n everybody. My name is Thomas Taylor. I'm the proud superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools. For many, many years, the Board of Education has taken up a number of celebrations and recognized many groups over the years. But we are trying something a
little new this year. This school year, we started by adding a new dimension to our recommendation, our recognitions, and hosting a little brief celebration for the many things that the Board of Education votes to recognize before its business meetings at
the previous month, the board voted to approve several resolutions, making some recognitions formalized. And today we get to celebrate those recognitions. I want to thank you for being here today and for joining us. Even if you're here for the meeting activities
later, you still get to be a part of the fun and excitement and the things that we're really happy about and really get to celebrate. So thank you for being here today. We're celebrating Muslim American Heritage Month. We're also celebrating International Day of Education, which is on
January 24th. And we will also be joined by staff from Diamond Elementary School and Wilson Elementary School, because they are the recipients of the prestigious Maryland Blue Ribbon School designation. We will begin our program by
celebrating Muslim Heritage Month. Now, I want to say that normally I don't get a chance to do this part, but I'm thrilled that for once, I do get a chance to lead a celebration. Normally, the board members get to take over, and I want to take a moment to
just pause before we celebrate and recognize for a moment that last week we had a terrible hate bias incident at one of our schools. And though these things do happen from time to time, it is a moment for us to
reflect on our values, reflect on who we are as a school community, to lift each other up and love, respect and appreciation. And today is an opportunity for us to celebrate our values, the things that we do hold dear to us, the things
that we do lift up. And today we get to recognize a group in our community who has led with distinction and admiration and support from M.C.P.S. So we are celebrating Muslim American Heritage Month, which fosters
inclusivity by honoring the history and contributions of Muslim Americans, countering stereotypes, and providing students with a sense of belonging. Joining us today are three amazing advocates and community leaders, and I apologize if I if I butcher
your name, but I would please invite you to come and join the Board of Education up here to be the recipient of of some of our resolutions. Giroux Gboyinde, a veteran administrator and senior advisor of 35 years of service,
he bridges the gap between government and residents through workforce development and regional leadership, and currently supports county government's work in in the eastern part of our county. Samira Mohammed Hussein, an M.C.P.S. trailblazer. Come on
Samir and Human Rights Hall of Fame Hall of Famer. She integrated Muslim cultural education into our schools and was instrumental in recognizing Arab American Heritage Month in the county. A dedicated civic
advocate who champions immigrant and faith communities through leadership in the Muslim Council and Local Government Task Force. We are so honored by you joining us today, and thank you for the opportunity to just take a brief picture with you. Thank
you. Look over here. Got it. Thank you. All right. One more Harral smile and say Instagram.
Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much. And now to recognize International Education Day is board member Karla Silvestre. Oh okay. Good
afternoon everyone. We here in Montgomery County are a global community. So it only makes sense that we are celebrating International Education Day around the world. The United Nations recognizes International Day of Education as a reminder that education is
a fundamental human right, and is one of the most powerful drivers of equity, opportunity, and lasting change. It calls us to reflect on our shared responsibility to ensure that every student has access to inclusive, high quality
learning experiences that honor who they are and where they come from. Today, the board is proud to celebrate someone that embodies those ideals through his leadership and daily work.
Daniel Yip, please come forward. With more than 20 years of experience teaching from preschool through university classrooms, both in the United States and internationally, Daniel brings a deep understanding of language
development, culture, and learning. As Supervisor of Grade 6 to 12 English language development, he leads with purpose and heart, championing educational practices that recognize multilingualism and cultural diversity as powerful
assets. Daniel partners closely with educators and school leaders to strengthe systems and shift classroom practices, ensuring that emergent, multilingual learners have meaningful access to instruction. In honoring Daniel, today, we celebrate more than
one individual. We celebrate the transformative power of education rooted in equity and inclusion. His work reminds us that when we center students strengths and invest in quality learning for all, schools
become places where every learner can thrive. Please join us in recognizing Daniel for his outstanding leadership and
lasting impact. Very good. Get together. Big smiles. Thank you.
Wait one more. Sorry. Got it. Thank you. And actually, one more with your family. Oh. Family. Students. Teachers.
Very nice. Thank you. Wow. Come on. Family. What? Soon? Oh, so I see the resemblance. Glenhaven. It's okay. I'm a younger brother. Oh, I'm sure.
Oh. As 123. Two one. Thank you. 123. Thank you. Yes. All right.
All right. Hi everyone I'm Julie Yang. Next I'm going to call some of the people up here. This is about a school that I have visited many times and have the joy to join some of the community evening events too. So next we are going to
celebrate Diamond Elementary School. I'm going to call Principal Dan Water Walter, fifth grade team leader Melissa Hong, third grade team leader. Amy, let me see. Am I saying this a secret? Yes. Okay. All
right. Fourth grade team leader Jessica Tofer. Okay. And special education para Joann Davis come up front. All right. So. Counselor Christy. Okay.
And counselor Kristen Miller. Yes. All right. See, I still need to learn all the staff's names. Yeah. Okay. All right. So we're going to put them in the spotlight because they achieved something extraordinary this year. This
year, only seven schools in the Maryland state was awarded Blue Ribbon schools. Only five of them were public schools. And two of them are our M.C.P.S. schools. Let's get a round of applause for these schools.
Okay, so okay, this recognition, blue ribbon recognition reflects extraordinary teaching, strong leadership and a community that shows up every day for its students now. And
also this year, the Diamond Elementary School is celebrating how many years? Five, zero years. All right. Now, this is especially meaningful at a moment when the federal Blue Ribbon program has been eliminated. While
Washington may have stepped back, Maryland did not, and neither did diamond. Excellence doesn't disappear because of program is cut. It lives in the classrooms, in lesson plans, in
relationships, and in the belief that every child deserves the very best. So Diamond's recognition is a reminder of who we are and what we stand for. High standards,
equity, and unwavering commitment to students. No matter the political climate, we don't wait for permission to do the right thing. We lead. And to the educators, staff,
and families of Diamond Elementary School, you are proof that excellence endures. Congratulations on this very honored and deserved honor. Thank you very much. Okay. So
thank you. Okay. Wait wait wait. So this is what a good looking team looks like. All right okay. Let's take a picture right here.
All right. Okay everybody. 123A whole bunch. Okay. Are you okay?
Three. Two one. Thank you. Got it. Thank you. Okay. Thank you.
Good to see you. These are staff members. So your counselor is in here somewhere. Okay. Sorry. Thank you. I'll give you a pretty big.
Congratulations. Oh, darn. I. Big banners. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you. Yeah. Good afternoon
and buenas tardes again. So we're going to keep the celebration going. I think this is some of the best times of board members to be able to do this. Congratulations to our previous honorees. I have known some of them for decades, so it's always good to see them.
With that, I would like to invite because this is quite a privilege and I was there in person to be able to celebrate with Principal Burns Wilson wimps when they got their blue ribbon recognition. So I'm
going to call Principal Kevin Burns. Natalie Banco, she's a second grade teacher. Love second grade Shelly Burns, special education teacher. Terry Frazier, administrative
secretary. Can I live a day without wonderful folks in the front office? Aaron French, grade three teacher. Katie Oaks,
Upper Academy literacy teacher. Jessica is teaching English language development teacher Christine Thompson, para educator. Reina Diaz, building services manager. And Mariana
Spitzberg, Upper Academy mathematics teacher. And Aaron Galbraith is an honor. Aaron teacher and Miss Aaron Douglas teacher. I promise you, we're not on my list. I didn't forget
about you on purpose. Thank you. As my colleague said before, at a time when the National Blue Ribbon program was cut out of the Education department. Truly, when our education department
was pretty much dismantled. Here in Montgomery County, Maryland, we are strong to ensure that we recognize those schools who go above and beyond, and that they have an environment that is so welcoming. I have to tell you,
I was there in their celebration. I was there a diamond as well. And I think these are some of the best times as a board member that we get to see the fruits of our labor and just the incredible student body that we have, even
at the elementary school level, you can see the leadership. But the reason we have that is not because it's accidental, it's because we have incredible adults in those buildings that truly, truly love their job, and they care about education.
And that is very evident today. So I just like to say to Mr. Burns, he knows that I like to visit the school. I love the mascot, I love the mascot, and sometimes I just stop by just to say hello. That Mr. Burns,
congratulations. Because you truly lead with heart and it shows by your performance. 93.3 Attendance Rate. It is a very, very diverse school and you
feel the respect in the hallways, in the cafeteria, anywhere you go in the school, the pride, literally everything is just wonderful to visit with. So as some of you might know, but if you don't, the school
was named for wonderful activist civil rights activist Wilson Williams, who's a relative also of a wonderful delegate, Craig Williams, who's who's actually in my district.
