From: PCWC@yahoogroups.com <PCWC@yahoogroups.com> On Behalf Of radlinc@yahoo.com [PCWC]
Sent: Friday, September 28, 2018 5:26 AM
To: PCWC@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [PCWC] MCPS Policy Change re School Boundaries
(This is copied from Next Door.)
IMPORTANT SCHOOL BOUNDARY INFORMATION in MONTGOMERY COUNTY: There was a very critical policy change adopted last night 5-3 at the MCPS Board of Ed meeting which now makes diversity the most important factor in deciding where boundaries are drawn. There is a new high school slated to be built in the downtown crown area and it lists Wootton, RM, QO, Northwest and Gaithersburg as schools in that area (where they would pull students). So, there may likely be boundaries changing in the future. What can I do if I have comments on this policy change?
1. Email the boe@mcpsmd.org (email goes to all members)
2. Email individual members listed here https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/members/
3. Bring up your concerns at your next PTA meeting. Want more information on this:? Here is where you can watch testimony from the Board Meeting last night. If you click on item #10 Action on Board Policy/10.1 Final Action , BOA Policy FAA this is where you can see the board members having a long discussion. You click on item #10 and then at the top of the page click on the icon that looks like movie film and you can watch the video. https://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/goto…
These are some summary points from the meeting:
1. A FAA policy change was open for public comment from April to September. Only in the last week did the board propose changing language to weigh diversity more than any other factor. Last night at the meeting, they moved the published time of the discussion earlier with no notice.
2. When Rebecca Smondroski (board member who voted against policy change) asked to table the vote last night because she said they needed more input from the community, no one would second her motion, then they quickly moved to a vote and passed the policy change.
3. Board member Jill Ortman-Fouse said that some parents had said in emails that they bought there house because of the school it feeds into. She called this “institutional racism”.
4. Board member Judith Docca in talking about diversity in the schools said that students have been moved around for years and its time that kids in “W” schools (Wootton, Whitman, Churchill, WJ) get moved.