MSI needs new soccer fields while MCPS planned cutting them

Remember when our superintendent and soon-to-be-departing board of education planned to hand a large MCPS soccer field over to developers and replace it with a tiny one superimposed over a baseball and softball diamond? And reduce the inadequate parking even further while forcing kids to walk on a narrow road that had no sidewalk? All this in a "replacement school" that would be three times the size of the existing one?

That was part of the Kendale scandal, of course. Parents killed that ill-conceived plan earlier this year. As it turns out, Montgomery County kids need more soccer fields, not fewer as MCPS had envisioned.

Here's what the folks at MSI, who bring us extracurricular soccer to public schools, tell parents in the 2007 registration form:

"Many of you know that one of the biggest problems facing our community is the overwhelming shortage of recreational ball fields and, especially, the poor quality of those fields that are available. MSI is committed to solving this problem by partnering with our county government to help build new parks and superior quality soccer fields. In 2007, MSI will be launching a sponsorship campaign to help support our field development efforts."

By the way, the MSI people are volunteers who donate their time to the kids.