Planning board staffer says it's 'difficult' to justify demolition of Seven Locks School

The Planning Board staffer who wrote the county report recommending approval of the plan to replace Seven Locks Elementary School with a new facility on Kendale Road agreed that it is "difficult" to argue for the plan.

At a May 5 meeting, Planning Board Chairman Derrick Berlage heard community leaders questioning the merits of demolishing the existing school and building a replacement on another site.

According to the Potomac Almanac, Berlage "asked Planning Board Staffer Callum Murray, who wrote the staff report recommending approval of the mandatory referral [Planning Board review], to state why building a new school at Kendale would be superior to expanding and modernizing the current Seven Locks."

"'I think it's actually quite difficult to do,' Murray said."