FOX 5 reported today on continuing concerns surrounding MCPS’s Option H proposal, which would permanently move Wootton High School students from the existing Wootton Parkway campus to the new Crown High School building in Gaithersburg.

The report followed a Board of Education work session where approximately 20 speakers, including me, raised concerns about the proposal, including the condition of the existing Wootton building, transportation impacts, future use of the Wootton campus, and long-term school capacity.

FOX 5 also highlighted the December 19 letter from the me and all of my colleagues on the Rockville Mayor and Council opposing any option that would permanently close Wootton High School.

I spoke with FOX 5 about another issue that I believe deserves careful consideration: whether moving Wootton’s existing student population to Crown could create a new capacity problem in the years ahead.

As I told FOX 5: “This decision, if they go forward with it, is a problem, budgetarily, because to move Wootton over to Crown will create a situation in the near future where Crown itself would be overcrowded.”

FOX 5 examined and explained the disappointing history of deferred maintenance at Wootton High School and noted community concerns that the school has previously been removed from the Capital Improvements Program despite longstanding calls for renovation or rebuilding.

Read and watch the full FOX 5 report:

www.fox5dc.com

Parents and community leaders voiced strong opposition Thursday during a Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education working meeting over a controversial redistricting proposal known as "Option H."