Bowie area swim teams participate in Prince-Mont divisional meets

By Mike Rauck

July 28, 2023

Six Prince-Mont Swim League (PMSL) divisional meets were held on Saturday to determine the final 2023 standings within each of the league’s divisions, and four of those meets took place in Bowie.

The Prince-Mont Division A championships were held at Whitehall Pool & Tennis Club, the Division C championships were held at Belair Swim & Racquet Club, the Division D championships were held at the Northridge Community Pool, and the Pointer Ridge Swim & Racquet Club hosted the Division E championships.

DIVISION A

The Kingfish Swim Club (KSC) was victorious in Division A, winning all five of their dual meets and soundly beating all other teams during Saturday’s divisional meet.  Kingfish remains the top team in the league, and they have not lost a meet since 2021.

Although the Kingfish Swim Club hosts swim meets in Upper Marlboro, many of the team’s swimmers live in or near Bowie.

Also in Division A, the Belair Bath & Tennis (BBT) swim team came out one point ahead of Whitehall Pool & Tennis (WPT) on Saturday, tying Whitehall and BBT for 5th place in Division A points. The league uses dual meet results to break ties in the standings.  Since Whitehall beat BBT when the two teams met on July 8th, Whitehall finished 5th in Division A and BBT finished in 6th place.

Eight swimmers won all three of their individual events including Trent Badrak of the Adelphi Dolphins (AR), Landon Abelende and Addy Donnick of the Hawthorne Country Club Gators (HCC), Layla Davy-Brown, Ginny Smith, and Zuri Wilson of Kingfish, Wesley Moncton of the Prince George's Pool Killer Whales (PGP), and Ethan Zurowski of the BBT Dolphins.

Five swimmers won two of their individual events including Emma Henchcliffe from BBT, Gavin Abelende from Hawthorne, Alysa Bailey from Kingfish, Dmitry Mikhailov-Bakker from PGP, and Cecilia Saarinen from Whitehall.

Addy Donnick from Hawthorne broke a Whitehall pool record by swimming 59.51 in the Girls 15-18 100 Meter Freestyle.  The previous record had been in place since 2014.

Two Kingfish team records were set, including Sophie Koroma’s 29.82 time in the Girls 15-18 50 Meter Butterfly and Alysa Bailey’s 37.33 time in the Girls 13-14 50 Meter Breaststroke.

Levi Vars broke a BBT team record by swimming 32.07 in the Boys 15-18 50 Meter Breaststroke. The previous record had been in place since 2012.


DIVISION C

Belair Swim & Racquet (BSR) became the 2023 PMSL Division C Champions after finishing second behind the West Arundel Swim Team in Saturday’s Division C divisional meet. BSR was undefeated this season heading into Saturday’s meet, and the Bowie team finished the meet tied with West Arundel in division points. The tie was broken in favor of BSR because West Arundel lost to BSR by three points in a dual meet one week earlier.

Six swimmers won all three of their individual events including Carlos Idol and Kazuki Reeves of the Montpelier Marlins (MC), Jacob Campbell and Sydney Campbell of the Russett Sharks (RST), Michael Venit from the West Arundel Ducks (WA), and BSR’s Camille Smith.  Smith also helped the Barracudas to a first-place finish in the Girls 9-18 200 Meter Freestyle Relay.

Nine swimmers won two of their individual events including Zoe Adams, Christopher Perkins, and DJ Theodore from BSR, Mia Moore from Greenbelt Municipal Swim Team (GM), Kaley Markovitz and Kylie Ritter from Russett, Yusuf Islam and Kitana Marroquin from West Arundel, and Maarja McCall from the West Laurel Swim Club (WLS).

Kyle Smith tied a BSR team record set in 2011 by swimming a 32.07 in the Boys 15-18 50 Meter Breaststroke.

Only 0.18 seconds separated DJ Theodore and Kyle Smith in an exciting finish as the pair took first and second place respectively for the Barracudas in the Boys 15-18 50 Meter Butterfly.

Sydney Campbell from the Russett Sharks Swim Team broke a PMSL league record by swimming a 28.12 in the Girls 11-12 50 Meter Freestyle, and she broke a BSR pool record by swimming a 30.70 in the Girls 11-12 50 Meter Butterfly.  Campbell teamed up with Julianna Rios, Kylie Ritter, and Kaley Markovitz to break a BSR pool record for the Sharks in the Girls 18 & Under 200 Meter Medley Relay with a time of 2:10.71.

Michael Venit from the West Arundel Ducks broke a PMSL league record by swimming a 58.47 in the Boys 15-18 100 Meter IM, and he broke a BSR pool record by swimming a 29.18 in the Boys 15-18 50 Meter Breaststroke.


