MCPS outlines six-region plan to expand high-school programs; council seeks staffing, budget and engagement details

Montgomery County Public Schools presented a proposal on Oct. 9 to reorganize high-school specialized programming into six geographic regions, with the stated goal of increasing access, reducing travel time and eliminating wait-list scarcity for popular programs.

MCPS officials said the plan would realign existing countywide programs into regional, parallel offerings so students in each region would have similar programmatic options close to home. MCPS staff also said the Down County Consortium and Northeast Consortium would be realigned into the six-region model; technical-education hubs at Edison and Seneca Valley would continue to operate and serve students regionally. The proposal pairs the regional programming work with the county high-school boundary study so capacity and school assignments can align.

"The system of secondary programs that we have right now is inequitable, and it creates scarcity," Jeannie Franklin, director of consortia and application program services, said during the briefing. MCPS leaders said a combination of new school openings and this regional redesign represents a "once in a generation" opportunity to expand seats and standardize offerings.

Key points of the proposal

- Six-region model: MCPS…