And he was a community builder, literally at a time when there were only, you know, there was restrictions on where our African American brothers and sisters could build. At that time, he decided that he was going to be one of those who
was going to help to build homes for them. And he was, you know, a pillar of opportunity and fairness and also of hope. And boy, do we need hope more than ever these days. So it is
with great honor to recognize Wilson Williams Elementary School for the very well deserved Maryland Blue Ribbon distinction. All right, all
right, right, right. Okay. I think you need a chair. Yeah, yeah. Well. This way a little
bit. Yeah. Get cozy. A little sideways a little sideways. That would be great. Yeah. Yes, yes. Give me to open it. Yeah, yeah. That's good. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah. Oh. Ready? Yeah. Two, three. Right here. Thank you. Perfect. How many social media accounts do we have? Thank you,
thank you. Congratulations. You. Have a little kid I know. Thank you. Kevin, thank you for your time. Oh, wonderful. Thank you so much. We really appreciate it. Thank you. All right. Thank
you all so much. This concludes today's special recognitions. We're so glad that you could be a part of our celebrations
today.
Good afternoon everyone. Buenas tardes and welcome to the January 26th, 2026 board business meeting. Welcome to our board members, M.c.p.s. Staff and members of our community who are joining us here today. And to those who are watching this meeting via
live stream, especially my mom. Mommy, let us begin by standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. The flag is in the back. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic of which it
stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. I will now ask my board members to please introduce themselves. I will start on my right. Good afternoon. My name is Laura Stewart and I'm representing
district four. Good afternoon. I'm Carla Silvestre, school board member at large. Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to the board office. And I'm Julie Yang, district three. Good afternoon, Brenda Wolff.
District five. Good afternoon. Rita montoya, board member at large. Good afternoon, Natalie Zimmerman representing district two. Good afternoon. A student member of the board. Thank you so much. With that, I would like to ask for a motion to approve the revised agenda.
Motion to approve. Second. There is a motion and a second. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Great. That is unanimous. And it carries. Thank you all. The next item on
the agenda is recommended appointments by Doctor Taylor. Thank you, Madam President. This evening we have or this afternoon we have two recommended appointments for the board's consideration. We are about to jump into the spring of hiring season. So
many more to come as we have a few changes that we anticipate. But today we have two fantastic people. For your consideration. Today, when I call your name, if you could please stand while I say a few words about you and then the board will consider your appointment, and then we'll get a chance to
congratulate you. First for consideration is Mr. Steven Dolni for the position of Director of Educational Technology in the department. Or, excuse me, the Division of Technology Services. Joining him today are his daughters Olivia, Olivia and Carissa, his
significant other, Chelsea and her sons Donovan and Ryan. Mr. Dolni brings to Montgomery County Public Schools more than 27 years of educational technology and classroom experience. He is excited to contribute to the mission of unleashing potential by supporting technology systems
that are equitable, reliable and responsive to the needs of all stakeholders in service to students, staff, and the community. Shout outs to his family and friends watching online, and to his former colleagues and mentors who have helped him along the way. Is
there a motion? Motion to approve? Second, there's a motion a second. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Motion carries. Congratulations.
Next for consideration is Doctor Kelly Hageman for the position of supervisor of curriculum in pre-K through five. English language arts in the Department of Curriculum Development in the Division of Teaching and Learning. Joining her today is her husband,
Andrew Hageman. Doctor Carl Hageman brings more than 22 years of classroom and administrative experience to M.C.P.S. She is excited to work alongside M.C.P.S. educators, leaders and families to strengthen literacy and advance equitable outcomes for all
students. Is there a motion motion to approve? Second, there is a motion a second. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Wonderful. Congratulations. Thank you,
Madam President. This concludes administrative appointments. Thank you, Doctor Taylor. The next item on the agenda is the association's comments. I will ask any designated representatives here to provide association comments to come forward at this time. And
please introduce yourself for the record, prior to beginning your comments. Okay. Going once,
going twice. Okay. So we will continue. The next item on the agenda is public comment. Well, the board encourages public input on policy, program and
practices and will consider the comments received. It is not the board's practice during the public meetings to respond to questions, provide comment or take action on the issues raised. This is a public
meeting and the board expects the conduct of all speakers and members of the audience to be within the bounds of proper etiquette, inappropriate personal remarks, rude retorts,
or other such behavior. It is out of order and will not be tolerated. Those who demonstrate disruptive or disrespectful behavior during public comment may be asked to leave the room, and in addition,
public comment is not the proper avenue to address specific student or employee matters. Such matters should be directed through the complaint or appeal process. Each speaker has two minutes to deliver
comments. When your name is called, press the flat button and speak clearly into the microphone. A yellow light and single beep indicates you have 30s remaining, a red light and
repeating beep signal means that the time has expired. Once you have finished speaking, press the same button to turn off the microphone. Following live testimony, audio and video testimony will be played.
Copies of testimonies are posted with the other materials for this meeting on board docs. Thank you so much. And with that, I am going to call the first six speakers. If you're
hearing your name, please come forward. Justin. Tom, Jocelyn. Miller, Darryl. Guy A. Zhenggang GU, Justin, Brandon
and Lara miles. Mr. Justin. Tom. So he's not here right now.
Okay? Okay. So okay. Can we start then with Miss Jocelyn Miller? Hello. Please. If you push the button, start your testimony. Doctor Taylor and members of the board, thank you for your time and dedication. I'm a mom of a first grader and a two year old. So our family
places our trust in m.c.p.s. For the next 16 plus years, because of this, option H is a huge concern. Option H creates instability. It ignores sustained growth across Rockville and Gaithersburg. Every day I pass by the villages at Rockshire being
built across the street from Wooton High School. Rockville has increased its housing targets. Gaithersburg has thousands of residential units in development. The Crown Wooten Region is a growth corridor and needs consistent high school capacity to close. Wooten would be a permanent
capacity loss. It increases long term costs for M.C.P.S. and creates instability around boundaries for future generations. I also want to highlight the importance of trust and public engagement. Over the last seven weeks, our community has encountered confusion about option H. For
example, a Board of Education member at the Wooten Town Hall in mid December insisted that option H was only a temporary move for Wooten. Community members had to correct them that it was permanent. This was 16 days after the new options were released, and it was a misunderstanding from a board member. And just last week, our
own county executive, Marc Elrich, said on a popular radio show that Wooten would be moving to Crown as if it were done and decided that's a problem. Not only that, he said, Crown is in King Farm. It's not. We have embraced the responsibility to educate key decision makers about the facts
of option H, so if we show up in big numbers and our testimony feels passionate, it's because we care about the accuracy of the data being used to shape our children's futures. If M.c.p.s. Is committed to a holding school solution, that's great. Long delayed repairs are needed across the system, but Wooten should not be the
holding school. Let's please move past option H and focus on solutions that actually serve M.c.p.s. Long term stability. And our students, thank you, Mr. Daryl. Okay. Thank you. Go
right ahead. Good afternoon, Doctor Taylor and members of the board. I would like to address the latest boundary study options. I am an engineer and have researched traffic patterns. Option H creates large scale urban planning issues that would be harmful to
Montgomery County. We do not have the transportation infrastructure for option H. It closes one high school where 50% of the students live within walking distance and sends them to Crown High School at the very far edge of the boundary,
leaving just 5% of Wooten's current student body able to walk to school. Wooten already exemplifies the success of Safe Routes to School. It has the second fewest traffic incidents for all Montgomery County high schools, forcing an additional
1000 students who can currently walk to school to on pedestrian friendly roads to drive from one city to another to Crown is inherently dangerous. It directly contradicts the county's safe routes to school and Vision Zero goals. Option H
would severely strain Montgomery County traffic. Infrastructure. The roads around Wooten were designed for neighborhood pedestrian scale use, accommodating that volume by expanding surrounding roads will cost the county over $70 million. If a holding school is
needed. Crown is the most logical choice as it is both closer to Damascus and Magruder High schools and has access to large arterial roads. Option H simply creates a traffic nightmare not only for the
surrounding Wooten community, but for anyone using it as a holding school. In closing, option H undermines sound planning, fiscal responsibility, and student safety. Thank you.
