For Immediate Release: Friday, March 10, 2017
Montgomery Council committees to
discuss OLO report on
County Pre-K programs
compared to other jurisdictions
Also on Monday, March 13: Bethesda Downtown Plan,
proposed Linkages Connects program
ROCKVILLE, Md., March 10, 2017—The Montgomery County Council’s Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee and its Education Committee will meet jointly at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, March 13, to discuss an Office of Legislative Oversight report on the pre-kindergarten (pre-k) early education programs for four-year-olds that are available within the County. The County Council asked OLO to look at the programs that prepare students to enter kindergarten, identify the best practices available for these programs and compare what the County offers to what is offered in some other prominent jurisdictions.
The HHS Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember George Leventhal and includes Councilmembers Roger Berliner and Craig Rice, and the Education Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Rice and includes Councilmembers Marc Elrich and Nancy Navarro, will meet in the Seventh Floor Conference Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The meeting will be will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM), which can be viewed on Cable Channels 996 (high definition) and 6 (standard definition) on Comcast; Channels 1056 (HD) and 6 (SD) on RCN; and Channel 30 on Verizon. The sessions also will be available live via streaming through the Council web site at http://tinyurl.com/z9982v8 .
OLO released its report on pre-kindergarten programs in February. The complete report can be found at http://tinyurl.com/h643sh4 .
The joint committee meeting also will look at the proposed Linkages Connects program.
In previous discussions of the Linkages to Learning (LTL) program, members of the joint committee expressed interest in linking more school communities to mental health and social services and requested lower cost options for service delivery. The County’s Health and Human Services Department then convened an interagency committee and developed the "Linkages Connects" model. The model builds on Montgomery County Public Schools’ reorganization efforts that realign student and family engagement supports to high need schools.
At 2 p.m. in the Third Floor Hearing Room, the Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Nancy Floreen and includes Councilmembers Leventhal and Hans Riemer, will continue its review of the Bethesda Downtown Plan. At this worksession, the committee will focus on the plan's site specific recommendations for five of the districts not previously discussed by the committee.
The committee will be discussing the Jaffe Property on Wisconsin Avenue South. There was a three-way committee split on the zoning for this property. Committee Chair Floreen asked for additional analysis of an option for increased height linked to the size of the Greenway.
The committee also will address the Saul Property on Wisconsin Avenue North. Committee Chair Floreen asked Council staff to consider whether it would be appropriate to have heights greater than the 120 feet recommended by staff if there is more significant green space on the eastern edge of the property.
Other properties to be reviewed are the La Madeleine Property on Wisconsin Avenue North and the Acura dealership property on Wisconsin Avenue North). Also to be considered are zoning recommendations for properties east of Wisconsin Avenue.
At 2 p.m. in Seventh Floor Hearing Room, the Education Committee will review long-term facility needs of MCPS by considering proposed amendments to the Fiscal Years 2017-22 Capital Improvements Program.
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Release ID: 17-077