DIVISION D

The Accokeek Gator’s (AST) edged out the Indian Head Torpedoes (IH) to win first place in Division D for the 2023 season, despite the Torpedoes coming in first place in Saturday’s divisionals meet held at the Northridge Community Pool in Bowie.

The Northridge Neptunes finished the season in fourth place in Division D.

Five swimmers won all three of their individual events in the Division D Championships meet including Ashley Gruwell from Accokeek, Jason Johnson from the Fort Washington Sharks (FW), Naomi Dugan from Indian Head, and Cole Gilbert and Gianna San Juan from Northridge.

Cole Gilbert broke three Northridge team records during his individual event swims, and Naomi Dugan and Jason Johnson both broke two Northridge pool records.

Five swimmers won two of their individual events including Gambrell Bennett and Johannes Shotwell from Accokeek, Alexa Ampela from Fort Washington, Alexander Byrd from Northridge, and Rafa Borders from the Westlake Village Waves (WOW).


DIVISION E

The Prince George's Parks and Recreation Sharks Swim Team (PPR) were big winners in Division E, winning all five dual meets and coming in first in last Saturday’s divisionals meet held at Pointer Ridge Swim & Racquet in Bowie.

The Pointer Ridge Porpoises finished the season in third place in Division E.

This summer saw the return of the Takoma Park D.C. Swim Team (TP) to the league. Takoma Park didn’t have access to a pool for two years due to concerns about Covid, and the team was not able to regroup for the 2022 season. Takoma Park had been a solid Division A team for years prior to 2020.

Six swimmers won all three of their individual events in the Division E Championships meet including Nicholas Karis, Bridget Kelly, and Jocelyn Turner of the Brandywine Blue Waves, and Allen Bui, An Bui, and Ari Jenkins of the Laurel City Kingfish.

Three swimmers won two of their individual events including Azurah Coppock-Bey from Prince George’s Park and Rec, Aiden Morgan from the Takoma Park Allstars, and Anthony Davis of the Pointer Ridge Porpoises.

Data on records broken for the Division E meet was not provided with the meet results.

Whitehall Pool & Tennis wins 2023 Bowie City Meet

By Mike Rauck

July 15, 2023

The Whitehall Pool & Tennis Club swim team won its 7th consecutive Bowie City Meet Tuesday night in the closest match in nearly a decade, beating second place finisher Belair Bath & Tennis (BBT) by 16.5 points. The final score for the annual event had not been this close since BBT beat Whitehall by three points in a storm-shortened meet in 2014.

The final score of this week’s meet was Whitehall Pool & Tennis Club (WPT) 598, Belair Bath & Tennis (BBT) 581.5, Belair Swim & Racquet (BSR) 465.5, and Pointer Ridge Swim & Racquet Club (PR) 201.

The Girls 18 & Under 200 Meter Medley Relay event set the competitive tone for the meet early when Whitehall beat BBT by 0.04 seconds.

The winner beat the second-place finisher by less than one second in 12 out of 49 events Tuesday night.

“Family” was one theme for the meet with cousins Joey Coleman and Ella Gannett from BBT combining to win two events, sisters Cecilia and Faith Saarinen from WPT winning three events, brothers Omar, Suleiman, and Ibrahim Mourad from WPT winning six events, and brothers Ethan, Ryan, and Thomas Zurowski from BBT winning seven events.
 

Seven swimmers won all three of their individual events including Cara Craig and Autumn Gaskins from BSR, Ryan Meledick, Ethan Zurowski, and Emma Henchcliffe from BBT, and Omar Mourad and Clare O’Keefe from WPT.

Five swimmers won two of their individual events including Kyle Smith from BSR, Ryan Zurowski and Thomas Zurowski from BBT, and Hayden Karasiewicz, Suleiman Mourad, and Cecilia Saarinen from WPT.

No new City Meet records were set this year, but one BBT pool record and one BBT team record were broken.

WPT’s Omar Mourad swam the Boys 15-18 50 Meter Butterfly in 27.29 seconds, breaking the previous BBT pool record time of 27.47 that had been in place since 2015.
 

BBT’s Ryan Meledick swam the Boys 13-14 50 Meter Butterfly in 28.87 seconds, beating a BBT team record he set only three days earlier.  Prior to Meledick’s record-breaking 2023 swims, the previous record of 29.10 had been in place since 1980.

Tuesday’s swim meet was the 50th time that Bowie pools came together for the annual City Meet.  Whitehall, BSR, and BBT competed in the first Bowie City Meet in 1972, and Pointer Ridge began participating in the meet starting in 1973.  The Bowie City Meet has been held annually since 1972 with the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to Covid concerns.

