After weeks of backlash from the Wootton cluster over a proposal to move the school body to the new Crown High School, Superintendent Thomas Taylor, Ed.D, has made a recommendation: Rockville’s Wootton should relocate to Gaithersburg’s Crown.
Rockville’s mayor and city council were united in their opposition to the proposal — called “Option H” — and their opposition continues.
“The Rockville Mayor and Council unequivocally supported a fully renovated Wootton High School on the Wootton Parkway campus that remains in Rockville,” Mayor Monique Ashton said in a written statement. She is against “any option that permanently shuts down Wootton High School and shifts the community of students and teachers miles outside of Rockville, removing a walkable and vibrant school community from Rockville.”
In a release, Montgomery County Public Schools insists “This is not a closure” of Wootton but “a move of the school to a new building.” The Wootton building would turn into a holding school for other campuses under construction.
Ashton said she will continue to stand up for the community.
Rockville Councilmember Adam Van Grack, who spoke to MCM last month about keeping Wootton students in place at their current campus, also spoke out following MCPS’ announcement. He cited statements from Wootton’s Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) as well as Magruder High School’s PTSA opposing Option H.
“When PTSA leaders from multiple clusters independently identify equity, long-term capacity, transportation, stability, and planning risks, it is a serious system-level warning — one the Board of Education should not dismiss or minimize,” Van Grack said in a written statement. He called on the school board to “reject this recommendation.”
The Wootton PTSA also called for the school board to “reject Option H immediately.”
The Gaithersburg City Council has held a different position. Ahead of the announcement, Gaithersburg Councilmember Yamil Hernández recently told MCM, “I think we, in the city, we’re committed behind any option that opens Crown High School as a permanent high school.”
And although many in the Wootton cluster have been focused on keeping Wootton at Wootton, there are other MCPS families who were focused on making sure their kids can attend the new Crown High School.
In March, the school board will have work sessions and public hearings on boundary recommendations. The board takes final action on March 26. “Phased implementation” starts in the 2027-2028 school year, according to MCPS.
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