One Step at a Time:

Dear MCPS Superintendent Taylor and Members of the Board of Education,

We deeply appreciate MCPS’s commitment to addressing capacity, infrastructure, and equity challenges across our growing county. We recognize the difficult decisions and competing priorities. However, the current boundary study proposals, the change of scope to the Crown study, and the premature assumptions about regional divisions and program changes, fall short of the equitable and transparent process our community deserves.

We, the undersigned parents, guardians, students, and community members of Montgomery County, urge you to separate the boundary studies from the academic program analysis and delay implementation of the new regional programs model. A delay will allow time to develop fair, data-driven, and community-informed boundaries that truly address overcrowding and inequity across all schools.

The current proposals: 

• Rush the implementation of regional program models, without adequate planning, resources, community input, or clarity on programs and choice.
• Artificially constrain options to address boundary study priorities, through newly created regional boundaries. 
• Reinforce racial and socioeconomic segregation, concentrating students with higher needs in under-resourced schools while leaving affluent communities untouched.
• Disrupt student continuity, especially in Silver Spring, where students face multiple school transitions due to split articulation and the planned closure of SSIMS.
• Ignore critical infrastructure developments, such as the $10 billion Purple Line, which could provide equitable, transit-aligned access across the county; the proposed University Boulevard Corridor Plan which will increase housing density in the Blair and Northwood clusters; and economic development plans intended to attract life science business development in Rockville and up the 270-corridor.

We are particularly concerned about:

• The sudden prioritization of the regional academic programs model that limits boundary maps in contravention of the stated goals of reducing crowding in all schools within the study area.
• The inequitable distribution of disruption between the East and West portions of the Woodward study area, with the bulk of boundary changes, articulation changes, and program reallocation affecting DCC schools.
• The lack of opportunities for community feedback on the proposed program changes, including the lack of meaningful coordination principles and school-based program coordinators in developing the proposals.
• The unilateral elimination of school choice within the Downcounty Consortium, which has long provided families with flexibility and access to specialized programs.
• The lack of a cohesive plan for SSIMS, which is slated to be reclassified as a holding school due to health and safety concerns, yet students are still being rezoned there, resulting in confusing and disruptive transitions.
• The absence of community-driven alternatives, despite indications that additional boundary options may be considered.

We call on the Board and Superintendent to:

1. Separate the boundary studies from the academic programs analysis and consider each proposal on its own merits.
2. Support the MCCPTA resolution to delay implementation of the regional model, allowing the final plan to be refined according to actual school attendance and community needs and providing greater clarity on school choice and magnet program access at both the middle and high school levels.
3. Reject the current October boundary proposals, and develop new scenarios that:
   • align school assignments with existing and planned transit infrastructure; 
   • adhere to the guidelines in Policy FAA in drawing boundaries, not the constraints imposed by the as-yet-unapproved regional model;
   • prioritize continuity for students, avoiding unnecessary transitions and split articulation;
   • share school boundary changes equitably across the entire region;
   • incorporate CIP adjustments; and
   • engage all communities in developing additional boundary options, with transparent polling, feedback mechanisms, and outreach to underserved populations.