Taylor Meeting at Wootton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I asked the original question about what violation- COMAR or other use occurred. Appreciate the earlier rational response and agree with most of it.

There is a HUGE difference between a process that could have been a lot smoother, and a process that is legally insufficient. Haven’t seen a coherent argument that it is legally insufficient.

That’s for a judge to decide.

This is a silly response.

I haven’t even seen an allegation of any actual process violation. Sure judges decide the merits of lawsuits. But normally people who threaten to file lawsuits are able to articulate an actual basis.

And it not normal to assert that the basis is some super secret inappropriate for discussion on a forum that is literally about that issue.

The asserted basis of lawsuits gets dismissed all the time. Extremely odd that there isn’t one here.

They have to file first….

Huh? Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I asked the original question about what violation- COMAR or other use occurred. Appreciate the earlier rational response and agree with most of it.

There is a HUGE difference between a process that could have been a lot smoother, and a process that is legally insufficient. Haven’t seen a coherent argument that it is legally insufficient.

That’s for a judge to decide.

This is a silly response.

I haven’t even seen an allegation of any actual process violation. Sure judges decide the merits of lawsuits. But normally people who threaten to file lawsuits are able to articulate an actual basis.

And it not normal to assert that the basis is some super secret inappropriate for discussion on a forum that is literally about that issue.

The asserted basis of lawsuits gets dismissed all the time. Extremely odd that there isn’t one here.

Not odd at all. The people threatening to sue don't care about the process at all and certainly don't know if or how MCPS failed to adhere to it. This is a weak attempt to scare the BOE into rejecting Taylor's recommendation. Really at its heart, it is a temper tantrum.

Check the mirror.

Whenever the BOE fails to follow Policy they get sued.

If you want to talk about temper tantrums, go follow your man in the white house. He's a pro.

I do not buy that you are playing three dimensional chess any more than I believe he is. You can't articulate a basis for a lawsuit because you haven't found one, not because you are being strategic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I asked the original question about what violation- COMAR or other use occurred. Appreciate the earlier rational response and agree with most of it.

There is a HUGE difference between a process that could have been a lot smoother, and a process that is legally insufficient. Haven’t seen a coherent argument that it is legally insufficient.

That’s for a judge to decide.

This is a silly response.

I haven’t even seen an allegation of any actual process violation. Sure judges decide the merits of lawsuits. But normally people who threaten to file lawsuits are able to articulate an actual basis.

And it not normal to assert that the basis is some super secret inappropriate for discussion on a forum that is literally about that issue.

The asserted basis of lawsuits gets dismissed all the time. Extremely odd that there isn’t one here.

They have to file first….

Huh? Why?

A court cannot decide a case and force MCPS to do anything if they don't file a case and bring it before a judge.

[Anonymous]

Is the next vote in person?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Wootten community finds itself defending certain actions and attitudes that to much of the county appear indefensible. Sometimes we are unsure just how to frame our response in terms of reason. We are not arguing against the Gaithersburg community as persons, but for the preservation of the neighborhood school and the geographic integrity of our communities, which are the only sure safeguards of our academic and neighborhood heritage.

That last sentence negates your argument. You want a bubble around your community to preserve the heritage. Again displaying the underlying classist attitudes coming from Wootton pkwy.

And Silver Spring and Damascus and Olney and go ahead and name all the communities in Montgomery County that are exactly the same.

Public school policy and governance are not based on the feelings of one supreme leader. They are based on laws, policies and procedures. If you don't understand that then MCPS really failed you in your education.

The nature of public school means no boundaries are forever and nothing is guaranteed. You want certainties then go private.

Duh. That's why there are laws and policies in place for how to make these changes. You want a king? Go live at the White House.

Process has been followed. Sorry you don't like the outcome.

Not even close. Sorry you can’t read.

DP- I've read this whole thread and there are a lot of assertions of improper process and violations of COMAR, etc. But not one person has identified a single process step that is required that has not been met, or a COMAR language that has been violated.

