Why is everyone talking as if Option H is final for Crown/Damascus Re-boundary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't they send the Wooton kids to Crown for a few years; tear down Wooton, and rebuild it? Then once the new building is ready, the kids would return.

because they already spent all the money on this boundary study.

That makes no sense. Wooton HS is roughly 295,000 Sqft. Rough estimates to rebuild a HS from scratch are $350-400/sqft. Wooton is in a nice area so let's use the high side. That would be $118M.

According to this article, the boundary study was about $1.3M
https://bethesdamagazine.com/2024/12/05/school-board-approves-boundary-study-contract/

I'm obviously missing something.

Our high schools generally cost $250-300 million now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't they send the Wooton kids to Crown for a few years; tear down Wooton, and rebuild it? Then once the new building is ready, the kids would return.

because they already spent all the money on this boundary study.

That makes no sense. Wooton HS is roughly 295,000 Sqft. Rough estimates to rebuild a HS from scratch are $350-400/sqft. Wooton is in a nice area so let's use the high side. That would be $118M.

According to this article, the boundary study was about $1.3M
https://bethesdamagazine.com/2024/12/05/school-board-approves-boundary-study-contract/

I'm obviously missing something.

It makes no sense for MCPS to give up such a prime location just because a developer offered them another piece of land and that deal has an expiration date. Really foolish decision to build crown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't they send the Wooton kids to Crown for a few years; tear down Wooton, and rebuild it? Then once the new building is ready, the kids would return.

because they already spent all the money on this boundary study.

That makes no sense. Wooton HS is roughly 295,000 Sqft. Rough estimates to rebuild a HS from scratch are $350-400/sqft. Wooton is in a nice area so let's use the high side. That would be $118M.

According to this article, the boundary study was about $1.3M
https://bethesdamagazine.com/2024/12/05/school-board-approves-boundary-study-contract/

I'm obviously missing something.

Our high schools generally cost $250-300 million now.

Ok. So a HS costs $250-300M to build and the boundary study was $1.3M. So again, I'll ask---why can't Crown be a holding school while they rebuild Wooton? The boundary study is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of building a school so it can't be that the money was spent on the study and is no longer available for construction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't they send the Wooton kids to Crown for a few years; tear down Wooton, and rebuild it? Then once the new building is ready, the kids would return.

I thought that is one of the options on the table? Isn't that why we're discussing using Crown as a holding school for precisely that purpose?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't they send the Wooton kids to Crown for a few years; tear down Wooton, and rebuild it? Then once the new building is ready, the kids would return.

because they already spent all the money on this boundary study.

That makes no sense. Wooton HS is roughly 295,000 Sqft. Rough estimates to rebuild a HS from scratch are $350-400/sqft. Wooton is in a nice area so let's use the high side. That would be $118M.

According to this article, the boundary study was about $1.3M
https://bethesdamagazine.com/2024/12/05/school-board-approves-boundary-study-contract/

I'm obviously missing something.

It makes no sense for MCPS to give up such a prime location just because a developer offered them another piece of land and that deal has an expiration date. Really foolish decision to build crown.

Really?? Crown is the happening area and a prime piece of land. MCPS did the right thing by building Crown.

They should use the Wootton land for something else. Maybe a school for the SES kids and mentally ill kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't they send the Wooton kids to Crown for a few years; tear down Wooton, and rebuild it? Then once the new building is ready, the kids would return.

Because it sounds like they don't need another new building. They really don't have a use for Crown given declining enrollment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't they send the Wooton kids to Crown for a few years; tear down Wooton, and rebuild it? Then once the new building is ready, the kids would return.

Because it sounds like they don't need another new building. They really don't have a use for Crown given declining enrollment.

I haven't followed details, but this is the only explanation that makes sense. School aged population will be going down for the next few years at least, so they actually don't need this shiny new building they are constructing. (The decline in student population is true at the national level; i've not followed the debate enough locally to know whether it is actually what is projected for MCPS or if people are worrying unnecessarily. Given uncertainty in migration patterns, the solution that would make most sense is keeping Wootton as a holding school for a few years with only minor repairs until the trendline is clearer.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't they send the Wooton kids to Crown for a few years; tear down Wooton, and rebuild it? Then once the new building is ready, the kids would return.

Because it sounds like they don't need another new building. They really don't have a use for Crown given declining enrollment.

And I believe Magruder HS & Damascus HS are also in line waiting for budget to be renovated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't they send the Wooton kids to Crown for a few years; tear down Wooton, and rebuild it? Then once the new building is ready, the kids would return.

Because it sounds like they don't need another new building. They really don't have a use for Crown given declining enrollment.