Thank you. Miss Goo. Good afternoon, members of board and Doctor Taylor. My name is Zhang Hong. I'm a senior scientist, but I speak to you today as a fellow labor. My family has called the Wooten Cluster home
for 18 years. This is a community where my children grew up and a place we truly love. My heart is heavy because options represent more than just a boundary change. It risks the loss of a community. My children grow up walking the
street, playing soccer here, finding the home that only a neighborhood school provides, moving Wooten High School away from Wooten Parkway would truly dismantle the foundation of the neighborhood. As a scientist, my concerns are grounded in data. I respectfully request
you to reject option H because it relies on flawed forecasts rather than reality. Moving Wooten would require the new currency to taking about 1870 students, plus a local community, forcing the school
to open at full capacity with low buffer for future growth. This plan ignores the massive residential growth happening right now. The growth community 290 townhouse already built. Ruschelle Village six unit
coming by 2027 K with over 200 units underway. Thousands of new houses are planning for this area. These are not just numbers, they are families who will soon be looking for classrooms that will not exist. Option H doesn't solve
overcrowding. It only shifts the crisis to the Crown and guarantee future instability of our children. Please do not uproot our community's history based on incomplete math. Reject option H and preserve Wooten High School. Thank you
for your time and for all you do for our children. Thank you, Miss GU. Mr. Brandon. As a parent of two elementary school children in the Wooton cluster, I asked the board to remove option H from consideration until M.C.P.S. provides
opportunities for meaningful two way engagement with Wooten Cluster families. On October 31st, M.C.P.S. sent a community wide email announcing the board's resolution to permit consideration of Crown as a temporary holding school. The email included Wooten in a list of schools undergoing
construction, unquote, that might utilize this holding facility. What followed this email was predictable. The Crown community organized and voiced their opposition to Crown as a holding facility, and the Wooten community was hopeful that our building was at least mentioned in the same sentence as the word
construction. Here comes the plot twist the risky, reckless, and rash introduction of option H in ways that are indefensible under M.C.P.S. board policy. ABA. The first public mention of option H was December 1st. As we speak today, the only
opportunity ever provided for two way dialog occurred less than 24 hours after this initial announcement. By that stage, more than a month after the October 30th board resolution, Crown had known what was coming and showed up to push back. In contrast, the
Wooten community had less than a single day to process option H before our one and only opportunity for two way dialog with M.c.p.s. Not a single community session has occurred since. Policy ABA defines engagement as providing experiences that strengthen
trusting relationships. It requires engagement to not exclude stakeholders who may be at most adversely affected. It promises multiple and varied opportunities for community voices to be heard, and commits this board to make every effort to ascertain and respect the preferences of affected school
communities. Holding a single session. Less than 24 hours after option H was announced, with no further opportunity for two way dialog is not every effort. It is not multiple opportunities. It does not include the voices of stakeholders who may be most adversely affected. And most importantly, it has not
strengthened trust in this community. It has broken it. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Brandon. Miss Miles. My name is Laura miles. Thank you for the new options that kept Afif and
Wooten. After the first survey, many felt unheard and seeing new options acknowledge our history in Wooten mattered to us. Options A through D pulled defeat from the cluster it has long shared with its neighbors, Stone mill and Travilah. This community is not something our family support. Defeat belongs in Wooten. Our kids grow up
together, go to the same camps, play on the same teams and build lasting relationships. Preserve that. Right now there are shifting variables, changing enrollment, strong reactions, unclear timelines. This is not a crisis requiring a rushed decision. It is an opportunity to pause and make sure we get this right. Instead
of moving quickly and getting it wrong. We should be starting with an elementary school boundary study. Elementary boundaries are the base of the entire system. Adjusting secondary boundaries without an elementary analysis, especially in areas with noncontiguous zones, risks building on
assumptions that no longer hold. It feels like being asked to finish building a skyscraper after discovering the site is a sinkhole and being told to deal with the foundation later. But if the foundation is flawed, you pause and fix it. This period of lower enrollment is an opportunity to slow down and
get it right. There is real tension in our community. Some families support option H because their priority is getting their children into a safe building. Others across the Wooten community are deeply concerned about option H impact on their school and its shared campus. With Frost, I find myself in the middle. Options E
through G may give us time to do an elementary study and develop a real plan for repairing Wooten, and if, after full analysis is determined that those investments cannot be made and that H is the only viable path to safe, sustainable facilities, then that decision should be made
carefully and deliberately, not by default. Keep with its community. Make sure our children have safe schools. Start with foundation, or at least slow down and fully analyze the future of Wooten before making a decision of this magnitude so that whichever path is chosen,
families can trust it leads to safe, stable schools. Thank you. Thank you. Are you Mr. Johnson? Tom, welcome. Please start. Good evening. Members of the board and Superintendent Taylor. My name is Justin Tom, and I'm a senior at Magruder High School. I'm here to discuss
option H as this room fills with charts and the many voices you'll hear tonight from Wooten. I'm here. So Magruder's concerns echo just as loudly. This cannot be a conversation about Wooten without being a conversation about Magruder. If the district wants to talk about vision, then let's start by seeing Magruder clearly.
Given we have the worst FCI and M.c.p.s. We have been patient through leaks, mold, chewed up fields, a failing HVAC, broken elevators, dead mice, and a fallen ceiling during a musical, a building that would never be tolerated anywhere else. Patience is not infinite in Magruder's patience has been
spent. Option H keeps Magruder in limbo for the family, students, and educators who rely on Magruder every single day. Using Wooten as a holding school only holds students back. Some of our students already face a gantlet of busses just to reach Magruder. Option H turns that commute into a full
blown odyssey. Maybe when they read the Odyssey in English class, they might finally feel represented. If a building is too unsafe for one school today, it is too unsafe for another school. Five years from now, the idea that Wooten will magically become fit for Magruder community in five years is, well, bold, bold in a
way that ignores logic, safety, and basic respect for our community. Magruder students show up, work hard, win awards, earn scholarships, lead clubs, and serve our community. But we've done all of that despite our building, not because of it. Potentially calling Wooten our temporary home feels wrong. A home is accessible. A home is
safe. A home is chosen. But none of those words apply here. If Magruder's future is the question, option H is not the answer. You call it option H, I call it option hard pass. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. I'm going to call
the next six speakers. Charlene Lee, Angela, chairman. Anika Dutta. Chanel Lee. Asante.
Sorry if I don't pronounce your last name right. Uzma Kawas and Jason Garbett. So we're missing
somebody. Okay, can we start with Miss Charlene Lee? Good afternoon, board members and Doug Taylor. My name is Charlene Lee, and I'm here in strong opposition to option H. M.C.P.S. must learn from past
planning failures. Closing Woodward High School closes. Decades of overcrowding, eventually forcing a costly reopening. The 180 million investment in Crown was justified by your own data on urgent growth. Now, closing
Wooten would be a third mistake, while a birth rate decline as a countywide fact. M.c.p.s. Is using that data to justify a localized closure while ignoring the 3500 active housing units in our regional
pipeline. Your analysis relies on temporary dips from federal job losses and declining international enrollment, rather than long term reality. Opening crown at 100% capacity violates policy. FAA's mandate
for stability and guarantees a capacity crisis. Second, we ask for fiscal transparency. Option H lacks a public cost benefit analysis. If Wooten is to serve as a holding site for Damascus
or Magruder, it must be brought up to modern safety standards. We have seen no line item budget for those upgrades. If you are going to spend millions to make this facility functional for other clusters, the only logical choice is to
invest those funds for the students already here. Finally, option H is not a true boundary solution. It shifts the consequences of poor planning onto families without solving the overcrowding problem. I
urge you to preserve permanent capacity by keeping both Wooten and Crown as comprehensive high schools. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon. I'm here to ask
that you keep Wooten on Wooten Parkway. According to section G, two of the board's FAA, there are four key factors to be considered in changing school boundaries. Option H fails to satisfy all four factors. First, for the factor of demographic characteristics of the student population, the board must
focus on an equitable option which does not dismantle the diverse Wooten cluster. Option H concentrates disruption on one community, but other options spread temporary disruption more fairly. Equity does not entail one school bearing the full burden for countywide needs. Second,
regarding the factor of geography, option H fails to satisfy every subfactor for example, by moving Wooten out of Rockville into Gaithersburg. Option H does not support the proximity of communities to schools. Additionally, the Subfactor of transportation is certainly not satisfied. Option
H would convert the free of cost walking population into bus riders and students and caretakers, driving into and out of Rockville through new routes, increasing costs and the risk for accidents. Lastly, adjacency to schools is another geographic factor that option H fails to satisfy. Wooten
students collaborate with students in adjacent Frost and Falls Mead. Third, in terms of the stability of school assignments, factor option H lacks stability in the near and long term. By including only a limited population of anticipated students within Crown and not accounting for the certain future growth in
Rockville and Gaithersburg, option H would not lead to sustainable, stable school assignments. Fourth, and finally, in terms of facility utilization, the evidence does not show that option H comports with the board's policy for plans to be fiscally responsible, to the extent that
concerns are being conflated between boundaries and needed repairs. To Wooten, those same repairs would be needed if we were to be used as a temporary holding school. This investment should instead benefit the county through regional stability in the long term
through Wooten remaining a thriving permanent high school on Wooten Parkway. Thank you very much for your time and consideration. Thank you very much. Sami Caduta. Caduta. Did I say that wrong? Yes. You got it. Okay. Please. There you go.
