Fifteen speakers addressed the Montgomery County Board of Education during public comment Feb. 20, focusing on budget decisions that affect staffing, student transportation for out‑of‑boundary lottery programs, aging school buildings and program continuity.

Union leaders raised concerns about recent reclassifications and staffing reductions for support professionals. Christine Handy and Carlene Pruitt of SEIU Local 500 described anxiety among support staff after positions were elevated or eliminated without finalized job descriptions and said promised reclassification increases were not applied; Pruitt said specialists who screened candidates and supported school safety and equity work were being replaced by roles that, she argued, lack the applied classification knowledge support professionals bring.

Several parents and students pressed the board to provide transportation for students admitted to Walt Whitman High School through the countywide Leadership and Social Justice Academy (LAHJ/LESJ) lottery. Multiple students and parents testified that lack of bus service forces long commutes, safety concerns on public transit, missed extracurriculars and financial burdens: "Working families are being forced to spend over $600 a month on gas," said Megan Stone, a Whitman parent; students from Damascus and other distant parts of the county said some daily commutes take more than two hours each way and limit academic participation.

Whitman students and parents requested short‑term solutions (one or two dedicated bus routes or pick‑up points) and urged staff to examine FY 2025 supplemental funding the superintendent requested for other transportation priorities.

Teachers and program advocates urged the district to sustain specialized programs: Glenn Miller, lead CASE teacher at Sherwood High School, said MCPS has not developed a vision or investment plan to grow the Career and Technical Education agriculture pathway and said students already enrolled face disrupted pathways if programs are cut. A speaker representing virtual learners warned that the recent changes to MCPS virtual offerings have left students with reduced access to a local virtual community they previously had.

Multiple speakers representing or employed as Parent Community Coordinators said central removal or reduction of systemwide language‑specific services would harm families who rely on in‑person, language‑specific outreach. Annabella Almeida, a Portuguese‑language PCC, said PCCs serve thousands of families and that substituting machine translation would not replace human contact.

Argyle Middle School teacher Justin Fauntroy described failing HVAC and electrical systems, crowding, and safety concerns at the 1971‑era building and urged acceleration of reconstruction plans.

Board members acknowledged the testimony and requested follow‑up: several members asked staff to provide data related to early childhood attendance, transportation policy options for LAHJ students, and expedited responses to specific building safety concerns. The board did not take immediate action during the meeting but said follow‑up items would be routed to appropriate staff and returned to the board.