial and ethnic groups. [email protected] a senior high school policy tentative- academic standards and be a chal- A “tremendous cost factor” The report recommends a two- EDITORIAL ly adopted by the board: one that lenge to students. could be involved if a uniform test, part, alternative exam. The first part award “certificates of achievement,” “We have 22 high schools,” she used to determine whether a student would be uniform throughout the Daniel Kucin Jr. along with diplomas, to students with continued. “This will help insure that passes or fails a course, must be de- county, geared to objectives expected EXECUTIVE EDITOR strong academic records; and one that every student is getting the same cur- veloped and fail tested. In 1977, a cit- of the average student. The second [email protected] would make students forfeit course riculum.” izen’s committee determined that it part would be developed by the indi- José Umaña credit as soon as they racked up five Student Government president would cost about $300,000 to vidual high school, and in a course CITY EDITOR unexcused absences. Alan Bowser, however, expressed $600,000 in salaries alone to write a like English be modified for different [email protected] Earlier this summer, the concern that the new program would test for every single subject. The ability levels. Neal Earley [email protected] ASSIGNMENTS NEWS George Smith Thousands volunteer during MLK Day of Service Write us PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR The Montgomery County Sentinel Tazeen Ahmad food item from each pile and then Dream Speech,” Katz said, “This is a CALENDAR EDITOR By Suzanne Pollak [email protected] placing it in their box. dream come true.” welcomes letters. @SuzannePollak Those 340 completed boxes Earlier, Councilman Gabe Al- CALL 301-838-0788 BETHESDA – More than 5,000 filled high with food will be distrib- bornoz said he, too, was pleased to All letters must be original, FAX 301- 838 - 3458 county residents spent Martin Luther uted to those receiving Meals on see so many people. NEWSROOM AND LEGAL ADVERTISING signed by the author King Jr. Day packaging food, making Wheels and to the Jewish Social Ser- “This is such a great way for the ADVERTISING blankets and cleaning parks during vice Agency in Rockville. entire county to come together and and must include the author’s daytime Lonnie Johnson the 25th annual MLK Day of Service.