Thomas S. Wootton High School renovations and classroom content were top-of-mind for Montgomery County Board of Education candidates during Friday forum at the Rockville school.
Seven candidates for the board of education participated in the forum hosted by Wootton PTSA, Chinese American Parent Association of Montgomery County, Chinese Culture and Community Service Center, the Calvin Li Foundation, and the Chinese American School.
For most discussion topics – including renovations, diversity, in-class cell phone policies and inclusion – the candidates agreed on end goals but had different approaches on how to get there.
Wootton High School students, parents and teachers have pressured the board to renovate the deteriorating school for around 20 years. These calls for renovation increased after recent bomb threats and other evacuations when Wootton’s American Disability Act (ADA) violations prevented students with wheelchairs from easily evacuating the school.
Sitting inside the school’s cafeteria, all of the candidates agreed that Wootton needs a new school – including current board of education members Lynne Harris and Shebra Evans. The two board members, and now candidates, said that renovating Wootton has hit hurdles in capital improvement plan funding over the years.
“It is just an accident of time in place,” Harris told MCM after the forum.
Harris, an at-large candidate, said the board is focusing on incremental renovation projects as getting full funding for a complete renovation has legislative and financial hurdles. Wootton’s bathrooms will be remodeled over the upcoming summer break and the school’s weightlifting room was remodeled in summer 2023, Harris said. The next focus, Harris said, should be the addressing the ADA complaints.
Rita Montoya, another at-large candidate, told MCM that the board needs to shift its priorities from purely aesthetic renovations to addressing safety concerns at schools like Wootton.
“Are we waiting for something really awful to happen for us to act? The time to act is now,” Montoya said about Wootton renovations.
Laura Stewart, a District 4 candidate, said she served as the Capital Improvement Plan chair for the Montgomery County PTSA. Stewart said she learned that the system for how the board selects schools for renovations needs to be updated.
“It shouldn’t depend on … 50 people come up with matching T shirts going down to the Board of Ed to make a bunch of noise just to get your school in a situation where it’s safe,” Stewart said.
Another concern raised by the hosts of the forum was the classroom content within Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), questioning both the rigor and diversity of history included in curriculum.
Multiple candidates referenced knowing students in the school system who felt bored while in class, hoping for specialized or advanced lessons. However, many special programs – such as Gifted and Talented Education, Magnet school programs and advanced lessons – have limited seating.
“We want to make sure that more students have the opportunity to gain access,” Natalie Zimmerman, a District 2 candidate, said during the forum.
Some also expressed an interest in hiring more specialized teachers and spreading Magnet school programs more evenly across the county. Increasing access to specialized programs can also help decrease truancy rates across the district, Montoya said.
Diverse histories and cultures should be added to the school curriculum, the candidates agreed.
Classes such as Asian American history and Latin American History can empower students, Brenda Diaz, a District 2 candidate, said. Diaz said taking Latin American History in high school helped her build up her own self esteem, an experience she hopes to give to other groups of students.
“It makes a tremendous difference in students when they’re able to study in more detail, the history and the culture of their own heritage,” Diaz said.
Ricky Mui, a District 2 candidate, said including different cultures in curriculum can help reduce bullying.
“The unknown that fosters hate, people are worried but they don’t understand. So add that in to reduce the hate,” Mui said.
Evans said that making sure students trusted adults on campus, having school phycologists and restorative justice officers can also help students dealing with bullying.
“It takes a village,” Evans said.
Primary election day is May 14. Early voting lasts until May 9.
