Reardon "Sully" Sullivan, candidate for County Council - District 1

I’m paying close attention to the public debate surrounding Superintendent Taylor’s proposed closure of Wootton High School. This matter warrants open and intellectually honest discussion within the public forum. I respect Council Members Yamil Hernandez, Adam Van Grack, and others who have shared their perspectives in a professional and thoughtful manner.

At the highest level, the mission of Montgomery County Public Schools should be the education of our children. That mission should not be subordinated to large-scale bussing initiatives intended to engineer social diversity, as referenced in Superintendent Taylor’s Boundary Study introduction video (see the 2:10 mark) HERE

Superintendent Taylor discusses his priorities.

The proposed closure of Wootton High School and the adoption of a regional model fail on all three counts. Bussing students across the county in the name of “equity” and “diversity” is a misguided experiment that risks undermining proven academic programs, wasting taxpayer dollars, and disrupting stable school communities.

Decisions of this magnitude should be based on rigorous data analysis, realistic enrollment projections, long-term trend analysis, and meaningful consideration of local community impacts. Unfortunately, MCPS’s recent history shows a pattern of inadequate planning and flawed projections. The current conditions facing Wootton, along with the more than $200 million spent on the rushed renovations of Woodward High School and Crown High School, illustrate the consequences of “hurry-up” planning. Failure to plan is planning to fail.

As a graduate of Wootton High School, I strongly believe that community matters. The Wootton–Frost cluster has provided decades of stability, cohesion, and continuity for students and families. The value of feeder patterns, proximity to home, and strong school-community ties may be difficult to quantify, but they are real and significant. Children should attend schools in their own neighborhoods whether around Wootton or Crown. Rather than closing Wootton, MCPS should seriously evaluate a phased, in-place renovation integrated into the Capital Improvements Program (CIP). Given the County’s declining enrollment, this may be an opportune time to pursue such an approach. Additionally, a Public-Private Partnership (P3) delivery model, with appropriate incentives and accountability, should be considered to avoid the cost overruns and delays experienced at Woodward.

It is also worth noting that the service area for Wootton is not projected to grow at the same rate as the developing Crown district. Logic suggests we should preserve capacity where future growth is rather than dismantling established schools and communities.

In short, Wootton should remain Wootton, and Crown should remain Crown. Preserving strong, neighborhood-based schools is not only sound educational policy, it’s common sense.

Let’s keep Wootton as Wootton and Crown as Crown.

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