Reply to MCPS suggests postponing Crown High School opening for use as holding school

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The Crown people were absolutely disgusting in the meeting tonight. “We paid taxes so you can’t take this school from us”. Basically they came across as screw the kids who are in Wootton and Magruder, we don’t care if they go to school in unsafe unsanitary dangerous to human health schools, we don’t care if it costs the county $400M more to redo Damascus, Wootton and Magruder, because heaven forbid our students who are actually in a safe school (Gaithersburg HS) or a not great but not terribly disgusting school (QO) can’t be inconvenienced. Cry me a river. I lost any sympathy I had for them tonight.

The solution is use Crown as a holding school to do Damascus, and then either:

A) redo boundaries to move all of Wootton to Crown along with the areas around Crown and shut Wootton. Simultaneously renovate Magruder on site.
Or 
B) also use Crown as holding school for Magruder and then redo boundaries to move all of Wootton to Crown coupled with local Crown areas and shut down Wootton.

At some point they can rebuild Wootton if the demand exists.[/quote]

I actually empathize with both Wootton and Crown families. Wootton's building is objectively in really bad shape. There is no denying that.

I also understand Crown families and the City of Gaithersburg's perspective, especially since MCPS was GIFTED the land for the express purpose of building a new high school. There were promises made legally here that MCPS can't just backtrack on because they suck at planning and running the school district.[/quote]

Yes I understand both sides but I was appalled by the sentiment that is getting “our school” was so much more important than families at the three ancient unsafe schools getting a suitable and safe place to learn. It’s not like the kids who would go to Crown are in unsafe shitholes currently. Gaithersburg is like under 10 years old [b]I believe and QO while fairly old and overcrowded isn’t unsafe to the same extent as those three[/b].[/quote]

Just this school year, Quince Orchard had to close due to pipe issues: https://bethesdamagazine.com/2025/10/24/quince-orchard-evacuated/

Gaithersburg's high school buildings (Gaithersburg, Watkins Mill and Quince Orchard) are not in great shape. Gaithersburg HS is the best since it's the newest, but QO is pretty bad.

For example, while Wootton has a worse Facility Condition Index score (.62), Watkins Mill is not far behind with a (.48). So the Crown and Gaithersburg community is right: They have been patiently waiting for Crown to alleviate a number of their infrastructure issues. They're not wrong to advocate for themselves.[/quote]

What QO feeders are moving to Crown in the boundary study other than the islands right by Crown? Isn't it all Gaithersburg and Watkins Mill? [/quote]

I'm not sure, because I'm not a QO parent so I haven't studied the Crown HS Boundary Study as much as I've looked at the Woodward one.

But I'm grouping QO, Watkins Mill and Gaithersburg together, because like Crown, they all sit within the City of Gaithersburg, and the City has made it clear they gave the land for the new school to accommodate and to alleviate declining high school infrastructure within the city and that they intend to fight MCPS to stick to their original agreement. The only compromise I've seen is that they're willing for Crown to be a hybrid, with half of it being a holding school and the other half being a local school.[/quote]

Where do you see it was meant to alleviate declining infrastructure? I've heard alleviate overcrowding maybe. But I've lived in the area for decades and I'm pretty sure back when the land was given, no requirements as to purpose were given other than use this land as a school. I'd love to see a link to the actual agreement. [/quote]

I suggest you read/watch Nora Walsh's BOE testimony on the legalities at play here: https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=DJMGHC43C32B

She cites from the original agreement well.[/quote]

Just because she chooses to interpret it in that way does not make it true. Even if used as a holding school for a period of time, it could still be considered a permanent, public high school. It's not being used for other purposes, it's not being developed into a shopping center. Lots of things were said by Crown last night, many subject to legal interpretation. I look forward to seeing what actually happens in the nexy couple of weeks. [/quote]

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