Taylor Meeting at Wootton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's be real about what's happening here. The Crown and Rio business owners and nearby homeowners stand to benefit enormously from this move. The foot traffic from high schoolers at lunch and after school is a goldmine. That alone should make people ask harder questions about who this decision truly serves.

The SI's motivation isn't hard to read either. Moving Wootton with its strong academic reputation, high graduation rates, and demographics to Crown is a guaranteed win. The school runs itself. He gets to plant a flag, declare victory, and polish his resume before moving on to the next county. The collateral damage? Watch what happens after the next boundary study for ES, MS, HS when it's conducted properly. Feeder school boundary reshuffling, Fallsgrove families suddenly routing to Crown, Fallsmead heading to RM. Fallsgrove owners are pumped for their potential home values. Fallsmead? Yikes... But this won't be his problem. He'll be long gone.

If the SI and MCPS had simply followed proper protocol, most people probably could have lived with the outcome, even if they didn't love it. That's how trust works. But when the overwhelming majority of a community is this angry, something went wrong in the process. The gaps are real, and they've been documented through YouTube clips, media coverage, and public meetings that have exposed exactly where the wheels came off.

To those calling out the behavior at the meeting or worrying about what the kids will think? Yes, some kids probably think their parents are crazy. But the majority? They're watching adults fight for something they believe in. That's not a bad lesson. And frankly, those of you sitting on the sidelines trying to simplify a situation you're not directly affected by or maybe stand to benefit from should think twice before casting judgment. Dismissing passionate people as embarrassing, when you have no skin in the game, is its own kind of disrespect.

For those who think Magruder would actually benefit more and want Crown more... you're probably right. They have a clearer need and a more compelling case. But there's simply more political and financial upside for everyone involved with the Wootton brand. Someone has to lose in this shuffle, and it's whoever has the least leverage.

On the commute debate, the 20-minute estimate works fine if you're already near Crown. But school buses don't run point-to-point. They run routes with multiple stops, and when you add the full Wootton population to that routing, anyone claiming the math stays the same isn't being honest. Any traffic engineer/planner would tell you the same.

And here's the most underrated point in this entire conversation... why aren't we using data to drive this decision? We're in an era where AI tools can model demographic shifts, commute impact, enrollment projections, and boundary ripple effects. Feed all the relevant data in and see what comes back. Kids are literally taught in school to support their arguments with data and evidence. We should hold these lovely board members and executives making these decisions to the same standard. Instead, we're letting them use their half-witted brains and ulterior motives to drive their decisions.

Wow. Sounds like an amazing SI! We had more logical and methodical people back in the day. People made decisions by engaging with the community and colleagues alike before making decisions. I remember how things went down with Woodward as well and it was a shame. Seems like this decision is a bit hasty. Thank goodness my kids are grown and out of here. This is a mess. I never would imagine Wootton would ever leave the building. I feel sorry for all communities involved to see how divided this has made everyone from the looks of it. There will be ripple effects that none of us know for years. Good luck to all. Maybe they will tear Wootton down and build a community center out of it or simply build affordable housing for the community.

LOL the word “affordable housing” is going to trigger an aneurysm in most people who live on the Parkway.

If the building isn't able to be used and if the county won't pay to fix it, I could see them tearing the school down and building a community (housing, retail, etc). While I've heard there are gates to do that, the county can't let a property like this (especially where it is situated) to sit dormant forever. Affordable housing? Good luck either way. This is going to be messy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing from the meeting - the upcoming "after action review" from the shooting that is about to be distributed. Taylor started talking about the need for behavior change. As I was listening to his word fluff salad, I realized that he is blaming Wootton, effectively calling Wootton racist. So it's Wootton's fault that a shooting happened.

This is an INSANE take. He was taking accountability and saying that MCPS doesn’t always do a good enough job forming strong adult-student relationships with all kids. I get that you might not have been able to clearly hear it though, as so many of the Wootton Walkers started heckling him to stop talking and get to the boundary study already.

Yeah…it’s obviously not Wootton parent’s fault that the shooting happened but it 100% is their fault they’re not being given more opportunities to meaningfully engage. They’ve demonstrated time and time again that they’re not open to listening or trying to understand the data that they’re being shown - which would be a needed for any kind of two-way conversation. They only want opportunities to hear from people that will give them whatever they want and to scream at those who won’t.