The meet host team, Belair Bath & Tennis, decorated the venue to match the team’s 2023 Bowie City Meet theme, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  Teams traditionally choose a different theme each year, and swimmers will dress in costume or wear t-shirts matching their team’s theme. Each team is formally introduced as they enter the venue, and swimmers march once around the pool, showing their costumes and team pride.

Whitehall Pool & Tennis will host the Bowie City Meet in 2024.

 

 

Council sets parameters for future operation of golf course

By Mike Rauck

The city gave Emerald Golf Management until Friday to accept the city’s terms for management of the Bowie Golf Club.  If an agreement can’t be reached, the city will attempt to negotiate a contract with Indigo Golf Partners.

The council also directed the city manager to make all practical efforts to open the facility using contractors and city staff while negotiations continue.

The Bowie Golf Club closed Friday after the city was not able to reach an agreement with Emerald to operate the city-owned facility.  A prior agreement with Bowie Golf Course Management expired last Thursday.

An RFP process earlier in the year yielded two proposals to manage the golf course.  City staff recommended a proposal from Indigo Golf Partners, but the council voted to pursue an agreement with Emerald.

Shirley Fletcher, president of Emerald Golf Management, addressed the council during the citizen participation portion of last night’s city council meeting.  Fletcher was unhappy with the way the city handled negotiations, but she let the council know that Emerald is still interested in running the facility.  

“We’re still here.  We still want to run and operate the Bowie golf course,” Fletcher said.  We still believe that we’re a good fit. We’re local.  We’re small business, and I think we’ll do the community a good job.  The city will be very pleased with what we can do.”

District 1 Councilmember Michael Estève indicated that the council has some non-negotiable terms that Emerald was not able to meet.  “The final offer we received included illusions to some of the things that we wanted, but a lot of it was not in writing,” Estève said.

Estève said that he did not want to make the same mistakes that were made in the agreement with the previous management firm, Bowie Golf Course Management.  “We discovered over time that much of our relationship with the previous company was largely built on trust.”  Estève continued, “If we are going to invest a very large amount of public tax dollars into the course over the next several years, we want to make sure that there is 100% absolute financial transparency and accountability.  We wanted to make sure in writing that the city council would have the final say over rates, and that we would be able to keep rates low.”

District 2 Councilmember Dufour Woolfley proposed that city staff permanently run the golf course as a last resort if an agreement cannot be reached with Emerald or Indigo Golf Partners.  He received pushback from At-Large Councilmember Ingrid Harrison and District 4 Councilmember Roxy Ndebumadu, and the council agreed to take action at a later date if an agreement with a management company cannot be reached.

According to Assistant City Manager Daniel Mears, the golf course remains closed, and eight contractors have been hired to maintain the facility.  Crews were present at the course this morning.

Estève spent about seven minutes during last night’s meeting providing a thorough and detailed explanation of his position on the golf course.  His comments are well worth the read, and they can be found below.

So first off, I think I can safely say that all seven of us on the city council are committed to maintaining golf in Bowie. I think that goes without any question.

Over the last forty years since we’ve had a Bowie golf course, there’s been rumors that pop up, sometimes once every couple of years, sometimes once every couple of days, it feels, where there is a new plan to sell the property to a developer and build a bunch of homes. I can assure you, seven zero, that’s never been a controversial issue for this council or any previous ones.  We bought the property specifically to maintain it, to protect it, to use it as a public amenity, and we are all committed to continuing to do that.

This is not, unfortunately, a particularly new issue.  It’s just the next stumbling block in a series that we’ve had with all of our recreational amenities in Bowie.  We are one of the more amenitized communities in the region.  We’re very proud of that.

None of our facilities serve only Bowie residents. None of our facilities make a ton of money back. Most of our facilities lose money, and that’s largely by choice. We want them to be public.  We want them to be affordable. We want them to be accessible. 

The challenge that we have is reaching the point where all of our amenities are really beginning to age.  Our golf course is a half century old, and the pictures that we get on what it looks like are increasingly bleak - when we see the wooden interior and the roof and the equipment that needs replacing.  Our basketball courts, we’ve invested a lot money improving things there.  That’s one of our newer facilities.  Our golf course is, especially for many of our regular players, you know, I think someone referred to it as a dog track earlier, but our dog track.  I think that’s how a lot of us feel as well.  It’s not in the best shape.  It definitely needs some TLC., and we’re committed to make that happen.

