Taylor's Feb Rec for Crown Boundary Study

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be an insanely irresponsible financial decision to open a 27th high school with declining enrollment. Wootton families have been complaining about the state of their building for years. They now get a brand new building and are complaining? Maybe it's not about the building after all....

This. Other schools have worse buildings but they aren’t as well organized or demanding. Schools should be fixed based on priority, not how loud a PTA is. The problem is they compare their school with Whitman (for real, years ago at a BOE meeting a Wootton mom put up a slide with Wootton and Whitman side by side saying Wootton isn’t a rich school, Whitman is). Visit some other areas outside your bubble. If MCPS is deciding what makes the best sense for THE MOST students in MCPS, it’s not building another new high school on the current site of Wootton. There is nothing more financially irresponsible than that, no matter what this community says.

+1 this
RM was supposed to get an expansion years ago and that was squashed due to Crown. Now no one is moving out of RM cluster to relieve overcrowding. I don't understand. There are 10 portables at RM currently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be an insanely irresponsible financial decision to open a 27th high school with declining enrollment. Wootton families have been complaining about the state of their building for years. They now get a brand new building and are complaining? Maybe it's not about the building after all....

This. Other schools have worse buildings but they aren’t as well organized or demanding. Schools should be fixed based on priority, not how loud a PTA is. The problem is they compare their school with Whitman (for real, years ago at a BOE meeting a Wootton mom put up a slide with Wootton and Whitman side by side saying Wootton isn’t a rich school, Whitman is). Visit some other areas outside your bubble. If MCPS is deciding what makes the best sense for THE MOST students in MCPS, it’s not building another new high school on the current site of Wootton. There is nothing more financially irresponsible than that, no matter what this community says.

+1 this
RM was supposed to get an expansion years ago and that was squashed due to Crown. Now no one is moving out of RM cluster to relieve overcrowding. I don't understand. There are 10 portables at RM currently.

That's perplexing considering that even if HS #27 were to open at Crown Farm none of RM would have been redistricted anywhere...

[Anonymous]

Can someone explain how the projections had almost all of the schools (QO, Gaithersburg, RM, Churchill) as overcrowded during the original boundary study but now somehow very suddenly there's declining enrollment and not enough students to fill all the schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be an insanely irresponsible financial decision to open a 27th high school with declining enrollment. Wootton families have been complaining about the state of their building for years. They now get a brand new building and are complaining? Maybe it's not about the building after all....

This. Other schools have worse buildings but they aren’t as well organized or demanding. Schools should be fixed based on priority, not how loud a PTA is. The problem is they compare their school with Whitman (for real, years ago at a BOE meeting a Wootton mom put up a slide with Wootton and Whitman side by side saying Wootton isn’t a rich school, Whitman is). Visit some other areas outside your bubble. If MCPS is deciding what makes the best sense for THE MOST students in MCPS, it’s not building another new high school on the current site of Wootton. There is nothing more financially irresponsible than that, no matter what this community says.

+1 this
RM was supposed to get an expansion years ago and that was squashed due to Crown. Now no one is moving out of RM cluster to relieve overcrowding. I don't understand. There are 10 portables at RM currently.

That's perplexing considering that even if HS #27 were to open at Crown Farm none of RM would have been redistricted anywhere...

Some of RM was sent to Crown and/or Wootton in the original options.
And that was the rationale given for why the RM expansion did not get funded despite overcrowding for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain how the projections had almost all of the schools (QO, Gaithersburg, RM, Churchill) as overcrowded during the original boundary study but now somehow very suddenly there's declining enrollment and not enough students to fill all the schools?

The study is only using numbers of "resident students," so they're all lower than the actual enrollment numbers in the CIP tables.

[Anonymous]

I saw an interesting post elsewhere. If enrollment is down in the county, MCPS could choose to open Crown as a new high school (while keeping Wootton open) and use Woodward as the holding school instead.

Wootton and Crown are 4 miles apart but Woodward and WJ are only 1 mile apart, so students can easily be zoned to either school. WJ is underenrolled in the recommended plan for the Woodward boundary study. Students could be shifted to Churchill, RM, etc who could then shift students to Wootton/Crown in order to alleviate the current WJ overcrowding and help fill both Wootton and Crown.

Another question on the same topic, why can Woodward open causing WJ to be underenrolled, but it's not ok to open Crown and have that school be underenrolled?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw an interesting post elsewhere. If enrollment is down in the county, MCPS could choose to open Crown as a new high school (while keeping Wootton open) and use Woodward as the holding school instead.

Wootton and Crown are 4 miles apart but Woodward and WJ are only 1 mile apart, so students can easily be zoned to either school. WJ is underenrolled in the recommended plan for the Woodward boundary study. Students could be shifted to Churchill, RM, etc who could then shift students to Wootton/Crown in order to alleviate the current WJ overcrowding and help fill both Wootton and Crown.

Another question on the same topic, why can Woodward open causing WJ to be underenrolled, but it's not ok to open Crown and have that school be underenrolled?

