Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is leaning toward implementing a model that would create six regions of four or five high schools offering program parity among areas to increase equity, according to Tuesday’s school board meeting.
“This is not just about the next few years … this is about designing a long-term system — one that is equitable, relevant and sustainable for decades to come,” MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor said during the Tuesday meeting.
MCPS introduced the possibility of a regional programming model for county high schools at the May 8 school board meeting. The model is part of the district’s ongoing program analysis and boundary study.
The analysis includes programs ranging from regional and countywide magnet and lottery-based programs to those offering career and technical education, AP courses and dual enrollment in high school and Montgomery College, the county’s community college.
MCPS offers a variety of application programs with some open to students countywide and others only open to students in specific high school clusters. The subject areas for the programs range from science, math and computer science to leadership for social justice and project-based learning in engineering and biomedical sciences.
The proposed program model is likely to draw interest and questions from MCPS families, especially regarding the impact on highly competitive magnet programs such as the Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science Magnet Program at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring and the countywide International Baccalaureate Programme (IB) at Richard Montgomery High in Rockville. Both programs have developed a measure of prestige since their creation in the 1980s, particularly the Blair program, whose students have won numerous national awards and competitions over the years.
During the meeting’s public comment period held before the program analysis presentation, some community members advocated for keeping countywide programs, such as the programs at Richard Montgomery and Montgomery Blair, as is, arguing it develops a unique, challenging academic environment that pushes students to excel.
In an email to Bethesda Today, MCPS spokesperson Liliana López said a final decision on whether or not countywide programs will be cut has not been made.
The program analysis was previously set to be included as part of the district’s ongoing boundary study, which will determine the attendance areas for the new Charles W. Woodward High school in Rockville, the new Crown High School in Gaithersburg and an expanded Damascus High, all set to open in 2027. But the district opted to conduct its own program analysis concurrently with the boundary study conducted by a hired consultant.
Taylor is expected to present a recommendation about a programming model to the school board for a vote by the end of December. Programming changes will be fully implemented by the 2027-2028 school year, according to MCPS.
According to a June 24 presentation to the school board, the regional programs would include “criteria-based and interest-based pathways” and advanced classes, integrate existing “high-quality programs,” prepare students for college and careers and be resourced equitably.
Offerings at all schools, or “baseline courses,” would include core classes, advanced classes such as advanced placement, International Baccalaureate Programme classes and dual enrollment and elective classes focused on such topics as some world languages, fine arts and work-based learning. MCPS staff said the district may employ online learning to ensure equitable access to classes.
The proposed regions include the following high schools:
- Region one: Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Walt Whitman in Bethesda, and Montgomery Blair, Albert Einstein and Northwood in Silver Spring;
- Region two: James Hubert Blake and Springbrook in Silver Spring, Paint Branch in Burtonsville, and Sherwood in Sandy Spring;
- Region three: Winston Churchill in Potomac, Walter Johnson in Bethesda, Charles W. Woodward in Rockville, and Wheaton;
- Region four: John F. Kennedy in Silver Spring, and Col. Zadok Magruder, Richard Montgomery, Rockville, and Thomas S. Wootton in Rockville;
- Region five: Northwest in Germantown, and Crown, Gaithersburg and Seneca Valley in Gaithersburg; and
- Region six: Clarksburg, Damascus, Poolesville, and Quince Orchard in Gaithersburg.
According to MCPS staff, the district’s analysis determined a number of program themes based on student interest in regional programs and pathways. The themes include a range of programs focusing on health and medical professions such as medical science, education programs including the future teachers academy, and leadership and public service programs such as law and criminal justice.
Each high school could offer one or two programs from the thematic areas, according to MCPS staff. For example, one high school in a given region could have a health and medical professions program while another high school could offer engineering and creative arts programs.
Taylor said during the meeting that each region would need to offer comparable opportunities, and the district would need to “align admissions processes to reflect that.”
“That means that each region will operate as a consortia-like model, or none would,” Taylor said.
MCPS has two high school consortiums, the Northeast Consortium and the Downcounty Consortium. Each consists of three to five schools, with each offering specialized programs in different academic areas. Students living within a consortium area can then apply for one of the programs offered by the included high schools.
Moving forward, MCPS Chief Academic Officer Niki Hazel said the district would be determining where effective programs reside. That will help the district determine which schools would host these programs under the new model, as well as to develop admissions criteria and a multi-year transition plan.
Following the presentation, board member Grace Rivera-Oven raised concerns about the large distance between some schools within the same region.
Chief Operations Officer Adnan Mamoon said the regions were developed based on the MCPS transportation department’s contention that it’s easier for buses to travel from east to west than to travel north to south due to traffic congestion patterns during peak travel times.
“Can I just suggest that you actually get on a bus during the summer, and actually do these routes?” Rivera-Oven said. “I just want to make sure that the choices we make are in the best interest of our students. I would hate to have kids on the bus for an hour.”
Student Member of the Board Praneel Suvarna recalled that when he explored high school programs, he considered extracurricular and co-curricular activities offered at the schools, noting that should be considered in the program analysis. Suvarna also he had concerns about relying too heavily on virtual learning as an option for students to take baseline courses.
Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations (MCCPTA) President Brigid Howe also raised concerns over transparency and community engagement with the ongoing program analysis and boundary study, urging MCPS to show the public how it was determining its decisions. According to Howe, community committees involved in the processes have asked for data they haven’t received.
Board President Julie Yang and board member Karla Silvestre also pressed MCPS for additional data concerning transportation and financial implications for the regional programming model.
“The board would be very interested, as we prepare for the next budget cycle, to understand the cost implications so that we can build it into our next budget,” Silvestre said.
