Editor’s note: Due to an editing error, this story, originally published April 4, incorrectly stated that Walter Johnson High School is in the Downcounty Consortium. The error was corrected at 11:06 a.m. April 8.
Montgomery County Councilmembers are urging the county school board to consider parity when making decisions about cutting or reducing spending for school renovation and construction projects in its proposed Capital Improvement Program (CIP).
“We shouldn’t be building certain high schools with certain amenities and other high schools with others,” Council President Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) said during a work session Tuesday before the council chose one of two lists of the school board’s “non-recommended reductions” in school construction spending.
The CIP is the county’s six-year plan for capital improvements that would work in tandem with County Executive Marc Elrich’s $7.1 billion proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2025. It lays out the objectives of capital programs and the relationship between them. It also outlines the county’s long-range development plans, recommendations for construction, and estimates of costs, revenue sources and impacts.
Elrich’s (D) proposed CIP budget of $1.9 billion for schools is $91.8 million less than the school board’s own CIP request, which included 36 projects for Montgomery County Public Schools. In February the council asked the board to develop a list of “non-recommended reductions” that could resolve the proposed shortfall between the board’s request and Elrich’s recommendation. The full proposed county CIP is $5.84 billion.
The council voted Tuesday to go with “Scenario A” out of two scenarios for non-recommended reductions proposed by the school board, as recommended by the council’s Education and Culture Committee. However, nothing is final until the council takes its final votes on the county CIP and budget in May.
Neither plan was particularly popular among councilmembers. One controversial non-recommended reduction would delay the construction of auditoriums at the new Charles C. Woodward and Crown high schools in North Bethesda and Gaithersburg, respectively, until after they open.
Under Scenario A, renovations would also be delayed at Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring, and Col. Zadok Magruder and Thomas S. Wootton high schools in Rockville. The plan also would cut funding for proposed additions at James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring, Mill Creek Towne Elementary School in Rockville and Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville.
“There’s a lot of things that need to be fixed. You hear about it a lot,” said councilmember Will Jawando (D-At-large), who chairs the Education and Culture Committee. “But I just want to emphasize that while some of the projects are pushed out, this will still have a big impact on improving the daily lives of students and families.”
MCPS Interim Superintendent Monique Felder said the CIP was heavily impacted by issues “outside of our control,” including supply chain disruptions and construction delays.
“These obstacles have resulted in adjustments to our school construction, … which understandably has raised concerns among families, staff and the Board of Education,” Felder said.
Friedson, council Vice President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) and councilmember Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5) wrote a letter to fellow councilmembers prior to the work session expressing concern about the potential delay of construction of the auditoriums.
Stewart said while she understands some projects had to be cut and that the auditorium may not be a priority compared to other requests, MCPS needs to create clear communication plans with families. She noted that students in the area who may attend Woodward High School have faced construction in their current schools for several years.
“I just asked that as we’re looking at three- or four-year delays that we remember, that’s a high school time for a student and their family,” Stewart said. “We’re asking for students to live without the facilities that other students have in our county.”
Seth Adams, associate superintendent of facilities management, said the initial construction of the high schools would include a black box auditorium that could house smaller scale productions.
“The spaces at Woodward were designed specifically to support the performing arts program at Northwood [High School],” Adams said. “So we feel very confident that … we will be able to support these students and families.”
When completed, Woodward will serve as a holding school for three years for students from Northwood High in Silver Spring while their school is rebuilt to increase capacity. Woodward’s official reopening is expected to be in August 2027, according to MCPS.
The $180 million construction project, which began in August 2021, is designed to alleviate overcrowding at high schools such as Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda.
Friedson noted that an auditorium would serve not only the students, but the entire community.
“An auditorium… is really where many of the community activities and events are happening, not just performing arts and it’s really at the center in the heart of high school,” Friedson said. “Obviously learning needs to be the No. 1 priority of the school. But schools do and are much more than that to the families and the communities that rely on them.”
Councilmember Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7) advocated unsuccessfully to prioritize renovations to Damascus High School, which was built in 1950 and last renovated in 1978, in her district. Her failed motion would have amended the scenario chosen by the council, which would delay renovations to the school from a completion date of August 2027 to an undetermined date.
“We were on the cusp of starting those renovations after multiple community conversations up there,” Luedtke said. “I would ask that the council keep this discussion going, that’s what I’m asking for. Don’t close the door.”
Councilmember Sidney Katz (D-Dist. 3) applauded the fact that funds were kept in the CIP for renovations that would make schools more compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, but said he thought these fixes should already have been made. He cited speaking with students in the past who had to help carry classmates with disabilities out of classrooms during emergency evacuations.
“We need to make certain that the ADA improvements don’t necessarily have to wait,” Katz said. “If there’s something wrong, you need to be fixing those along the way.”