Council's Education Committee Deletes $11 Million in Plastic Grass Cash from MCPS Capital Budget #nobid #perksRus #AlwaysFieldTurf #lead

On Monday, March 21, 2016, the Montgomery County Council's Education Committee met to discuss a number of budget items related to Montgomery County Public Schools.  One of the topics discussed was the Board of Education decision to spend $11 million on plastic grass football fields while the needs of school buildings for repairs and maintenance remains high.

Apparently, the Montgomery County Council's Education Committee finally decided to notice that the Board of Education was once again directing Capital Budget money away from pressing health and safety needs of public school children, and was instead going to spend money on a no-bid luxury item unrelated to closing the achievement gap.

The Council's staff wrote the following statement with regard to the BOE's decision to divert $11 million to plastic grass. 

 http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/Resources/Files/agenda/cm/2016/160321/20160321_ED2-3.pdf

During the Education Committee's meeting, Councilmember Marc Elrich made a motion that the $11 million no-bid perk funding should be deleted from the MCPS budget so that the funds can be used for more pressing Capital needs.  The Education Committee voted 3-0 to support this motion.  This matter will now go before the full Montgomery County Council.

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