COMAR is probably not the place to find an issue; it defers a lot to the local school board. They'd have to assert that there was a breach in MCPS not following its own policies.

That said, there's two different arguments at play: whether the process followed the legal requirements vs. whether the process was done in a way that felt like a good, transparent process.

Even as a Pro-H person, the process has felt immensely chaotic. We looked over the initial 4 options, which were wildly different, because they were emphasizing different parts of the Policy FAA criteria. After freaking out about some of the options (option 3 was sheer lunacy), options A-D were presented which looked mostly fine in October.

Then the superintendent threw a bomb into the whole process by suggesting Crown as a holding school. Then Option H was included among the other options of Crown being a holding school, making Wootton the holding school and moving Wootton to Crown in December.

So, we started this process in July and the entire premise was upended more than half way through. Never mind that concurrently, they're also pushing through the biggest changes to the criteria programs in generations at the same time and arguing that the regional programs and boundary study are interlinked.

The process has generally been bad at setting expectations and getting community buy-in. We still have a lot of unanswered questions about the criteria program, but the Wootton issue is sucking so much oxygen that it's getting left behind.

For the Wootton move, I don't think a delay would make a huge difference; there's been plenty of vocal feedback and I'm not sure what new information can be surfaced with holding more hearings. The situation is the situation, MCPS has the data that they have, and the decision needs to be made soon so that the school is ready to open on-time.

I think the end result given the situation as it stands makes the most sense. Enrollment is declining, Wootton's current building is in bad shape, Wootton is close to the Crown building and its school boundaries are adjacent to the new building. It sucks that it's come to this point, because they neglected the Wootton building enough that it's in such poor shape and they stuck to poor projections that showed a new high school was needed. It's not great, but MCPS needs to think county and system wide.

They why aren't they thinking system wide? They are letting lots of schools rot with mold and defective HVAC systems.
If Taylor was thinking he would actually be studying each option instead of making decisions via post-it notes.

According to Wooton parents it now isn't that bad and can be fixed over a summer or two (which is basically six weeks). If the mold is that bad, they need to gut the building at a minimum, best to fully replace it.

There is money to do this. Taylor can’t buy his EV buses.

Taylor may not be behind some of this and its his staff. The buses were an issue long before Taylor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I asked the original question about what violation- COMAR or other use occurred. Appreciate the earlier rational response and agree with most of it.

There is a HUGE difference between a process that could have been a lot smoother, and a process that is legally insufficient. Haven’t seen a coherent argument that it is legally insufficient.

That’s for a judge to decide.

This is a silly response.

I haven’t even seen an allegation of any actual process violation. Sure judges decide the merits of lawsuits. But normally people who threaten to file lawsuits are able to articulate an actual basis.

And it not normal to assert that the basis is some super secret inappropriate for discussion on a forum that is literally about that issue.

The asserted basis of lawsuits gets dismissed all the time. Extremely odd that there isn’t one here.

Not odd at all. The people threatening to sue don't care about the process at all and certainly don't know if or how MCPS failed to adhere to it. This is a weak attempt to scare the BOE into rejecting Taylor's recommendation. Really at its heart, it is a temper tantrum.

I don't understand but surely there are some attorney's at that school who would do it probono or at a reduced cost if they agreed with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I asked the original question about what violation- COMAR or other use occurred. Appreciate the earlier rational response and agree with most of it.

There is a HUGE difference between a process that could have been a lot smoother, and a process that is legally insufficient. Haven’t seen a coherent argument that it is legally insufficient.

That’s for a judge to decide.

This is a silly response.

I haven’t even seen an allegation of any actual process violation. Sure judges decide the merits of lawsuits. But normally people who threaten to file lawsuits are able to articulate an actual basis.

And it not normal to assert that the basis is some super secret inappropriate for discussion on a forum that is literally about that issue.

The asserted basis of lawsuits gets dismissed all the time. Extremely odd that there isn’t one here.

They have to file first….

Huh? Why?

