Weast to close elementary school

Those that watched in 2005 as Superintendent Jerry Weast pushed the Board of Education to gut MCPS Policy FAA: Long Range Educational Facilities Planning knew that this day was coming.

Superintendent Weast has been on a quest for years to super-size elementary schools. In order to secure his goal in 2005 he had the Board of Education turn over to him the decision making for determining what size elementary, middle and high schools should be in Montgomery County.

Prior to 2005, the size of elementary, middle and high schools were laid out in a 22 page policy.  In 2005, that policy was gutted to 5 pages and turned over most major school facility decisions to the Superintendent.  Thus, taking the decisionmaking away from the Board of Education, and more importantly, eliminating the ability of parents to appeal a school size decision to the State Board of Education.

Here is today's news:

Washington Post:  Montgomery elementary to close*

A small elementary school in rural northwestern Montgomery County would be closed under a plan presented by Superintendent Jerry D. Weast to the Board of Education, school officials said Friday.

Citing declining enrollment and the need to save money, the plan would send Monocacy Elementary School's students eight miles south to Poolesville Elementary School for the beginning of the next school year. That would be the first school closure in Montgomery County in more than 20 years...

*Updated link to Washington Post. Original article here.


Full recommendation from Superintendent Weast here.

Monocacy Elementary School's long term enrollment projections have changed to support Superintendent Weast's recommendation to close the school. 

All Parents' Coalition blog posts on the closing of Monocacy Elementary School here.