5 things to know about the future of Montgomery Public Schools

Melvin Brown took over the role of Montgomery Public Schools superintendent in the summer prior to the 2022-2023 school year. Now, after more than a year, he has a crystal clear picture of where MPS stands today and where he wants it to go in the coming years.

On Sept. 19, Brown stood on a stage in Park Crossing High School to communicate that vision to hundreds of MPS community members in person and via livestream. He called the speech his inaugural State of the Schools address.

If you missed the event or just need some context, here are five things you should know about what Brown had to say:

1. There are three main reasons for academic struggles in MPS.

From the district’s high number of institutions on the statewide “failing schools” list to its below average third grade reading proficiency rates, MPS has a collection of struggles it is working to overcome.

“It’s no secret that, academically, we’ve had our struggles over the years, and we have many challenges in front of us. This is not new,” Brown said. “However, we have to identify those challenges and create supports to overcome them.”

The reasons he listed for current MPS struggles were a lack of student engagement, a need to transform classroom environments and a lack of alignment in the K-12 curriculum across schools.

2. Brown said his plan for substantial change will take a minimum of three to five years.

“The change process in any organization takes a minimum of three to five years. That is a process we have to go through together,” he said. “We cannot simply raise achievement and test scores by saying we’re going to raise achievement and test scores. We actually have to do the work to make that happen.”

He identified some work that’s already been done and future goals.

For example, Brown said that for the first time in over 20 years, all teachers across the district are teaching in alignment with the same reading and math curriculum. This is a result from the last year of intentionally working toward that goal.

As for the student engagement aspect, Brown said the Yondr phone pouches are already making a significant impact in the classroom.

“We have experienced 114 fewer disruptive incidents compared from this time last year to now,” he said. “Our students are better engaged in their classrooms, and believe it or not, they’re actually having conversations.”

3. At least four new school buildings will be constructed by 2026.

Board-approved infrastructure projects are plentiful within MPS right now.

“This is not the same old MPS,” Brown said.

By 2025, the district expects to have a new building constructed for Flower Elementary School, a new 9th Grade Academy built at Carver High School and a relocated Baldwin Middle School.

As of now, Baldwin will be moving into the current Wilson Elementary School building, but that could change as board of education members reevaluate whether or not to merge Wilson with Blount Elementary School. Brown is encouraging some consolidation across the district.

“We have to take a real and honest look at our capacity. We have significantly declining enrollment over the last ten years, yet we have not taken any steps to consolidate and potentially close those schools,” he said. “It will be arduous and emotional work, but we have to consider the cost implications of operating numbers of schools that are significantly under capacity. That’s just reality.”

Then by 2026, MPS plans to have new buildings in place for Percy Julian High School and Capital Heights Middle School.

Smaller scale improvements are in the works as well, including new HVAC systems for many schools, new athletic facilities for several high schools and about 4,000 new desks being purchased for the district this fall.

4. New funds from the ad valorem tax will allow MPS to hire more teachers, including in the arts.

MPS finances are in a pretty good position right now, all things considered.

Brown said the district met all state-required financial mandates this year, and it has more than three times the state-required amount in the general fund.

With $33 million in ad valorem tax money coming in October, MPS plans to employ additional Advanced Placement teachers, art and music teachers, world language teachers, career tech teachers, math and reading specialists, English language teachers, innovative programming staff, assistant principals and security staff.

Brown did not specify how many new positions will be approved overall, but he did say that 50 new art and music teachers are in the budget.

“Our arts and music programs are making a comeback,” Brown said. “Following intervention a few years back, many of our programs were scaled back, and our work now is to rebuild and invigorate those programs.”

5. Brown wants to up MPS statistics in college readiness and graduation rates.

MPS reports a 7% increase in career and college readiness between 2022 and 2023. The district also estimates a 79% graduation rate for the Class of 2023, which would be a 12% increase over the Class of 2022.

Brown wants to see even more of a jump in those numbers for the Class of 2024.

“We’re setting our expectations to change those numbers significantly this year,” he said. “With an emphasized focus on individual student needs and aspirations, we’re setting our sights on exceeding a 90% graduation rate, which I believe is a reasonable and attainable goal.”

Because of the delay on that data reporting, MPS likely won’t know if it has achieved that goal for another full year.

Hadley Hitson covers children's health, education and welfare for the Montgomery Advertiser. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to the Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: 5 things to know if you missed the MPS State of the Schools event