A court cannot decide a case and force MCPS to do anything if they don't file a case and bring it before a judge.

Oh I agree with that. But they certainly don’t have to file before saying on what basis they would file.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I asked the original question about what violation- COMAR or other use occurred. Appreciate the earlier rational response and agree with most of it.

There is a HUGE difference between a process that could have been a lot smoother, and a process that is legally insufficient. Haven’t seen a coherent argument that it is legally insufficient.

That’s for a judge to decide.

This is a silly response.

I haven’t even seen an allegation of any actual process violation. Sure judges decide the merits of lawsuits. But normally people who threaten to file lawsuits are able to articulate an actual basis.

And it not normal to assert that the basis is some super secret inappropriate for discussion on a forum that is literally about that issue.

The asserted basis of lawsuits gets dismissed all the time. Extremely odd that there isn’t one here.

They have to file first….

Huh? Why?

A court cannot decide a case and force MCPS to do anything if they don't file a case and bring it before a judge.

Oh I agree with that. But they certainly don’t have to file before saying on what basis they would file.

Why rant about it online for months? Just file if they feel they have a case and an attorney supports it? I suspect its only a small minority of famliies looking at that video and one person said they were a community member and not an actual family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Wootten community finds itself defending certain actions and attitudes that to much of the county appear indefensible. Sometimes we are unsure just how to frame our response in terms of reason. We are not arguing against the Gaithersburg community as persons, but for the preservation of the neighborhood school and the geographic integrity of our communities, which are the only sure safeguards of our academic and neighborhood heritage.

That last sentence negates your argument. You want a bubble around your community to preserve the heritage. Again displaying the underlying classist attitudes coming from Wootton pkwy.

And Silver Spring and Damascus and Olney and go ahead and name all the communities in Montgomery County that are exactly the same.

Public school policy and governance are not based on the feelings of one supreme leader. They are based on laws, policies and procedures. If you don't understand that then MCPS really failed you in your education.

The nature of public school means no boundaries are forever and nothing is guaranteed. You want certainties then go private.

Duh. That's why there are laws and policies in place for how to make these changes. You want a king? Go live at the White House.

Process has been followed. Sorry you don't like the outcome.

Not even close. Sorry you can’t read.

DP- I've read this whole thread and there are a lot of assertions of improper process and violations of COMAR, etc. But not one person has identified a single process step that is required that has not been met, or a COMAR language that has been violated.

COMAR is probably not the place to find an issue; it defers a lot to the local school board. They'd have to assert that there was a breach in MCPS not following its own policies.

That said, there's two different arguments at play: whether the process followed the legal requirements vs. whether the process was done in a way that felt like a good, transparent process.

Even as a Pro-H person, the process has felt immensely chaotic. We looked over the initial 4 options, which were wildly different, because they were emphasizing different parts of the Policy FAA criteria. After freaking out about some of the options (option 3 was sheer lunacy), options A-D were presented which looked mostly fine in October.

Then the superintendent threw a bomb into the whole process by suggesting Crown as a holding school. Then Option H was included among the other options of Crown being a holding school, making Wootton the holding school and moving Wootton to Crown in December.

So, we started this process in July and the entire premise was upended more than half way through. Never mind that concurrently, they're also pushing through the biggest changes to the criteria programs in generations at the same time and arguing that the regional programs and boundary study are interlinked.

The process has generally been bad at setting expectations and getting community buy-in. We still have a lot of unanswered questions about the criteria program, but the Wootton issue is sucking so much oxygen that it's getting left behind.

For the Wootton move, I don't think a delay would make a huge difference; there's been plenty of vocal feedback and I'm not sure what new information can be surfaced with holding more hearings. The situation is the situation, MCPS has the data that they have, and the decision needs to be made soon so that the school is ready to open on-time.