You have described Taylor perfectly. The things he has hidden from the BOE and parents are extensive. The natural reaction of people is to speak out when they are confronted with a tyrant. You know, the same way people are speaking out about Trump. Taylor and Trump have a lot in common.

THIS!! It is a shame it has gotten to this, but we're here...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's be real about what's happening here. The Crown and Rio business owners and nearby homeowners stand to benefit enormously from this move. The foot traffic from high schoolers at lunch and after school is a goldmine. That alone should make people ask harder questions about who this decision truly serves.

The SI's motivation isn't hard to read either. Moving Wootton with its strong academic reputation, high graduation rates, and demographics to Crown is a guaranteed win. The school runs itself. He gets to plant a flag, declare victory, and polish his resume before moving on to the next county. The collateral damage? Watch what happens after the next boundary study for ES, MS, HS when it's conducted properly. Feeder school boundary reshuffling, Fallsgrove families suddenly routing to Crown, Fallsmead heading to RM. Fallsgrove owners are pumped for their potential home values. Fallsmead? Yikes... But this won't be his problem. He'll be long gone.

If the SI and MCPS had simply followed proper protocol, most people probably could have lived with the outcome, even if they didn't love it. That's how trust works. But when the overwhelming majority of a community is this angry, something went wrong in the process. The gaps are real, and they've been documented through YouTube clips, media coverage, and public meetings that have exposed exactly where the wheels came off.

To those calling out the behavior at the meeting or worrying about what the kids will think? Yes, some kids probably think their parents are crazy. But the majority? They're watching adults fight for something they believe in. That's not a bad lesson. And frankly, those of you sitting on the sidelines trying to simplify a situation you're not directly affected by or maybe stand to benefit from should think twice before casting judgment. Dismissing passionate people as embarrassing, when you have no skin in the game, is its own kind of disrespect.

For those who think Magruder would actually benefit more and want Crown more... you're probably right. They have a clearer need and a more compelling case. But there's simply more political and financial upside for everyone involved with the Wootton brand. Someone has to lose in this shuffle, and it's whoever has the least leverage.

On the commute debate, the 20-minute estimate works fine if you're already near Crown. But school buses don't run point-to-point. They run routes with multiple stops, and when you add the full Wootton population to that routing, anyone claiming the math stays the same isn't being honest. Any traffic engineer/planner would tell you the same.

And here's the most underrated point in this entire conversation... why aren't we using data to drive this decision? We're in an era where AI tools can model demographic shifts, commute impact, enrollment projections, and boundary ripple effects. Feed all the relevant data in and see what comes back. Kids are literally taught in school to support their arguments with data and evidence. We should hold these lovely board members and executives making these decisions to the same standard. Instead, we're letting them use their half-witted brains and ulterior motives to drive their decisions.

This might be the dumbest take I’ve read so far. You really thought you did something there.

That last paragraph especially takes the cake. Complaining about not using data because you don’t like what the data said but then wants to use AI to solve this problem. Tell us, what did your favorite AI come up with AND you have to include the whole Crown study, not just Wootton walkers? We’ll wait

Using faulty data by the SI? Sketchy. I’ll tell you what. Give me access to ALL of the CORRECT data and I promise you it will provide a strong decision that is data driven. Keep eating your cake while you forget about all the articles (including the Wash Post) talking about the jobs that are most at risk. Your response alone shows how ignorant you are to what was posted relevant to the use of AI - data. Not walkers. But keep eating your cake for breakfast…

dp.. speaking of jobs at risk, you know that MoCo is bleeding jobs, and enrollment is declining, much like the rest of the country, right? How does it make sense to keep Wootton, a HS that needs millions in renovation, when there is a brand spanking new HS a couple of miles away?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked it up on google maps. 12 min drive from Wootton to Crown.

It doesn't matter. What matters is that the communities around the current site of Wootton HS bought their homes under the assumption their kids (or other people's kids who bought their home) could walk to school, and they feel entitled to have that continue to be the case in perpetuity, taxpayers be damned

Incorrect. They bought homes based on the expectation of stability. If MCPS handled the Wootton situation like it did Blair, there would be less complaining. That was handled through YEARS of community input. Taylor doesn’t want to wait that long because he wants to declare victory for both his bosses (BOE) and Crown developers. Someone convinced him that using Crown as a holding school wasn’t a good idea - I want to know who - since he formally proposed doing so with all of the relevant information in hand. If using Crown as a holding school is such a financially irresponsible idea now, why did he propose it in the first place?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked it up on google maps. 12 min drive from Wootton to Crown.

