Rockville’s mayor and city council have been united in their opposition to permanently moving the Wootton High School body to the new Crown High School in Gaithersburg. Now they have sent a letter to the school system to urge that Wootton maintains its current campus.
Under the boundary study option known as “Option H,” Wootton would turn into a holding school for other campuses under construction.
Superintendent Thomas Taylor, Ed.D, recently made the recommendation that Rockville’s Wootton should relocate to Gaithersburg’s Crown. The Rockville mayor and some councilmembers spoke out after the recommendation was announced earlier this month. This letter formalized their sentiments.
What the Letter Said
“We ask directly: how will MCPS and the County address overcrowding and projected growth amidst a State and national housing shortage if you close an existing high school?” states the letter to Taylor and School Board President Grace Rivera-Oven.
The Rockville leaders proposed a modified recommendation in which Wootton and Magruder High School students would, at separate times, temporarily gMCPS o to Crown along with local Crown-area students while Wootton and Magruder were being renovated. This way, Wootton would not permanently move to Crown.
Parents Also Oppose the Change
Rockville Councilmember Adam Van Grack, a Wootton parent who spoke to MCM last month about keeping Wootton students in place at their current campus, wrote on social media Tuesday morning, “The Superintendent’s Recommendation does more than simply redraw lines. It removes a comprehensive high school from Rockville at a time when thousands of housing units are planned or under construction in Gaithersburg, Rockville, and North Potomac.”
The Wootton Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) has also called for the school board to “reject Option H immediately.”
Gaithersburg Supports Crown
The Gaithersburg City Council has held a different position on this topic. Ahead of the boundary announcement, Gaithersburg Councilmember Yamil Hernández told MCM, “I think we, in the city, we’re committed behind any option that opens Crown High School as a permanent high school.”
MCPS Response
In a release, Montgomery County Public Schools insisted “This is not a closure” of Wootton but “a move of the school to a new building.”
The school board takes final action on March 26.
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