Reply to Taylor's Feb Rec for Crown Boundary Study

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Reply to "Taylor's Feb Rec for Crown Boundary Study"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]i really dont understand the "save wootton" people. the "school" will still exist with the teachers and the programs. why do you cling to a crumbling building?[/quote]

Because it isn't about the school or the education.  It is about the property values.

That and the relatively normal human instinct to reflexively reject change of any kind.  Which, while understandable, is not persuasive.[/quote]

Their property values will not change over school boundaries.  It may change because of what is going on in the country right now.[/quote]

Not only will the property values change, but a huge draw for the county will be gone. High income earners that are looking to put down roots are looking at the ratio of home price to academic cluster success. [b]Wootton clears that hurdle for many, and the resulting Crown will not.[/b] Taylor has no skin in the game and will not feel the effects, but the County will.[/quote]

1. There is no (research-backed) reason to believe that Wootton at Crown will be meaningfully less "successful" than the current location.
2. The county will not lose high income earners because of this move.  There are plenty of other locations within the county with the same "ratio" that you describe.[/quote]

Of course there isn’t any Crown specific research. It’s not open yet. But [b]it’s common sense that there will be a dip [/b](potentially significant, depending on the past performance of the non-Wootton kids who get to go to Crown). Wootton at Crown may recover in 5-10 years, but the damage will be done.

Yes, the county will lose high income earners, likely to Virginia, as there will be one less “W” school. [/quote]

There is research, cited multiple times on this thread, that contradicts your "common sense."[/quote]

Feel free to share the research. I’d like to read it. [/quote]

There is a LOT of great research on this, but here’s one of my favorite summaries. It breaks down the positive benefits both for kids from lower-income backgrounds and those from the higher-resourced communities:

https://tcf.org/content/report/how-racially-diverse-schools-and-classrooms-can-benefit-all-students/[/quote]

So DEI, got it. Did you ever stop to consider that Wootton is quite diverse already?  And that there are low income students attending Wootton already?[/quote]

Yes! That’s part of why we’re saying that it’s not common sense that “there will be a dip (potentially significant, depending on the past performance of the non-Wootton kids who get to go to Crown).” The rigorous research contradicts that and, as you’ve cleverly highlighted, the less rigorous but still valid case study of the 14% of kids receiving FARMs contradicts that as well. [/quote]

Thanks for admitting this closure is based on DEI. Also, the academic research is clear that low performing kids, particularly disruptive ones, will cause a decline in the learning environment and overall school performance.[/quote]

You’re welcome? MCPS’s mandate is to provide equitable opportunities for all kids that they serve - not to protect and segregate the Wootton kids who already come in with so much more than so many of their peers. If you’re coming to the table with an unshakable belief that DEI is an evil rather than a mechanism to improve outcomes for all kids, then you are starting in a place where there isn’t any credible research that is going to help you. But the research I shared shows that it might just help make sure your kid isn’t back on this board 20 years from now carrying on your legacy of yelling about DEI. [/quote]

MCPS is in no way equitable or other schools would have the same courses, clubs, and activities Wootton has.  They are being moved to a new school due to parent concerns over the condition of the building.  Parents had a fit, MCPS listened.[/quote]

Incorrect. Taylor is closing Wootton to fill a school building that should have never been built. MCPS built Crown using wildly inaccurate pre-Covid enrollment projections to avoid losing land that had been set aside in 2006 on the condition MCPS build a school there within 20 years.  Wootton was taken off the CIP 3 separate times over the years. If MCPS really cared about what Wootton parents thought, it wouldn’t have done so. [/quote]

Both things can be true.  Accepting that Wootton should not have been built and that Wootton should have been on the CIP and improved years ago, we are where we are.  And that is with overall under-enrollment, a brand new building, and an old building in dire need of repair/replacement.  And therefore the choice that meets the needs of most students in the most fiscally sound manner is to move Wootton to Crown.[/quote]

Many schools need to be repaired or replaced and aren't getting it.  Wootton is being offered a great solution that most of us would gladly accept.  Is the school not as bad as those advocating are saying?[/quote]

Wootton didn’t ask for nor does it want Crown, so it’s not a gift nor a great solution. Use Crown as a holding school until Gaithersburg grows again. [/quote]
Given the demographic cliff, just when exactly do you think Gaithersburg will "grow again"?   Keeping both Wootton and Crown is a waste of taxpayer money, now and in the future.

MCPS is already looking at closing ES due to declining enrollment. In 10 years, we will see further declining enrollment at the HS level.  MCPS will probably have to close one of the HS.   Logically, it makes sense to close a school that needs a ton of renovation and won't be renovated anytime in the near future.

I get it.  It sucks for the Parkway families, but logically and fiscally, H makes the most sense.[/quote]

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