On the last council, (we) visited the golf course, over a series of many meetings with a consulting firm, at the time, to look at all of the specific things that need improvements.  We got on the phone with our state lawmakers about possible sources of funds to improve the historic property on the site. To start repairing the irrigation.  And the city began on a long series of scheduling capital projects to improve the course, and we’re going to stick to those.  We’re committed to making that happen.  It will hopefully not be a dog track for very long. It won’t be able to all be done overnight.  It’s a lot of money, but we can, over the course of several years, continue to make some improvements to it so that it can be a really great amenity.  And with the closure of so many of the other golf courses in the area, as many of you wrote to us about, we totally recognize the importance of maintaining this particular amenity, and we also get that it can be very successful.  I don’t think we’ll have any shortage of players any time soon for quite a while.

So we’re all committed to keep it going.

Our only challenge is simply one of management.

The Bowie golf course is the only facility we have that is not directly run by city personnel. The gym is run by city employees.  The ice rink is run by city employees. The senior center is run by city employees.  The golf course is not.

For forty years, we’ve had a private company, Bowie Golf Management, running the facility for us.

For most of that time, I think the relationship was very fruitful for both sides. 

As the owners of the previous company approached retirement, I think the relationship changed a little bit - just from my perspective – just my observation.

We discovered over time that much of our relationship with the previous company was largely built on trust, and we specifically discovered that when we would go to our contract whenever there was an issue, and realize that a lot of this isn’t enforceable.  So we quickly learned that trust was really important in that relationship.

Over the course of the last few months as we’ve gotten a closer look at the operations of the golf course, we’ve realized that there are a lot of things moving forward that we absolutely want to improve upon, and a lot of things that we want to do a little bit differently.

As a result, the whole city council has been absolutely committed to the notion that if we are going to invest a very large amount of public tax dollars into the course over the next several years, we want to make sure that there is 100% absolute financial transparency and accountability.

We want to make sure that if we’re doing all of the major capital improvement projects, that we’re able to set the pace of those projects.  We recognize that there’s a lot of costs involved in this.  We wanted to make sure in writing that the city council would have the final say over rates, and that we would be able to keep rates low.

These were all non-negotiables for us from the beginning, and I think the challenge that we had is that at times – my observation – our negotiating partner simply had a different philosophy.  I think they wanted to come in, were very proud of the fact that they had the potential to run a very independent facility – more similar to the arrangement we had with Bowie Golf Management.  And throughout the process and throughout the negotiations, it just seemed to us as though there was an irreconcilable difference in philosophies about that.  The final offer we received included illusions to some of the things that we wanted, but a lot of it was not in writing.  There were things in the final offer that we received that were, from our perspective, not as great for the city as when we actually began.  Overall, all of us felt that we were further apart in the end, in many ways, then when we started.  And with the deadline looming, we were kind of stuck.

And unfortunately, being a public body, we can’t just all seven of us hang out at the pub with our friends and our negotiating partners to sign a deal.  We have to go through, unfortunately, this public process with public meetings, and deadlines and rules that we have to follow, unfortunately.

So where we are is fairly straightforward.  We are committed to maintaining public golf.  We’re committed to throwing a lot of money at it in the next few years.  A lot of these things are already scheduled in our capital improvements list. It’s just a matter of figuring out who’s going to run it day to day for us.

Is Bowie offering universal pre-k? Not exactly.

 By Mike Rauck

“There’s about to be universal pre-k in Bowie,” a Facebook user commented on a Bowie Living post about the future of the Bowie Ice Arena.  “Where’s the post about that? Spread the good news too. I’m so over this obsession with a(n) ice rink.”

 

The comment came days after Bowie Mayor Tim Adams issued a press release on his personal web page about a publicly funded pre-k program coming to Reid Temple Christian Academy in Glenn Dale. Adams described a historic pre-k partnership that will significantly expand pre-k access, “open to Prince George’s County residents, with a focus on residents of Bowie.”

Several local television stations published stories about the program.  Mayor Adams shared a WUSA Channel 9 story on his Facebook page with the headline, “Bowie first Maryland city to offer universal Pre-K.”  WJLA Channel 7 followed shortly with the headline, “One local Md. jurisdiction will be the first in the state to offer free universal Pre-K,” and it was posted to Facebook with a caption that said, “One jurisdiction will become the first in the state to offer universal Pre-K to all residents!”

News 4 Prince George's County Bureau Chief Tracee Wilkins published a very different report about a free pre-k program with 40 seats available to county residents.

 

The claims about the pre-k program were contradictory and hard to believe.  Was universal pre-k coming or was it 40 new seats?  Implementing universal pre-k would be a heavy lift at any time, and county and state budgets are currently under immense pressure.  Schools are run at the county level - not by the city. Universal pre-k hasn't been discussed at any recent city council meetings, and Adams' press release referred to a partnership with “the office of the Mayor.” Why would a school in Glenn Dale focus on Bowie residents? The reports were very confusing.