Good evening, Doctor Taylor and members of the board. My name is Anna Caduta. I'm a proud parent of two wonderful daughters, a sixth grader at Cabin John Middle School and a third grader at Cold Spring Elementary School. I want to begin by expressing how fortunate we feel to live in a district that offers our children such incredible
opportunities. My sixth grader loves basketball and is hoping to make her school team next year. She also participates in the Odyssey of the mind program at cabin. John, my third grader, has found a voice through a theater program at Cold Spring. We love this county because it allows our children to find their interests and thrive.
However, I'm here to share why our community is so concerned about option H. This specific proposal creates logistical barriers that would effectively shut my children out of those very opportunities. Our families daily reality is a delicate balance. My wife commutes an hour and a half each way by train to Pentagon
City. I commute 45 minutes, five days a week to Anne Arundel County. Like many in Cold Spring, the southernmost community in this study, we rely on geographic proximity to make our lives work. Option H would place our family in an impossible position if my high schooler is moved to
Gaithersburg, while my middle schooler remains a cabin John in Potomac, they are being pulled in opposite directions, attempting to support children at two schools so far apart during rush hour would be nearly impossible for working parents. We would be forced to decide which child's extracurricular dreams to cut, simply because we cannot be in
two places at once. Safety for our future child student drivers. The fastest path to crown from our community is in backroads. It's a challenging commute on I-270 during peak congestion. While our teenagers are navigating the highway, our local roads will be clogged with busses, moving students in
from across the county. Distance and instability. Because Cold Spring is a farthest community from Crown, it becomes much harder to achieve long term stability. We all want for our students. As a geographic outlier, our families would be the most vulnerable to future reassignments. The moment the Crown reaches capacity, we
respectfully urge the board to keep Wootton High School on Wootton Parkway. Thank you for your time and for your service to our students. Thank you. Chanel Lee. Thank you. Well,
emotions are high. I'm here to focus on logic and reasoning. Option H, which would potentially make Wootton a holding school, is not a viable solution for two reasons capacity and procedural legitimacy. First option H does nothing to solve overcrowding.
While city and neighborhood planning documents forecast thousands of new homes in Wootton and Crown area, a growth rate higher than the rest of the county, option H chooses to close a school. This guarantees that Crown will be immediately overcrowded,
forcing gluten to reopen in just a few years. That means reassigning the same students twice. This is the definition of assignment whiplash violating M.C.P.S. FAA Policy on Stability of assignments. Second option H falls outside
the scope of the boundary study and flies in the face of the resolution adopted on October 30th last year, which allows for additional boundary options to be developed to reflect the option to use Crown High School as a temporary holding center. That resolution stated, quote,
that there would be no other changes to the high schools and middle schools included in existing scope, unquote. That is what the BOE voted in favor of. No matter what you call Wooten's closure, option H is not properly before this board for consideration and cannot
proceed. Lastly, I want to point out that Wootton community has been unfairly labeled as quote unquote privileged. The privileged label is a harmful generalization that erases the diverse reality of our students. It is a cluster of mostly modest homes, many rented or
leased, and a large number of federal employees, many of whom recently lost their jobs. They're not, quote unquote, elites. They're working class parents who made sacrifices for a predictable education. They deserve the same flexibility of assignment and equity promised to every other family in this
county. Thank you. Thank you. Go ahead. Thank you. Good evening, Doctor Taylor and members of the board. I am here as a parent in the Wootton community. I have a first grader in Falls Mead Elementary
and an eighth grader in Robert Frost. I am here to strongly urge you to remove option H. Option H would eventually dismantle Wootton High School, fracturing a stable, high performing cluster with long lasting and irreparable consequences. Why would we
attempt to solve a system wide capacity problem by hollowing out a stable school, rather than addressing the underlying planning issues? My eighth grader simply asks why option H is effectively a soft closure of Wootton High and delivers no clear educational advantages.
It is also a poor return on public investment. Please consider the following one. From an asset management perspective, Wootton High is a centrally located and established facility. Capital costs have already been paid by taxpayers. Two Wootton is a
fully utilized asset. Eliminating a school that consistently produces strong outcome does not improve efficiency but reduces it. Three permanently relocating students from their neighborhood school increases transportation costs that will only compound over time and
exceed any short term savings. Four there are measurable secondary impacts which go well beyond the school system. Five and finally, this proposal reflects deferred maintenance, allowing a building to age and then citing its condition as a reason for closure is not sound
capital practice. It creates a precedent that discourages preventative investment and rewards delay. In summary, option H replaces a repairable, high performing school with higher long term costs and systemwide disruption. It is not a holding school decision.
It is a closure decision, rushed and added without adequate due diligence from a data and capital planning standpoint. Modernization of the facility is the fiscally responsible option. Please, I respectfully ask you to consider dropping option H.
Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to call. Excuse me. I'm going to call Mr. Jason Gorevic one more time. Is he here? Okay. Then I'm going to call the next. The next speakers. Thank you.
Saeed Saeed g. Kim Glassman. Tula. Athas or Athas? Angela
Chang, Gloria. Duckworth. Okay, if we could start with the Saeed G. Good evening, board members. And Doctor Taylor,
thank you so much for this opportunity. Both my children were born in this county, and I was thrilled at the prospect of the schools they would graduate out of. I never paid any mind to what the educational board does. Just heard word of mouth that this is an exemplary school system. Give your kids this opportunity. However, last
few weeks have all been about option H instead of the mundane school chats I have with my kids. I don't want this because I trust the board to do what's right, and that trust is now broken. As a healthcare professional, a mom, and a community member. I'm here to strongly oppose the proposed
closure of Wootton High School under option H. Wootton is one of the M.c.p.s. Highest performing stable high school closing. It does not solve system wide challenges, nor does it save any money. It creates community, academic, social and fiscal harm and is a
procedural concern for generations. Wootton has repeatedly been removed from the CIP list that left its infrastructure deteriorating. It's deeply unfair and legally relevant. This pattern of deferred investment means that your own underinvestment is now a justification to close the
school, instead of fixing it. This is unfair and unjust to all of us. Option H breaks vital academic synergy with its feeder schools. For decades, teacher student relationships, aligned curricula, and community collaboration have supported students of all
grades. Taking that continuity away undermines success and a sense of belonging socially. Option H increases transportation needs, eliminates walkable access, raises carbon footprint, and diminishes student time equity. As highlighted multiple times,
Crown is the least efficient option, most more expensive and hours lost on busses are hours lost from learning activities and family. Wootton is a community anchor and closing it is a permanent loss. I urge the board to reject option H and
pursue other alternatives like putting Wootton back on CIP, keeping Wootton on Wootton Parkway. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Miss Glassman. Good afternoon. My name is Kim Glassman. I'm the
Magruder PTSA president and parent of two M.C.P.S. students. I encourage the board to reject option H and reject using Wootton as a holding school. Magruder has the worst FCI of any M.C.P.S. High school. After more than a decade of delays, we may finally be scheduled for renovation in 2031. Option H
makes further delays likely and more delays are unacceptable. If Wootton is so bad that it must close immediately, then it is not good enough for our less connected, quieter, less wealthy community as a holding school. If the mold, mildew, rat infestation, gas leaks, HVAC and plumbing issues are
that bad, then it is not going to be any better in five years from now. When it's finally Magruder's turn for a holding school. Preparing Wootton to be a holding school takes more time and money. Time is not on our side and money is in short supply. This pushes Magruder's long overdue renovation out even further. Our cluster is
divided between three Board of Ed districts Flower Hill, Mill Creek and Reznick and district one, Shady Grove and two Magruder, Redland and its feeders in five. There are already significant transportation barriers in our community. There are no busses that run from Gaithersburg to Olney, down Snuffer School to Magruder, which makes it
challenging for our families to get to Magruder. The shortest route from Flower Hill, where I live to Wootton, requires a bus to the Metro, a metro ride to Rockville, and another bus to Wootton, which is twice the distance as Crown. Making Wootton our home for several years, adds a layer of inaccessibility. I support
having a holding school. I do not support Wootton. Being that holding school, Magruder needs to be renovated as quickly as possible. We do not have time for another ceiling to fall. More instructional days lost due to lack of air conditioning or worse. Please reject option H. The attitude towards Magruder through this process
has been you get what you get and you don't get upset and that is not acceptable. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Tula. Tula. Athas. Hello. Good afternoon. I want to push a button. Thank
you. All right. My name is Tula Addison. I'm a Wootton mom. As you know, Wootton cluster overwhelmingly opposes option H, which would effectively shut down Wootton and use the existing building as a holding school. We urge the board to reject option H and instead choose options E or G. H is flawed. It's inefficient, both
fiscally and logistically. One H permanently reduces high school capacity in the Crown Wootton region, where long term enrollment demand is projected to rise. Residential development in the Gaithersburg Rockville region is exploding and the surge will continue for years to come. Rockville Council member Adam Van Grack confirmed this fact with
