For the members of the Wootton community, this has been a challenging week. 

I continue to follow closely the response to this week’s shooting and promise to be deeply engaged on how we address issues of school safety on the Council. The incident at Wootton is one of a number of deeply troubling incidents – including last year’s shooting involving B-CC students off-campus – that must be addressed with proactive leadership and a commitment to putting student safety first. 

Last Thursday, as part of the ongoing boundary study, the MCPS Superintendent proposed to relocate the current Wootton High School community to the new high school at Crown Farm, in a modified version of what is known as “Option H.” I’ve heard from many Wootton cluster parents deeply concerned with this decision. I share their concerns about the proposal and how we got here. 

Over the past few months, I have watched the boundary study process closely. This process has been poorly managed and unfair to parents and students. Major shifts in approach – like the proposal to close Wootton – came late in the process and without adequate engagement with communities. The Board of Education failed to exercise its role to help govern and manage a process that created a sprawling number of options that sowed confusion in neighborhoods all across District 1. And these boundary changes are layered on top of another major shift – the recommendation to transition to a regional programming model that will fundamentally remake how specialized programming works in the County and how parents and students need to think about their high school experience.

The school system, and the Board of Education, have to do better. On the Council, I’ll be a voice for clear oversight and accountability for the system and, across all areas of government, for greater transparency and engagement with communities when big decisions lie ahead.