Van Grack to Ask MCPS to Plan for Central Region Growth and Rebuild Wootton on Wootton Parkway

Rockville City Councilmember Adam Van Grack plans to testify at the Montgomery County Board of Education’s public hearing on the school system’s capital budget Monday at 5 p.m., asking MCPS to plan for enrollment growth in its Central Region, fund repairs at its most deteriorated buildings and commit to a permanent high school on Wootton Parkway, according to his prepared testimony.

Van Grack, who says he is speaking personally as an MCPS graduate, MCPS parent and son of an MCPS educator, cites MCPS’s own projection that Central Region enrollment will grow from 7,612 students this year to 7,838 in 2030-2031 while countywide enrollment declines. His data appendices, reproduced below, list the MCPS pages behind each figure. We published his opinion piece on the boundary study in January and reported in August on the Rockshire Village redevelopment he says was suspended after the Wootton vote. His prepared testimony follows in full.

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Prepared Testimony of Adam Van Grack

Montgomery County Board of Education, October 26, 2026
FY2028 Capital Budget and FY2027–2032 CIP Amendments

Good evening, Madam President, Members of the Board, and Dr. Taylor. I am Rockville City Councilmember Adam Van Grack, and I am speaking today personally and from my heart as an MCPS graduate, MCPS parent, and son of an MCPS educator.

Tonight, I want to raise three interconnected concerns: (1) where and how MCPS plans for and preserves student capacity, (2) where and how MCPS addresses its deteriorating school buildings, and (3) the future of Wootton High School on Wootton Parkway.

Student Capacity and Future Growth

My first concern is whether MCPS is truly preserving school capacity where students will actually need it, particularly in growing communities like Rockville.

While MCPS projects declining enrollment countywide, MCPS projects that the Central Region enrollment will grow — increasing from 7,612 students this year to 7,838 in 2030-2031, a 3% increase in just four years. Consequently, MCPS predicts a Central Region 101% utilization by 2030-2031. (See Appendix A).

In other words, in just four years, MCPS projects that the Central Region will be over capacity. And, as of today, Richard Montgomery High School is already relying on nine (9) portable classrooms! (See Appendix A)

Further, as I have testified before, MCPS’s current projections do not even fully account for all the housing development planned in Rockville or other areas — development governmentally approved but not yet at the final planning stages. Responsible capital decisions and school closure decisions cannot rest solely on a forecast that excludes significant growth data.

Under MCPS’s current not-counting-all-development approach, a hypothetical 500-unit residential development in Rockville Town Center, already approved overall at but awaiting site-plan approval, is assigned no value whatsoever (the exact same enrollment contribution of an undeveloped cornfield in Poolesville). Those properties should not be treated as having identical growth potential. While MCPS should certainly not count all stages of development equally, MCPS must incorporate all information available (at least to some degree) to properly evaluate what school capacity is needed in each MCPS Region.

Bottom line, MCPS must address capacity issues in the Central Region and MCPS must make its enrollment projection model realistic before making permanent decisions about school capacity and school closings.

School Conditions and Infrastructure Investment

My second concern is the geographic concentration of MCPS’s most deteriorated school buildings and the lack of a funded plan to address them. As you know, MCPS released its independent facility assessments in August. The results are alarming.

Of the five worst-conditioned elementary schools and five worst-conditioned secondary schools in Montgomery County, SEVEN (70%) are located in the greater Rockville and Gaithersburg area. Yet, under the proposed capital budget, NONE (0%) of those seven deteriorating school buildings have a funded major renovation or replacement. (See Appendix B)

Further, of the 26 worst-conditioned schools overall, FOURTEEN (54%) are located in the greater Rockville and Gaithersburg area, including four current Wootton cluster schools and two Richard Montgomery cluster schools. Of those 14 schools, only one (1), Cold Spring Elementary, has an approved replacement project, and that project has been delayed until 2034. Magruder receives only a feasibility study, with no construction commitment. Wootton High School’s existing campus on Wootton Parkway has no funded comprehensive renovation or replacement. (See Appendix B)

MCPS has had these assessments since August. Where are the CIP Amendments to address the worst schools?

The Future of Wootton High School: Capacity Need

Deteriorating infrastructure and uncertain future capacity converge most clearly through Wootton High School on Wootton Parkway. After decades of deferred necessary repairs/rebuilds, this Board voted to close Wootton’s operations in Rockville, leaving its permanent future on Wootton Parkway unresolved.

Meanwhile, its deteriorating building, with significant HVAC and plumbing deficiencies, will confusingly serve as a temporary holding school for Springbrook and Sherwood high schools. Yet MCPS has no plan to address the capacity pressures on Rockville, Gaithersburg, and the Central Region by ensuring a permanent high school on Wootton Parkway

With the Central Region projected to reach or exceed capacity by 2030-2031, and significant potential residential development still ahead, we cannot afford to make permanent infrastructure decisions without evaluating our long-term educational needs. Our region needs a funded pathway to rebuild or comprehensively renovate Wootton on Wootton Parkway and return its students to a permanent, modernized comprehensive high school.

The Future of Wootton High School: Holding School Concerns

Additionally, MCPS’s own facility assessments raise a concern about its proposed use of the Wootton Parkway Campus as a holding school. MCPS currently plans to relocate Springbrook students and Sherwood students to Wootton Parkway between 2028 and 2030 to make systemic HVAC improvements at their home campuses. Among 200 schools ranked from worst to best condition, Wootton ranks the 25^th worst conditioned school, compared with Sherwood at 116^th and Springbrook at 139^th. Additionally, both Sherwood and Springbrook have HVAC and plumbing systems rated “Fair.” However, Wootton’s HVAC and plumbing systems are both rated “Poor.” Despite rating Wootton Parkway’s HVAC and plumbing systems “Poor,” the proposed CIP does not identify specific funding for replacing those systems before the campus hosts students from other schools.

Why is MCPS moving students from buildings with better-rated heating, cooling, and plumbing systems into a building with poorer-rated systems, and what funded improvements will correct those deficiencies before the students arrive when none are listed in the current CIP?

Sherwood and Springbrook students deserve safe, reliable facilities, as do students throughout Montgomery County. However, MCPS should explain (1) what, if any, objective criteria are used to select these projects, and (2) whether MCPS’s construction sequence truly addresses schools with the most urgent needs. The public deserves a clear accounting of how documented building conditions translate into funding decisions, including a specific plan for Wootton Parkway.

Three Commitments for the Future

I am here to ask the Board for the following three commitments:

First, produce a comprehensive Central Region capacity analysis and account for reasonable future residential development, rather than treating approved but not yet site-planned growth as irrelevant.

Second, establish a funded, transparent infrastructure investment plan that addresses geographic concerns and prioritizes our most deteriorated schools.

Third, formally commit to restoring a permanent comprehensive high school on Wootton Parkway, beginning with a feasibility study, a funding pathway, and a plan to return Wootton students to a rebuilt or thoroughly modernized campus.

MCPS has the data. MCPS knows our region is projected to reach or exceed capacity, and MCPS knows that many of our area’s schools are among the most deteriorated in the county. We do not need another explanation for why investment must wait. We need a commitment that MCPS will not wait any longer.

Plan for the growth. Fund the repairs. And rebuild Wootton on Wootton Parkway.

Appendices

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