extensive evidence in his January 12th memo to the board. H reallocate students, but does not solve the county's underlying long term capacity challenge. Instead, it permanently removes a comprehensive high school from service in the Wootton corridor. While our region needs more enrollment capacity and not
less, H may provide short term relief, but it is not a long term solution. Two H is not cost effective. In fact, it's the costliest holding option under H. M.C.P.S. does not account for future growth in those areas like options E and G still invests millions of dollars to renovate facilities
for temporary holding use. In other words, H is not a cost savings. Why would M.c.p.s choose H over options E or G? It makes no sense fiscally or operationally. H creates a transportation and logistics nightmare for M.c.p.s. At large,
H significantly increases transportation and efficiency for Wootton, Magruder, Damascus, Damascus, and Magruder. Students are much closer to Crown than to Wootton. Why would M.c.p.s. Want to create longer commutes for students if they don't have to? It defies logic. Unlike Wootton, Crown is centrally located near large
arteries that can manage an influx of traffic. It's clear that H does not deliver the operational and fiscal efficiency that M.c.p.s seeks, and it must be rejected. Options E and G, which utilize Crown as a holding school, are much more viable solutions. We implore the board to make a decision grounded in common
sense and data driven fiscal, logistical and operational viability. E and G are your best bet. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Angela Chang. Angela chang. My name is Angela Chang. I'm a
proud parent at Fields Road Elementary School in Gaithersburg. My family supports opening Crown as a permanent high school under options A, B, C, and D. We also support option H only if it is modified to include Fields Road. Crown High School was planned to serve a growing Gaithersburg
community and to relieve overcapacity at already crowded high schools, and that need still remains. While enrollment patterns vary across the county, growth and development in Gaithersburg continue, and our local high schools are operating at or above capacity. In particular, the area along
the Great Seneca Science Corridor continues to see significant investment. This includes expanding life sciences and biotech employers, new housing, and mixed use development. These projects bring jobs and families to the area and reflect long term growth, including fields road
allows Crown to open with steady, appropriate enrollment while easing overcrowding at nearby schools. Stability matters for families students do better when school assignments are predictable and last over time. Opening Crown as a permanent school helps avoid repeated boundary changes that disrupts families and
communities. I also ask the board to consider middle school articulation when rezoning fields, road keeping students on a consistent pathway helps ensure they begin high school with friends and familiar faces. Avoiding split articulation supports a smoother transition and better sets students up for success, including fields, road
and the Crown boundary fits how our community is structured geographically. Fields road is the closest elementary school to Crown, and nearby neighborhoods are already connected through shared roads and daily routines. Fields road reflects the diversity of Gaithersburg, including. It helps ensure this new high school serves a student
population that reflects the community around it. For these reasons, I urge the board to open Crown High School as a permanent school and to include Fields Road in its boundary. Thank you for your time and consideration. Good afternoon,
board members and Doctor Taylor. My name is Gloria, mother of two and treasurer of Fields Road PTA. I was born in Peru and came at the age of four. Thanks to Montgomery County, I was able to attend Rock Creek, forest, Westland, and Bethesda Chevy Chase. In the beginning they taught me to speak English.
Since I came from a different country, I was able to graduate and continue my studies at the University of Maryland in the architecture program. I would like for all students to have this opportunity and not to be lost in a system of an overcrowded school. Fields Road Elementary School has been the
most impacted by all these ongoing redistricting decisions being made. We were originally in the cluster, moved to the Crown cluster, and now proposed to shift us to Gaithersburg High School. Our PTA, parents and community have been working
tirelessly to advocate for stability in the future of our students. Right now, our students don't know where they're going to be placed next. How can we maintain our strong community and security with this much instability? Our school is very diverse in regards to culture socioeconomics, yet we have
managed to join all these communities together to advocate for the future of our children. Our initial preference is our kids go to Crown High School as a permanent school. However, if this is no longer an option, we import you to leave us with our current Quince Orchard cluster.
In addition to ensure stability, our families at Fields Road would like to maintain our community Engagement Specialist, Miss Raffo. She has been essential in connecting our communities and ensuring our families have access to badly needed resources. The idea of her potentially being relocated to a different school every
year is gutting, and just continues to cycle of instability. She is the bridge between the school and families, as are many other community engagement specialists. Miss Raffo and our wonderful principal, Doctor Williams are the heart of our school. If we truly believe in equity,
belonging and student success, then we must protect the roles that make those values real every single day. Thank you. Thank you so much. Can we please go to video? We're going to thank you so much for your testimony. We're going to be
hearing from Olivia Vespoli. Who you Chung Elisa Zuko. I think it's Alisa, actually. Delays, delays. We keep getting bumped from the CIP. Hello, my
name is Olivia Vespoli and I am a fourth grade student at Woodfield Elementary School. I know that two of my years out of four at Damascus High School will be impacted. I'm here to say rebuild Damascus. Now, I
have asked the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus for a new school and it still hasn't happened. So why hasn't it happened yet? It keeps on being delayed and it was supposed to be done long before I got to high school, and it's still not done. My
parents say you're the ones in charge of the new school, so why hasn't it happened yet? Everyone else gets a good high school, so why can't we? Many my sister, my parents and my friends and my community all deserve a good high school. I
know that we all deserve a larger and safer one. I just went to my chorus concert a few days ago, and some of the parents had to stand because there wasn't enough room. I heard last year's concert had
to be canceled because there was a bat that bats can have rabies, so that's not safe. I'm here to say again, rebuild Damascus now. I want everyone to be safe. Thank you. Thank you, Board of Education. And
thank you, Doctor Taylor, for your leadership and sense of humor. You're almost as funny as my dad. Almost. She said. Almost. She said, can we go to GU Chang, please? Good afternoon. My name is Gloria. I'm here to raise a clear and
serious procedural issue. Option H violates the boundary study scope. The board approved specifically on October 30th, 2025. This board adopted the superintendent's revised boundary study scope for the Crown Damascus High School project. The adopted document is clear, detailed, and binding
by M.C.P.S. regulation and set firm limits on what staff were authorized to study and present. I quote resolved, that additional boundary options be developed for the Crown Damascus Study area, reflecting an option to use of Crown High School as a temporary holding center. Resolved, that there be
no other changes to the high schools and middle schools, including the existing scope. And be it further, option H is clearly not using Crown High School as a holding center and is clearly out of scope of what the board authorized as additional options under regulation Far section. Additional guidelines for
developing options for school boundaries and geographic student choice assignment plans. I quote point one prior to development of specific options to be put forward for stakeholder engagement. The Superintendent of Schools recommends to the board the potential scope for changes to school boundaries and or geographic student choice
assignment plans. Point four once the board establishes the scope of changes of school boundaries and or geographic student choice assignment plan that are under consideration, MCPs staff develop a range of options for stakeholder engagement. The regulation clearly states that MCPs staff
can only work on new options once the superintendent recommends potential changes, and the board establishes the scope of changes under consideration. Taken all together, option H is not within the scope of the additional boundary study options, and let's present procedural flaws with potential
legal consequences. If this option were pushed forward, I respectfully ask the board to acknowledge that the option H exceeds the adopted scope, immediately withdraw it, and reaffirm that any consideration of permanent change to Wooten must first come to the board via superintendent as a formal
scope amendment with transparency and public input. Thank you. Thank you. Can we play the video of Miss Alisa Zuckerberg, please? My name is Alisa Sehovic. I'm the one sending legal notices and record requests on behalf of
the community. You're probably tired of hearing from me. I'm definitely tired of writing them. And I'm a mom, so my definition of tired is pretty high. My role is not to advise you have counsel for that, but to caution that we are watching closely. Here's just a few of the many legal issues we're
tracking. First, the board approved the boundary study and later amended its scope to allow Crown to be used as a holding school. Option H goes much further. It moves Wooten into crown. That's not adjusting boundaries, that's deciding which school survives. Second, when school building is
vacated, its students reassign its boundaries eliminated. The law treats that as school closure. Regardless of labels used they require statutory closure process was never followed. Third, Wooten was removed from the Capital Improvement Plan. Then option H was introduced late in a rushed
manner. This sequence creates the appearance that Wooten's facility needs are being used as leverage for option H. Using Crown as a replacement school also raises serious questions about county and state CIP compliance. Fourth, Wooten serves a majority minority, largely Asian-American
population. Rather than repair the school option, H dismantles it, something M.c.p.s has never done to any other school with comparable facility challenges. When a government decision disproportionately impacts a protected group, federal law demands heightened scrutiny. For these reasons, among others,
option H presents multiple independent legal vulnerabilities, including immediate exposure to court challenges, Msde review, OCR complaints, and IAC oversight. Finally, I'll address a comment made during the last public testimonies. Kids are indeed
watching kids like my own Asian American children are watching to see whether their school will be singled out for closure, and we are watching to see whether this board pauses before irreversible harm is done. And it is tied up in litigation for years to come.
