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Students and family engagement specialists urge MCPS to keep gymnastics, restore FES positions
Summary
Students, parents and 16 family engagement specialists testified at the board work session urging MCPS not to eliminate high school gymnastics and to restore 16 family engagement specialist roles in the proposed 2026 budget, citing equity, access and lack of transparent process.
Dozens of students, parents and family engagement specialists told the Montgomery County Board of Education on April 16 that proposed budget cuts and program changes threaten access and equity, with multiple speakers urging the board to restore roles and reverse decisions about high school gymnastics.
Walter Johnson students Sienna Shaner and Ajin Yu described gymnastics as a critical opportunity for female students and said MCPS athletics staff had moved quickly to replace gymnastics with stunt without adequate community engagement. Yu told the board a petition opposing the change had gathered more than 2,000 signatures and asked what the district had done to respond to that level of community concern.
Multiple family engagement specialists and parents — including Paulo Molina, Sally Reese Miller, Zoey Delugenio and Crista Granados — said FES staff are the bridge for multilingual families, help parents navigate IEPs and other procedures, and argued that moving to a cluster-based model or cutting positions will create service gaps for families who rely on those relationships. “Cutting 16 family engagement specialists is not just a budget adjustment; it is a direct blow to a family's ability to support and advocate for their child's education,” said Sally Reese Miller.
Board members repeatedly thanked speakers and asked staff to provide a presentation on the gymnastics decision process; several trustees requested public briefings so the gymnastics community can review the process and ask questions. Trustees also asked MCPS staff to ensure public testimony (including written testimonies) was properly included in board materials and to provide a clear schedule for any future presentations on athletics and sport-program decisions.
Next steps: board members asked staff to schedule a full public presentation on the gymnastics decision and to provide documentation showing the process used to evaluate and modify sport offerings; the board also heard repeated requests to prioritize equity-related implications of any staffing changes in the FY 2026 budget process.