 

I reached out to the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS), Mayor Adams, and Reid Temple Church.  I let them know that I was writing a story to clear up the confusion created by conflicting news reports about publicly funded pre-k in Bowie.  I also reached out to City of Bowie staff.

I never heard back from Mayor Adams or Reid Temple.

I was able to determine that the news stories were related to a new pre-k program at Reid Temple Christian Academy in Glenn Dale that's offering 40 publicly funded pre-k seats to county residents for the 2020-21 school year - one class for three-year-olds and one class for four-year-olds. Eligibility for the program is based on household income or participation in an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP).

According to MSDE, the program is a partnership between the Maryland State Department of Education, Reid Temple Christian Academy, and Prince George's County Public Schools.  MSDE is providing the funding in the form of a one-year $400,000 grant made possible by state and federal funds. Reid Temple is responsible for running the program, and PGCPS has oversight responsibilities.

Funding for the program is not guaranteed for future years.

City staff told Bowie Living that the city is not part of the partnership.  The City of Bowie does not have responsibility for funding or operating schools for city residents.

The claims that Bowie is offering universal pre-k are false, and the assertion that the new Reid Temple program focuses on Bowie residents is not supported by the grant application that Reid Temple Christian Academy filed with MSDE.

Mayor Adams bears some responsibility for the misinformation. Although the mayor's press release gets many of the details about the Reid Temple program right, it exaggerates the program's links to the city.  The mayor also served as one of the primary sources for the WUSA and WJLA news stories, and he shared misleading information on his Facebook page about Bowie becoming the first city in Maryland to offer universal pre-k.

What's more concerning is that Mayor Adams announced plans to use city resources to support the expansion of the Reid Temple pre-k program to the exclusion of other area pre-k programs that have been serving city residents for decades. That's not only bad governance, but if those plans move forward, they have the potential to open the city to lawsuits.

Although the news about the 40 new pre-k seats at Reid Temple is encouraging, it must be put in the context of the broader effort to bring universal pre-k to the area.

 

What is universal pre-k?

Although the programs described as universal pre-k vary from one jurisdiction to the next, universal pre-k programs share these common characteristics:  publicly funded, free to parents, and wide-scale availability to residents.

Publicly funded pre-k in Prince George's County

Prince George's County Public Schools has a long-term goal to offer publicly funded pre-k education to all families in the county. Full implementation is difficult because it requires funding and classroom space - two things that are harder to come by in recent years.

The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) also has a long-term goal to make publicly-funded pre-k widely available throughout the state.  Through MSDE's Division of Early Childhood, federal and state grant money has helped fund pre-k education in school districts across Maryland.  MSDE makes these funds available through grants referred to as Pre-K Expansion Grants.

PGCPS received $3.1 million in Pre-K Expansion grants from MSDE for the 2019-2020 school year - a fraction of the program's cost.

Despite funding and resource challenges, PGCPS offers pre-k at dozens of locations throughout the county.  Both half-day and full-day programs are available.  The seats are reserved for four-year-olds with some exceptions granted to children about to turn four.  Priority is given to families falling below certain income thresholds.

Publicly funded pre-k in Bowie

PGCPS has offered pre-k at different locations in the city for years.  According to an email sent to Bowie Living from PGCPS, a total of 160 publicly funded pre-k seats are currently being offered at the following locations in the city. 

• Chapel Forge Early Childhood Center:  80 seats; 4 classes;  serves families in school boundaries for High Bridge ES and Pointer Ridge ES
• Northview Elementary School:  40 seats; 2 classes; serves families in school boundaries for Northview ES
• Rockledge Elementary School:  40 seats; 2 classes;  serves families in school boundaries for Rockledge ES, Yorktown ES, Whitehall ES and Tulip Grove ES

 

Pre-K Expansion Grants for non-public schools

In an effort to access additional classroom space and other resources, the Maryland State Department of Education issues Pre-K Expansion Grants to public charter schools, approved non-public schools, community-based child care programs, Head Start programs, and even home-based child care centers. When awarding grants, MSDE tries to achieve a mix of organization types and geographic locations. 

Grants are awarded to religiously affiliated organizations, but those organizations cannot include any religious activity during the 6.5 hour portion of the school day that's funded by MSDE.

Organizations accepting MSDE Pre-K Expansion Grant money must enter into a memorandum of understanding with the local school district to define the curriculum and other details of the program.  Grantees choose from a list of approved curriculum options.

How are Pre-K Expansion Grants awarded?

In order to be considered for a Pre-K Expansion Grant, an organization must submit an application to MSDE that explains how it will meet the grant goals and must provide supporting documentation to help verify that it meets the grant requirements.  All applications are then scored by multiple reviewers using a predetermined scoring methodology.  Grantees are selected based on a combination of score, geographic location, and organization type so that MSDE can vary the locations and types of programs.