Thank you. Thank you all. This will conclude our public comments. The next business meeting of the Board of Education for public comment is Thursday, February 5th, 2026. US for public comment will open
on Thursday, January 29th, 2026 at 6 p.m. In addition to the online sign ups for public comment, we allow for in-person sign ups when space allows. Unallocated slots may be filled on a first come, first bass. I'm going to open for questions
or comments from my board members. Miss Yang. Yes, good afternoon everyone. I know many of you probably rearrange your work schedule or arrange
childcare, or just come straight from work after a long day. You're here because you care deeply about your children's education, and I appreciate you being here and your input deserve to be seriously considered. Thank you
everyone. Miss Zimmerman, thank you. I want to echo the sentiments of Miss Yang. Thank you all for being here, for taking the time, and to advocate for your community, for your students and all students in M.c.p.s. I also
know that we have, while we're not accepting other comments formally in our boundary study feedback form, that while that portion of feedback is closed, this portion of feedback is continuing. So while you're
here testifying to us and continuing to send us feedback through email, I encourage you to continue to do so and to continue hearing from the community in this way. Thank you. Okay. We're good with that.
We thank you for your testimony and for those folks who wrote us saying they could not get on the testimony from the Kennedy Cluster, the Gaithersburg cluster, the Damascus Cluster, and also the Wheaton cluster. You can always send your videos
and your testimony to us. And actually, we are reading and seeing the videos that are sent to us from those clusters who cannot get on today. Thank you all for coming and we appreciate your feedback. There's one more one more
speaker that was given. Thank you all for coming. We appreciate your feedback. We're going to move on to item number eight and that will be consent items. Are there any consent items that my colleagues from the board would request to be
pulled for clarification? Seeing none, is there a motion? And second, to approve items 8.1 through 8.19 and block motion to approve. Second, there is a motion and a second.
All those in favor, please raise your hand. Thank you. And that is unanimous. And it carries with those present.
Madam president, I've got a couple of announcements I'd like to add, since the board just adopted its consent agenda, one of the items in the consent agenda was actually a re adoption of technical amendments to our 2026 2027
school calendar. There were technical corrections that were made to address an inadvertent error involving two dates connected to days of commemoration. These corrections ensure that the calendar accurately reflects
instructional and non-instructional days as intended, specifically for those who are watching and would like to know. September 11th, 2026 and April 21st, 2027 are being corrected to be
regular school days, with the non instructional day being shifted to April 22nd from April 21st. These technical changes maintain balance across marking periods and also preserve instructional time.
Additionally, the Board of Education continues to celebrate a number of occasions with a couple of resolutions. First, we recognized African American History Month, honoring the history, contributions and lived experiences of African
Americans and reaffirming our commitment to inclusive teaching and learning across M.c.p.s. Throughout the month of February, we have a whole host of activities coming up next month, and the board adopted a resolution recognizing that important month in Montgomery County.
Second, the board approved Career and Technical Education Month, highlighting the vital role of CTE programs played in preparing our students for not just college, but careers. Third, we recognize Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month, underscoring
the importance of education that helps students build healthy and respective excuse me, respectful relationships. This is critically important for young people in our middle and high schools as they try to navigate life, that they build
positive relationships with peers. And finally, the board approved a National School Counseling Week celebrating the essential role that our professional school counselors play in supporting students academic success and well-being. These resolutions, which the
Board of Education approved today, will be shared and celebrated at the Board of Education meeting on February 19th. If you come to our Board of Education meetings and are willing to show up just a little bit early, we do do a little celebration beforehand where we get to recognize these
special events as well as celebrate them throughout the month and do special educational and cultural events. On a more sad note, unfortunately, the board also had to adopt a resolution recognizing some employees who
had passed. Today. We honored Miss Cordelia Joseph, a building service worker at Lucy Barnes Elementary School, a long time and dedicated team member who passed away. Miss
Mariama Samateh, who was a para educator at Brookhaven Elementary School. Mr. William Jones, who was a building services assistant manager at Falls Mead Elementary School. Mrs. Sati Atat, who was an
application developer in our Department of Transportation, and Miss Nirupa Ma. Daniel Moody, who is a para educator at Northwest High School, and Miss Momtaz Jannah, who was a
para educator at Doctor Charles Richard Drew Elementary School. And as you can tell, we've had a number of teammates who have passed in in recent months. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as we think about them and their
dedicated service to M.c.p.s. Thank you, Doctor Taylor. Our our prayers and blessings for for the family and friends and colleagues of those who passed. Okay with that, anything else
from you? You're you're done with. No, ma'am. That concludes announcements. Okay. So we're going to be moving then to action items. Action items 9.1 we have our wonderful staff.
Please identify yourselves for for our viewers. Good afternoon board and doctor Taylor I'm Laurie Christina Webb. I'm the chief of staff for the board. And I'm here with me is good afternoon. Tom Lockman, deputy chief of staff and the board office. And neither one of us is Patty spring. So we will,
but we will try and channel her to the best of our abilities today. We appreciate that. Okay. You go ahead. So we're here today to look at five bills and to look at to ask you to affirm your position from last year on a bill that has been
reintroduced. So starting with House Bill 14, which is a bill that deals with reporting bullying, harassment or intimidation and requires school systems to collect that information and to post it on
the website. We're the staff is recommending that we support with amendment. The amendment being to align it with the verification of such data through Msde and the timeline for such. So the the proposed
bill currently states that the that has to be posted by January 31st, but January 31st is the day that that information is due to Msde and where they verify it and we get it back. So we are suggesting that the language be that
within 30 days of it being posted on Msd's website. So we're going to ask you to take a position on that one. I'm going to ask my colleagues, is there a is there a motion?
Motion? And a second okay. Is there any discussion? I guess I would just like to ask M.C.P.S. if that kind of comports with the ideal timeline. I mean, is there ever an ideal timeline?
Probably not. But no, there's not an ideal timeline, but we can be supportive at this point. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Is there no further discussion? Then I will ask all those in favor.
Okay. That is unanimous. Okay. Thank you. Next. Great. House Bill 64, the Task Force on Education funding and student population Growth. This this bill would establish a task force looking at funding and population growth to analyze
the challenges related to the delay in student enrollment counts and the effect on school funding. Staff is recommending that we support with amendment, ensuring that the task force also looks at student growth in specific subgroups such as ML
and special education. Is there a motion? Motion second? Motion to approve with amendments with amendments? Support with sure. I'm sorry. Let's do it again.
