MPS board members aim to prevent a 'mega elementary' as they rethink Blount-Wilson merger
In January 2022, the Montgomery County Board of Education approved the consolidation of Blount Elementary and Wilson Elementary. The two public schools stand less than two miles away from one another in east Montgomery, and each have a respective 332 and 369 enrolled students.
The merger is set to happen at some point in the near future as part of the Montgomery Public Schools Capital Improvement Plan, and Baldwin Arts and Academics Magnet School would move into a renovated Wilson building. However, current board members are reevaluating whether they should follow through with the consolidation or keep both schools in operation and find a different location for Baldwin.
"We are looking at so much construction out there and homes being built," district five representative Pamela Cloud said. "I know we’re trying to look at something to do with Baldwin, but there’s got to be another way because we’re going to end up having to build."
During the regular September board meeting, Cloud attempted to add the topic of "unmerging Blount and Wilson" to the agenda. Cloud was elected to the board about 10 months after previous members approved the merger, and now she's worried that merging the two schools will cause more trouble than it's worth.
"I just have parents that are constantly feeling like they’re on the edge of falling off at Blount and Wilson, and they don’t want a mega elementary school," she said. "Over 700 right now, as the numbers lie, it would be a mega situation, and our babies don’t need that size school."
Cloud eventually rescinded her request after deciding that more information was needed before a vote, but not before other board members and MPS Superintendent Melvin Brown spoke up.
"Just for context,” Brown said, “we’re reassessing the entire plan, that being part of it.”
Originally, the merger was supposed to happen at the start of the 2023-2024 school year, at the same time that Sidney Lanier High School began consolidating with George Washington Carver High School. However, MPS leaders decided to put off the Blount-Wilson consolidation at least to the following school year.
"Since then, we’ve done a rezoning study and gotten some feedback back. We just met with that organization last week, so we’re assessing that information internally to look at political ramifications about neighborhoods and things of that nature," Brown said. "It was approved previously with different information, and we need to revisit it. I don’t disagree at all."
District seven representative Arica Watkins-Smith has voiced her concerns about joining Blount and Wilson in the past, and she suggested at the September board meeting that MPS establish a committee dedicated to gathering parents' opinions and information about the projected growth in the neighborhoods zoned for both schools. Brown and Cloud agreed that would be a good idea.
Based on her personal experience and knowledge, though, Watkins-Smith said she sees new developments every day in east Montgomery, and she hears concerns from parents wondering if there would even be room for many more students in that area's MPS schools. She and other board members said they want to make sure that MPS is planning for the future, not just the present.
“Viewing the census data report, it’s showing that a majority of the population is shifting east. That cannot be denied," Watkins-Smith said. "Now, it’s true that everybody may not choose MPS, but I hope that they will because we have really good schools throughout Montgomery County."
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: MPS reconsiders merger between Blount and Wilson elementary schools
