Taylor's Feb Rec for Crown Boundary Study

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the recommendation is to rebuild Damascus on-site, then does Wootton sit empty or does the Magruder renovation get to happen sooner?

Sits empty. Wootton needs to be fixed before it can be a holding school, which isn’t funded yet.

[Anonymous]

The Rockville Mayor and City Counsil are advocating for a "Modified Recommendation" where the superintendant's recommendation is implemented (moving Cold Spring to Churchill, sending Fields Roads + Rosemont to Crown) but the rest of Crown will be filled as a temporary holding school for Wootton and Magruder kids. Then a boundary study can be done to fill the remainder of Crown once Wootton and Magruder are done being renovated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Rockville Mayor and City Counsil are advocating for a "Modified Recommendation" where the superintendant's recommendation is implemented (moving Cold Spring to Churchill, sending Fields Roads + Rosemont to Crown) but the rest of Crown will be filled as a temporary holding school for Wootton and Magruder kids. Then a boundary study can be done to fill the remainder of Crown once Wootton and Magruder are done being renovated.

Assuming this is accurate, it’s because Rockville will lose tax revenues from people moving into Gaithersburg instead of Rockville in order for their kids to attend Wootton @ Crown. Gaithersburg businesses in Crown will benefit over those in Rockville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the recommendation is to rebuild Damascus on-site, then does Wootton sit empty or does the Magruder renovation get to happen sooner?

Sits empty. Wootton needs to be fixed before it can be a holding school, which isn’t funded yet.

So why not keep Wootton where it is and use Crown as a holding school? No reason to delay Damascus’ rebuild by waiting on fixing Wootton. If there’s no money to fix Wootton, then how is there $200M+ to renovate Damascus?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Rockville Mayor and City Counsil are advocating for a "Modified Recommendation" where the superintendant's recommendation is implemented (moving Cold Spring to Churchill, sending Fields Roads + Rosemont to Crown) but the rest of Crown will be filled as a temporary holding school for Wootton and Magruder kids. Then a boundary study can be done to fill the remainder of Crown once Wootton and Magruder are done being renovated.

Interesting idea.

The underlying assumptions in this plan are:
1. MCPS / MoCo will find money to rebuild Wootton and Magruder.
2. By the time Wootton and Magruder are re-built, there will be a need for a 27th high school.

#1 is probably challenging given the fiscal constraints the county and MCPS are under. #2 sounds fairly reasonable given the amount of building in the areas of Gaithersburg near Crown (Kentlands / Lakelands condos, Lakeforest, maybe Rio development?)

The switchover from Wootton to Magruder will be pretty disruptive for both the teachers and the student body, considering the Crown adjacent neighborhoods will stay but everybody else moves? Would Juniors / Seniors at Crown get moved over to Wootton or stay put or split up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the recommendation is to rebuild Damascus on-site, then does Wootton sit empty or does the Magruder renovation get to happen sooner?

Sits empty. Wootton needs to be fixed before it can be a holding school, which isn’t funded yet.

So why not keep Wootton where it is and use Crown as a holding school? No reason to delay Damascus’ rebuild by waiting on fixing Wootton. If there’s no money to fix Wootton, then how is there $200M+ to renovate Damascus?

Damascus renovation is budgeted in a CIP request that the superintendent sent to the BOE, which voted to approve it, and then the plan was submitted to the County Council, who will have to fund and approve it as well. Damascus expansion is needed both because it's a really old building and to put more capacity up-county.

The CIP request doesn't have money to renovate Wootton, either as a holding school or as a regular high school, so my assumption is that they'll wait a bit before finding the money / planning for a holding school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Rockville Mayor and City Counsil are advocating for a "Modified Recommendation" where the superintendant's recommendation is implemented (moving Cold Spring to Churchill, sending Fields Roads + Rosemont to Crown) but the rest of Crown will be filled as a temporary holding school for Wootton and Magruder kids. Then a boundary study can be done to fill the remainder of Crown once Wootton and Magruder are done being renovated.