I think the end result given the situation as it stands makes the most sense. Enrollment is declining, Wootton's current building is in bad shape, Wootton is close to the Crown building and its school boundaries are adjacent to the new building. It sucks that it's come to this point, because they neglected the Wootton building enough that it's in such poor shape and they stuck to poor projections that showed a new high school was needed. It's not great, but MCPS needs to think county and system wide.

there you go being reasonable and sensible. DCUM is not the place for reason! teach reasoning to your kids, not adults arguing on an anonymous platform

But my property values! Didn’t MCPS consider the cost of my kitchen renovations and how I have no ROI now. That lack of consideration much have violated COMAR somehow

I am the tiny townhome PP. i thought i was paying for a W but now it will be crown. have some mercy please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Wootten community finds itself defending certain actions and attitudes that to much of the county appear indefensible. Sometimes we are unsure just how to frame our response in terms of reason. We are not arguing against the Gaithersburg community as persons, but for the preservation of the neighborhood school and the geographic integrity of our communities, which are the only sure safeguards of our academic and neighborhood heritage.

That last sentence negates your argument. You want a bubble around your community to preserve the heritage. Again displaying the underlying classist attitudes coming from Wootton pkwy.

And Silver Spring and Damascus and Olney and go ahead and name all the communities in Montgomery County that are exactly the same.

Public school policy and governance are not based on the feelings of one supreme leader. They are based on laws, policies and procedures. If you don't understand that then MCPS really failed you in your education.

The nature of public school means no boundaries are forever and nothing is guaranteed. You want certainties then go private.

Duh. That's why there are laws and policies in place for how to make these changes. You want a king? Go live at the White House.

Process has been followed. Sorry you don't like the outcome.

Not even close. Sorry you can’t read.

DP- I've read this whole thread and there are a lot of assertions of improper process and violations of COMAR, etc. But not one person has identified a single process step that is required that has not been met, or a COMAR language that has been violated.

COMAR is probably not the place to find an issue; it defers a lot to the local school board. They'd have to assert that there was a breach in MCPS not following its own policies.

That said, there's two different arguments at play: whether the process followed the legal requirements vs. whether the process was done in a way that felt like a good, transparent process.

Even as a Pro-H person, the process has felt immensely chaotic. We looked over the initial 4 options, which were wildly different, because they were emphasizing different parts of the Policy FAA criteria. After freaking out about some of the options (option 3 was sheer lunacy), options A-D were presented which looked mostly fine in October.

Then the superintendent threw a bomb into the whole process by suggesting Crown as a holding school. Then Option H was included among the other options of Crown being a holding school, making Wootton the holding school and moving Wootton to Crown in December.

So, we started this process in July and the entire premise was upended more than half way through. Never mind that concurrently, they're also pushing through the biggest changes to the criteria programs in generations at the same time and arguing that the regional programs and boundary study are interlinked.

The process has generally been bad at setting expectations and getting community buy-in. We still have a lot of unanswered questions about the criteria program, but the Wootton issue is sucking so much oxygen that it's getting left behind.

For the Wootton move, I don't think a delay would make a huge difference; there's been plenty of vocal feedback and I'm not sure what new information can be surfaced with holding more hearings. The situation is the situation, MCPS has the data that they have, and the decision needs to be made soon so that the school is ready to open on-time.

I think the end result given the situation as it stands makes the most sense. Enrollment is declining, Wootton's current building is in bad shape, Wootton is close to the Crown building and its school boundaries are adjacent to the new building. It sucks that it's come to this point, because they neglected the Wootton building enough that it's in such poor shape and they stuck to poor projections that showed a new high school was needed. It's not great, but MCPS needs to think county and system wide.

there you go being reasonable and sensible. DCUM is not the place for reason! teach reasoning to your kids, not adults arguing on an anonymous platform

But my property values! Didn’t MCPS consider the cost of my kitchen renovations and how I have no ROI now. That lack of consideration much have violated COMAR somehow

I am the tiny townhome PP. i thought i was paying for a W but now it will be crown. have some mercy please.

