MCPS Releases Outline for Scope of Countywide School Boundary Analysis

Consultants being sought for project that could lead to moving students to different schools

A map of existing high school cluster boundaries. Map via MCPS

A Montgomery County public school system document released this week is shining new light on a planned analysis of school boundaries to determine if they are effective.

Maryland’s largest school system, grappling with crowding in some schools and empty seats at others, is asking consultants for proposals on the cost of a study into neighborhood school borders, the first comprehensive examination in decades.

A possibility that some students would be forced to new schools has sparked wide-reaching controversy and debate about race and “de facto segregation” in county schools.

The analysis will focus on school facility utilization and capacity, student demographics, school and cluster boundaries, transportation patterns and geographic proximity and features in each of the county’s 206 public schools.

In January, the Board of Education passed a resolution to hire an external consultant to evaluate school boundaries, which are used to determine what area schools students will attend based on their home’s geographic location. Certain elementary and middle schools “feed” or articulate to area high schools, creating school clusters.

The study, introduced by former student school board member Ananya Tadikonda, is the school system’s first comprehensive look at school boundaries in at least 20 years and has pitted a contingent of students who are lobbying for more diverse classes against some parents who oppose boundary changes.

During a public meeting in April about the yearlong study, some parents raised concerns about students at lower-performing schools not being able to achieve at higher-performing schools and said white families are “being punished” for “working hard and doing well and choosing to live in a certain community.”

School system officials dispute those claims and reiterate the analysis is merely a study of existing boundaries and potential changes, and the school board will not be required to make any alterations based on the exercise’s findings.

The school system could hire multiple consultants for different components of the analysis and contracts are expected to be awarded Aug. 1.

The consultant or consultants selected will assess:

• The degree to which current boundaries facilitate or impede equitable use of facilities across the county

• How current boundaries facilitate or impede facility utilization in terms of program capacity and enrollment

• How boundaries promote or impede creating a diverse student population at each school

• How current placement of magnet and choice programs helps or hurts school enrollment.

“This review will offer findings and observations on the impact and effect on these factors of the current school and cluster student assignment boundaries, as well as what possibilities exist for future boundary modifications to align student assignment patterns with Board of Education policy,” according to the request for proposals document.

The consultant will be required to benchmark Montgomery with other school systems of similar size and analyze the impact of current boundaries and potential boundary changes on student body demographics, facility utilization, transportation, the use of schools to offer non-profit or after-school programs, articulation patterns and the pros and cons of cyclic boundary reviews.

Public outreach efforts are expected in the winter, an interim report will be presented to the school board by Feb. 15, 2020, and a final report is to be presented by June 1, 2020.

The final report will include a review of the analysis process, findings and potential boundary changes that would positively impact schools.

Caitlynn Peetz can be reached at caitlynn.peetz@bethesdamagazine.com