It doesn't matter. What matters is that the communities around the current site of Wootton HS bought their homes under the assumption their kids (or other people's kids who bought their home) could walk to school, and they feel entitled to have that continue to be the case in perpetuity, taxpayers be damned

Incorrect. They bought homes based on the expectation of stability. If MCPS handled the Wootton situation like it did Blair, there would be less complaining. That was handled through YEARS of community input. Taylor doesn’t want to wait that long because he wants to declare victory for both his bosses (BOE) and Crown developers. Someone convinced him that using Crown as a holding school wasn’t a good idea - I want to know who - since he formally proposed doing so with all of the relevant information in hand. If using Crown as a holding school is such a financially irresponsible idea now, why did he propose it in the first place?

Taylor is doing too much all at once. This has been a rushed and chaotic process and he added to it the regional model which has caused a lot of confusion. But he also inherited a complete mess. The process is what it is, but at the end of the day moving Wootton to Crown is the only affordable option.

[Anonymous]

I think the only winner here will be City of Gaithersburg. All other school clusters and City of Rockville, too bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked it up on google maps. 12 min drive from Wootton to Crown.

It doesn't matter. What matters is that the communities around the current site of Wootton HS bought their homes under the assumption their kids (or other people's kids who bought their home) could walk to school, and they feel entitled to have that continue to be the case in perpetuity, taxpayers be damned

Incorrect. They bought homes based on the expectation of stability. If MCPS handled the Wootton situation like it did Blair, there would be less complaining. That was handled through YEARS of community input. Taylor doesn’t want to wait that long because he wants to declare victory for both his bosses (BOE) and Crown developers. Someone convinced him that using Crown as a holding school wasn’t a good idea - I want to know who - since he formally proposed doing so with all of the relevant information in hand. If using Crown as a holding school is such a financially irresponsible idea now, why did he propose it in the first place?

Taylor is doing too much all at once. This has been a rushed and chaotic process and he added to it the regional model which has caused a lot of confusion. But he also inherited a complete mess. The process is what it is, but at the end of the day moving Wootton to Crown is the only affordable option.

And maybe that will prove to be the case after a year or two of true community engagement and public scrutiny of the plans/data. But MCPS needs to do things right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked it up on google maps. 12 min drive from Wootton to Crown.

It doesn't matter. What matters is that the communities around the current site of Wootton HS bought their homes under the assumption their kids (or other people's kids who bought their home) could walk to school, and they feel entitled to have that continue to be the case in perpetuity, taxpayers be damned

Incorrect. They bought homes based on the expectation of stability. If MCPS handled the Wootton situation like it did Blair, there would be less complaining. That was handled through YEARS of community input. Taylor doesn’t want to wait that long because he wants to declare victory for both his bosses (BOE) and Crown developers. Someone convinced him that using Crown as a holding school wasn’t a good idea - I want to know who - since he formally proposed doing so with all of the relevant information in hand. If using Crown as a holding school is such a financially irresponsible idea now, why did he propose it in the first place?

Taylor is doing too much all at once. This has been a rushed and chaotic process and he added to it the regional model which has caused a lot of confusion. But he also inherited a complete mess. The process is what it is, but at the end of the day moving Wootton to Crown is the only affordable option.

And maybe that will prove to be the case after a year or two of true community engagement and public scrutiny of the plans/data. But MCPS needs to do things right.

Omg no thank you. The data is there you just don't like it. Taxpayers do not want to fund your temper tantrum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked it up on google maps. 12 min drive from Wootton to Crown.

It doesn't matter. What matters is that the communities around the current site of Wootton HS bought their homes under the assumption their kids (or other people's kids who bought their home) could walk to school, and they feel entitled to have that continue to be the case in perpetuity, taxpayers be damned

Incorrect. They bought homes based on the expectation of stability. If MCPS handled the Wootton situation like it did Blair, there would be less complaining. That was handled through YEARS of community input. Taylor doesn’t want to wait that long because he wants to declare victory for both his bosses (BOE) and Crown developers. Someone convinced him that using Crown as a holding school wasn’t a good idea - I want to know who - since he formally proposed doing so with all of the relevant information in hand. If using Crown as a holding school is such a financially irresponsible idea now, why did he propose it in the first place?

