Montgomery County Public Schools has apparently ended its 50-year-old Construction Trades Foundation program. The hands-on program trained hundreds of students in skilled trades at Thomas Edison High School of Technology.

Montgomery Community Media reported Thursday, Sept. 17 that a visit to the school found empty parking spaces reserved for Foundations Office staff and a bare construction zone. A staff member at Thomas Edison confirmed by phone that MCPS had cut the program. The district has made no official announcement.

The program marked its 50th anniversary in spring 2026. Students from Thomas Edison and Seneca Valley high schools had just finished building the program's 44th home, a three-level, four-bedroom house at 12402 O'Fallon St. in Silver Spring that sold for $799,000.

Over the past two years, 600 students from across the county spent roughly 1,000 hours working on that house. They specialized in carpentry, electricity, HVAC, masonry, plumbing, architecture, construction design and management. MCPS serves Potomac-area families through the district's career and technology programs.

The cuts trace to Superintendent Thomas Taylor's proposed Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget, which targeted four positions tied to the program: Foundations Office supervisor Steven Bodin, instructional specialists including Hector Morales, and a fiscal assistant. Eliminating those roles was projected to save about $460,000, according to the district's budget reduction documents.

The Montgomery County Board of Education adopted its final $3.72 billion FY27 budget on June 4. That budget cut 415 positions districtwide after the County Council approved $36 million less than MCPS had requested.

At a May 26 cornerstone ceremony for the 44th home, Taylor praised the program he had proposed cutting. "This is such a huge deal," he said at the event, according to MCM's earlier reporting.

Morales, the instructional specialist, said at the May 26 ceremony that if the program continued, CTF would use proceeds from the home sale to begin building a 45th house. That will not happen now.

Jamaar Evans, a CTF alumnus from the class of 2020 who worked in the masonry program, told MCM at the same ceremony that the program had "a major impact on my life." He said CTF students get picked first for jobs because of the experience they gain.

Since 1976, the program has built homes in Silver Spring, Rockville and Bethesda. MCPS has not announced any plan to reinstate it or offered a public explanation for ending the program without formal notice.