Reply to Crown boundary study Option H

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]H is a great option. Wootton get's a brand new school and the Crown community still gets their high school except now it's called Wootton. Also, there is no need to get on 270 to get to Crown but even if they do get on 270, it's going the opposite direction of traffic both too and from the school. I also agree this is a great way to get some diversity into Wootton.[/quote]

I don't know if you've ever driven by Wootton during bell times.

But for my commute I pass by a different high school on a two lane road (one lane for each way and similar to Wootton Parkway) and traffic is a gridlock during bell times where it takes about twenty minutes for a one mile stretch to get by the school.  I've tried leaving earlier but traffic already starts up to half an hour to forty minutes earlier.  And I've determined the best solution is just to leave later, so I'll be going by the school after the bell time, which cuts down my commute time and only makes it a ten minute difference on when I get to work.  But that's not an option for students who need to get to school on time.  So it didn't surprise me when there was that post not too long ago complaining about the traffic on Wotton Parkway which I can't find it anymore.  If the current Wootton will be a holding school, Wootton Parkway will likely still have the school traffic that Cold Spring families would have to try to get through if not taking i270 to get to the Crown school site.

Also looking at the Option H effects table for QO and Churchill, there doesn't seem to be much changes for their capacity numbers for 2031-2032.  Churchill would still be overcapacity at 102 percent compared to 104 percent.  Quince Orchard does go from 115 percent to 96 percent.  But this is likely from sending the area for Fields Road ES, which likely accounts for a good portion of the current FARMS percentage for QO, to Gaithersburg HS.

So while option H seems to be a good option in saving construction costs, it doesn't really have the new school help with over capacity issues with the existing schools.  So it seems like MCPS built the school first with no plan.  For example they could have made sure to build it to be large enough for the current option H AND also take the Fields Road ES area, which is practically walking distance to Crown High School. There is the concern of having to cross Sam Eig Highway.  As well as making sure it's large enough to account for any growth if needed.  I know that enrollment has been on a decline but it's easier to have seats available vs being overcapacity.

Not to mention that if the current Wootton building will be the holding school, it will make the Damascus High students have to commute a bit further down, if going by i270 would be exit 6 or 8 instead of 9.  Although they could still take 9 too.  But would be a bit longer and they would be potentially stuck in the Wootton Parkway traffic too.[/quote]

I don’t believe Damascus would use a holding school in that scenario. It’d be done while on site.

As far as Cold Spring, they are the furthest from Crown and I think they’d be the most upset about the change from a distance perspective. We’re in Stone Mill and it’s about equal to the two schools. I’m surprised Cold Spring was added for replacement, all of our cluster’s elementary schools have a ton of capacity as does most of Churchill’s.

One possible solution if this option is chosen is to either relocate the CES from Cold Spring to another Wootton or Churchill elementary school then move the local Cold Spring students to a different elementary school. If a Wootton school it would not solve the distance issue to Crown but could allow for an elementary school to be closed vs rebuilt and reallocate those funds for the many other needs within the county. An alternative to that could be that the local Cold Spring students are moved to attending a Churchill elementary school like Beverly Farms or Wayside, both of which also have extra capacity. In that scenario, Churchill would be come over crowded, but this could be alleviated by a small 200 seat addition at Churchill or by shifting some kids from say Seven Locks ES to Carderock/Whitman or some kids from Potomac ES to Travilah/Wootton(Crown).

Also of note is that I believe crown is only being built for 2200 students now, but is going to be built in a way that could accommodate a 500 seat addition in the future. I could be mistaken, but I thought I remember seeing somewhere that there’s going to be an extra floor built that will be unfinished and just shell space for future expansion.[/quote]

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