Woodward is way too far along to pull back on opening it. Also, if Woodward does not open, WJ's overcrowding gets no relief. It's not gonna happen.

That being said, I do agree that if it's ok for Woodward's opening to cause WJ to be underutilized, then it shouldn't be a problem for Crown to open and also be underutilized.

MCPS is not being consistent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw an interesting post elsewhere. If enrollment is down in the county, MCPS could choose to open Crown as a new high school (while keeping Wootton open) and use Woodward as the holding school instead.

Wootton and Crown are 4 miles apart but Woodward and WJ are only 1 mile apart, so students can easily be zoned to either school. WJ is underenrolled in the recommended plan for the Woodward boundary study. Students could be shifted to Churchill, RM, etc who could then shift students to Wootton/Crown in order to alleviate the current WJ overcrowding and help fill both Wootton and Crown.

Another question on the same topic, why can Woodward open causing WJ to be underenrolled, but it's not ok to open Crown and have that school be underenrolled?

Woodward is way too far along to pull back on opening it. Also, if Woodward does not open, WJ's overcrowding gets no relief. It's not gonna happen.

That being said, I do agree that if it's ok for Woodward's opening to cause WJ to be underutilized, then it shouldn't be a problem for Crown to open and also be underutilized.

MCPS is not being consistent.

It would be an embarrassment for MCPS to use Crown as a holding school after spending $400M to build it based on pre-Covid enrollment projections OR MCPS built Crown to avoid losing a valuable piece of property deeded in 2006 with a 20-year deadline to build a school.

Put simply, MCPS was either incompetent or evil - neither is a reason for kids to pay the price.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw an interesting post elsewhere. If enrollment is down in the county, MCPS could choose to open Crown as a new high school (while keeping Wootton open) and use Woodward as the holding school instead.

Wootton and Crown are 4 miles apart but Woodward and WJ are only 1 mile apart, so students can easily be zoned to either school. WJ is underenrolled in the recommended plan for the Woodward boundary study. Students could be shifted to Churchill, RM, etc who could then shift students to Wootton/Crown in order to alleviate the current WJ overcrowding and help fill both Wootton and Crown.

Another question on the same topic, why can Woodward open causing WJ to be underenrolled, but it's not ok to open Crown and have that school be underenrolled?

Woodward is way too far along to pull back on opening it. Also, if Woodward does not open, WJ's overcrowding gets no relief. It's not gonna happen.

That being said, I do agree that if it's ok for Woodward's opening to cause WJ to be underutilized, then it shouldn't be a problem for Crown to open and also be underutilized.

MCPS is not being consistent.

They are trying to avoid opening a 27th high school at a time of declining enrollment, which would save money overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw an interesting post elsewhere. If enrollment is down in the county, MCPS could choose to open Crown as a new high school (while keeping Wootton open) and use Woodward as the holding school instead.

Wootton and Crown are 4 miles apart but Woodward and WJ are only 1 mile apart, so students can easily be zoned to either school. WJ is underenrolled in the recommended plan for the Woodward boundary study. Students could be shifted to Churchill, RM, etc who could then shift students to Wootton/Crown in order to alleviate the current WJ overcrowding and help fill both Wootton and Crown.

Another question on the same topic, why can Woodward open causing WJ to be underenrolled, but it's not ok to open Crown and have that school be underenrolled?

Woodward is way too far along to pull back on opening it. Also, if Woodward does not open, WJ's overcrowding gets no relief. It's not gonna happen.

That being said, I do agree that if it's ok for Woodward's opening to cause WJ to be underutilized, then it shouldn't be a problem for Crown to open and also be underutilized.

MCPS is not being consistent.

They are trying to avoid opening a 27th high school at a time of declining enrollment, which would save money overall.

So why open Crown? It’s only 50 percent built.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw an interesting post elsewhere. If enrollment is down in the county, MCPS could choose to open Crown as a new high school (while keeping Wootton open) and use Woodward as the holding school instead.

Wootton and Crown are 4 miles apart but Woodward and WJ are only 1 mile apart, so students can easily be zoned to either school. WJ is underenrolled in the recommended plan for the Woodward boundary study. Students could be shifted to Churchill, RM, etc who could then shift students to Wootton/Crown in order to alleviate the current WJ overcrowding and help fill both Wootton and Crown.

Another question on the same topic, why can Woodward open causing WJ to be underenrolled, but it's not ok to open Crown and have that school be underenrolled?

Woodward is way too far along to pull back on opening it. Also, if Woodward does not open, WJ's overcrowding gets no relief. It's not gonna happen.

That being said, I do agree that if it's ok for Woodward's opening to cause WJ to be underutilized, then it shouldn't be a problem for Crown to open and also be underutilized.

MCPS is not being consistent.

They are trying to avoid opening a 27th high school at a time of declining enrollment, which would save money overall.

So why open Crown? It’s only 50 percent built.

