County Executive reduces MCPS funding enlarging the new Eastern MS, build addition at Sligo MS, slowing SSIMS closure
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Anonymous
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From a Save Our Silver Spring Schools' press release:
Save Our Silver Spring Schools (SOSSS) strongly supports provisions in County Executive Marc Elrich’s Recommended FY27 Capital Budget and the FY 27-32 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) to pause the proposed closure of SSIMS in-line with the Board of Education’s vote on December 11, 2025, allowing for substantive, improved community engagement and greater transparency, and to halt the relocation of Sligo Creek Elementary School until completion of a countywide elementary school boundary study. "We applaud County Executive Elrich for choosing a data-driven, fiscally prudent plan,” said Angie Kronenberg, a spokesperson for Save Our Silver Spring Schools. “By stopping the creation of oversized middle schools and insisting on a comprehensive boundary study before breaking ground on new construction, this budget puts sound educational policy, student outcomes, and scenario planning based on data ahead of premature construction projects." SOSSS aligns with the County Executive on the following critical points: ● Small Schools Matter: In his CIP, Elrich wrote, “I firmly believe middle schools should be smaller for an effective transition from elementary to high school,” noting that the proposed expansions of Eastern andSligo Middle Schools exceeded the preferred ranges established by MCPS. As a result, Elrich removed from the MCPS-proposed CIP the funding for both the Sligo Middle School renovation/expansion and the portion of the funding for the Eastern Middle School rebuild that would have created capacity for displaced SSIMS students. SOSSS strongly agrees with Elrich that middle school students thrive in smaller, community-based environments, and that expanding Eastern and Sligo middle schools to accommodate more students would be detrimental to those same students’ success. ●Data Before Construction: SOSSS echoes the County Executive’s stance that MCPS should not move forward with new elementary schools until the countywide boundary study is complete. As Elrich noted in his recommendation: “I also recommend that site selection and replacement of Sligo Creek Elementary School wait until the planned elementary school boundary study is completed so that all available options to balance enrollment across the system are understood and considered. Additionally, projects that increase capacity should be evaluated against declining enrollment projections.” It is vital to understand enrollment patterns before committing millions in taxpayer funds to new construction. Take that, Taylor. |
Anonymous
| Oh then how can they close Wootton then? Where is the money for that? |
Anonymous
Good question. |
Anonymous
Wootton is getting a brand new school |
Anonymous
They aren’t considering closing Wootton. Parents had a fit saying it was unsafe so Mcps listened and is taking away another school from other families to give it to them. |
Anonymous
| Shout-out to Marc Elrich, retired math educator from Rolling Terrace ES, for letting Thomas Taylor know that you can't trample through the community unabated, even if most of the BOE is content to let Taylor do so. |
Anonymous
If it costs money to close SSIMS, why you think it doesn’t cost money to close Wootton or convert it to holding school? |
Anonymous
And at the budget hearing this week, there was testimony that Taylor says he has no money to put into SSIMS, when obviously, he had the choice to do so in the CIP budget. Students who were trampled in stairwell 7 at SSIMS in December. That could happen every day, but SSIMS administrators finesse the release times between classes so that it doesn't happen. How are administrators who come in to use the school as a holding facility supposed to understand all the nuanced accommodations needed to keep students safe in a building like this? There are numerous fire code violations and health hazards at SSIMS, but Taylor refused to put money in the budget to address these issues. What is he going to do at Wootton? There are a lot of problems with that building. Does it just sit empty after the Wootton students exit to Crown, while other secondary schools await their use of Wootton as a holding school? Empty school buildings invite problems. Two empty schools in recent memory burned, creating significant environmental problems, Farquhar Middle School and Joann Leleck Elementary School. |
Anonymous
It costs money to close SSIMS because they have to create space for the displaced SSIMS students at Eastern and Sligo Middle School. The CIP proposed spending $134 million on Sligo and $162.5 million on Eastern (an increase of $70 million over the original construction estimate to make space for former SSIMS students). So that's $204 million just to make space at other schools for the former SSIMS kids. It doesn't cost nearly as much money to close Wootton because those students would just move into Crown. They would need to spend some on SSIMS and Wootton to convert them to holding schools, but nothing near that $204 million number. |
Anonymous
| So does Eastern still get a new building (just regular size instead of huge)? |
Anonymous
Yes |
Anonymous
That sounds like enough money to rebuild SSIMS |
Anonymous
$204 million is enough to build a new high school. |
Anonymous
Yeah this budget thing is ridiculous |
Anonymous
How? They need those teachers to staff Crown and Woodward anyway. So Joe they have a bus route for the kids who were walkers. Still cheaper than building a brand new school with declining enrollment. I will not pay for a new Wootton with higher taxes or cuts to existing services to students. |