Einstein Hosts MCPS Boundary Study Meeting

By Valerie Merkowitz

On Tuesday, Dec. 3, Einstein hosted a Boundary Study meeting to provide information and hear questions and concerns from the Einstein community who may be affected by a change in boundaries.

Due to the opening of two new high schools for the 2027-2028 school year, Charles E. Woodward High School and Crown High School, Montgomery County Public Schools is going through the process of studying the boundaries in order to determine which areas will attend the new schools. Earlier this year, four boundary options, A-D, were released to the public, while this meeting released three new options, E-G. These three new options were created with the new possibility of Silver Spring International Middle School closing. 

At the meeting, maps were set up around the room for each new plan, with staff members and experts around them to answer questions. The meeting then began with a short presentation outlining each new option, explaining the criteria that the options follow. The presentation contained a lot of repeated information for each option, as the presenter repeated the same speech about facility utilization in language that wouldn’t make sense to someone not familiar with the process. The presenter also went over the timeline of boundary decisions, explaining that boundary options surveys will be extended until Jan. 9 to allow time for community feedback. The superintendent will make a recommendation to the Board of Education on which option to choose in February, which the Board of Education will take into account when they make a final decision in March. 

Once the presentation was over, time was given for the community to walk around, look at the maps, ask questions, and leave sticky notes with concerns on each map. A prominent concern left on the sticky notes was that these new boundaries wouldn’t allow kids to bike to school. Many parents from Forest Knolls Elementary School started a Bike Bus group and were advocating for their concerns at the meeting. 

Laura Stewart, a member of the Board of Education, said that in addition to transportation concerns, many members of the community are worried about their children not getting as much of a choice in the school they attend since the new boundaries and consortiums will dissolve the Down County Consortium, where students were able to rank the five schools solely based on which they wanted to attend. “Instead, there would be a programmatic choice, and you would have to choose based on a program that you want. And so I think some parents felt like there was more choice when you could just choose for any reason,” Stewart explained. Stewart also believes that the new boundaries will create new opportunities for students.

The meeting was overall well attended and a good way to get community feedback on the new boundary options for the county.