Garrett Park Elementary School gets delivery

By Drew Pierson

Staff Writer

It's now official: neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor anything will stop the U.S. mail from getting to Garrett Park Elementary School - thanks to the timely efforts of a U.S. Congressman.

Two weeks into The Montgomery County Sentinel's investigation of Garrett Park Elementary - a school 11 miles from the White House - and why the U.S. Post Office did not deliver it mail, representatives from the office of Congressman Chris Van Hollen announced that the USPS had changed its position and would now deliver mail to Garrett Park Elementary for the first time in its history.

"We're just thrilled to have our mail delivery start today," said Lee Derby, principal of Garrett Park Elementary. "I just talked to someone from his [Van Hollen's] office this morning, and I told them how much we appreciate how they've worked with us for I guess several months now in trying to make this happen. And here we are now, and it's great."

Derby added: "The media have also supported us - print and radio media - have taken up our charge here."

The USPS had never delivered to Garrett Park Elementary because the town of Garrett Park, which Garrett Park Elementary uses for its postal address, had elected to not use the service. But according to county maps, Garrett Park Elementary is just outside town limits.

Representatives from the USPS also said that roads leading to Garrett Park Elementary did not meet several USPS requirements, including a lack of sidewalks, overhead street lighting and too small of an area for post office trucks to turn around.

But none of those conditions are a problem for the school buses, delivery trucks and other service vehicles Montgomery County Public Schools routinely send to Garrett Park Elementary, noted Wayne Harris, move coordinator for the Department of Materials Management for MCPS.

"This is a public school that needs material on a daily basis," said Harris, who first alerted the Sentinel to the problem two weeks ago. "You've got people there that need this stuff."

USPS employees "thoroughly examined" the situation, and decided that a mail truck from neighboring Kensington could be sent to pick up the school's mail at the Garrett Park post office, said Luvenia Hyson, a USPS spokeswoman. Garrett Park Elementary's postal address will be changed to a Kensington address in a matter of days, Hyson said, and the mail will be routed through there.

Aides from Van Hollen's office alerted Garrett Park Elementary staff only an hour or two before the first delivery arrived.

"I am pleased that, in cooperation with the US Postal Service and the Montgomery County Public Schools, we were able to initiate mail delivery service to Garrett Park Elementary School," Van Hollen said via e-mail. "I know that this will help the school receive its mail in a timely and efficient manner and I appreciate the USPS' working with us on this service."

Photo by Drew Pierson