Crown will also be a wealthy school and those crown homes are worth far more than yours. Why overpay for a crummy townhome? What is small? 4000 square feet? Just move and you can still have your kids at a W school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Wootten community finds itself defending certain actions and attitudes that to much of the county appear indefensible. Sometimes we are unsure just how to frame our response in terms of reason. We are not arguing against the Gaithersburg community as persons, but for the preservation of the neighborhood school and the geographic integrity of our communities, which are the only sure safeguards of our academic and neighborhood heritage.

That last sentence negates your argument. You want a bubble around your community to preserve the heritage. Again displaying the underlying classist attitudes coming from Wootton pkwy.

And Silver Spring and Damascus and Olney and go ahead and name all the communities in Montgomery County that are exactly the same.

Public school policy and governance are not based on the feelings of one supreme leader. They are based on laws, policies and procedures. If you don't understand that then MCPS really failed you in your education.

The nature of public school means no boundaries are forever and nothing is guaranteed. You want certainties then go private.

Duh. That's why there are laws and policies in place for how to make these changes. You want a king? Go live at the White House.

Process has been followed. Sorry you don't like the outcome.

Not even close. Sorry you can’t read.

DP- I've read this whole thread and there are a lot of assertions of improper process and violations of COMAR, etc. But not one person has identified a single process step that is required that has not been met, or a COMAR language that has been violated.

COMAR is probably not the place to find an issue; it defers a lot to the local school board. They'd have to assert that there was a breach in MCPS not following its own policies.

That said, there's two different arguments at play: whether the process followed the legal requirements vs. whether the process was done in a way that felt like a good, transparent process.

Even as a Pro-H person, the process has felt immensely chaotic. We looked over the initial 4 options, which were wildly different, because they were emphasizing different parts of the Policy FAA criteria. After freaking out about some of the options (option 3 was sheer lunacy), options A-D were presented which looked mostly fine in October.

Then the superintendent threw a bomb into the whole process by suggesting Crown as a holding school. Then Option H was included among the other options of Crown being a holding school, making Wootton the holding school and moving Wootton to Crown in December.

So, we started this process in July and the entire premise was upended more than half way through. Never mind that concurrently, they're also pushing through the biggest changes to the criteria programs in generations at the same time and arguing that the regional programs and boundary study are interlinked.

The process has generally been bad at setting expectations and getting community buy-in. We still have a lot of unanswered questions about the criteria program, but the Wootton issue is sucking so much oxygen that it's getting left behind.

For the Wootton move, I don't think a delay would make a huge difference; there's been plenty of vocal feedback and I'm not sure what new information can be surfaced with holding more hearings. The situation is the situation, MCPS has the data that they have, and the decision needs to be made soon so that the school is ready to open on-time.

I think the end result given the situation as it stands makes the most sense. Enrollment is declining, Wootton's current building is in bad shape, Wootton is close to the Crown building and its school boundaries are adjacent to the new building. It sucks that it's come to this point, because they neglected the Wootton building enough that it's in such poor shape and they stuck to poor projections that showed a new high school was needed. It's not great, but MCPS needs to think county and system wide.

there you go being reasonable and sensible. DCUM is not the place for reason! teach reasoning to your kids, not adults arguing on an anonymous platform

But my property values! Didn’t MCPS consider the cost of my kitchen renovations and how I have no ROI now. That lack of consideration much have violated COMAR somehow

I am the tiny townhome PP. i thought i was paying for a W but now it will be crown. have some mercy please.

Crown will also be a wealthy school and those crown homes are worth far more than yours. Why overpay for a crummy townhome? What is small? 4000 square feet? Just move and you can still have your kids at a W school.

The single family homes in Crown sell for over $1.6million and some of the town houses sell for close to that. Crown is generally an affluent neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Wootten community finds itself defending certain actions and attitudes that to much of the county appear indefensible. Sometimes we are unsure just how to frame our response in terms of reason. We are not arguing against the Gaithersburg community as persons, but for the preservation of the neighborhood school and the geographic integrity of our communities, which are the only sure safeguards of our academic and neighborhood heritage.

