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Montgomery County School board approves major boundary change plan

Updated  March 26, 2026 6:17pm EDT
News
FOX 5 DC

The Brief

    • Montgomery County Public Schools has approved a major plan to change to its boundaries.
    • It's been a controversial topic for months, with parents and community members on both sides of the argument. 
    • The decision will have a major impact on students at Wootton High School.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - A heated, long-fought battle in Maryland’s largest school district has come to a head. 

The Montgomery County Board of Education has voted to approve major school boundary changes.

The backstory:

This is a decision that has been several months — maybe even years in the making. 

Many parents and students across the district have fought hard and passionately either advocating against or in favor of these changes and now, these families have learned the outcome. 

The board voted on the two boundary change recommendations the superintendent made a few weeks ago. 

Dig deeper:

The first recommendation moves students at Wootton High School to the brand-new Crown High School, and then also expand Damascus. To do this, the district is establishing boundary reassignments, affecting 31 elementary schools by changing their middle and/or high school assignments.

The second recommendation will reopen Charles Woodard High School and expand Northwood High School. This recommendation also includes boundary reassignments, affecting 19 elementary schools by again changing their middle and/or high school assignments.

What they're saying:

Parents and students who oppose the plan made their 11th-hour appeals to the board Thursday afternoon, but ultimately, they failed. 

Many of them were from Wootoon High School and were begging the board to keep their school open and not move their students to Crown.

"Very disappointed, it’s one of the best schools in the state in the country. We literally put a pin in that school when we moved here. We said we want to be close to that school," MCPS parent Bryan Gibb. 

 "It's a community school, we’re a community. Our school should stay where it is it’s important for the future of generations to come," said Dr. Barbara Hirsch, a parent of a former Wootton High School student.  

Big picture view:

District officials have said these new boundaries are necessary to balance enrollment, tackle construction needs, and save a lot of money, and they say they made modifications to these plans after taking in community feedback. 

MCPS is stressing that the changes would be implemented for the 2027/2028 school year but that there are nuances to that — particularly for 8th, 11th and 12th grade students. 

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