Thurs Feb 5: Board Work Session

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this might be a stunt. I predict they're gonna have Taylor be the bad guy and recommend Option H, but then will have the BOE reject his recommendation so that people think the board is actually responsive to public engagement and feedback and not just a doormat for Taylor.

wishful thinking.

spending hundreds of millions to build a new high school and turning it into a "holding" school would not go over well.

Correct. That’s why Dr. Taylor already decided last fall to go with Option H. EF&G would have made Crown a holding school, a thought he couldn’t stomach after spending the money to build Crown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anything controversial in the Woodward recommendations? I personally like it for our neighborhood, but curious if there's any hot-button changes included.

Takoma Park MS loading up on FARMS and EML. Probably not that controversial at the end of the day, but I expect some whining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. So much for Frost and Wootton as we know it.

Cold Spring to Hoover and Churchill (that actually makes sense geographically, at least).

Fallsmead and Lakewood getting effed.

Stone Mill and Travillah also being screwed with middle school.

I will actually be shocked if the Board agrees to this as is. But what do I know?

Will the new Wootton (at Crown) be in Region 4 or Region 5?

[Anonymous]

For Woodward, Taylor is moving forward with a modified Option B.

The most eyebrow raising thing to me at first glance is that this option will leave Walter Johnson with one of the lowest utilization rates: 77.7%

So one of the wealthiest parts of the county just got a high school that's now one of the less crowded, which will likely help with class sizes. Way to reward the wealthy and affluent, Taylor!

Woodward, the new high school that has been built to offload WJ's over capacity will have a significantly more stretched projected utilization rate of 91.2%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. So much for Frost and Wootton as we know it.

Cold Spring to Hoover and Churchill (that actually makes sense geographically, at least).

Fallsmead and Lakewood getting effed.

Stone Mill and Travillah also being screwed with middle school.

I will actually be shocked if the Board agrees to this as is. But what do I know?

Will the new Wootton (at Crown) be in Region 4 or Region 5?

Region 4 if Wootton is moved to Crown.

Crown would be in Region 5 if kept as a regular high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this might be a stunt. I predict they're gonna have Taylor be the bad guy and recommend Option H, but then will have the BOE reject his recommendation so that people think the board is actually responsive to public engagement and feedback and not just a doormat for Taylor.

wishful thinking.

spending hundreds of millions to build a new high school and turning it into a "holding" school would not go over well.

Correct. That’s why Dr. Taylor already decided last fall to go with Option H. EF&G would have made Crown a holding school, a thought he couldn’t stomach after spending the money to build Crown.

Actually, it wasn't Taylor's idea. An MCCPTA volunteer suggested the move this winter. Taylor really doesn't have good ideas, generally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this might be a stunt. I predict they're gonna have Taylor be the bad guy and recommend Option H, but then will have the BOE reject his recommendation so that people think the board is actually responsive to public engagement and feedback and not just a doormat for Taylor.

wishful thinking.

spending hundreds of millions to build a new high school and turning it into a "holding" school would not go over well.

This decision isn't going to go over well either. He just pissed off both the cities of Rockville, who wanted Wootton to stay, and Gaithersburg, who wanted a brand-new local school. This decision doesn't seem to please....anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did Dr Taylor play the victim at the outset of his presentation?

Sadly, Dr Taylor suffers from a horrible condition called Main Character Syndrome

Poor Dr. Taylor, living in his multimillion house in Chevy Chase and making over $300,000 per year. If the kitchen is too hot for him, I invite him to leave.

He can’t hear you. He got in his elevator and went up to his bedroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did Dr Taylor play the victim at the outset of his presentation?

Sadly, Dr Taylor suffers from a horrible condition called Main Character Syndrome

Poor Dr. Taylor, living in his multimillion house in Chevy Chase and making over $300,000 per year. If the kitchen is too hot for him, I invite him to leave.

He is a politician and should have a thicker skin. Did he honestly think people wouldn’t be upset at the way he has handled things?

He seems to enjoy the prestige of the job, but wants none of the responsibility or accountability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For Woodward, Taylor is moving forward with a modified Option B.

The most eyebrow raising thing to me at first glance is that this option will leave Walter Johnson with one of the lowest utilization rates: 77.7%

So one of the wealthiest parts of the county just got a high school that's now one of the less crowded, which will likely help with class sizes. Way to reward the wealthy and affluent, Taylor!

Woodward, the new high school that has been built to offload WJ's over capacity will have a significantly more stretched projected utilization rate of 91.2%.

WJ is the big winner here.

WJ = Whitman 2.0

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. So much for Frost and Wootton as we know it.

Cold Spring to Hoover and Churchill (that actually makes sense geographically, at least).

Fallsmead and Lakewood getting effed.

Stone Mill and Travillah also being screwed with middle school.

I will actually be shocked if the Board agrees to this as is. But what do I know?

Will the new Wootton (at Crown) be in Region 4 or Region 5?

Region 4 if Wootton is moved to Crown.

Crown would be in Region 5 if kept as a regular high school.

It's good to keep Wootton and Churchill in the same region - that is the new Blair magnet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anything controversial in the Woodward recommendations? I personally like it for our neighborhood, but curious if there's any hot-button changes included.

