BOE Says Goodbye to Boutique at . . .

Wootton and Gaithersburg High Schools.

Recall the April 14 Board of Education meeting where Dr. Weast said he was getting rid of "boutique" programs at MCPS, and then the next meeting where he said it was only language programs?

Dr. Weast thinks we aren't paying attention.

In today's Gazette, its time to bid bye-bye to another boutique program - the College Institute at Wootton, Gaithersburg, Seneca Valley and Kennedy High School.

In next year's budget, Dr. Weast proposes to cut the funding for the MCPS coordinators who run the programs at the school.

Who is he fooling? Without staff to manage the programs, can we honestly believe that these programs will survive in more than name only?

Advice to College Institute parents - while the program may hobble along for a while, you only need to look to what is happening at Blair HS's Math, Science, and Computer Science Magnet. This program too has been suffering a slow death by cutting staff members.

And advice to the rest of the county? Its not just the magnet programs, or foreign language programs that are in jeopardy. Anything that meets the needs of less than the entire school population is obviously what Dr. Weast means when he says he is cutting boutique programs.