THE GAZETTE
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STATION
Continued from Page A-1 Brockway pumper, from the Hyattstown Volunteer Fire Department for $100. Ironically, tragedy struck in 1965 when the station and all of its contents burned in a fire. Everything was destroyed except for Minnie, which had been stored in a member’s barn at the time. Minnie still graces the department today, as a symbol of the department’s history and dedication to the community, and will be displayed prominently in the new station. Following the fire, the community came together to support construction of the current station, which opened in 1966. Although the community the station serves has expanded more than ten times, the facility has not grown. Sutton said the station was built for apparatus to be housed there, not for station personnel to live there. Over the years, the membership and the apparatus have grown. There are more than 80 members, with nine required to staff the station at any given time. The station has far exceeded its life span and presents significant physical limitations that do not meet the needs of the community or national standards.
“This begins another chapter in the department, as we move forward to get us up to speed with fire service.” Department Vice President Greg Albrecht “To staff everything properly, we’d need 20 members here,” Albrecht said. Albrecht said that when fully staffed, some members are forced to sleep in the apparatus, because there aren’t enough beds. The exercise room is in the middle of the kitchen, and the failing septic field has turned into a “maintenance nightmare.” “This begins another chapter in the department, as we move forward to get us up to speed with fire service,” he said. For more information or to make a donation, go to www.ldvfd.org or call 301-9480794. thogan@gazette.net
Tech Council names new CEO Childhood gave Schiff an ‘international perspective’
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BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
Growing up, Philip Schiff lived in numerous areas, including New Orleans, Connecticut and Paris, France, moving as his father was transferred due to work at IBM. While that made it harder to develop lasting friendships, there was a positive trade-off. “I learned to be fairly independent,” said Schiff, 55, who this week was named CEO of the Rockville-based Tech Council of Maryland, effective Oct. 1. “What I gave up in closer longterm friendships, I gained in wanderlust. I love to travel to this day, and have some sustaining friendships from my childhood.” Graduating from the American School of Paris, Schiff’s classmates came from around the world. “It gave me an international perspective from an early age,” he said. “I had friends from all over, and they often moved, too.” Schiff comes from the Bethesda-based American Association of Blood Banks, where he worked in various positions
CLOSURES
Continued from Page A-1 asking for special rights. “We’re only asking for equal rights,” she said. Montgomery County Councilman George Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park, another speaker at the press conference, said Muslim students and their families focused on academic achievement face a conflict their Christian and Jewish counterparts do not when it comes to holiday observance. Leventhal said he would face the same conflict if county public schools did not close on some Jewish holidays. “If school was in session on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, it would be a conflict,” said Leventhal, who later added his son will stay home on Oct. 15 in
HEALTH
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— whose son has recently experienced flare-ups of eczema — said parents still don’t know what kind of mold was found and what cleaning products were used. She also felt the school system was responding too slowly. Connors said the school started drafting its letter on Sept. 4 and she wasn’t sure it could have sent the letter to parents any sooner than it did. “Upon reflection, we certainly could have tried to get it out sooner,” she said.
for almost two decades, most recently as chief strategy officer. He takes over the largest technology trade group in the state from Art Jacoby, who resigned as CEO in February. Schiff’s expertise in national and local advocacy, financial management, strategic planning, member relations, external relations and legal work will be invaluable, said Doug Doerfler, chairman of the Tech Council’s board and CEO of Gaithersburg biotech MaxCyte. “Phil understands the major role our enterprises play today and will use his extensive experience managing a national association, combined with his understanding of complex technology, to execute our vision and lead critical advocacy efforts,” Doerfler said.
GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE
Philip Schiff, new CEO of the Tech Council of Maryland, at his office in Rockville.
After graduating from high school, Schiff earned a business degree at Yale University and a law degree from Boston University. He worked on financing and corporate transactions in the Washington, D.C., office of a San Francisco-headquartered law firm, then did banking, corporate securities and regulatory work for Morgan Lewis & Bockius in Washington.
