Wootton High School Closure Put on Hold After Community Uproar at MCPS Board

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Parents, students, and community members packed a Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education meeting Thursday night to deliver a clear message: don’t close or uproot Wootton High School in the name of bureaucratic convenience.

The meeting, held January 8, focused on public comment surrounding “Option H,” one of several proposals in MCPS’s ongoing Crown/Damascus boundary study. Option H would effectively relocate Thomas S. Wootton High School from its longtime Rockville campus to the new Crown High School building under construction in Gaithersburg—while converting the existing Wootton site into a long-term “holding school” for other renovation projects.

The Outcome: No Decision—Yet

As of January 9, 2026, no final decision has been made. Board members acknowledged the overwhelming opposition and emphasized that Option H remains only one proposal among several. Superintendent Thomas Taylor is expected to present a formal recommendation in the coming weeks, with a final board vote anticipated in March 2026.

That pause is significant—and telling.

A Packed Room, a United Message

The hearing drew dozens of speakers, including students, parents, alumni, and Rockville officials, many of whom described Option H as a rushed solution to problems MCPS has known about for years. Speakers warned that the proposal would:

• Disrupt long-established feeder patterns, including Robert Frost Middle School
• Increase commute times and transportation costs
• Undermine community identity and stability
• Fail to meaningfully address overcrowding at nearby schools
• Set a troubling precedent by relocating a high-performing school instead of renovating it

An online petition opposing Option H has now surpassed 4,000 signatures, underscoring the depth of resistance.

A Broader Governance Question

From a center-right perspective, the controversy highlights a recurring issue in Montgomery County governance: top-down planning driven by cost containment and deferred maintenance, rather than accountability and long-term stewardship.

Wootton’s building—constructed in 1970 and last renovated in 2001—has long-needed upgrades. Critics argue that MCPS’s failure to prioritize those renovations should not now justify dismantling a successful, community-anchored school. If anything, they say, Option H rewards years of inaction by shifting the burden onto families.

Meanwhile, Crown High School—an approximately $180 million, state-of-the-art facility—was originally promised to serve local Gaithersburg-area families. Using it to absorb an entirely different school community risks alienating both sides.

What Comes Next

MCPS is still collecting and analyzing feedback, including results from its boundary study survey. Any permanent closure or relocation would require additional public notice, hearings, and a formal vote under district policy.

For now, Wootton remains where it is—and community pressure appears to have slowed what many feared was a foregone conclusion.

Whether the board ultimately listens will be a test of how responsive Montgomery County’s education leadership truly is when families show up, speak out, and demand common-sense decision-making over administrative convenience.

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