Parents and educators press MCPS to change revised Woodward boundary options as staff outlines regional program plan

Parents and teachers packed a Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) work session on Oct. 16 to urge the Board of Education to reject recently released revised Woodward boundary maps and to press the system to keep strong local programs while expanding access countywide.

Several speakers called the revised maps a retreat from earlier proposals that had attempted to redistribute students more equitably across the county and warned the latest options would maintain or deepen socioeconomic and racial segregation in some clusters.

The board’s superintendent and operations staff responded that the boundary and program analyses are connected and that staff intends to present a combined superintendent recommendation in January, with a final board decision planned for March 2026.

Community concerns front-loaded public comment. Mikey Franklin, introduced as the parent of Woodland Elementary students, said the spring boundary options had asked wealthier families to share more and "then predictably, those wealthiest in our county mobilized to hoard their resources." He urged the board to keep earlier proposals that increased socioeconomic mixing. "Be strong and of good courage, and do it anyway," Franklin said.

Several parents from Down‑County Consortium (DCC) and East County said the revised maps protect affluent schools, including Whitman and Bethesda‑Chevy Chase (BCC), while concentrating students receiving free and reduced‑price meals (FARMs) and English learners into fewer schools. Darren Viera, a Woodland…