By Adam Pagnucco.
On Tuesday, this site ran a guest column by Angie Kronenberg, representing Save Our Silver Spring Schools, questioning MCPS’s process for considering elementary and middle school closings and consolidations. This morning, MCPS sent me a response to this column, which I am publishing in full below.
*****
MCPS Official: School Closures & Consolidations / Important Clarifications
A recent opinion article by Angie Kronenberg of Save Our Silver Spring Schools raises questions about MCPS’s elementary and middle school closures and consolidations study. What is true is that families should ask hard questions about a process this consequential. They should expect transparency, meaningful engagement, sound data and careful consideration of the impact on students and communities. We agree.
That is exactly how MCPS is approaching this work. But the column also makes several incorrect assumptions about decisions and processes that have not yet occurred. Those assumptions need clarification so families understand where this work stands and what comes next.
The criteria are not being decided behind closed doors
The Oct. 8 Board of Education meeting will not approve closure criteria, establish weights for those criteria, identify schools for closure or make any closure decisions.
It is an information and process update. Staff will explain why the study is underway, review the requirements that already govern the work, provide the updated timeline and preview the community engagement process. We encourage our entire community to watch this important presentation.
MCPS does not begin this work with a blank sheet of paper. Maryland regulation and Board policy already require consideration of multiple factors. Those are existing requirements, not criteria being secretly developed by MCPS.
What has not been finalized is how those requirements, additional considerations and community priorities should come together in evaluating potential decisions. The framework specifically leaves room for additional considerations raised by students, staff and families. That is part of the work ahead.
Community engagement comes before full criteria determinations—not after it
The sequence matters.
- October engagement will focus on establishing a shared understanding of the challenge and asking a fundamental question: What should every student and staff member have access to in our schools? Participants will also discuss the process and how decisions will ultimately be made.
- December moves specifically to final criteria determinations. Participants will see how ideas from the fall are being considered alongside COMAR, Board policy and regulation; discuss how criteria should inform decision-making; and identify additional refinements.
The fact that every consideration has not been finalized before engagement begins is not evidence that something is being excluded. It is one of the reasons we are engaging.
This is bigger than a cost-cutting exercise. Cost matters, but this work is not simply about closing buildings to reduce expenses.
Enrollment in MCPS is declining for the first time in more than 40 years, and that decline is not occurring evenly. Some schools have more space than they need while other communities continue to grow. There are also costs that do not disappear when enrollment falls. A school building still requires a roof, HVAC, plumbing, and other infrastructure to be maintained regardless of how many students attend.
At the same time, staffing, funding and facilities resources are limited.
The larger question is whether schools are organized and appropriately sized so they can provide the people, programs and spaces necessary for an excellent student and staff experience.
The analysis therefore must consider staffing, programming, facilities and operating costs together, not one expense in isolation.
Engagement is designed to be a conversation
In-person sessions will begin with a gallery walk and a short presentation so participants start with common information. From there, participants can join facilitated conversations and Q&A focused on facilities and transportation, enrollment and programs, and staffing and budget. They can explore information, talk directly with content experts, ask questions and provide feedback.
Virtual sessions will provide the same presentation and discussion topics, along with project resources and a web-based survey mirroring the in-person engagement. Sessions will be recorded and posted online.
No schools have been selected for closure
Community members should advocate for their interests and concerns. Tell us what makes their schools and communities important. Identify factors that may not be obvious in the data. That information matters.
Importantly: There is no predetermined closure list. In fact, deciding now which schools should close—or which schools should never be considered—would skip the analysis and engagement that must occur.
This process is not rushing toward an Oct. 8 decision
The first round of engagement begins Oct. 19. Feedback is synthesized in November. A second round runs from Nov. 30 through Dec. 11. Recommendation development follows. The Superintendent’s recommendation is scheduled for February, followed by public hearings in February and March. A Board decision is scheduled for April 15, 2027.
There are months of engagement, analysis and public process between the Oct. 8 update and any final decision.
There is much in this process about which we all can agree: The data matter. The criteria matter. Student experience matters. Community impact matters. And engagement must matter.
As we go through the next several months together we must guard against letting questions about what will happen become conclusions about what has already happened.
Criteria have not been finalized. Weighting has not been established. Community engagement has not yet occurred. A recommendation has not been developed. No schools have been selected for closure or consolidation.
Those are not shortcomings of the process at this stage. They reflect where we are in it.
So yes, hard conversations are ahead, but they are necessary for the future of MCPS, and we owe it to one another to have them honestly, openly and based on the facts. That is the process.
Montgomery County Public Schools