Orwellspeak from MCPS

Responding to overwhelming public outcry that the county hold hearings on the closure of Seven Locks Elementary School (SLES) in Bethesda and construction of an entirely new school on Kendale Road in Potomac, county school officials say it's too late.

It's already been decided without hearings, and there's nothing the taxpayer can do about it.

This according to Joseph Lavorgna, director of planning and capital programs for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).

Is it shutting down SLES, which has sat for 40 years at the corner of Seven Locks Road and Bradley Boulevard in Bethesda?

Not at all, says Lavorgna. "The County Council has decided to build a new Seven Locks school. We are not closing the school, we are rebuilding it at the Kendale site."

If a Seven Locks fifth-grader gave a response like that on a test, she'd deserve an F. No less does the county.