Parents and students want to save Silver Spring International Middle School after the Montgomery County Public Schools superintendent announced plans to close the campus.
In his plan Superintendent Thomas Taylor, Ed. D., also shared a plan to divide the students between other schools and turn the building into a holding school during other campuses construction projects. However, a group of concerned parents and students from the community rallied outside the middle school Sunday afternoon in protest.
Community members are also fighting for Sligo Creek Elementary School, which is right behind Silver Spring International. While Sligo Creek Elementary is set to get its own new building, it is supposed to be in a different location.
The middle school is a nearly 100-year-old campus on Wayne Avenue that is in dire need of repairs, according to MCPS. When talking about his plan earlier this month, Taylor also addressed safety concerns due to Purple Line construction outside the school.
But some local parents do not think that the school should be shut down.
“The idea that this school should be closed or become a holding school, makes no sense to us,” said Darian Unger, whose children attended SSIMS and are now in high school.
“We’re going to have more housing in Silver Spring than ever before, which is great. We’re going to have more transit here in Silver Spring than ever before, which is great. So when you have more people and more transit, subtracting schools is the wrong thing to do,” said Unger.
