Parents, Students, and Neighbors Say Late Proposal to Remove Students from Wootton High School Is Rushed, Unprecedented, and Fundamentally Unjust
Rockville, MD — January 6, 2025
A newly formed community group, Committee to Save Wootton High School, is calling on the Montgomery County Board of Education to suspend any consideration of “Option H,” a proposal that would close Wootton High School and transfer its students, ahead of a public hearing scheduled for January 8 at 12:00 noon in Rockville.
The group—made up of parents, students, alumni, and community members—says it was shocked by the late inclusion of Option H after years of consultation-based planning that never contemplated closing an existing high school.
“Option H is not a routine boundary option—it is a de facto school closure,” said a Committee spokesperson.
A Last-Minute Proposal With No Meaningful Public Review
In June 2025, Montgomery County Public Schools released Boundary Study Options A–D in anticipation of opening Crown High School, providing a five-month public engagement window through January 9, 2026. However, on December 1, MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor introduced four additional options, including Option H, which would relocate all Wootton students to a different school and leave the building as a holding school until its permanent closure.
Despite the magnitude of this proposal, MCPS did not extend the public comment period, leaving families just five weeks—during the busiest time of year—to absorb and respond.
“Families engaged in this process in good faith for months, reviewing boundary adjustments—not the elimination of a community high school,” said another Committee spokesperson. “Introducing Option H at the last minute fundamentally changed the situation without a fair opportunity for the public to respond. Advancing it without extending public engagement undermines transparency and public trust.”
The last-minute proposal prompted immediate public backlash. A petition opposing Option H has over 3,600 signatures, and flyers and posters in opposition cover surrounding neighborhoods. More recently, the school’s PTSA released a statement in support of keeping the school in place and the student cluster together.
Community Impact Ignored
Beyond academics, Wootton High School functions as a central civic anchor for surrounding Rockville neighborhoods. Its campus has long hosted community meetings, youth organizations, environmental programs, religious gatherings, and polling for state and federal elections.
Wootton’s adjacency to Frost Middle School has also enabled decades of collaboration—peer tutoring, mentoring, athletics, and joint service events—that would be eliminated if Wootton students were relocated miles away.
“Removing students from Wootton would unravel a web of deeply rooted community relationships that cannot be recreated elsewhere,” the spokesperson said. “These impacts and resulting consequences for the entire school system have not been meaningfully studied or acknowledged.”
Legal, Financial, and Policy Concerns
Members of Committed to Save Wootton High School will testify at the January 8 Board of Education hearing and are prepared for legal action should the Board proceed with Option H without adequate study, transparency, and due process.
The group argues that closing or emptying an entire high school would destabilize neighborhoods, introduce risk and instability into the school system, and ultimately cost the County more through increased transportation, inefficiencies, and the long-term financial consequences of underutilized or vacant public facilities.
“This decision will signal whether Montgomery County fixes problems—or simply makes shortsighted, draconian changes that don’t serve the long-term objectives of our community nor the entire school-system,” the spokesperson concluded.
Call to Action
- Suspend any consideration of Option H
- Follow the appropriate regulatory study procedures before presenting any such option to the Board of Education
- Conduct further study and solicit genuine public engagement
Contact
Spokespersons: Justin Brandon, Peng Li
Email: savewoottonhs@gmail.com
Website: www.savewootton.org
Committed to Saving Wootton High School