That last sentence negates your argument. You want a bubble around your community to preserve the heritage. Again displaying the underlying classist attitudes coming from Wootton pkwy.

And Silver Spring and Damascus and Olney and go ahead and name all the communities in Montgomery County that are exactly the same.

Public school policy and governance are not based on the feelings of one supreme leader. They are based on laws, policies and procedures. If you don't understand that then MCPS really failed you in your education.

The nature of public school means no boundaries are forever and nothing is guaranteed. You want certainties then go private.

Duh. That's why there are laws and policies in place for how to make these changes. You want a king? Go live at the White House.

Process has been followed. Sorry you don't like the outcome.

Not even close. Sorry you can’t read.

DP- I've read this whole thread and there are a lot of assertions of improper process and violations of COMAR, etc. But not one person has identified a single process step that is required that has not been met, or a COMAR language that has been violated.

COMAR is probably not the place to find an issue; it defers a lot to the local school board. They'd have to assert that there was a breach in MCPS not following its own policies.

That said, there's two different arguments at play: whether the process followed the legal requirements vs. whether the process was done in a way that felt like a good, transparent process.

Even as a Pro-H person, the process has felt immensely chaotic. We looked over the initial 4 options, which were wildly different, because they were emphasizing different parts of the Policy FAA criteria. After freaking out about some of the options (option 3 was sheer lunacy), options A-D were presented which looked mostly fine in October.

Then the superintendent threw a bomb into the whole process by suggesting Crown as a holding school. Then Option H was included among the other options of Crown being a holding school, making Wootton the holding school and moving Wootton to Crown in December.

So, we started this process in July and the entire premise was upended more than half way through. Never mind that concurrently, they're also pushing through the biggest changes to the criteria programs in generations at the same time and arguing that the regional programs and boundary study are interlinked.

The process has generally been bad at setting expectations and getting community buy-in. We still have a lot of unanswered questions about the criteria program, but the Wootton issue is sucking so much oxygen that it's getting left behind.

For the Wootton move, I don't think a delay would make a huge difference; there's been plenty of vocal feedback and I'm not sure what new information can be surfaced with holding more hearings. The situation is the situation, MCPS has the data that they have, and the decision needs to be made soon so that the school is ready to open on-time.

I think the end result given the situation as it stands makes the most sense. Enrollment is declining, Wootton's current building is in bad shape, Wootton is close to the Crown building and its school boundaries are adjacent to the new building. It sucks that it's come to this point, because they neglected the Wootton building enough that it's in such poor shape and they stuck to poor projections that showed a new high school was needed. It's not great, but MCPS needs to think county and system wide.

there you go being reasonable and sensible. DCUM is not the place for reason! teach reasoning to your kids, not adults arguing on an anonymous platform

But my property values! Didn’t MCPS consider the cost of my kitchen renovations and how I have no ROI now. That lack of consideration much have violated COMAR somehow

I am the tiny townhome PP. i thought i was paying for a W but now it will be crown. have some mercy please.

Crown will also be a wealthy school and those crown homes are worth far more than yours. Why overpay for a crummy townhome? What is small? 4000 square feet? Just move and you can still have your kids at a W school.

The single family homes in Crown sell for over $1.6million and some of the town houses sell for close to that. Crown is generally an affluent neighborhood.

+1. Crown *will* be a W school (though DCUM will need to come up with a name to replace "W"). It will be current Wootton plus some additional more expensive homes plus some additional less expensive homes. Yes, the FARMs rate will go up a bit, but not that much. And that doesn't actually matter for what you're looking for. Technically, the school's average SAT score may go down (irrelevant), but the whole current Wootton population will be there, so it will have just as many APs, just as many serious students. The reality of any school is that for most classes (and pretty much all after sophomore year) the strong students are generally separated academically from the weaker students by virtue of class choice.