Is there a motion? Motion with amendments? Is there a second? Second? Thank you. Discussion. Okay. All those in favor, please raise your hand. And that is unanimous. Next. The
next one we have is House Bill 102. This bill would require that school districts allow active duty service members to remotely advance enroll their children once they have received orders showing that they will be stationed in the state of Maryland in the
current or the following school year. To finalize enrollment, the family must provide the necessary documentation within ten days of the arrival date. The proposed position here would be to support with amendment. While M.C.P.S.
currently has an online enrollment system that would support the required enrollment, there would be some minor updates, but the recommended amendments would clarify that students who demonstrate eligibility for special education services could not begin receiving those services
until they until they physically are in attendance at their assigned school, and that any obligation regarding special education services would comply with appropriate, applicable laws. Motion to I'm
sorry I missed one, and just to confirm that that families would be required to remain residents of the county in which the child attends the school in order to remain enrolled in the assigned school for the remainder of the school year, which would be consistent with with existing policy and
regulation. Motion to support with amendments. Second is there is a motion and a second discussion. I guess I'm looking
at the last line of the rationale where the recommendation for an amendment is to basically, if they don't have, they don't live in the county residents, just like we do now. Then you don't get to enroll. But is it best I can tell from the bill? Part of the purpose of the bill is to allow
them to finish out the school year. If the family for, you know, whatever the parent is, gets reassigned to X space. Right? And so it just seems like then we're not really supporting the bill. I think this would be if if the
residents changes within Maryland. I think is how I'm I'm reading that. So so we're not talking out of state. We're talking within the state. It actually it actually does have an out-of-state component. And I think one of the things that
would really help with this bill is the is some of those technical amendments to, to getting the General Assembly to start thinking about this a little bit more concretely. This is, I think, a great example of great, great intent, but I think lacking some of the finer details, one of the things that we're struggling
with is enroll in the school system. But where and if you get your orders, you may not necessarily know what school within the district. We're very large district that could there's 211 opportunities. And so us also making sure that we
can provide services and continuity of services. So actually showing up makes it a little bit different than than than the paperwork process or access process of being able to provide services for a student
who's not really there. So that that's some of the genesis of it. But we think that there's more to come with this and that there's probably going to be another iteration or at least need another iteration. Okay. It feels a little unclear to me, so I'm honestly a little hesitant to go one way or the
other, because it seems like the intent of the bill is different than what we're saying would work, practically speaking. Maybe at least for our county, because it's so large and so may. May I ask a question since since it's it seems that this is work in
progress, can we pause on this and bring it back next time? When when it when some of these maybe issues have been more clear? Because I'm also having a hesitation on it, to be quite honest. So we can so we can or
we could. If you were generally in support of the bill, we could do with amendments and just not have the last amendment. The last part, which we said was that you had to live in the county for the entire the entire year that you
were allowed to finish. Miss Stewart, I would be I would prefer that way because I lived on a Air Force base when I was a kid, and kids move around a lot, and when they're being
deployed. So I do think some amount of flexibility would be needed. But I would like to see the technical amendments in writing. But so if we could leave that part out for now and
know that we will go back and look would be better for me, can can we do that? Sure. Okay. So so just to be clear, help me out. So we're voting on. So it
would be still support with amendments. Correct. But the the amendments that we would we would bring forward would be that it would not begin. Services would not begin until the student begins attending classes at the assigned school.
So there's no, you know, you you enroll early or but we're not sending a speech language pathologist out. And it requires that it comport with special education laws. Correct. So those are the two amendments that we would bring forward.
Okay. So that's what we're waiting on colleagues. So all those in favor please raise your hands. And that is unanimous. Thank you so much. Next bill okay. The next one is House Bill 160. And this is a bill that wants to prohibit the
state entity or political subdivision of the state from assigning a Confederate name to real property owned by the state or political subdivision are the staff's recommendation is that we support we already have a we already prohibit the
naming of schools, facilities after individuals or concepts that conflict with equity, inclusion or the board's core values. So this is in alignment with with that. Motion motion
to support. Second. Okay. Discussion, Miss Montoya. So is this the bill I know that our policy right. Any new facilities we would not support that name. But for the bill. Is that also saying the same thing that it's only new facilities
or is this we need to go through a list of our facility names and figure out if we need to rename some spaces. You mean like retroactive? Is that what you're asking? Is it retroactive? Right. Because I mean, you know, generally speaking with laws and policies, right? You can't usually. But I
don't know. This just seems a little unclear for me. So the way that I read it, it was a naming as you're naming building. So if a building is already named it would seem to not apply. But so we don't have any clear. You know what I mean? Someone could challenge that. Theoretically. Correct? Correct.
And we as you know, we have also a policy that looks at names that that are in conflict with our, our values. Right. But my understanding and please, of course, educate me if I get
the steps wrong, is that that is not something that we just initiate. We don't go through the list and go, okay, we're going to do these things. It's something that has to come from the community. Then there's a whole process. Correct. And then of course, we have to have funding. That's always the issue. Right. And so while we
do have a policy. Again, it's not retroactive. It's not necessarily looking back unless someone from the community initiates this whole process. And it goes through these steps. Right? Right. Like like the change of Colonel E Brooke Lee to Odessa Shannon would be a
great example of that. But if a school community does not, then as we have now, we have several schools that are named after enslavers. We just leave it. Well, or you know what the board has said in prior discussions is that when
there's new construction, when buildings are being remodeled, modernized or totally, you know, new, that that is a time where the board can can look at it even without the community coming forward. Okay. And I
just want to be clear, we have a lot of fiscal constraints. These things are not cheap. It can be almost $1 million. So we're not talking you know, you have school uniforms at signs etc. So it's not like we can just change the name and it's of no consequence. But thank you. Thank you for that clarification. Seeing no other questions, I will go for the
vote. All those in favor, please raise your hand. And that is unanimous. Thank you. Next bill. Okay. Next bill is House Bill 288 and Senate Bill 218. And that is to allow this bill would like to allow the
state superintendent of schools to declare a prolonged state of emergency for an event that prevents regular in-person attendance at a public school for at least 14 consecutive days, school days. Currently, that authority belongs with the
governor. So a staff recommendation is that support the. The state superintendent is the statewide authority knows education is is deeply involved with school superintendents and school
local boards. Motion to support second okay there's a motion a second. Is there any discussion? Miss Montoya I just wanted some clarification because it says at a public school. Right. Which makes in terms of grammar. Right. So that's like one
individual school versus the school system. Is that just to give them the flexibility in case there's an instance where maybe it is just one school or schools in a certain geographic location, so we don't need to shut the whole system down. I don't I just worded in an interesting way. Yeah, this, I think, has more to do with
access to relief in the event of an emergency, such as like access to. And I'll give you a perfect example, I can think of an example where the children had to get put in boats, and I'll give you a very concrete one that we're dealing with today. Earlier this afternoon, I sent a message to staff, and
one is also going out to families today alerting everyone of the potential for severe weather coming up. In that message, I also indicated that we will be issuing some additional support to address some food insecurity in our community in order for us to
access full reimbursement for that additional support, there needs to be a state of emergency issued for that to happen. So a little bit of this is we're on the hook financially, which is the right thing for us to do in terms of preparedness. But if the state
superintendent were to issue a state of emergency or a governor were to issue a state of emergency, our ability to receive additional support in response to that state of emergency or our ability to waive additional days at the end of the year may be impacted by this. So we support it.
Thank you. And I appreciate the clarification and the a little bit of context. Thank you. Okay. There is a motion a second. All those in favor please raise your hand. And that is unanimous. Thank you. Next bill I think the next one we have is the reintroduction of a bill that was introduced last year.
Last year was Senate Bill 526 this year, Senate Bill 158. This is regarding safe alternative routes to public schools. The specific bill requires a county board of education to prepare and post to the county's website. An
annual report that identifies pathways that public school students who are not eligible for transportation services may use to travel between the students residents to school using only safe alternative routes. Through that report, the county must then construct
sidewalks and crosswalks that are necessary to create those routes. Previously, the board opposed this. The fiscal impact of preparing such an annual report in a system this size, with 211 school sites and walk
zones, would be very costly and require outside consultant services. Costs would be incurred to update that report every year, as school attendance zones may change. In addition, a route could be identified for sidewalks areas
that the school system, of course, does not control and cannot control property maintenance on, and so may no longer be safe with the school system having no ability to rectify that. So. So the
recommendation would be to, as last year, maintain the position of of oppose this bill. So, Mr. Lockman, if I may, I'd like to add some additional context. As your budget stands right now, you you do not have
resources identified to support this. This is clearly a community priority, not just in the state of Maryland, but more directly here in Montgomery County. You're also entertaining a budget right now that does include some of this
financial support. So I did want to add that additional context, as well as why staff came out in terms of of not supporting it based on your existing resources, but you're also contemplating a budget that does include future resources that could
accommodate this motion to oppose. Second. I'd also like
to say that I support this work. It does need to be collaborative, not just school board, because we do have routes to school that we as a school system don't have control over. We need to have a
collaborative approach, and I do believe our budget actually does support that approach. So does this. I don't know if there's any talk that there would be any. Have you heard
any amendments being offered to this that talked about other entities besides school board? I think we're not aware of that at this point. Doesn't mean those conversations aren't happening, but those are things. Certainly, this has been an area of emphasis for the board
and looking to maintain that safety. So I know always looking for partners in that, in that effort. And so I'll work to communicate that with with our legislative connections and, and see what, what opportunities there might be for that. Thank you Miss
Wolff. I agree, I know that we can't afford this right now, but I do think it's a conversation that we need to have with our county partners. And as we are proposing in our current budget to add a position for safe routes to school, I think that that
should be one of the responsibilities of that person to try to initiate a work group, to look at this on behalf of the school system. Thank you, Miss Montoya. Thank you. I'd like to join the comments of Miss Wolf and Miss Stewart. This work is very important.