This idea of using Crown as both a holding school and a local school sounds crazy. Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman floated it first and now it looks like Rockville is latching onto the idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Rockville Mayor and City Counsil are advocating for a "Modified Recommendation" where the superintendant's recommendation is implemented (moving Cold Spring to Churchill, sending Fields Roads + Rosemont to Crown) but the rest of Crown will be filled as a temporary holding school for Wootton and Magruder kids. Then a boundary study can be done to fill the remainder of Crown once Wootton and Magruder are done being renovated.

Interesting idea.

The underlying assumptions in this plan are:
1. MCPS / MoCo will find money to rebuild Wootton and Magruder.
2. By the time Wootton and Magruder are re-built, there will be a need for a 27th high school.

#1 is probably challenging given the fiscal constraints the county and MCPS are under. #2 sounds fairly reasonable given the amount of building in the areas of Gaithersburg near Crown (Kentlands / Lakelands condos, Lakeforest, maybe Rio development?)

The switchover from Wootton to Magruder will be pretty disruptive for both the teachers and the student body, considering the Crown adjacent neighborhoods will stay but everybody else moves? Would Juniors / Seniors at Crown get moved over to Wootton or stay put or split up?

I doubt #2 will happen due to declining birth rates and escalating outmigration.

https://montgomeryperspective.com/2026/02/17/why-dont-we-have-the-money/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the recommendation is to rebuild Damascus on-site, then does Wootton sit empty or does the Magruder renovation get to happen sooner?

Sits empty. Wootton needs to be fixed before it can be a holding school, which isn’t funded yet.

So why not keep Wootton where it is and use Crown as a holding school? No reason to delay Damascus’ rebuild by waiting on fixing Wootton. If there’s no money to fix Wootton, then how is there $200M+ to renovate Damascus?

Damascus renovation is budgeted in a CIP request that the superintendent sent to the BOE, which voted to approve it, and then the plan was submitted to the County Council, who will have to fund and approve it as well. Damascus expansion is needed both because it's a really old building and to put more capacity up-county.

The CIP request doesn't have money to renovate Wootton, either as a holding school or as a regular high school, so my assumption is that they'll wait a bit before finding the money / planning for a holding school.

You just said the magic words - “find the money”. MCPS could do that now, especially if the Magruduer renovation is dependent on using Wootton as a holding school. But it isn’t Magruder could use Crown as a holding school, just like Woodward is being used as one.

Why doesn’t MCPS wait to move the boundaries and close Wootton until after the Magruder renovation is complete? That would allow the Magruder renovation to proceed in a timely manner and give MCPS the appropriate amount of time to comply with its obligation to get robust community input? MCPS released Option H in late November/early December and Taylor made his recommendation for it in early February. The holidays and a snowstorm absorbed more than half that time (causing cancellation of some community meetings). Yet Taylor rushed through his recommendation anyway - why?

And now there has been a shooting at Wootton. The parent/child reunification plan was executed about as well as an elephant learning to ice skate, further traumatizing the Wootton kids.

So to recap, MCPS proposed ripping away a school out from under its kids in record time - and failed to keep them safe. Not a great look for MCPS. And its excuse? Mistakes were made in building Crown, but now we don’t have the money to fix Wootton because we spent it all on Crown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the recommendation is to rebuild Damascus on-site, then does Wootton sit empty or does the Magruder renovation get to happen sooner?

Sits empty. Wootton needs to be fixed before it can be a holding school, which isn’t funded yet.

I hadn't heard this. What are the repairs MCPS says need to be made in order for Wootton to be used as a holding school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the recommendation is to rebuild Damascus on-site, then does Wootton sit empty or does the Magruder renovation get to happen sooner?

Sits empty. Wootton needs to be fixed before it can be a holding school, which isn’t funded yet.