Taylor is doing too much all at once. This has been a rushed and chaotic process and he added to it the regional model which has caused a lot of confusion. But he also inherited a complete mess. The process is what it is, but at the end of the day moving Wootton to Crown is the only affordable option.

And maybe that will prove to be the case after a year or two of true community engagement and public scrutiny of the plans/data. But MCPS needs to do things right.

Omg no thank you. The data is there you just don't like it. Taxpayers do not want to fund your temper tantrum.

They keep switching their story. Either the building is unsafe or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked it up on google maps. 12 min drive from Wootton to Crown.

It doesn't matter. What matters is that the communities around the current site of Wootton HS bought their homes under the assumption their kids (or other people's kids who bought their home) could walk to school, and they feel entitled to have that continue to be the case in perpetuity, taxpayers be damned

Incorrect. They bought homes based on the expectation of stability. If MCPS handled the Wootton situation like it did Blair, there would be less complaining. That was handled through YEARS of community input. Taylor doesn’t want to wait that long because he wants to declare victory for both his bosses (BOE) and Crown developers. Someone convinced him that using Crown as a holding school wasn’t a good idea - I want to know who - since he formally proposed doing so with all of the relevant information in hand. If using Crown as a holding school is such a financially irresponsible idea now, why did he propose it in the first place?

Taylor is doing too much all at once. This has been a rushed and chaotic process and he added to it the regional model which has caused a lot of confusion. But he also inherited a complete mess. The process is what it is, but at the end of the day moving Wootton to Crown is the only affordable option.

And maybe that will prove to be the case after a year or two of true community engagement and public scrutiny of the plans/data. But MCPS needs to do things right.

Omg no thank you. The data is there you just don't like it. Taxpayers do not want to fund your temper tantrum.

It’s not and there are significant holes in it. I’m sure MoCo taxpayers would like MCPS to deal fairly with affected communities. And if you’re so worried about taxes, I’m sure you would welcome the scrutiny by an independent party (judge and/or IG) to prove you’re right.

What are you afraid of?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked it up on google maps. 12 min drive from Wootton to Crown.

It doesn't matter. What matters is that the communities around the current site of Wootton HS bought their homes under the assumption their kids (or other people's kids who bought their home) could walk to school, and they feel entitled to have that continue to be the case in perpetuity, taxpayers be damned

Incorrect. They bought homes based on the expectation of stability. If MCPS handled the Wootton situation like it did Blair, there would be less complaining. That was handled through YEARS of community input. Taylor doesn’t want to wait that long because he wants to declare victory for both his bosses (BOE) and Crown developers. Someone convinced him that using Crown as a holding school wasn’t a good idea - I want to know who - since he formally proposed doing so with all of the relevant information in hand. If using Crown as a holding school is such a financially irresponsible idea now, why did he propose it in the first place?

Taylor is doing too much all at once. This has been a rushed and chaotic process and he added to it the regional model which has caused a lot of confusion. But he also inherited a complete mess. The process is what it is, but at the end of the day moving Wootton to Crown is the only affordable option.

And maybe that will prove to be the case after a year or two of true community engagement and public scrutiny of the plans/data. But MCPS needs to do things right.

Omg no thank you. The data is there you just don't like it. Taxpayers do not want to fund your temper tantrum.

They keep switching their story. Either the building is unsafe or not.

So do you. It’s safe enough to use s a holding school or it isn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the only winner here will be City of Gaithersburg. All other school clusters and City of Rockville, too bad.

And the Crown developers. Don’t forget about the poor developers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked it up on google maps. 12 min drive from Wootton to Crown.

It doesn't matter. What matters is that the communities around the current site of Wootton HS bought their homes under the assumption their kids (or other people's kids who bought their home) could walk to school, and they feel entitled to have that continue to be the case in perpetuity, taxpayers be damned

Incorrect. They bought homes based on the expectation of stability. If MCPS handled the Wootton situation like it did Blair, there would be less complaining. That was handled through YEARS of community input. Taylor doesn’t want to wait that long because he wants to declare victory for both his bosses (BOE) and Crown developers. Someone convinced him that using Crown as a holding school wasn’t a good idea - I want to know who - since he formally proposed doing so with all of the relevant information in hand. If using Crown as a holding school is such a financially irresponsible idea now, why did he propose it in the first place?