Schiff then moved on to do legal work at associations. With the blood bank organization, which represents individuals and institutions involved in the field of transfusion medicine and cellular therapies, one of the first issues he worked on was dealing with concerns that blood banks’ supplies could be tainted with HIV/AIDS. With the Tech Council, Schiff wants to work on building collaborations between industries and parties that include biotech, information technology, cyber security and education institutions. “There are a lot of growth
support of the initiative. Samira Hussein, a co-chair of the coalition, said she wants to see the school system “respect the tradition and culture of every member of the community.” “We’re tired of watching our kids forced to choose between their faith and education,” said Hussein, whose children went through the county school system and who has worked on the issue for decades. Montgomery County Board of Education member Philip Kauffman (At-large) of Olney said in a recent interview that the school system can only close schools when it has evidence of student or staff absences high enough to impact instruction. The school system will monitor absences this year, he said, though past studies in re-
cent years have not indicated a “discernible trend.” Schools close on Christian holidays such as Christmas and Good Friday under state law. Chief Operating Officer Larry Bowers said the school system added Jewish holidays such as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur based on low attendance from Jewish teachers and students on the holidays. Since then, Bowers said, case law has arisen that lets districts close schools only for secular purposes. The school system recognizes both Muslim holidays by declaring them nontesting days and giving Muslim students excused absences. Samantha Kamal — a sophomore at Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg and president of the school’s Muslim Student Association — said
Practicing business law
Song said the school will see several steps of work to replace old equipment. While they have already been repaired, a few HVAC controls that had malfunctioned will be replaced within a month, Song said. More comprehensive renovation will take place within a year, Song said. The school is scheduled to see new boilers and chillers in several years. Given the number of buildings in the school system, Song said, mold growth is not unusual and similar cases have occurred in the past. However, the school’s problems with its HVAC sys-
tem point to a larger issue, he said, as the school system is also dealing with “an extensive amount of backlog” when it comes to replacing outdated HVAC equipment, he said. Much of the school system’s focus has been directed toward adding classrooms to accommodate its growing enrollment, Tofig said. “Now we are reaching the point where the infrastructure needs are crying out for attention,” said state Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring. lpowers@gazette.net
opportunities,” he said. “This area provides a unique intersection between these sectors. … The innovation going on in this corridor is phenomenal. Companies are very creative and way ahead of their time.” Technological changes should be taken advantage of, including the growth of social media. Having staff members available to monitor and respond to social media can be a significant expense for organizations, but one that should be tackled, Schiff said. “Key to the association’s growth is our membership,” he said. Schiff also serves as president of the board of the National Center for Children and Families, a Bethesda social services organization that helps children and families in need. Under his leadership, the organization has expanded its services into foster care, adoption and transitional programs for young adults, becoming a model nationally for supporting at-risk children and families. “It can be a difficult area to work in, but it’s very rewarding,” Schiff said. kshay@gazette.net
she stays home from school on the Eids and that most of her friends who celebrate the holidays choose the same. Missing school results in “a ton of makeup work the next day,” said Kamal, who attended the conference with two friends. Najwa Kareem of Gaithersburg said that when she was a student in the county school system, her parents let her and her siblings decide whether to go to school on the holidays or not. Kareem said it was hard for her to miss class but that she felt guilty when she didn’t stay home with her family. “I felt this feeling of unrest because this is my holiday,” she said. lpowers@gazette.net
SIDEWALK
Continued from Page A-1 public input. In a letter to the commissioners, resident Debbie Wagner expressed her support for the project. “I have been advocating for a sidewalk along High Street for over two decades,” she wrote. “We’ve driven the half-mile to Longwood Community Center because there was no safe way for our children to walk there by themselves.” SHA spokesman David Buck said over the next four to six weeks, the administration will prepare renderings to show residents. The proposed 5-foot wide sidewalks will run about one-third of a mile along the southbound side of Md. 97, and will include curbs and gutters. “There is funding for the concept, but we still need design funding,” he said. “I am confident that this will move forward.” Once funding is secured, the design phase will take about 8 to 12 months, which Buck said is typical for new sidewalks. “Construction could start as early as 2015, pending funding,” he said. Because it is only in the concept phase, there is no cost estimate yet for the project. Md. 97 Relocated (the Brookeville Bypass), which has been on the planning books for nearly 40 years, is expected to remove the increasing volume of traffic going through the historic town. Funding for the project was announced in May, and Buck said that they are currently looking at construction to begin in mid-to late 2016. Buck said that the relocation project should not have any major impact on the sidewalk project. “We just need to make sure designers on both projects are on the same page,” he said. thogan@gazette.net