I'm really appreciative to Senator Ellis for making sure that this is a priority of the Senate and of the state, and to try to put that out there. I am very concerned about the fiscal impact because we are just so stretched. I know that we have a proposal for a position
within M.c.p.s. To basically do this work, which I'm very grateful and hopefully that will work out for us. But I have a hard time blatantly opposing it. So I just want to put on the record this, you know, this bill is really giving me pause because of the
importance of this work in light of the many fatalities that we have in this county. And as a mother of two young children myself. Miss Yang. Yes. Thank you. I also want to associate myself with the
comments of my colleagues. Traffic safety, how to get students and residents to schools to work and back home safely, carry out daily life, you know, takes a village to do
the work. And and we need to make incremental steps to achieve that. So I'm looking at this bill carefully and I, I would like to see there's a way that we can support amendments
so that fiscal note will be, you know, will be more realistic for the school system. But we will make progress in this area. Okay. Any other
comments? I will concur with my colleagues comments. And so we'll take a vote. All those in favor of the recommendation, please raise your hand, which is to post you clarify the
recommendation that the recommendation is is as with last year's bill, because it is the same bill, it's the same last year's position was to oppose. So the motion was to oppose as written at this time. Now that we're all clear, all those in favor, please raise
your hand. Any abstentions? Mr. Yang and Miss Montoya. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. The rest of the bills, as you'll see in the memo, are under our platform. I appreciate it. Okay. Moving on. We're going to be moving on to
item 9.2. This next item on the agenda. Can you just ask if anyone has comments on the rest of the bills covered under the platform, please? I think we did that last year as well. Not
moving on, moving backwards. Moving backwards to 9.1. Does anybody else have any comments on the rest of the bills? And I bet Miss Montoya does, because Miss Montoya, okay, Miss Montoya, thank you. And I
appreciate the opportunity. First, I want to recognize that we do have a platform, and I can appreciate all of the work that goes into the platform and the importance of ensuring that we preserve our local autonomy as a school board in a very large school district, where we
cannot always absorb the even wonderful recommendations and suggestions of our state legislators. And by and large, I don't have any issues with supporting the platform and the recommendations of the bills under that section. However, I do really struggle with the
opposition to HB 189 and SB 103 public, middle, high, and charter school start time for instruction bills sponsored by Delegate Miller and Senator Benson that discusses start times for our middle and high schools. While the bill while
we are with, you know, in compliance with the proposal under middle schools because our middle schools don't start until after 8 a.m. our high schools start very, very early. And as a parent of two almost teenagers, I can see the internal time clock shift myself in real time. So it's
just very hard for me to notwithstanding that there would be layers of things that need to be worked out, not at least explore the idea of this, because I can see the impact of it on our children. And I do wonder if many of the challenges that we have at the middle school and high school
levels could be alleviated somewhat if our children were just getting more sleep. I'm going to have to respond. So. So the reason this is under our platform is because the board at any time could, could decide to change your start times. That is within the authority of the board. And the reason we
take we are recommending this position is because we want to maintain that autonomy for boards to decide what what are appropriate start times, given the traffic patterns. Geography. Population of their, of their
communities. And so this would be a statewide, you know, so we we we look to always retaining your ability to make these decisions. Correct. Thank you so much Miss Stewart. I want to associate myself with the comments from Miss Montoya
about start times as well. This it could help if we moved as together as a state in my opinion, but I understand the position. I do have
reservations about opposing this. And it's a goal. It's a it's moving towards a goal. Thank you, Miss Yang. I want to associate myself with the comments of my two colleagues. Thank you, thank you. Okay with
that? Now we're moving on. Thank you. All right. 9.2 Final Action Policy. The next item on the agenda is final action on the amendments and policy D a fiscal responsibility and control. I will now turn it
over to the chair of the Policy Management Committee, Mrs. Miss Wolff. Thank you. The recommended amendments to policy d a are intended to update processes that safeguard financial resources entrusted
to the Board of Education. The policy establishes oversight mechanisms to ensure accountability for the appropriate use of funds and to prevent waste. Draft amendments were first reviewed by the Policy Management Committee on
May 15th, 2025 and were approved by the full board for distribution for public comment on October 16th, 2025. The Committee reviewed the public comments on December 3rd, 2025, and is now recommending that
the amended version of this policy included as attachment A in the packet, be approved for final action. At the time these changes were reviewed by the committee, Miss Yang was serving as chair, so I would ask if she has additional
comments to offer. Miss Wolff there are three and policy on the table for today. My comment is let's get it across the finish line. We are here. Let's go. Okay. All right. With that, I'll turn it over to staff to
walk us through the recommendation. Thank you, Miss Wolff, President Rivera and members of the board. And Doctor Taylor. My name is Sally Davis. I am the supervisor of policy and regulations in the Division of Legal Services. So
we are here to request final action on three. And after consideration of the public comments you have available in your packets, a summary of engagement for each policy. These show engagement with
stakeholders as far back as September of 2023, including the board's Fiscal Management Committee, the County Executive's Office and the Budget Advisory Committee, as well as other financial experts.
I defer to the board. At the time of consideration by the committee. Ms. Yang asked that they be moved as a block. Please advise what you would like us to discuss further.
Does anybody have any questions? I think we were prepared to move them individually. Okay, so so we're going to do the Da first okay. Yes we're doing Da first okay. So we are not recommending further changes in
response to public comments to Da okay. So thank you. As chair of the Policy Management Committee I move that the board approve policy Da for final action with the motion of the chair on the committee's recommendation. No second is
required. Is there any discussion from my other colleagues seeing none. We're going to vote. All those in favor, please raise your hand. And that is unanimous. Thank you. The next item on the
agenda is final action on amendments to policy Dig operating fund investments. Oh, that's your that's your spot. Sure. Meals. It sounds so good coming from you. I'm giving myself permission to move on.
So you move on. You move on. You have my permission. You go right ahead. So the recommended amendments to policy dig are intended to update criteria for the investment of all Unexpended appropriated operating funds and the process
by which the board carries out its oversight responsibility. The update provides clarity on the investment, purpose and use of these funds. Draft amendments were first reviewed on May 15th, 2025, and were approved by the full board for
distribution for public comment on October the 16th, 2025. The committee reviewed the public comments on December 3rd, and is now recommending that the amended version of this policy, included as attachment A in the packet, be approved for final
action. I would again ask Miss Yang. Do you? That's it. Actually, these are very just mostly technical updates. It's not anything that we've really, really added to it. So I move as chair of the policy
committee that the board approved policy dig for final action. Thank you, Mr. Wolff. With the motion of the chair on the committee's recommendation, no second is required. Is there any discussion from my colleagues? Seeing none. All
those in favor, please raise your hand. And that is unanimous. Thank you. So moving on to the final action for policy, gig funding and retirement pension system. I will again turn it over to my
colleague and partner, Miss Wolff. You didn't want me to take it over? No. I'd like to share. The recommended amendments to policy Gig are intended to establish the responsibilities of the Board of Education with respect to funding the M.C.P.S. Employees
Retirement and Pension system. Amending the pension funding policy will help keep the M.C.P.S. Retirement system strong and secure, ensuring that promised benefits for teachers and staff are protected over the long term.
Draft amendments were first reviewed on May 15th, 2025 and were approved by the full board for distribution for public comment on October 16th, 2025. The committee reviewed the comments on December 3rd, 2025, and is now recommending that
the amended version of this policy, included as attachment A in the packet, be approved for final action. Miss Yang, I'm going to assume you have no comments again, and we're moving on. Okay. With that, I don't think we need to turn it over because these are really
just minor changes. So as chair of the policy committee, I move that the board approve policy gig for final action with the motion of the chair, miss Wolff, on the committee's recommendation. No second is required. Is there any discussion by my colleagues
seeing none. All those in favor, please raise your hand. And that is unanimous. Thank you so much. That will take us to item number ten. Several information items are included in the board's packet. No action is
required of the board on these items at this time. Is there no further business of the board? May I have a motion to adjourn? Motion to adjourn. Second,
there is a motion and a second. All those in favor, please raise your hand. And that is unanimous. Thank you so much. The meeting is adjourned. We hope to see everyone at our next board meeting. Everyone have a good evening. Buenas
noches.