Taylor is doing too much all at once. This has been a rushed and chaotic process and he added to it the regional model which has caused a lot of confusion. But he also inherited a complete mess. The process is what it is, but at the end of the day moving Wootton to Crown is the only affordable option.

But he is giving the Wootton Cluster a diesel school bus parking lot in exchange for closing their high school. He's a giver.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked it up on google maps. 12 min drive from Wootton to Crown.

It doesn't matter. What matters is that the communities around the current site of Wootton HS bought their homes under the assumption their kids (or other people's kids who bought their home) could walk to school, and they feel entitled to have that continue to be the case in perpetuity, taxpayers be damned

Incorrect. They bought homes based on the expectation of stability. If MCPS handled the Wootton situation like it did Blair, there would be less complaining. That was handled through YEARS of community input. Taylor doesn’t want to wait that long because he wants to declare victory for both his bosses (BOE) and Crown developers. Someone convinced him that using Crown as a holding school wasn’t a good idea - I want to know who - since he formally proposed doing so with all of the relevant information in hand. If using Crown as a holding school is such a financially irresponsible idea now, why did he propose it in the first place?

Taylor is doing too much all at once. This has been a rushed and chaotic process and he added to it the regional model which has caused a lot of confusion. But he also inherited a complete mess. The process is what it is, but at the end of the day moving Wootton to Crown is the only affordable option.

And maybe that will prove to be the case after a year or two of true community engagement and public scrutiny of the plans/data. But MCPS needs to do things right.

Omg no thank you. The data is there you just don't like it. Taxpayers do not want to fund your temper tantrum.

It’s not and there are significant holes in it. I’m sure MoCo taxpayers would like MCPS to deal fairly with affected communities. And if you’re so worried about taxes, I’m sure you would welcome the scrutiny by an independent party (judge and/or IG) to prove you’re right.

What are you afraid of?

Personally, I'm afraid of this dragging on any longer and furthering the divide in communities. If Anti-H could show in good faith they wanted to work with people and not just call everyone crooks, they might have had more of a shot in their "delay the vote" tactic. They tanked themselves and could use some lessons in interpersonal effectiveness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked it up on google maps. 12 min drive from Wootton to Crown.

It doesn't matter. What matters is that the communities around the current site of Wootton HS bought their homes under the assumption their kids (or other people's kids who bought their home) could walk to school, and they feel entitled to have that continue to be the case in perpetuity, taxpayers be damned

Incorrect. They bought homes based on the expectation of stability. If MCPS handled the Wootton situation like it did Blair, there would be less complaining. That was handled through YEARS of community input. Taylor doesn’t want to wait that long because he wants to declare victory for both his bosses (BOE) and Crown developers. Someone convinced him that using Crown as a holding school wasn’t a good idea - I want to know who - since he formally proposed doing so with all of the relevant information in hand. If using Crown as a holding school is such a financially irresponsible idea now, why did he propose it in the first place?

Taylor is doing too much all at once. This has been a rushed and chaotic process and he added to it the regional model which has caused a lot of confusion. But he also inherited a complete mess. The process is what it is, but at the end of the day moving Wootton to Crown is the only affordable option.

And maybe that will prove to be the case after a year or two of true community engagement and public scrutiny of the plans/data. But MCPS needs to do things right.

Omg no thank you. The data is there you just don't like it. Taxpayers do not want to fund your temper tantrum.

They keep switching their story. Either the building is unsafe or not.

Isn't this the community going back and forth about the safety of the school and not MCPS? (I've seen petitions and testimony saying both that the school building is fine and not fine)

MCPS story has always been that given the enrollment challenges, a 27th high school is not needed at the moment. Also, given the extensive CIP needs, a holding school would save money. Then they looked at it and decided that it was a better use of resources to move Wootton to the brand new building and use the old building as the holding school, since it would cost more money to keep Wootton running in the future as a full high school.

The last presentation, MCPS said "MCPS will renovate Wootton as a holding school when funding allows and infrastructure upgrades would be required. It can be used as a holding school as it currently stands, but like all of our holding schools, we strive to complete necessary upgrades as funds become available."

So, MCPS thinks the building is fine now, but will need more extensive repairs in the future.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DS4PEU644E2C/$file/Supt%20Rec%20Secondary%20Prog%20Analysis%20Boundary%20Studies%20260312%20PPT%20REV.pdf