Family & Education

MoCo school board approves regional programming model, moving Wootton High to Gaithersburg

Controversial proposals move forward after 7-1 vote

By

Ashlyn Campbell

March 26, 2026 6:13 p.m.

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The Montgomery County school board on Thursday approved new school boundary lines that would permanently move Rockville’s Thomas S. Wootton High School into the upcoming Crown High in Gaithersburg — along with sweeping changes to the district’s programming model.  

“When you have so much of the school district undergoing the boundary study at one time, it’s intense and it has been intense,” board Vice President Brenda Wolff said during the meeting. “I know the scope and the implications of these changes have been hard for our community, but I remind us that there are many who are waiting for and anticipating change.”   

The board voted 7 to 1 to approve Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Thomas Taylor’s recommendation to move the school and adopt a regional programming model. The recommendation was the culmination of the district’s two boundary studies and an analysis of high school programming. Board member Julie Yang opposed the decision.

The programming and attendance zone revisions are set to go into effect for the 2027-2028 school year. 

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Prior to the vote, community members gathered with dozens of signs outside the school board building in Rockville in protest of Taylor’s recommendation and then packed the board’s meeting room. The audience was raucous, often clapping and cheering, and holding signs in protest. Some yelled in protest when board members shared their perspectives on the vote. Following the vote, some community members in attendance chanted “Shame” as they left the meeting room. 

“When communities are asking you for leadership, when data is questioned, when one decision directly threatens multiple communities, the strongest leadership is not choosing which community to sacrifice, it is standing together and refusing to sacrifice any of them,” Wootton parent and Rockville City Councilmember Adam Van Grack said during public testimony before the vote, receiving applause from the audience.   

The vote, which included an amendment to create a review process for programming changes, marks the final decision regarding the boundary studies the district undertook in preparation for the opening of Charles W. Woodward High at 11211 Old Georgetown Road in Rockville and the upcoming Crown High School at 9410 Fields Road in Gaithersburg at the start of the 2027-2028 academic year. Attendance zones for Damascus High at 25921 Ridge Road, which is set to be expanded by 2031, were also examined. 

It also means the district’s current programming will switch to a regional model that MCPS officials said would provide more equitable opportunities for students. 

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As part of the boundary studies, Taylor recommended Feb. 5 to the school board that Wootton High move permanently into the upcoming Crown High — allowing the aging Wootton building to be used as a holding school for other schools undergoing renovations or reconstruction. 

Additionally, Taylor proposed shifting the attendance zones for schools in Bethesda, Rockville, Potomac and Silver Spring, which would be impacted by the opening of Woodward. 

The release of Taylor’s recommendation resulted in pushback from communities, as well as some support for some of the proposal, which continued during the meeting’s public comment period on Thursday.  

In recent weeks, a coalition of MCPS parents had asked the school district to pause a decision on Taylor’s recommendation, citing concerns about the data used by the district and a lack of community engagement and transparency in the ongoing boundary studies. 

Some families and teachers also expressed concerns about the proposed change to regional high school programming, criticizing what they say is a lack of planning and community engagement in the process. In a letter to the school board last week, hundreds of families and community members urged the school board to reconsider the proposal, saying the changes wouldn’t address inequities in high school programming.  

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“I can’t predict the long-term educational impacts of the new [programming] model,” MCPS parent Rebekah Kuschmider said during public testimony before the vote. “No one can. There’s not enough information. I suggest you pause the vote, demand information on budget, staffing and curriculum. And I don’t have standing for a civil rights complaint, but someone will.” 

Others, such as the local advocacy group Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Equity and Excellence, have said the changes wouldn’t be perfect, but would be a start to addressing long-standing inequities in county schools. 

How will the decision impact schools in the Wootton and Woodward study?  

According to school board documents, the decision regarding Wootton attendance zones allows the district address facility concerns at the aging school by relocating students and staff to “a brand-new building.” The current site on Wootton Parkway “will be used as a holding site for schools to allow for major construction projects.”   

Under this scenario, Poolesville High’s attendance area expands farther south, Winston Churchill High in Potomac maintains its existing attendance zone and Seneca Valley High in Germantown expands its zone.   

For Woodward High, the majority of the attendance area would be pulled from the North Bethesda area, which currently falls under the Walter Johnson High School boundary zone.  

Taylor’s recommendation places some sections of the east section of Garrett Park into the Woodward High attendance zone, drawing from the Wheaton High attendance area, and shifts John F. Kennedy High School’s attendance zone farther south.

It includes more of Silver Spring’s Four Corners neighborhood in Montgomery Blair High School’s attendance zone instead of in the Northwood High attendance zone. It also includes moves a section of the Forest Glen area into the Northwood High attendance zone.

The attendance zones for Walt Whitman High and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High would remain largely unchanged, although a section near Forest Glen in Silver Spring would fall under B-CC’s area.   

Under this scenario, Woodward High would open at about 91% of its capacity while Walter Johnson High and Northwood High would be at 77%, according to boundary study data. The capacity of other high schools impacted by the study would be between roughly 83% and 90%. Woodward was built to alleviate overcrowding at several schools, including Walter Johnson.     

What about programming changes?  

MCPS began an analysis of existing school programs earlier this year, introducing in May the idea of implementing a regional model to replace the district’s structure of competitive, countywide programs and others provided through high school consortia. MCPS said the goal is to create more equity and accessibility, noting that some students have more opportunities to apply to different programs because of where they live.     

The regional model will divide district high schools into six regions with four or five high schools in each region. Plans call for five program themes, with each high school having one to two programs that fall under the themes.       

With the approved changes, students starting eighth grade in the coming school year and those currently in high school would be part of a “legacy cohort” and would be able to continue in their current programs until they graduate. The first admissions process for the regional programs would begin during the 2026-2027 school year.   

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine