Montgomery County Public Schools students and staff headed back to class Tuesday as the new school year started.
This year begins with changes including an updated cell phone policy, widespread position cuts and safety upgrades.
Schools are now “bell to bell” with no cell phones in all schools, including high schools.
“It is just really about how it’s enforced,” said Venny Tchekounang, President of the Blake High School Student Government Association (SGA), on Tuesday morning as students walked into the building. She said the rule is very broad.
“It’s just a ban, right, from bell to bell. So what about the times of which students need to call their parents? They’re feeling overwhelmed. What about that, those nuances? Those are things that I think need to be considered and the cell phone ban doesn’t necessarily do that,” Tchekounang said. After-action reports following shootings in the Blake High School parking lot and inside Wootton High School highlighted communication issues and the need for better communication.
SGA Vice President Victoria Azamati agreed that it depends on how the cell phone ban is enforced — “Some schools might not be as strict on it.”
“I see why they would do it to increase focus. I think it is important and it’s not a bad idea,” Azamati said.
MCPS officials including Superintendent Thomas Taylor and School Board President Grace Rivera-Oven went to Blake High School in the Cloverly area to kick off the new school year.
In April, Blake was the site of a shooting in the parking lot during a fight. One teen was injured. There were two school shootings in 2026 — the one at Blake as well as one inside Wootton High School. In an effort to improve safety, MCPS has put in more door sensors and did camera upgrades throughout campuses.
“First and foremost is relationships,” said Blake High School Principal Ahmed Adelekan. “Getting to know our kids, being intentional about that. Safety is everyone’s responsibility. So when they see something, they’re more willing to say something, so that’s number one.”
Adelekan said Blake no longer does open lunch and there is more adult supervision in the building.
This school year, there will be fewer mental health professionals in schools — this summer the school board cut more than 400 jobs, including social workers, in order to make up for funding they did not get in the fiscal year 2027 budget.
Superintendent Taylor noted the school system has declining enrollment. This is due to declining birth rate, Trump immigration policies hurting international enrollments and ICE patrols.
“And I think this is important for people to realize that proportionally, we’re going to reduce our staff to match where our student enrollment is,” Taylor said. “Doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t have loved to have all of our staff back. I absolutely would have. But we worked hard this summer to make sure that there aren’t service gaps for our students when they come back. All of our kids have access to mental health supports. We haven’t done a very good job in the past of advertising for our students where they can find those mental health supports. And that’s going to be a change this year. And we’re really looking forward to showcasing that.”
