Dr. Jerry D. Weast, superintendent of schools, is recommending a new plan to the Board of Education that will dramatically reduce the number of portable classrooms used in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) by 68 percent by the 2012-2013 school year.

Dr. Weast announced the plan at Takoma Park Elementary School Monday during a news conference with Board of Education President Charles Haughey, Board Vice President Sharon Cox, Board Member Nancy Navarro, and Montgomery County Council President George Leventhal. Delegates Charles Barkley and Nancy King also attended the news conference to discuss possible legislative efforts to require statewide quality standards for portable classrooms.

"With our enrollment leveling off, we have an excellent opportunity to focus on eliminating as many portable classrooms as possible," Dr. Weast said. "We must seize this opportunity and invest to give our students top-quality classroom space so they achieve and succeed."

The recommended portable reduction plan will be accomplished in two phases and fulfills a request made by Council President Leventhal to accelerate the removal of portable classrooms from MCPS campuses. The first phase is fully funded in the Fiscal Year 2007-2012 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) and includes 14 school additions, one new school, one reopened school, and the modernization of 16 schools. This phase will reduce the number of portable classrooms from an all-time high of 719 last year to 373 over the next six years.

"The Board of Education has made a strong commitment to our community that we will significantly reduce our reliance on portable classrooms over the next six years," said Sharon Cox, vice president of the Board of Education. "Board members look forward to working with the superintendent and the Montgomery County Council to do what we can to give every student the best possible classroom space in which to learn."

The second phase would speed up the removal of another 155 portable classrooms, reducing the total number in use to 229 by 2012-13, the fewest number since 1997, when only 210 units housed students.

To accomplish phase two of the plan, Dr. Weast is proposing amendments to the current Fiscal Year 2007-2012 CIP that will add permanent capacity to two schools and will be recommending several new projects as part of the next full six-year capital plan (FY 2009-2014).

Takoma Park Elementary School would be among the first beneficiaries of the new plan to reduce portable classrooms, with a recommended 16-room addition and core modifications costing $15.6 million. Takoma Park Elementary currently has 416 students using a facility designed for 279. The additional students are housed in eight portable classrooms on the campus. The project, if approved, will be completed by August 2010.

"As the father of a second grader at Takoma Park Elementary School, there's no question that Takoma Park needs this relief and that our students across the county deserve to have the best educational facilities," said Council President Leventhal. "I am committed to working with the school system to move as rapidly as we can to eliminate as many portable classrooms as possible from our schools."

A $12.3 million classroom addition and core modifications are also being recommended for East Silver Spring Elementary School to relieve overcrowding at Sligo Creek Elementary School. East Silver Spring Elementary School will be reorganized to a pre-K-5 school and students from Piney Branch Elementary School will be reassigned to East Silver Spring Elementary School, creating capacity at Piney Branch Elementary School to accommodate some Sligo Creek Elementary School students.

In addition to the Takoma Park and East Silver Spring elementary school projects, the following amendments are included in Dr. Weast's $39.9 million proposal:

-Poolesville High School will receive additional science laboratories and upgrades to current labs to support the standard curriculum and magnet programs. The cost is $7.8 million.

-Thomas S. Wootton High School will receive $600,000 in building modifications and program improvements to accommodate two new computer laboratories for the Academy of Information Technology.

-One modernization project will receive an additional $3.5 million.

-Clarksburg High School will receive $192,000 to pay for the county's share of stadium lighting costs. Clarksburg is the only high school in the county without stadium lighting.