MCPS suggests postponing Crown High School opening for use as holding school

[KDavid]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good. Now if they could add in also not rebuilding an aging high school and using Crown instead once it has been used as a holding school to rebuild one less than originally planned aging high schools. We do not need another high school to pay to operate during declining enrollment and it makes sense to not renovate a decrepit current high school when there is an available new school. MCPS needs to be consolidating schools and closing the most underutilized/in disrepair not expanding. The more old schools in need of massive repair that can be closed with students attending underutilized in better repair nearby schools, the better for the fiscal future of MCPS.

Well just move Wootton there, no need to renovate Wootton then

I am a Wootton parent and I have been shouting this but I don't think it will happen. Just close the school. It needs a full demolish and rebuild and I don't think we need both.

+1 Move all of Wootton which would not fill Crown, and also move parts of QO, RM, GHS enough to level the capacity of all the neighboring over crowded schools.

Done.

While I agree that shuffling the deck could fix the overcrowding issues without the need for a brand new school, I have serious concerns about MCPS' ability to fairly decide which communities should get bussed to new schools. There are enough special interest groups in their ear that undoubtedly, decisions will not be made in everyone's best interests.

[Anonymous]

Is next boundary rezone study in November/December the last one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is next boundary rezone study in November/December the last one?

There's supposed to be a new boundary study for elementary schools sometime next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The data presented by Adnan Mamoon, which shows MCPS having about 4,000 seats available once Crown is built and Damascus HS is expanded are pretty damning. It's hard to argue with their logic for using it as a holding school with that kind of data. So.....why are Crown HS proponents in favor despite this information?

The data is inaccurate as usual per mcps. They are liars and manipulators . If you listened to the board meeting, Montoya called them out for having incorrect data about the projected population of Gaithersburg and told them she did her own research. She called for a delay until proper time to gather data from the City of Gaithersburg could be obtained

+100 check out Gaithersburgs website. No third party data , just facts

MCPS claims they got their numbers from the Planning Board. So whose numbers are right? Gaithersburg's or the Planning Board's?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The data presented by Adnan Mamoon, which shows MCPS having about 4,000 seats available once Crown is built and Damascus HS is expanded are pretty damning. It's hard to argue with their logic for using it as a holding school with that kind of data. So.....why are Crown HS proponents in favor despite this information?

The data is inaccurate as usual per mcps. They are liars and manipulators . If you listened to the board meeting, Montoya called them out for having incorrect data about the projected population of Gaithersburg and told them she did her own research. She called for a delay until proper time to gather data from the City of Gaithersburg could be obtained

+100 check out Gaithersburgs website. No third party data , just facts

MCPS claims they got their numbers from the Planning Board. So whose numbers are right? Gaithersburg's or the Planning Board's?

I have more confidence in the countywide board then a city’s own board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The data presented by Adnan Mamoon, which shows MCPS having about 4,000 seats available once Crown is built and Damascus HS is expanded are pretty damning. It's hard to argue with their logic for using it as a holding school with that kind of data. So.....why are Crown HS proponents in favor despite this information?

The data is inaccurate as usual per mcps. They are liars and manipulators . If you listened to the board meeting, Montoya called them out for having incorrect data about the projected population of Gaithersburg and told them she did her own research. She called for a delay until proper time to gather data from the City of Gaithersburg could be obtained

+100 check out Gaithersburgs website. No third party data , just facts

MCPS claims they got their numbers from the Planning Board. So whose numbers are right? Gaithersburg's or the Planning Board's?

“Mcps claims” is the problem here. I don’t trust anything they present in front of me anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The data presented by Adnan Mamoon, which shows MCPS having about 4,000 seats available once Crown is built and Damascus HS is expanded are pretty damning. It's hard to argue with their logic for using it as a holding school with that kind of data. So.....why are Crown HS proponents in favor despite this information?

Then why on earth they need to expand Damascus? Nobody question them?

Damascus was being expanded to handle Clarksburg's overcrowding.

But the presentation yesterday showed there are enough seats in the nearby schools to relieve the overcrowding of clarksburg. We end up with 4000 empty seats in this crown boundary study service area with Damascus expansion. Without the expansion, we still have 3300 empty seats.

