Taylor's Feb Rec for Crown Boundary Study
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Anonymous
100% Last night Wootton told Dufief they no longer "have their back" (as if they ever actually did...) and will no longer fight to keep them in the cluster. (as if they ever actually did...) |
Anonymous
No, it’s really just Dufief and they got support from 2 Stonemill and 1 travilah people but pretending other ES support them too |
Anonymous
Not a member of that community but I found that DuFief went out of its way to be kind and advocate not just for themselves but for others. One of the videos explicitly mentioned being excited for their kids to make new friends from Fields Road/Crown, which helps to tone down the rhetoric from Fallsmead/Lakewood about how Gaithersburg/ modest increase FARMS students are going to irrevocably destroy Wootton. They also advocated for Travilah and Stone Mill. Beyond that here were my perceptions of how other communities reacted: Strong Support for Modified Option H: - Damascus HS - Churchill HS* - Fields Road ES Mild support to mixed: - Darnestown ES** - Northwest HS Some rejection: - RM HS - Magruder HS Complete rejection: - Fallsmead ES - Clarksburg HS ... *Churchill's strong support seems to stem from the fact that, under most other options, an ES from their school or portions of multiple ES from their school would be transferred to Wootton. They seem to feel genuinely positively about Cold Spring being added too, noting that their enrollment is declining anyhow. **Darnestown raised concerns about the distance of Pooleseville HS but noted that it would be an okay move so long as they are sent to John Poole MS as opposed to Kingsview. |
Anonymous
Keep telling yourself that, whatever makes you feel better LOL |
Anonymous
What was RM opposed to? |
Anonymous
Doesn't alleviate any overcrowding at RM. Still keeps the many portables all over the campus. |
Anonymous
This might not be the case with the transition to the regional model, which will mean the magnet/IB population will significantly drop in overall numbers. Same logic is what triggered moving Darnestown ES to Poolesville in the latest iteration. |
Anonymous
| RM also seemed opposed to the regional magnet program. |
Anonymous
For better or for worse I doubt that plan is going to be changed at this point. |
Anonymous
I tallied the testimonies and it was 28 in support (whether related to crown directly or not), 23 reject completely (also whether related to crown directly or not) and there were a few that were unrelated to the boundary study and really CIP issues or regional program issues |
Anonymous
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Many people don't know the backstory of this so let's recap -
- Wootton HS has been in a state of neglect for a decade+. They have testified at almost every single BOE meeting that Wootton needs to be redone/repaired. Kids could no longer wait, BOE was neglectful - Be in 2025, we are broke as a state and county, MCPS pillaged due to neglect, we hire a competent Superintendent to fix the ship, he's actually good. DOGE causes contraction in the county because Maryland/MoCo largely rely on Federal funding. The county population is actually declining and people that can actually afford to live in Wootton don't have kids or their kids already graduated - Be heard by the Superintendent, Wootton can't wait, the conditions are so bad. A compromise solution actually appears - Woottton @ Crown. Wootton HS would actually remain in tact while not having to wait another decade to get a brand new state of the art school. - Every school in the Wootton cluster goes and has room with the exception of Cold Spring (they don't care because they get to go to Churchill). Notice how Wootton PTSA isn't even advocating for them anymore in any of their testimonies - it's no longer about keeping the cluster together - The record should show that when the initial option for Wootton at Crown came up, Wootton PTSA wanted to take a neutral position, in fact, it was seen as a WIN. However, the bullying and anger has won over to try and have Wootton fixed. It is no longer a dire issue to the point where students can't breathe, can't go to school, don't want to use the bathrooms because the conditions are so bad. We can fix Wootton with patch work, we don't want a new school anymore. - They hold a town hall, there is an angry mob of people - people are scared to speak up about the options - there is no point in even speaking about the county budget situation or the realities of Wootton - it is an actual horrible horrible environment for kids. Many people who are angry don't have kids that are even in school anymore - The claim is Rockville will chip in money to fix Wootton, go with hybrid option. This seems like a great solution, new school costs $300M. Fixing up a school costs ~$50-$100M. - Ignore the fact that there is roughly only 500 students that are within the walking zone of Wootton, Wootton HS population is ~1800. Ignore the fact that Rockville is up in arms, but Wootton actually draws from North Potomac, Gaithersburg, and Rockville. No one else's opinion matters in this. Wootton can now wait, but they need money to fix the school, apparently Rockville politicians will find money. Let's put these politicians on the record and ask households who are zoned for Richard Montgomery, Rockville HS, Magruder, Twinbrook if they are willing to pay an increase in taxes to fix Wootton when there is a brand new HS being built already opening in 2027. Let's put Senator Kagan on record that she is speaking out only for Rockville and not for Gaithersburg, Fields Rd, Lakewood communities. Let's put the county council and executives on the record that in a time where taxes are going to be raised because again WE ARE BROKE - that Wootton HS will not accept a new school where the ENTIRE CLUSTER gets to move to a BRAND NEW SCHOOL that they have been advocating about and instead let's ask CLARKSBURG, POOLESVILLE, WHEATON, GERMANTOWN, SILVER SPRING communities if they are willing to have an increase in their taxes to pay for a Wootton renovation. I want everyone to read this who don't have a dog in this fight to ask yourself if you are willing to see an increase in your taxes to pay for a Wootton remodel when Crown exists. |
Anonymous
Great argumentation. And the fact that Crown is being built already with the plans to have an expansion that will bring it to 2,700 student capacity means it has room to grow if the population does begin to recover, without having to pay for an entire demolition and reconstruction of Wootton right now. And, as you well point out, there's not necessarily reason to assume that the population will rebound significantly any time soon. The new units being planned don't imply that all the older single family home owners who are empty nesters in the region are going to sell their houses to new families moving in. So significant growth is not guaranteed at this time. |
Anonymous
| You should see how wootton whiners are latching on to all the politicians who support them on this one issue… all these candidates riding the coattails of a hot button issue for their 5 min of fame |
Anonymous
Oh look... one of the Wootton bullies showed up to claim fake news... how shocking 
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Anonymous
Nice, speaks volumes of Wootton advocates. |