Superintendent recommends reopening Woodward and relocating Wootton to Crown Farm; community speakers urge rejection of Option H

The Montgomery County Board of Education heard the superintendent’s two major boundary-study recommendations on Thursday, including a proposal to reopen Woodward High School, expand Northwood and relocate Wootton High School to the new Crown Farm site. Superintendent Dr. Taylor said the recommendations aim to align program access with facility assets, improve long-term stability and keep facility utilization within an efficient range.

Staff said the recommended Crown/Damascus map is a modified version of Option H that the superintendent believes will produce more walkable assignments at the Crown Farm site and create a secondary holding school to facilitate capital improvements. Operations staff warned that some schools (including Churchill and Damascus during implementation) could temporarily exceed capacity and described a phased implementation beginning in school year 27–28 and completing by 29–30, with public hearings scheduled Feb. 23–24 and the board decision set for March 26.

The presentation prompted widespread public comment focused on a single point: community members urged the board to remove Option H from consideration. Parents, students and local organizations said the proposal would sever neighborhood ties, increase daily commute times, raise ongoing transportation costs and permanently reduce permanent high‑school capacity in some growth corridors. “Option H is not the way to go,” Wootton student Ananya Sharma told the board, urging renovation of Wootton rather than reassigning students. Parent speakers and a representative from the Maryland Building Industry Association said Option H risks misaligning school capacity with planned residential development and could discourage future growth and tax revenue.

Speakers also raised procedural concerns, contrasting the six‑week engagement period for options E–H with a longer review for prior options and asking for more transparent data and neighborhood‑level meetings. Several speakers framed their remarks as a loss of trust rather than simple opposition. “Trust is the currency of a public school system,” Wootton alum and parent Claire Motta said, asking the board to decouple boundary decisions from the district’s budget process and follow a standalone closure process if closing is considered.

Board members thanked staff for the analysis and emphasized they would review detailed data tables and the non‑recommended alternate map before voting. Staff noted that detailed maps, data tables and articulation charts are posted online and that the public will have additional opportunities to testify. The board did not take a final vote on the recommendations at the meeting; it held the public hearings and scheduled follow‑up work sessions ahead of the March 26 decision.

Authorities and next steps cited by staff include adherence to Board policy FAA (criteria: demographic characteristics, geography, stability and facility utilization), use of approved site plans in enrollment projections, and planned community hearings. The board’s chair listed upcoming dates for hearings and work sessions and asked staff to return with refined materials and answers to members’ questions on stability, transportation analysis, and capacity mitigation.