  

Eligibility for the Reid Temple Christian Academy pre-k program

The new pre-k expansion program at Reid Temple is open to three-year-old and four year-old county residents only.  Any three year-old or four year-old student in the county with an Individualized Education Plans (IEP) or an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) is eligible regardless of family income.  Students without an IEP or IFSP are only eligible if they are part of a household that has income up to 300 percent of Federal Poverty Guidelines.

The Federal Poverty Guidelines vary by the number of persons in a household. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services web site, a family of four making $26,200 or less is considered to be in poverty based on 2020 guidelines.  A family of four would have to be making $78,600 or less to be eligible for the pre-k expansion program at Reid Temple.

Status of the Reid Temple program

The memorandum of understanding between PGCPS and Reid Temple Christian Academy was signed earlier this summer, and applications are now being accepted.

The City of Bowie recently shared details on how families can apply.

Implementation of the program may be affected by COVID-19 concerns, and Reid Temple should be contacted for the latest status.

Does the Reid Temple program give priority to Bowie residents?

When asked about recruiting goals in the MSDE grant application, Reid Temple stated that it intended on “reaching families in our service area,” and “increasing the number of children in our community who are ready for kindergarten,” according to an MSDE spokesperson.  There was no mention of giving priority to Bowie residents.

An MSDE spokesperson did say that if more eligible applicants apply than the program supports, Reid Temple will be choosing which students are accepted to the program.

Is the City of Bowie involved in the Reid Temple pre-k partnership?

According to Mayor Adams' press release, the partnership that brought publicly funded pre-k seats to Reid Temple includes the “office of the Mayor,” which implies that the City of Bowie is involved in the program.

Reid Temple announced on Facebook that it is partnering with Bowie, Maryland.

However, city staff told Bowie Living that the city is not involved in the Reid Temple pre-k partnership.

The City of Bowie has a council/manager form of government, and city partnerships must be approved by the city council.  Additionally, cities following the council/manager structure do not have an “office of the Mayor.”

Despite some claims that the city is involved in the partnership, those reports never included what the city's responsibilities to the partnership would be.

Do Bowie residents have universal pre-k?

City residents currently have 160 publicly funded pre-k seats offered by PGCPS with limited availability based on age and household income.  Bowie residents are also eligible to apply to programs offered by the following Pre-K Expansion Grant recipients in the county.

• Reid Temple Christian Academy in Glenn Dale
• themba Creative Learning Center in Lanham
• Greenbelt Children's Center in Greenbelt
• Largo Park Early Learning Center in Largo (aka The Haynes Academy)

The age groups supported by these programs may vary by location, but the eligibility requirements are the same as the Reid Temple program.

Organizations offering pre-k classes funded by Pre-K Expansion Grants may also offer pre-k classes that require payment or tuition, so it's important that applicants specify that they are interested in the free publicly funded classes when applying.

These pre-k seats represent progress by the county and state officials over time, but it's hard to imagine anyone describing the availability to Bowie residents as “universal.”

A governance concern for city government

According to Mayor Adams' press release, the mayor, “has assigned Bowie City Council Member Roxy Ndebumadu, the Council’s Liaison to the Education Committee, to coordinate with Reid Temple AME, Prince George’s County Public Schools, City staff, and the Bowie community to craft a strategic multi-year plan to move RELC (Reid Early Learning Center) into City limits and expand the program’s capacity towards the goal of universal Pre-K.”

Regardless of the virtues of bringing additional publicly funded pre-k seats to the city, and regardless of quality of a Reid Temple Christian Academy pre-k education, the mayor's plan is a governance concern. Without debate, council vetting, and public input, Mayor Adams' plan assumes that the best way to increase publicly funded pre-k seats in the city is to support an expansion of the Reid Temple program.

A statement was read during the Citizen Participation portion of the July 13th city council meeting from Christin Vare, the Director of the St. Matthews Early Education Center in Bowie. Vare spoke of the importance of pre-k education, and she asked the mayor and city council to please consider expanding funding collaboration with pre-k programs to include schools that have been serving the Bowie community for decades.  She mentioned Holy Trinity, St. Pius, the Children's Centre, Cornerstone Christian Academy, and St. Matthews EEC.

If the city is favoring one pre-k program over another, that decision needs to be backed up by a policy that explains what makes a pre-k program eligible for city support.  If only one pre-k program is eligible for city support, that needs to be backed up by a competitive application and review process.  Any conflicts of interest need to be disclosed, including instances where a city official is a member of a church associated with a pre-k program seeking help from the city.