+1 we don’t need the Damascus expansion in the same way that we don’t need crown HS. Makes no sense

[Anonymous]

Board of Education Accepting Public Feedback on Capital Improvements Plan Through November 10

The Board of Education invites community members to share their feedback on the superintendent’s recommended Capital Improvements Program (CIP).

Individuals may submit comments in writing or by video to [e-mail]. Comments received by noon on Monday, November 10, will be posted on BoardDocs and distributed to all Board members and leadership staff for consideration.

In addition to the Board’s CIP Work Sessions on October 14 and November 4 as well as the Public Hearings on October 23 and October 28, the Board will hold a final work session on November 11 to review public feedback and additional information requested by Board members. Final action on the Fiscal Year 2027 Capital Budget and the Fiscal Years 2027–2032 CIP is scheduled for the Board’s November 20 Business Meeting.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The data presented by Adnan Mamoon, which shows MCPS having about 4,000 seats available once Crown is built and Damascus HS is expanded are pretty damning. It's hard to argue with their logic for using it as a holding school with that kind of data. So.....why are Crown HS proponents in favor despite this information?

Then why on earth they need to expand Damascus? Nobody question them?

Montoya questioned them. MCPS cherry picked bad data.

[Anonymous]

Wootton does not have white privilege- Wootton was slated for the CIP and was removed twice (for no reason) It’s failing on EVERY objective data- driven measure- electrical, plumbing, and HVAC. The building will be nonfunctional in the next few years. There are rats and you can see smell mold. The fire alarm doesn’t work. They’ve had to shut the school down for gas leaks and lack of power. No one is “stealing” a school. It’s sickening that we are fighting each other- and we should refuse to do so- everyone wants what is best for all kids- it’s a mess and we need to all be creative. MCPS needs to figure this out.

[Anonymous]

The Crown people were absolutely disgusting in the meeting tonight. “We paid taxes so you can’t take this school from us”. Basically they came across as screw the kids who are in Wootton and Magruder, we don’t care if they go to school in unsafe unsanitary dangerous to human health schools, we don’t care if it costs the county $400M more to redo Damascus, Wootton and Magruder, because heaven forbid our students who are actually in a safe school (Gaithersburg HS) or a not great but not terribly disgusting school (QO) can’t be inconvenienced. Cry me a river. I lost any sympathy I had for them tonight.

The solution is use Crown as a holding school to do Damascus, and then either:

A) redo boundaries to move all of Wootton to Crown along with the areas around Crown and shut Wootton. Simultaneously renovate Magruder on site.
Or
B) also use Crown as holding school for Magruder and then redo boundaries to move all of Wootton to Crown coupled with local Crown areas and shut down Wootton.

At some point they can rebuild Wootton if the demand exists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Crown people were absolutely disgusting in the meeting tonight. “We paid taxes so you can’t take this school from us”. Basically they came across as screw the kids who are in Wootton and Magruder, we don’t care if they go to school in unsafe unsanitary dangerous to human health schools, we don’t care if it costs the county $400M more to redo Damascus, Wootton and Magruder, because heaven forbid our students who are actually in a safe school (Gaithersburg HS) or a not great but not terribly disgusting school (QO) can’t be inconvenienced. Cry me a river. I lost any sympathy I had for them tonight.

The solution is use Crown as a holding school to do Damascus, and then either:

A) redo boundaries to move all of Wootton to Crown along with the areas around Crown and shut Wootton. Simultaneously renovate Magruder on site.
Or
B) also use Crown as holding school for Magruder and then redo boundaries to move all of Wootton to Crown coupled with local Crown areas and shut down Wootton.

At some point they can rebuild Wootton if the demand exists.

I have talked to a few Wootton families, and they tell me that they only want to use Crown HS as a temporary holding school, and they don't want to turn a new Crown HS as a permanent Wootton HS because 1) it won't give them the same feeling as their own community school, and the location a bit far away, 2) they don't want other kids (aka poor neighborhood from gaithersburg) zoned to their school because because there will be a need of boundary rezone. I don't feel much sympathy for Wootton HS families. They first fought for them staying together without any families zoning to Crown HS or QO HS on the first boundary study, and they got their wishes. Now they move towards to fight for Crown HS become their temporary holding school. There have been a ton of link share post on Facebook, we chat and nextdoor or so. I hear that Damascus HS or Magruder HS do need more fixes and repairs compared to them. Wootton HS families is in region 4, have better overall FARM rates compared to neighbor region 5 or region 6 school districts. They are privileged in some way already, and other HS should get a chance to get some mcps limited resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Crown people were absolutely disgusting in the meeting tonight. “We paid taxes so you can’t take this school from us”. Basically they came across as screw the kids who are in Wootton and Magruder, we don’t care if they go to school in unsafe unsanitary dangerous to human health schools, we don’t care if it costs the county $400M more to redo Damascus, Wootton and Magruder, because heaven forbid our students who are actually in a safe school (Gaithersburg HS) or a not great but not terribly disgusting school (QO) can’t be inconvenienced. Cry me a river. I lost any sympathy I had for them tonight.