I hadn't heard this. What are the repairs MCPS says need to be made in order for Wootton to be used as a holding school?

Taylor never said this and it can’t sit empty because that would delay the Damascus and Magruder renovations. Taylor has said that he needs a holding school, and he can’t use Woodward for this purpose anymore. So he cooked up Option H to try and scoop up Wootton and transplant its high achieving kids into Crown - a win-win for him, but a lose-lose for Wootton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the recommendation is to rebuild Damascus on-site, then does Wootton sit empty or does the Magruder renovation get to happen sooner?

Sits empty. Wootton needs to be fixed before it can be a holding school, which isn’t funded yet.

I hadn't heard this. What are the repairs MCPS says need to be made in order for Wootton to be used as a holding school?

Taylor never said this and it can’t sit empty because that would delay the Damascus and Magruder renovations. Taylor has said that he needs a holding school, and he can’t use Woodward for this purpose anymore. So he cooked up Option H to try and scoop up Wootton and transplant its high achieving kids into Crown - a win-win for him, but a lose-lose for Wootton.

Not Damascus, as it's slated to be rebuilt with students on site.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the recommendation is to rebuild Damascus on-site, then does Wootton sit empty or does the Magruder renovation get to happen sooner?

Sits empty. Wootton needs to be fixed before it can be a holding school, which isn’t funded yet.

I hadn't heard this. What are the repairs MCPS says need to be made in order for Wootton to be used as a holding school?

Taylor never said this and it can’t sit empty because that would delay the Damascus and Magruder renovations. Taylor has said that he needs a holding school, and he can’t use Woodward for this purpose anymore. So he cooked up Option H to try and scoop up Wootton and transplant its high achieving kids into Crown - a win-win for him, but a lose-lose for Wootton.

Not Damascus, as it's slated to be rebuilt with students on site.

Not guaranteed. What happens if they have to move some of the kids due to unforeseen repairs? This happens quite often in commercial and school renovations. Regardless, Magruder needs a holding school and can use Crown - just like Woodward was. That’s the least disruptive move for MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the recommendation is to rebuild Damascus on-site, then does Wootton sit empty or does the Magruder renovation get to happen sooner?

Sits empty. Wootton needs to be fixed before it can be a holding school, which isn’t funded yet.

I hadn't heard this. What are the repairs MCPS says need to be made in order for Wootton to be used as a holding school?

Taylor never said this and it can’t sit empty because that would delay the Damascus and Magruder renovations. Taylor has said that he needs a holding school, and he can’t use Woodward for this purpose anymore. So he cooked up Option H to try and scoop up Wootton and transplant its high achieving kids into Crown - a win-win for him, but a lose-lose for Wootton.

Not Damascus, as it's slated to be rebuilt with students on site.

Not guaranteed. What happens if they have to move some of the kids due to unforeseen repairs? This happens quite often in commercial and school renovations. Regardless, Magruder needs a holding school and can use Crown - just like Woodward was. That’s the least disruptive move for MCPS.

Unforeseen repairs happen quite often, yes. But moving some of the kids due to them? When has MCPS ever done that? Usually the project just takes longer than planned. See SSIMS and Poolesville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the recommendation is to rebuild Damascus on-site, then does Wootton sit empty or does the Magruder renovation get to happen sooner?

Sits empty. Wootton needs to be fixed before it can be a holding school, which isn’t funded yet.

I hadn't heard this. What are the repairs MCPS says need to be made in order for Wootton to be used as a holding school?

Taylor never said this and it can’t sit empty because that would delay the Damascus and Magruder renovations. Taylor has said that he needs a holding school, and he can’t use Woodward for this purpose anymore. So he cooked up Option H to try and scoop up Wootton and transplant its high achieving kids into Crown - a win-win for him, but a lose-lose for Wootton.

Its a win for the high-achieving students to have brand new facilities... especially for stem.