Parents and advocates press MCPS on Safe Routes, facilities maintenance and opening Crown High School
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Summary
WABA and parents urged faster Safe Routes to School planning, cluster coordinators described HVAC and maintenance failures and called for preventative funding, and multiple community speakers asked the board to open Crown High School as a permanent school and preserve local feeder patterns.
Several groups used the FY27 budget hearing to press the district on transportation safety, facility readiness and local boundary decisions.
Peter Gray of the Washington Area Bicyclists Association said MCPS added one coordinator position in the FY27 budget for Safe Routes work but noted only 89 of the district's 211 schools have safe-routes plans; at the Vision Zero pace of five plans per year, completion would take more than two decades. "This slow pace is totally unacceptable," Gray said, and he urged more funding and a learned-to-bike curriculum in elementary physical education.
Cluster coordinators and parents described frequent HVAC and plumbing failures and asked the board to shift toward a preventive maintenance strategy rather than an emergency-only model. Anrio Saint Gerard and Sherwood cluster testimony cited repeated failures at Sherwood High School and said the FY27 operating budget contains only modest increases for facilities that mainly cover utilities and staffing for new buildings rather than systemwide preventive measures.
Members of the Fields Road and Gaithersburg communities asked the board to make Crown High School a permanent assignment for nearby students. Several recorded student testimonies described anticipation about attending the new school and urged that feeder patterns keep nearby elementary communities together to preserve stability and walkability.
Board members asked staff to provide a list of schools covered by existing Safe Routes plans and said adding the proposed coordinator was intended to accelerate planning beyond the Vision Zero baseline. Staff agreed to follow up with an implementation timeline and to supply more detailed facility staffing and maintenance position numbers.