by Sarah Nove ’20

Last January, the Board of Education adopted a resolution introduced by former Student Member of the Board (SMOB) Ananya Tadikonda, which called for a re-evaluation of school boundaries across the county. According to MCPS’s website, the Board is using external consultants to “conduct an in-depth review and analysis of how existing school and cluster boundaries support or impede the effective use of school facilities.”

The consultants will begin the boundary analysis this winter and plan to present their report to the Board around spring 2020 (see MCPS’s official timeline). The study itself will not alter boundaries, but the findings could influence or prompt future changes. Proponents of the boundary study hope it will highlight necessary changes to school attendance zones and motivate MCPS to address the lack of funding, space, diversity, and resources that impact many schools.

“Examining the possibility of altering the boundaries for [MCPS] schools can present opportunities for progress toward ensuring that all students are able to reap the significant benefits of attending school with a diverse student body, and having class sizes that allow time and space for enhanced educational experiences,” stated Tadikonda in her resolution.

MCPS has not conducted a boundary analysis on this scale in over 20 years, and many issues resulting from outdated boundaries have gone unaddressed.

MCPS held public meetings last April, in which they asked participants what they thought were the “greatest concerns among parents about the current attendance zones.” Many participants, answering in groups, listed various concerns about inequality in MCPS (see coverage by mymcmedia or written answers from meeting participants).

Economic

The table below shows the high schools with the highest and lowest density of students receiving Free and Reduced Lunches (FARMs) in MCPS. With such a large economic gap between these extremes, some participants at the meetings worried that schools in wealthy areas may have more resources from donations and sponsorships than schools in low-income areas.

According to Jill Ortman-Fouse, former at-large member of the Board of Education, “MCPS has completely ignored any external resources or sources of funding because they don’t want to acknowledge the disparity that exists, and they feel helpless to do anything about it.”

Students that receive FARMs, or Free and Reduced Lunches, must demonstrate financial need. The table above shows the three high schools with the lowest percentage of FARMs students in the county, the three high schools with the highest percentage, the approximate average over all MCPS high schools. All “≤5.0” schools were rounded up to 5.0 due to lack of exact data to calculate the average.

Racial

Another concern raised at the meetings related to racial diversity in MCPS. According to niche.com, Montgomery County ranks twenty-fifth on a list of the most diverse counties in America. However, many schools in MCPS do not reflect this (see Schools At a Glance 2017-2018).

Among other factors, the upcoming study will consider diversity, which has previously been a contentious topic within MCPS. In 2018, former SMOB Matt Post (‘18), proposed a change that would slightly increase the weight of diversity as a factor in educational facilities planning (see MCPS’s FAA policy for more details). He suggested an addition of three words, “and in particular,” to the policy, so it would read “options [for facilities planning] should especially, and in particular, strive to create a diverse student body.” During discussion of the proposal, Ortman-Fouse interacted with parents who feared the change would lead to longer bus rides for MCPS students, or that changing boundaries to promote diversity would not actually resolve the issue at the schools themselves. In the end, Post’s proposal was denied.

Currently, it is unclear how much weight MCPS will put on diversity in any boundary changes that may result from the study.

Overcrowding

Many MCPS schools are overutilized. Others are way under capacity. Earlier this year, Caitlynn Peetz, a writer for Bethesda Beat, reported that “there are now 414 relocatable classrooms in use at county schools, for a cost of about $20.5 million over five years, or $5 million per year.” Boundary changes may alleviate pressure from overcrowded schools, but, according to Ortman-Fouse, there has been pushback from some parents over what these changes may mean for students. These parents would rather “throw money out the window” by building new facilities and using portables than adjust boundaries, she said.

She explained that many parents in MCPS believe that “when you buy a house, you buy the school,” so they are reluctant to accept alterations to the school assignment. “We’re so scared [of change] that we’re not willing to have very practical discussions about what our fear is costing us,” said Ortman-Fouse.

If you would like to weigh in on any potential changes, you can contact the Board of Education via email at boe@mcpsmd.org. Additionally, the Board will be hosting a public hearing Monday, November 18 at 6 p.m. at Carver Educational Services Center, 850 Hungerford Dr. in Rockville. For more information and additional meeting dates, see the boundary analysis webpage on MCPS’s website.

Additional Resources:

Unofficial Utilization Interactive Map

MCPS Interactive Map, shows school service areas, FARMs density by region, etc.