More than 800 people joined MCPS's first community session on possible school closures Monday, Oct. 19, but parents said the district shared too little data.

The in-person session at Gaithersburg Middle School followed an hour-long presentation, after which families broke into smaller groups to talk with staff, as first reported by Bethesda Magazine. MCPS spokesperson Chris Cram told the outlet that more than 800 people joined the earlier virtual session that afternoon.

Wylea Chase, a Montgomery County parent and former school board candidate, said the presentation lacked enrollment data broken down by race and socioeconomic status. Staff could not answer all her questions.

"How can you advocate for something if you don't know the questions to ask? And you don't know the questions to ask if you don't have the information in front of you," Chase told Bethesda Magazine.

Angie Kronenberg, a member of Save Our Silver Spring Schools, echoed that concern. She said the district appeared to have concluded it needs to close schools "but they haven't really provided us the detailed information that backs up that conclusion …"

Kronenberg's group had pressed MCPS before the sessions began. In a Sept. 29 guest column in Montgomery Perspective, she asked the district to publish its closure criteria, factor weighting and enrollment projection methodology before the Oct. 8 Board of Education work session.

Several parents told Bethesda Magazine the Oct. 19 session was their first meeting on the topic and they did not yet feel informed enough to discuss their views.

Why MCPS is studying closures

Unofficial district figures show 151,967 students enrolled this school year, a drop of 4,083 from 2025-2026 and roughly 3,000 below projections. MCPS has cited declining birth rates and decreased international enrollment as drivers.

The proposed fiscal year 2028 capital budget documents called the decline "more than significant." MCPS had not seen a one-year drop above 4,000 students since the 1978-1979 to 1979-1980 school years, aside from the pandemic, according to those documents.

Andrea Swiatocha, acting chief operations officer for MCPS, told Bethesda Magazine on Oct. 19 that the district's capture rate has been slightly lower. She said MCPS would present data on students leaving for private or homeschooling at an upcoming board meeting.

FLO Analytics, the same contractor MCPS used for its high school boundary study, is conducting the closure analysis under a nearly $2 million contract, Patch reported.

What's next for Potomac families

The first round of engagement runs through Nov. 2 with four virtual and six in-person sessions. Potomac's nearest session is an in-person meeting from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1, at Herbert Hoover Middle School, according to a Patch session schedule.

A second round of engagement is scheduled for Nov. 30 through Dec. 10, according to the district's study website. The superintendent's closure recommendation is due Feb. 4, 2027. Public hearings follow from February through April 2027, with the Board of Education set to vote April 15, 2027.

Any closures, consolidations and boundary changes would take effect in the 2029-2030 school year.