Implementing the mayor's plan without a pre-k policy will create liability concerns for the Bowie.

The Maryland State Department of Education is clearly picking some programs over others when it assigns Pre-K Expansion Grants, but that process is supported by a well-defined scoring methodology and a mission to vary grant recipients geographically and by organization type.  If asked, MSDE is prepared to answer why one program is selected over another.

During the August 3^rd city council meeting, Mayor Adams sought support from the council to use city resources and communication channels to publicize the application process for 40 publicly funded pre-k seats at Reid Temple.  That's obviously something that would be very helpful to some residents, and the council unanimously agreed to the mayor's motion.

What the motion didn't include, however, was instructions to city staff to publicize the application process for the 160 publicly funded pre-k seats available to city resident through PGCPS.  It seems like such a small oversight, but it illustrates the lack of a pre-k policy, possible ignorance of the existence of the PGCPS pre-k seats, and the council involving itself in a mission where it hasn't traditionally been involved.

The future of publicly funded pre-k in Bowie

The primary impediments to having universal pre-k in the city are funding and classroom space.

It's unlikely that universal pre-k could be funded by the city, so county, state, and federal dollars will continue to be needed to expand the number of pre-k seats.

The MSDE Pre-K Expansion Grants initiative and the PGCPS pre-k program are equitable with their funds, spreading the benefits across their jurisdictions.  It's unrealistic to think that either program could be used to concentrate funding in Bowie - especially when there's greater need in other parts of the county and other regions of the state.

If city officials want to play a role in publicly funded pre-k programs, they should identify pre-k funding resources, and educate residents and area preschools on how best to obtain those resources.  Having multiple and varied institutions apply for Pre-K Expansion Grants might increase the chances for more publicly funded pre-k seats in the city.

Mayor Adams deserves kudos for bringing the issue of universal pre-k to the forefront, but he needs to work closely with the council, he needs to practice good governance, and he needs to be honest with Bowie residents.

Adams’ explanation of ice arena vote contains some false and misleading information

By Mike Rauck

Reasonable people can disagree about the Bowie City Council’s vote to cancel the Bowie IcePlex project, but it’s important to note that the explanation provided by Mayor Tim Adams for his vote contains some false and misleading information.

Adams claims that a 2013 feasibility study concluded that industry experts advised the city that local demand for ice facilities warranted spending no more than $10.66 million to construct a new ice arena. That’s not what the feasibility study concluded.

The study concluded that there was sufficient demand for two sheets of ice in the city, and the estimated cost for a facility seven years ago was $10.66 million.  The study did not say, as Adams claims, that the city should spend no more than $10.66 million.  The estimate was for high-level planning purposes at a time when the city was evaluating multiple indoor sports options.

The consultants who provided the estimate did not provide a cost range, and they did not indicate a list of assumptions that went into the estimate.  They did not say whether or not the estimate included costs for land acquisition, land improvements, and infrastructure improvements.

For comparison purposes, the same 2013 study estimated the cost of a 61,400 square-foot facility featuring five hardwood basketball courts at $7.58 million.  A 2018 feasibility study conducted by the city concluded that a much smaller two court facility would cost between $7.3 million and $12.9 million depending on the type of structure constructed.  The study evaluated air domes, tension structures, metal buildings, and brick and mortar buildings.

The conclusions of the 2013 feasibility study were presented to the Bowie City Council during a June 3, 2013 council meeting.  Video of that meeting is available on the city’s web site.

In the same letter where Adams erroneously criticizes the previous council for not taking the advice of industry experts, Adams makes a case for cheaply renovating the current Bowie Ice Arena by citing advice from a different industry expert - Black Bear Sports Group (BBSG).  According to Adams, BBSG criticized the Bowie IcePlex project, and the privately held company offered suggestions for how the existing Bowie Ice Arena at Allen Pond Park could be transformed into a world-class facility for less than $3 million.

The claim that the existing ice arena could be converted into a world-class facility for $3 million is ludicrous, and it gives reason to question Adams’ analysis.  The irony is that city residents have never sought world-class sports facilities.  Adams made an unfortunate choice of words.

The bigger issue is that Adams ignored previous studies of the state of the Allen Pond ice arena in favor of unvetted information contained in a letter from an industry expert who has a financial incentive to limit ice capacity in Bowie.

BBSG owns and operates multiple ice rinks, including the nearby two-sheet Piney Orchard facility in Odenton.  The two-sheet Bowie IcePlex could have drawn paying customers away from the Piney Orchard facility in favor of new facilities and a more convenient location.

It’s also important to note that as a private owner and operator of ice arenas, BBSG’s construction requirements may be very different than those needed for a municipal complex.  Private companies are likely to build rinks with an eye towards short term profits, and the city has an interest in creating a sustainable facility that will last for 50 or more years.