I feel for current-walkers who will now be bus riders. But otherwise, this is a really positive outcome for the community as a whole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Wootten community finds itself defending certain actions and attitudes that to much of the county appear indefensible. Sometimes we are unsure just how to frame our response in terms of reason. We are not arguing against the Gaithersburg community as persons, but for the preservation of the neighborhood school and the geographic integrity of our communities, which are the only sure safeguards of our academic and neighborhood heritage.

That last sentence negates your argument. You want a bubble around your community to preserve the heritage. Again displaying the underlying classist attitudes coming from Wootton pkwy.

And Silver Spring and Damascus and Olney and go ahead and name all the communities in Montgomery County that are exactly the same.

Public school policy and governance are not based on the feelings of one supreme leader. They are based on laws, policies and procedures. If you don't understand that then MCPS really failed you in your education.

The nature of public school means no boundaries are forever and nothing is guaranteed. You want certainties then go private.

Duh. That's why there are laws and policies in place for how to make these changes. You want a king? Go live at the White House.

Process has been followed. Sorry you don't like the outcome.

Not even close. Sorry you can’t read.

DP- I've read this whole thread and there are a lot of assertions of improper process and violations of COMAR, etc. But not one person has identified a single process step that is required that has not been met, or a COMAR language that has been violated.

COMAR is probably not the place to find an issue; it defers a lot to the local school board. They'd have to assert that there was a breach in MCPS not following its own policies.

That said, there's two different arguments at play: whether the process followed the legal requirements vs. whether the process was done in a way that felt like a good, transparent process.

Even as a Pro-H person, the process has felt immensely chaotic. We looked over the initial 4 options, which were wildly different, because they were emphasizing different parts of the Policy FAA criteria. After freaking out about some of the options (option 3 was sheer lunacy), options A-D were presented which looked mostly fine in October.

Then the superintendent threw a bomb into the whole process by suggesting Crown as a holding school. Then Option H was included among the other options of Crown being a holding school, making Wootton the holding school and moving Wootton to Crown in December.

So, we started this process in July and the entire premise was upended more than half way through. Never mind that concurrently, they're also pushing through the biggest changes to the criteria programs in generations at the same time and arguing that the regional programs and boundary study are interlinked.

The process has generally been bad at setting expectations and getting community buy-in. We still have a lot of unanswered questions about the criteria program, but the Wootton issue is sucking so much oxygen that it's getting left behind.

For the Wootton move, I don't think a delay would make a huge difference; there's been plenty of vocal feedback and I'm not sure what new information can be surfaced with holding more hearings. The situation is the situation, MCPS has the data that they have, and the decision needs to be made soon so that the school is ready to open on-time.

I think the end result given the situation as it stands makes the most sense. Enrollment is declining, Wootton's current building is in bad shape, Wootton is close to the Crown building and its school boundaries are adjacent to the new building. It sucks that it's come to this point, because they neglected the Wootton building enough that it's in such poor shape and they stuck to poor projections that showed a new high school was needed. It's not great, but MCPS needs to think county and system wide.

They why aren't they thinking system wide? They are letting lots of schools rot with mold and defective HVAC systems.
If Taylor was thinking he would actually be studying each option instead of making decisions via post-it notes.

According to Wooton parents it now isn't that bad and can be fixed over a summer or two (which is basically six weeks). If the mold is that bad, they need to gut the building at a minimum, best to fully replace it.

There is money to do this. Taylor can’t buy his EV buses.

Taylor may not be behind some of this and it’s his staff. The buses were an issue long before Taylor.

TT immediately hired Essie McGuire. In 2021 McGuire swore to the BOE that the EV buses were budget neutral and a fab deal.

TT is now in court defending McGuire’s decision. Ongoing litigation for years by TT to try and get court to say McGuire was right.

Why is TT spending so much money to protect McGuire?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked it up on google maps. 12 min drive from Wootton to Crown.