The solution is use Crown as a holding school to do Damascus, and then either:

A) redo boundaries to move all of Wootton to Crown along with the areas around Crown and shut Wootton. Simultaneously renovate Magruder on site.
Or
B) also use Crown as holding school for Magruder and then redo boundaries to move all of Wootton to Crown coupled with local Crown areas and shut down Wootton.

At some point they can rebuild Wootton if the demand exists.

I have talked to a few Wootton families, and they tell me that they only want to use Crown HS as a temporary holding school, and they don't want to turn a new Crown HS as a permanent Wootton HS because 1) it won't give them the same feeling as their own community school, and the location a bit far away, 2) they don't want other kids (aka poor neighborhood from gaithersburg) zoned to their school because because there will be a need of boundary rezone. I don't feel much sympathy for Wootton HS families. They first fought for them staying together without any families zoning to Crown HS or QO HS on the first boundary study, and they got their wishes. Now they move towards to fight for Crown HS become their temporary holding school. There have been a ton of link share post on Facebook, we chat and nextdoor or so. I hear that Damascus HS or Magruder HS do need more fixes and repairs compared to them. Wootton HS families is in region 4, have better overall FARM rates compared to neighbor region 5 or region 6 school districts. They are privileged in some way already, and other HS should get a chance to get some mcps limited resources.

You say “and they got their wishes” as if a discarded boundary option that you think favors the Wootton district counts for something. Between that and whining about privilege it is pretty clear you are not able to be objective or hold substantive opinions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Crown people were absolutely disgusting in the meeting tonight. “We paid taxes so you can’t take this school from us”. Basically they came across as screw the kids who are in Wootton and Magruder, we don’t care if they go to school in unsafe unsanitary dangerous to human health schools, we don’t care if it costs the county $400M more to redo Damascus, Wootton and Magruder, because heaven forbid our students who are actually in a safe school (Gaithersburg HS) or a not great but not terribly disgusting school (QO) can’t be inconvenienced. Cry me a river. I lost any sympathy I had for them tonight.

The solution is use Crown as a holding school to do Damascus, and then either:

A) redo boundaries to move all of Wootton to Crown along with the areas around Crown and shut Wootton. Simultaneously renovate Magruder on site.
Or
B) also use Crown as holding school for Magruder and then redo boundaries to move all of Wootton to Crown coupled with local Crown areas and shut down Wootton.

At some point they can rebuild Wootton if the demand exists.

I actually empathize with both Wootton and Crown families. Wootton's building is objectively in really bad shape. There is no denying that.

I also understand Crown families and the City of Gaithersburg's perspective, especially since MCPS was GIFTED the land for the express purpose of building a new high school. There were promises made legally here that MCPS can't just backtrack on because they suck at planning and running the school district.

[Anonymous]

Wootton needs a rebuild desperately and the only way it will ever happen is for a holding school to be available. Damascus and Magruder have the option to rebuild on adjacent land, Wootton cannot. The amount of work Wootton needs cannot happen while kids are in session. Crown will eventually get their neighborhood school, they just may need to wait a few years. This is about a TEMPORARY holding school and then it would be used originally intended.

Wootton did not keep their cluster intact with the second round options, they lost a feeder school. Crown went on and on and on last night complaining that they bought into a neighborhood where they were promised a specific school- guess what, so did Dufief...

I was completely disgusted with Crown last night. Who cares about the wellness of kids in other schools? Wootton has (some) wealthier families therefore the kids deserve to breathe in mold, have non-working toilets, broken science rooms, and rodents in their school? Also, they kept talking about all the special taxes they paid. They didn't pay those, the developers did.