Be a MCPS would be in breach of the land grant mentioned by PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw an interesting post elsewhere. If enrollment is down in the county, MCPS could choose to open Crown as a new high school (while keeping Wootton open) and use Woodward as the holding school instead.

Wootton and Crown are 4 miles apart but Woodward and WJ are only 1 mile apart, so students can easily be zoned to either school. WJ is underenrolled in the recommended plan for the Woodward boundary study. Students could be shifted to Churchill, RM, etc who could then shift students to Wootton/Crown in order to alleviate the current WJ overcrowding and help fill both Wootton and Crown.

Another question on the same topic, why can Woodward open causing WJ to be underenrolled, but it's not ok to open Crown and have that school be underenrolled?

That would never even be considered because they didn't combine the two boundary studies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw an interesting post elsewhere. If enrollment is down in the county, MCPS could choose to open Crown as a new high school (while keeping Wootton open) and use Woodward as the holding school instead.

Wootton and Crown are 4 miles apart but Woodward and WJ are only 1 mile apart, so students can easily be zoned to either school. WJ is underenrolled in the recommended plan for the Woodward boundary study. Students could be shifted to Churchill, RM, etc who could then shift students to Wootton/Crown in order to alleviate the current WJ overcrowding and help fill both Wootton and Crown.

Another question on the same topic, why can Woodward open causing WJ to be underenrolled, but it's not ok to open Crown and have that school be underenrolled?

Woodward is way too far along to pull back on opening it. Also, if Woodward does not open, WJ's overcrowding gets no relief. It's not gonna happen.

That being said, I do agree that if it's ok for Woodward's opening to cause WJ to be underutilized, then it shouldn't be a problem for Crown to open and also be underutilized.

MCPS is not being consistent.

One difference is that Wootton is in a condition for use as a holding facility (those occupying it "only" do so for a couple of years until their own facility is improved) while WJ is in relatively fine shape for long term occupancy by a single catchment.

The only school in the Woodward area that comes close might be Einstein (and Wootton long has claimed to be in worse condition), but it is about 500 seats smaller than Wootton, making it less viable as a holding facility for others, and it would be a much more disruptive relocation, considering traffic patterns and existing catchments, than Wootton's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw an interesting post elsewhere. If enrollment is down in the county, MCPS could choose to open Crown as a new high school (while keeping Wootton open) and use Woodward as the holding school instead.

Wootton and Crown are 4 miles apart but Woodward and WJ are only 1 mile apart, so students can easily be zoned to either school. WJ is underenrolled in the recommended plan for the Woodward boundary study. Students could be shifted to Churchill, RM, etc who could then shift students to Wootton/Crown in order to alleviate the current WJ overcrowding and help fill both Wootton and Crown.

Another question on the same topic, why can Woodward open causing WJ to be underenrolled, but it's not ok to open Crown and have that school be underenrolled?

Good points by other people, but also, they would need to find the money to make Wootton habitable for this scenario.

They would need to rehabilitate Wootton some if they decide to use it as a holding school, but that can be on a longer timeline and changed based on the CIP plan that the county will need to fund.

Are we sure there's a school that's ready to be sent to a holding school by 2027-2028? Otherwise the prospective holding school would sit empty for some time and it seems more efficient for that to be a school in need of repairs / rehabilitation rather than a brand new school or rebuilt school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw an interesting post elsewhere. If enrollment is down in the county, MCPS could choose to open Crown as a new high school (while keeping Wootton open) and use Woodward as the holding school instead.

Wootton and Crown are 4 miles apart but Woodward and WJ are only 1 mile apart, so students can easily be zoned to either school. WJ is underenrolled in the recommended plan for the Woodward boundary study. Students could be shifted to Churchill, RM, etc who could then shift students to Wootton/Crown in order to alleviate the current WJ overcrowding and help fill both Wootton and Crown.

Another question on the same topic, why can Woodward open causing WJ to be underenrolled, but it's not ok to open Crown and have that school be underenrolled?

Good points by other people, but also, they would need to find the money to make Wootton habitable for this scenario.

They would need to rehabilitate Wootton some if they decide to use it as a holding school, but that can be on a longer timeline and changed based on the CIP plan that the county will need to fund.

Are we sure there's a school that's ready to be sent to a holding school by 2027-2028? Otherwise the prospective holding school would sit empty for some time and it seems more efficient for that to be a school in need of repairs / rehabilitation rather than a brand new school or rebuilt school.

They use FY28 (2027-28 school year) to work on the empty current Wootton building to prep it for holding with both scope and cost considerably lower than they would be if they instead slated Wootton for renovation (beginning in FY34/2033-34 school year, after Magruder) for long-term use by the one HS community. Damascus would be the first to occupy the old facility as a holding school beginning in FY29, folllowed by Magruder in FY32. Instead of waiting for Wootton for another two years, then, whichever other school is next in line could start using the holding facility in FY34.

That's from last fall's CIP presentation, with current Wootton substituting for new Crown as the holding facility.