“I think this is just a bunch of bull,” said board Vice President Brenda Wolff after presenting a resolution, which failed, that would have given the school until December to solve the issues.

 

...In a contentious Thursday evening decision, the Montgomery County school board voted to close the county’s only charter school, MECCA Business Learning Institute (MBLI), at the end of this academic year if it doesn’t resolve ongoing issues — a decision that comes just nearly seven months after the school opened.  

“I think this is just a bunch of bull,” said board Vice President Brenda Wolff after presenting a resolution, which failed, that would have given the school until December to solve the issues. “I’m very disappointed in some of this discussion because we don’t have all of our schools that are successful in our own system, and we don’t give them three months to improve.” 

The board voted 5-2 to approve a resolution based on Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Thomas Taylor’s December recommendation to begin formal proceedings for revoking MBLI’s charter. The recommendation to revoke the charter earned 5 votes from board members Rita Montoya, Laura Stewart, Julie Yang, Karla Silvestre and Student Member of the Boa/rd Anuva Maloo...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/2026/02/19/mcps-charter/

Board of Education set to discuss fate of its only charter school

Leaders of the MECCA Business Leadership Institute in Gaithersburg, Montgomery County’s only charter school, plan to attend the Board of Education’s work session Thursday to refute what they say are inaccurate allegations against their school.

BOE members expect to vote later this month on a recommendation by the school district to revoke its charter...

https://www.mymcmedia.org/board-of-education-set-to-discuss-fate-of-its-only-charter-school/

New tuition-free public charter high school set to take space in Annapolis Mall

 

A new public charter school, New Village Academy, is being built in a former department store inside the Annapolis Mall.

The tuition-free public charter high school will be unlike any in the region, with students as the focus, school officials say. The school is scheduled to open at the former Lord & Taylor space on the upper level of the mall in the fall of 2026...

https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/new-tuition-free-public-charter-high-school-annapolis-mall-new-village-academy/

MCPS: Maryland’s First Business-Focused Public Charter School -- Applications Opened for the 2025-2026 School Year

MCPS Charter School Opening Fall 2025 

MBLI – Maryland’s First Business-Focused Public Charter School

• Opening with Grades 6 & 7
• (Adding a new grade each year through high school grade 12)
• Open to All Montgomery County Students
• No Cost to Attend

applications | Mecca Business Learning Institute

Board of Education Funds Private School with Wing of MCPS School, Classrooms, Principal, School Buses and More [No Bid Funding]

Please note the report below is from a June 2018 document.  The funding for this no bid, private school is not disclosed in the Board of Education's annual public Operating Budget document. June of 2018 is the most recent information the public has for the Board of Education's funding of this private school.  

The image to the left shows a wing of Sligo Middle School in Silver Spring with the Saturday School awning permanently installed.  The private school uses the Sligo Middle School address as their business address.  

Source:  George B Thomas Learn Academy 190409.pdf (boarddocs.com)