And I believe Magruder HS & Damascus HS are also in line waiting for budget to be renovated.

There are three decrepit high schools. One of them has a brand new building being constructed under 3 miles away that can house the decrepit school’s current students and shift 500-800 or so kids from the other close overcrowded school.

And enrollment overall is declining and we will have thousands of available seats at all levels.

So why not save $300 million by closing the decrepit high school instead of rebuilding it?

It’s rational.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't they send the Wooton kids to Crown for a few years; tear down Wooton, and rebuild it? Then once the new building is ready, the kids would return.

Because it sounds like they don't need another new building. They really don't have a use for Crown given declining enrollment.

And I believe Magruder HS & Damascus HS are also in line waiting for budget to be renovated.

So they still need a holding school. I thought Crown being the holding school was one of the original options. Now it sounds like that’s no longer a plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't they send the Wooton kids to Crown for a few years; tear down Wooton, and rebuild it? Then once the new building is ready, the kids would return.

Because it sounds like they don't need another new building. They really don't have a use for Crown given declining enrollment.

I haven't followed details, but this is the only explanation that makes sense. School aged population will be going down for the next few years at least, so they actually don't need this shiny new building they are constructing. (The decline in student population is true at the national level; i've not followed the debate enough locally to know whether it is actually what is projected for MCPS or if people are worrying unnecessarily. Given uncertainty in migration patterns, the solution that would make most sense is keeping Wootton as a holding school for a few years with only minor repairs until the trendline is clearer.)

+1 not to mention the budget issues. Revenue is down in MoCo, by a lot.

https://wjla.com/news/local/montgomery-county-alarm-financial-future-six-year-forecast-projects-854-million-decline-revenue-shortfall-budget-taxes-maryland-residents-impact-construction-hospitality-costs-tariffs-property-income

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't they send the Wooton kids to Crown for a few years; tear down Wooton, and rebuild it? Then once the new building is ready, the kids would return.

Because it sounds like they don't need another new building. They really don't have a use for Crown given declining enrollment.

And I believe Magruder HS & Damascus HS are also in line waiting for budget to be renovated.

So they still need a holding school. I thought Crown being the holding school was one of the original options. Now it sounds like that’s no longer a plan.

That's still an option too. Nothing's been determined yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't they send the Wooton kids to Crown for a few years; tear down Wooton, and rebuild it? Then once the new building is ready, the kids would return.

Because it sounds like they don't need another new building. They really don't have a use for Crown given declining enrollment.

And I believe Magruder HS & Damascus HS are also in line waiting for budget to be renovated.

So they still need a holding school. I thought Crown being the holding school was one of the original options. Now it sounds like that’s no longer a plan.

Not really - they can still renovate those schools the same way they did Seneca Valley. If they save 300 million by moving Wootton to Crown, that could go into funding all the schools with advanced classes and cut down the 6 regional magnets.

Wootton could be demolished and the land used for something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't they send the Wooton kids to Crown for a few years; tear down Wooton, and rebuild it? Then once the new building is ready, the kids would return.

Because it sounds like they don't need another new building. They really don't have a use for Crown given declining enrollment.

And I believe Magruder HS & Damascus HS are also in line waiting for budget to be renovated.

So they still need a holding school. I thought Crown being the holding school was one of the original options. Now it sounds like that’s no longer a plan.

Not really - they can still renovate those schools the same way they did Seneca Valley. If they save 300 million by moving Wootton to Crown, that could go into funding all the schools with advanced classes and cut down the 6 regional magnets.

Wootton could be demolished and the land used for something else.

Wootton Parkway at the HS can't really handle much traffic. It's very tight and the country would have to spend $$$ to widen the road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't they send the Wooton kids to Crown for a few years; tear down Wooton, and rebuild it? Then once the new building is ready, the kids would return.

Because it sounds like they don't need another new building. They really don't have a use for Crown given declining enrollment.

And I believe Magruder HS & Damascus HS are also in line waiting for budget to be renovated.

So they still need a holding school. I thought Crown being the holding school was one of the original options. Now it sounds like that’s no longer a plan.

Not really - they can still renovate those schools the same way they did Seneca Valley. If they save 300 million by moving Wootton to Crown, that could go into funding all the schools with advanced classes and cut down the 6 regional magnets.

Wootton could be demolished and the land used for something else.

Wootton Parkway at the HS can't really handle much traffic. It's very tight and the country would have to spend $$$ to widen the road.

I travel that road all the time. It is so much better than the roads in Aspen Hill close to Georgia and Connecticut. If kids can be bussed around in the DCC so can the Wootton kids

It's not a good look Wootton parents - you're grasping at straws.