Proposal to close SSIMS in 2031

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10/21/2025 17:36

Subject: Proposal to close SSIMS in 2031

quote

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:I am also concerned for the kids who are in 4th/5th grade now and will be attending SSIMS while it is basically a lame duck. If Taylor is now saying he will reconsider sending kids to SSIMS who would only be there a year or two, what about the ones who were supposed to be at SSIMS all along (current kids from Sligo creek, Franklin knolls, etc).

How will they retain teachers and admin? How will Mcps make sure those kids still have a positive middle school experience?

PP here. And when will it all be decided? I’d like to know sooner rather than later where my fifth-grader is going to school in 10 months.

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10/21/2025 17:43

Subject: Proposal to close SSIMS in 2031

quote

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am also concerned for the kids who are in 4th/5th grade now and will be attending SSIMS while it is basically a lame duck. If Taylor is now saying he will reconsider sending kids to SSIMS who would only be there a year or two, what about the ones who were supposed to be at SSIMS all along (current kids from Sligo creek, Franklin knolls, etc).

How will they retain teachers and admin? How will Mcps make sure those kids still have a positive middle school experience?

PP here. And when will it all be decided? I’d like to know sooner rather than later where my fifth-grader is going to school in 10 months.

Nothing would change for next year in any case. The board will vote on the CIP on November 20th. That's when we'll know if they agree with Taylor's proposals to turn SSIMS into a holding school, to rebuild Eastern to 1500 capacity, and to renew Sligo to 1200 capacity. If they leave those items in the CIP as is, then then it still has to go to the county executive and county council for funding approval, and that won't get finalized until the spring.

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10/21/2025 17:53

Subject: Proposal to close SSIMS in 2031

quote

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am also concerned for the kids who are in 4th/5th grade now and will be attending SSIMS while it is basically a lame duck. If Taylor is now saying he will reconsider sending kids to SSIMS who would only be there a year or two, what about the ones who were supposed to be at SSIMS all along (current kids from Sligo creek, Franklin knolls, etc).

How will they retain teachers and admin? How will Mcps make sure those kids still have a positive middle school experience?

PP here. And when will it all be decided? I’d like to know sooner rather than later where my fifth-grader is going to school in 10 months.

Nothing would change for next year in any case. The board will vote on the CIP on November 20th. That's when we'll know if they agree with Taylor's proposals to turn SSIMS into a holding school, to rebuild Eastern to 1500 capacity, and to renew Sligo to 1200 capacity. If they leave those items in the CIP as is, then then it still has to go to the county executive and county council for funding approval, and that won't get finalized until the spring.

That’s right. This has me all turned around. If everything is approved, will some SSIMS seventh-graders have to transfer in 2027, or will everyone have to stay in-place due to the construction at the other schools? That’s pretty different than the current boundary study plan.

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10/21/2025 18:02

Subject: Proposal to close SSIMS in 2031

quote

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am also concerned for the kids who are in 4th/5th grade now and will be attending SSIMS while it is basically a lame duck. If Taylor is now saying he will reconsider sending kids to SSIMS who would only be there a year or two, what about the ones who were supposed to be at SSIMS all along (current kids from Sligo creek, Franklin knolls, etc).

How will they retain teachers and admin? How will Mcps make sure those kids still have a positive middle school experience?

PP here. And when will it all be decided? I’d like to know sooner rather than later where my fifth-grader is going to school in 10 months.

Nothing would change for next year in any case. The board will vote on the CIP on November 20th. That's when we'll know if they agree with Taylor's proposals to turn SSIMS into a holding school, to rebuild Eastern to 1500 capacity, and to renew Sligo to 1200 capacity. If they leave those items in the CIP as is, then then it still has to go to the county executive and county council for funding approval, and that won't get finalized until the spring.

That’s right. This has me all turned around. If everything is approved, will some SSIMS seventh-graders have to transfer in 2027, or will everyone have to stay in-place due to the construction at the other schools? That’s pretty different than the current boundary study plan.

That'll depend on what Taylor's recommendation to the board in Dec/Jan says. It sounds like he agrees that reassigning students to or from SSIMS in 2027 wouldn't be sensible. And it would ultimately be up to the board to decide in March.

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10/21/2025 20:57

Subject: Proposal to close SSIMS in 2031

quote

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am also concerned for the kids who are in 4th/5th grade now and will be attending SSIMS while it is basically a lame duck. If Taylor is now saying he will reconsider sending kids to SSIMS who would only be there a year or two, what about the ones who were supposed to be at SSIMS all along (current kids from Sligo creek, Franklin knolls, etc).