It doesn't matter. What matters is that the communities around the current site of Wootton HS bought their homes under the assumption their kids (or other people's kids who bought their home) could walk to school, and they feel entitled to have that continue to be the case in perpetuity, taxpayers be damned

Incorrect. They bought homes based on the expectation of stability. If MCPS handled the Wootton situation like it did Blair, there would be less complaining. That was handled through YEARS of community input. Taylor doesn’t want to wait that long because he wants to declare victory for both his bosses (BOE) and Crown developers. Someone convinced him that using Crown as a holding school wasn’t a good idea - I want to know who - since he formally proposed doing so with all of the relevant information in hand. If using Crown as a holding school is such a financially irresponsible idea now, why did he propose it in the first place?

Taylor is doing too much all at once. This has been a rushed and chaotic process and he added to it the regional model which has caused a lot of confusion. But he also inherited a complete mess. The process is what it is, but at the end of the day moving Wootton to Crown is the only affordable option.

And maybe that will prove to be the case after a year or two of true community engagement and public scrutiny of the plans/data. But MCPS needs to do things right.

Omg no thank you. The data is there you just don't like it. Taxpayers do not want to fund your temper tantrum.

It’s not and there are significant holes in it. I’m sure MoCo taxpayers would like MCPS to deal fairly with affected communities. And if you’re so worried about taxes, I’m sure you would welcome the scrutiny by an independent party (judge and/or IG) to prove you’re right.

What are you afraid of?

Personally, I'm afraid of this dragging on any longer and furthering the divide in communities. If Anti-H could show in good faith they wanted to work with people and not just call everyone crooks, they might have had more of a shot in their "delay the vote" tactic. They tanked themselves and could use some lessons in interpersonal effectiveness.

This. The bull in the china shop approach didn't work. You should have taken notes from Dufief and killed them with kindness. You not only lost the battle but also the war with your bad attitude and sense of self-importance. You won't win any lawsuits and you look stupid, racist and classist. I hope your kids don't carry these nasty a$$ attitudes to Crown and get their a$$es kicked. Congratulations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked it up on google maps. 12 min drive from Wootton to Crown.

It doesn't matter. What matters is that the communities around the current site of Wootton HS bought their homes under the assumption their kids (or other people's kids who bought their home) could walk to school, and they feel entitled to have that continue to be the case in perpetuity, taxpayers be damned

Incorrect. They bought homes based on the expectation of stability. If MCPS handled the Wootton situation like it did Blair, there would be less complaining. That was handled through YEARS of community input. Taylor doesn’t want to wait that long because he wants to declare victory for both his bosses (BOE) and Crown developers. Someone convinced him that using Crown as a holding school wasn’t a good idea - I want to know who - since he formally proposed doing so with all of the relevant information in hand. If using Crown as a holding school is such a financially irresponsible idea now, why did he propose it in the first place?

Taylor is doing too much all at once. This has been a rushed and chaotic process and he added to it the regional model which has caused a lot of confusion. But he also inherited a complete mess. The process is what it is, but at the end of the day moving Wootton to Crown is the only affordable option.

And maybe that will prove to be the case after a year or two of true community engagement and public scrutiny of the plans/data. But MCPS needs to do things right.

Omg no thank you. The data is there you just don't like it. Taxpayers do not want to fund your temper tantrum.

It’s not and there are significant holes in it. I’m sure MoCo taxpayers would like MCPS to deal fairly with affected communities. And if you’re so worried about taxes, I’m sure you would welcome the scrutiny by an independent party (judge and/or IG) to prove you’re right.

What are you afraid of?

Personally, I'm afraid of this dragging on any longer and furthering the divide in communities. If Anti-H could show in good faith they wanted to work with people and not just call everyone crooks, they might have had more of a shot in their "delay the vote" tactic. They tanked themselves and could use some lessons in interpersonal effectiveness.

This. The bull in the china shop approach didn't work. You should have taken notes from Dufief and killed them with kindness. You not only lost the battle but also the war with your bad attitude and sense of self-importance. You won't win any lawsuits and you look stupid, racist and classist. I hope your kids don't carry these nasty a$$ attitudes to Crown and get their a$$es kicked. Congratulations.

+1 I am embarrassed for my friends that have associated themselves with this movement.