The Board of Education, MCPS and Superintendent Taylor and his predecessor Monifa McKnight have disregarded the Wootton Community since 2020, when the CIP Budget for FY2021-2026 was proposed. MCPS knew that they had to abide with the land use contract with the City of Gaithersburg, whereas a school had to be constructed at Crown Farm by August 2026. MCPS intentionally rushed all construction plans, knowing full well that there was not sufficient CIP Budget to reconstruct Wootton. Wootton HS was intentionally left off the CIP Budget for FY2027-2032. The entire Boundary Studies process and workshops to generate Options A-H were a complete fraud, meant to gauge public sentiment and potential negative reaction to closing down Wootton HS. MCPS evaluated the risk of public reaction as low and proceeded to dictate the full relocation of Wootton HS against the will of our community. Â
At stake here is the overt manipulation of the Wootton community and greater school district; destroying the academic culture of one of the legs holding up MCPS’ educational reputation.
I fully support keeping Wootton exactly where it is… and I will spearhead reversing any decision that dismantles Wootton HS.
Funding is NOT an issue, our County spends 4X more money than comparable sized counties across the country. Prioritizing funding to reconstruct Wootton will come from reducing the admin overhead of MCPS; where more than 50% of the MCPS budget does not impact textbooks, classroom programming, teachers’ salaries, or special education programs. The MCPS budget provides $200+Million to the various unions and contractors each year, which in turn have influenced elections. Transparency of spending is the key to resolving the education spending crisis in Montgomery County.
Sincerely,
Rick Mui
Candidate, County Council District 3
5/13/26