I think split articulating Garrett Park and Kensington-Parkwood is going to generate a lot of opposition. There is also a ton of split articulation for Wheaton and Kennedy feeder schools. What I find weird is they do all this split articulation, and Woodward's FARMS rate ends up more than double that of Walter Johnson. That's insane to me for high schools that are so close to each other. Viers Mill ES should be zoned to WJ, not Woodward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this might be a stunt. I predict they're gonna have Taylor be the bad guy and recommend Option H, but then will have the BOE reject his recommendation so that people think the board is actually responsive to public engagement and feedback and not just a doormat for Taylor.

wishful thinking.

spending hundreds of millions to build a new high school and turning it into a "holding" school would not go over well.

Correct. That’s why Dr. Taylor already decided last fall to go with Option H. EF&G would have made Crown a holding school, a thought he couldn’t stomach after spending the money to build Crown.

Actually, it wasn't Taylor's idea. An MCCPTA volunteer suggested the move this winter. Taylor really doesn't have good ideas, generally.

BS
PTA reps have been plants for years. MCPS feeds them the talking points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anything controversial in the Woodward recommendations? I personally like it for our neighborhood, but curious if there's any hot-button changes included.

Here is the link to the Woodward recommendations, by the way: https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DQZPBK63D44E/$file/Supt%20Rec%20Woodward%20Northwood%20260205.pdf

Here is the basic summary of changes:

Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Cluster
● Students assigned to Woodlin Elementary School who reside west of the MARC Brunswick train line will be reassigned to Silver Creek Middle School and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School

Montgomery Blair High School Cluster
● Students assigned to Rolling Terrace Elementary School will be reassigned to Takoma Park Middle School
● Students assigned to Montgomery Knolls Elementary School/Pine Crest Elementary School who attend Silver Spring International Middle School and Northwood High School will be reassigned to Eastern Middle School and Montgomery Blair High School

Albert Einstein High School Cluster
● Students assigned to Woodlin Elementary School who reside east of the MARC Brunswick line will be reassigned to Silver Spring International Middle School School
● Students assigned to Arcola Elementary School island assignment #5 north of Highland Elementary School will be reassigned to Newport Mill Middle School and Albert Einstein High School

Walter Johnson High School Cluster
● See Charles W. Woodward High School cluster for reassignments of portions of Garrett Park Elementary School and Kensington-Parkwood Elementary School

John F. Kennedy High School Cluster
● Students assigned to Kemp Mill Elementary School will be reassigned to John F. Kennedy High School
● Students assigned to both Brookhaven Elementary School island assignments #2 will be reassigned to Argyle Middle School and John F. Kennedy High School
● Students assigned to Harmony Hills Elementary School island assignment #1 will be reassigned to Argyle Middle School

Northwood High School Cluster
● Students assigned to Arcola Elementary School will be reassigned to Sligo Middle School and continue to articulate to Northwood High School (please note, students assigned to Arcola Elementary School island assignment #5 north of Highland
Elementary School will be reassigned to Newport Mill Middle School and Albert Einstein High School)
● Students assigned to Flora M. Singer Elementary School will be reassigned to Northwood High School
● Students assigned to Forest Knolls Elementary School will be reassigned to Sligo Middle School
● Students assigned to Sligo Creek Elementary School who attend Montgomery Blair High School will be reassigned to Northwood High School

Wheaton High School Cluster
● Students assigned to Sargent Shriver Elementary School will be reassigned to Parkland Middle School and Wheaton High School north of Weller Road and west of Barbara Road, including residences along Barbara Road
● Students assigned to Georgian Forest Elementary School will be reassigned to Odessa Shannon Middle School and Wheaton High School (please note, students assigned to Georgian Forest Elementary School island assignment #3 will continue to articulate to
Argyle Middle School and John F. Kennedy High School)
● Students assigned to Harmony Hills Elementary School will be reassigned to Wheaton High School (please note, students assigned to Harmony Hills Elementary School island assignment #1 will be reassigned to Argyle Middle School and continue to articulate to
John F. Kennedy High School)

Walt Whitman High School Cluster
● There are no changes in middle or high school assignments for Carderock Springs Elementary School, Bannockburn Elementary School, Burning Tree Elementary School, Wood Acres Elementary School, Bradley Hills Elementary School, and Thomas W. Pyle
Middle School

Charles W. Woodward High School Cluster
● Students assigned to Kensington-Parkwood Elementary School island assignment #6 north of Tuckerman Lane will be reassigned to Tilden Middle School and Charles W. Woodward High School
● Students assigned to Garrett Park Elementary School island assignments #4 and those west of Rockville Pike will be reassigned to Charles W. Woodward High School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For Woodward, Taylor is moving forward with a modified Option B.

The most eyebrow raising thing to me at first glance is that this option will leave Walter Johnson with one of the lowest utilization rates: 77.7%

So one of the wealthiest parts of the county just got a high school that's now one of the less crowded, which will likely help with class sizes. Way to reward the wealthy and affluent, Taylor!

Woodward, the new high school that has been built to offload WJ's over capacity will have a significantly more stretched projected utilization rate of 91.2%.

Correct. And it will exceed capacity soon with all of the new construction.