BBSG’s analysis of the current Allen Pond ice arena may be correct.  We don’t know.  But because there is a conflict of interest and because the analysis hasn’t been vetted, the information can’t be considered reliable at this time.

Although Adams can criticize the high cost of the Bowie IcePlex, the project did follow proper municipal governance, including independent third-party consultations, many open public hearings, a competitive bidding process for the construction contract, and transparency including a video library of related council meetings.  The same cannot be said about the BBSG letter, which, according to Adams, helped guide his decision to cancel the IcePlex project.

Every councilmember, including Adams, who voted against the IcePlex project stated this week that they support the Bowie ice community.  It’s clear, however, that none of those councilmembers know what that support will cost.  That’s something that should have been determined before the IcePlex project was canceled.

Yes, reasonable people can disagree about whether or not the Bowie IcePlex project should have been canceled, but it’s important that those decisions are guided by proper governance and vetted information.

Bowie Cancels Rink

By Mike Rauck

It’s possible that the people who write headlines for the Bowie Blade-News have a crystal ball that allowed them to predict the Bowie City Council’s early morning vote today to cancel the ice rink project.

In a 4 to 3 vote, the council approved a motion by District 2 Councilmember Dufour Woolfley that called for construction to stop at the Church Road site and for the contract with Costello Construction to be canceled.  The motion also called for city staff to begin evaluating the same Church Road site for a future indoor court facility that’s already in the city’s capital improvement program.  City staff were also instructed to begin evaluating options for the existing one-sheet ice arena at Allen Pond Park, including possible renovations and a public-private partnership.

The latest council meeting will likely be remembered as the longest and most contentious council gathering in the history of the city.

Both residents and non-residents submitted more than two hundred comments to be shared at the meeting, including 191 for the ice rink public hearing alone.  City Clerk Awilda Hernandez read comments for most of the nine-hour meeting that began at 8:00pm on Monday and ended at 5:00am Tuesday morning.

Council debate was tense at times, highlighted by a fiery diatribe by At-Large Councilmember Henri Gardner.  He hurled insults at other councilmembers and made the claim that some councilmembers had racial motivations behind their decisions to support cancelation of the ice arena project.

Mayor Pro Tem Adrian Boafo and District 4 Councilmember Roxy Ndebumadu offered similar reasons for supporting cancelation of the project.  They both indicated that their votes were fiscally responsible and reflected the wishes of the majority of their respective constituents.

According to an estimate by the city’s finance department, the city stands to lose approximately $7 million by canceling the project.  Woolfley insisted that despite that loss, the city should not continue to throw good money after bad on what would be the single most expensive project in the city’s history.

Mayor Tim Adams repeated his assertion that the ice arena project had to be canceled to prepare the city for expenses and lost revenue associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.  He made the argument that it’s important to look out 18 months or longer because the city will likely be dealing with the effects of the virus for a long time.

All four councilmembers who voted in favor of canceling the project said that they support the ice community and are in favor of exploring plans for the Bowie Ice Arena at Allen Pond Park.

At-Large Councilmember Ingrid Harrison disputed Adams’ claim that the ice arena project impacted the current and future financial stability of the city.  Harrison also expressed concern about possible lawsuits stemming from the cancelation.

District 1 Councilmember Michael Estève told the rest of the council that canceling the project would be premature without having additional information, and he warned that the cancelation was something that could not be reversed.  Estève indicated that he was willing to consider a pause in the construction to give the city some time to get more questions answered, including cost and options for the Allen Pond ice arena, and Estève is concerned that there are questions about the bond issuance and implications to the city’s AAA bond rating that haven’t been addressed.

The new ice arena facility has long been criticized as a money-loser project being built for non-residents, and Estève took a few minutes to challenge those concerns.  He pointed out that all Bowie facilities, including the senior center, the city gym, city parks, and the Bowie Ice Arena, are heavily used by non-residents.  Estève quoted a recent city study that showed that 60% of South Bowie Boys and Girls Club members using city facilities are non-residents.  The difference is that non-residents provide more than $200,000 in fees annually to offset expenses at the Bowie Ice Arena, and non-residents pay a tiny fraction of that amount in fees to support facilities like the Bowie City Gym.  As a result, ice facilities can recoup 80% or more of annual expenses by collecting user fees, and court facilities typically recoup about 16% of annual expenses through user fees.

Some citizen comments read during the council meeting were submitted by District 3 residents who are concerned about the proposed ice arena’s impact to traffic and safety along Church Road.  Based on the direction set by the council this morning, those concerns will likely switch to the impact of a court facility instead of an ice facility in the same location.