MCPS Says No Schools Have Been Picked for Closure. The Board Votes in April 2027.

Montgomery County Public Schools says it has not chosen any schools to close. The school system posted the statement Wednesday, Oct. 28, from its official Facebook page, replying on Moderately MOCO’s post about a new Montgomery Perspective analysis of possible elementary school closures in Rockville.

The full statement:

“MCPS Official–Despite any analysis provided by advocates, news media, or community members, NO schools have been selected for closure or consolidation. NO recommendations have been made, and NO decisions have been predetermined. There is an established process during which extensive community feedback will be gathered, reviewed, and considered before any decisions are made at a much later stage.”

What prompted it

Montgomery Perspective’s Adam Pagnucco published “Which Schools Will Close? Part Two: Rockville” on Oct. 27. Using MCPS’s own enrollment projections and building-condition rankings, Pagnucco wrote that College Gardens and Candlewood elementary schools are projected to be 51% and 53% full in the 2032-33 school year, among the most underused elementary schools in the county.

Pagnucco also noted that nearby Mill Creek Towne Elementary is projected at 146% of capacity, and that MCPS could redraw boundaries so the two Rockville schools take students from more crowded ones instead of closing either.

MCPS has made the same point before. After a Save Our Silver Spring Schools guest column by Angie Kronenberg questioned the process in September, the school system sent Montgomery Perspective a written response saying its Oct. 8 board meeting would not “identify schools for closure or make any closure decisions.”

Where the closure process stands

MCPS is studying elementary and middle school closures and consolidations because enrollment is falling unevenly across the county. The steps ahead, as MCPS has described them and as Moderately MOCO reported Oct. 7:

• Now through Nov. 2: the first round of community engagement sessions, in person and online
• Nov. 30 to Dec. 10: a second round, focused on how schools should be evaluated
• February 2027: the superintendent’s recommendation, followed by public hearings in February and March
• April 15, 2027: the Board of Education’s vote
• After that: a boundary study for the remaining schools, with changes starting in the 2029-30 school year, according to MCPS’s Oct. 8 presentation as summarized by Montgomery Perspective

The engagement schedule and recordings of past sessions are on the MCPS website. Moderately MOCO has also reported that MCPS projects three middle schools at about half full after the March boundary votes.

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