How will they retain teachers and admin? How will Mcps make sure those kids still have a positive middle school experience?

PP here. And when will it all be decided? I’d like to know sooner rather than later where my fifth-grader is going to school in 10 months.

Nothing would change for next year in any case. The board will vote on the CIP on November 20th. That's when we'll know if they agree with Taylor's proposals to turn SSIMS into a holding school, to rebuild Eastern to 1500 capacity, and to renew Sligo to 1200 capacity. If they leave those items in the CIP as is, then then it still has to go to the county executive and county council for funding approval, and that won't get finalized until the spring.

That’s right. This has me all turned around. If everything is approved, will some SSIMS seventh-graders have to transfer in 2027, or will everyone have to stay in-place due to the construction at the other schools? That’s pretty different than the current boundary study plan.

If approved as-is, the new boundaries take effect in fall 2027 and rising 7th and 10th graders must switch to their newly assigned school (rising 8th, 11th, and 12th graders are allowed to finish out at their currently assigned school. I think there is also an exception to allow 10th graders in the DCC or at special programs to stay.)

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10/21/2025 21:13

Subject: Proposal to close SSIMS in 2031

quote

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm still confused how this plays with the boundary study. In option B, a student could start sixth grade at SSIMS in fall 2026, and then be reassigned to Eastern or Sligo in fall 2027. Will those reassignments just be paused until SSIMS closes and the rebuilds/remodels are complete?

It's even worse-- under all 4 maps, areas currently zoned to Sligo or Eastern are set to be reassigned to SSIMS for 3 years and then sent back to Sligo or Eastern in 2030, with all the disruption that would create for families, neighborhoods, and both ES and MS staff who are involved in articulation.

Taylor has said he is open to considering a change in this but I think there needs to be lots of advocacy to ensure it happens, especially because there might be some spillover impacts on other aspects of the boundary maps. He has not yet made a solid commitment to this and I think he should

Either I am misreading the map, what you are saying, or both. SSIMS is currently our home MS. Under all 4 options, we would be rezoned to Eastern. What sense would it make to move some SSIMS kids to Eastern, some Eastern kids to SSIMS, and then back again? Please tell me my comprehension is just terrible.

Okay, I looked again, and this is only true for Sligo, not Eastern. They are sending some SSIMS kids to Sligo (Forest Knolls) and replacing them by sending some Sligo kids to SSIMS (Woodlin and part of Flora Singer) in all 4 options. I agree it doesn't make a lot of sense to do this swifch for 3 years when they will all end up assiigned to Sligo in 2030 anyway.

(I think the purpose is to fix current split articulations by having all Forest Knolls kids go to Sligo and all MK/PC kids go to Eastern, but they create a new split articulation at Flora Singer to do so, and the other split articulations would get fixed in 2030 when SSIMS goes away anyway. It really doesn't seem worth all the whiplash and disruption.)

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10/21/2025 21:24

Subject: Proposal to close SSIMS in 2031

quote

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am also concerned for the kids who are in 4th/5th grade now and will be attending SSIMS while it is basically a lame duck. If Taylor is now saying he will reconsider sending kids to SSIMS who would only be there a year or two, what about the ones who were supposed to be at SSIMS all along (current kids from Sligo creek, Franklin knolls, etc).

How will they retain teachers and admin? How will Mcps make sure those kids still have a positive middle school experience?

PP here. And when will it all be decided? I’d like to know sooner rather than later where my fifth-grader is going to school in 10 months.

Nothing would change for next year in any case. The board will vote on the CIP on November 20th. That's when we'll know if they agree with Taylor's proposals to turn SSIMS into a holding school, to rebuild Eastern to 1500 capacity, and to renew Sligo to 1200 capacity. If they leave those items in the CIP as is, then then it still has to go to the county executive and county council for funding approval, and that won't get finalized until the spring.

That’s right. This has me all turned around. If everything is approved, will some SSIMS seventh-graders have to transfer in 2027, or will everyone have to stay in-place due to the construction at the other schools? That’s pretty different than the current boundary study plan.

If approved as-is, the new boundaries take effect in fall 2027 and rising 7th and 10th graders must switch to their newly assigned school (rising 8th, 11th, and 12th graders are allowed to finish out at their currently assigned school. I think there is also an exception to allow 10th graders in the DCC or at special programs to stay.)