ROCKVILLE, MD — More than a month after a decision was made to relocate thousands of Thomas S. Wootton High School students to a new site, a coalition of concerned residents is appealing to the state.
Armed with signed affidavits from more than 300 families, the Community and Education Policy Alliance filed litigation against the Montgomery County Board of Education's March 26 decision to move Wootton students from Rockville to the new Crown High School in Gaithersburg.
CEPA is calling on the Maryland State Board of Education to require that the county reconsider its decision by using "accurate and verifiable" data.
The 15-page filing argues the relocation move was not only rushed but also sidestepped procedural requirements and was based on faulty pandemic-era data. The group also stated that the board violated the state constitution by grouping multiple issues in the vote, as opposed to having separate votes for different topics.
"The county board's repeated failures to comply with its own regulations led to an arbitrary and procedurally unlawful decision that must be reconsidered," reads the filing. "The decision is arbitrary, unreasonable, illegal, and contrary to sound educational policy."
Related: Relocation Vote For Wootton HS Students Blasted As 'Dog And Pony Show'
The development marks the latest legal move made by the alliance. It previously filed an emergency request with the Maryland State Department of Education that asked for a monthlong halt to the relocation process, which was rejected.
Elisa Sukhobok, who serves as the CEPA vice president, previously told Bethesda Today that the request was denied due to timing. She said the body determined that an intermediate intervention was not necessary since the relocation initiative would not take effect until the 2027-2028 academic year.
The county school board's 7-1 vote marks both a shift to regional programming standards for high schools and will impact dozens of elementary schools by changing their middle and high school assignments.
School officials have argued changes were needed to address overcrowding concerns, balance school enrollments, and provide a holding school where students could be placed while renovation projects were carried out at their home campuses.
Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Taylor has said that two-thirds of the district's schools need significant renovations.
MCPS is expected to respond within 30 days to the appeal.
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