MCPS Bid to Dismiss Wootton School Challenge Rejected as Case Moves Forward Before Administrative Judge

A legal challenge to Montgomery County Public Schools’ plan to move Thomas S. Wootton High School from its current Rockville campus to a new facility in the Crown development will proceed before an independent administrative law judge.

The Community and Education Policy Alliance, or CEPA, argues that the planned move should legally be considered a school closure rather than a relocation. The organization contends that MCPS did not follow the procedures required under Maryland law when a public school is closed.

According to CEPA, MCPS previously sought to have the appeal dismissed before evidence was considered. The Maryland State Board of Education instead referred the matter to the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings for additional proceedings and review by an administrative law judge.

The referral does not represent a final ruling on CEPA’s claims. It allows the case to move beyond its preliminary stage and creates an opportunity for evidence and legal arguments from the parties to be examined.

CEPA says the dispute could have implications beyond the future of Wootton High School. The central legal question is whether a school system may treat the replacement of a school at a different location as a “relocation,” rather than a closure subject to Maryland’s statutory requirements.

The case comes as MCPS prepares for additional boundary and facility planning involving elementary and middle schools. CEPA argues that a State Board decision could help define when school-closure protections apply to future school reorganizations throughout Maryland.

CEPA announced the latest development in the following press release:

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