Superintendent Recommends School Boundary Changes Affecting Piney Branch, Sligo Creek and Takoma Park Elementary Schools, and Silver Spring International and Takoma Park Middle Schools

Superintendent Jerry D. Weast has made his recommendation for boundary changes affecting Piney Branch, Sligo Creek, and Takoma Park elementary schools and Silver Spring International and Takoma Park middle schools. The changes are designed to address the overutilization at Sligo Creek Elementary School, where enrollment currently exceeds capacity and is projected to remain over capacity for the next six years.

The recommendation follows an extensive study of options that included these schools as well as East Silver Spring Elementary School and took into consideration evaluations of all the options from the boundary advisory committee and other community input.

Dr. Weast recommended a modified version of the boundary committee’s Option 1B. The original Option 1B, preferred by most of the school communities, reassigns the Sligo Creek Elementary School zones ESS3, SC4 and SC5 to Takoma Park and Piney Branch elementary schools and zones SC4 and SC5 to Takoma Park Middle School . The superintendent’s modified Option 1B differs in that only zones SC4 and SC5 would be reassigned to Takoma Park and Piney Branch elementary schools and to Takoma Park Middle School. ESS3 would not be affected by the boundary change. The superintendent also recommended a schedule for phasing in the plan that would minimize the number of schools that students would attend as a result of the change process. Maps showing the zones and the current school boundaries can be found at the link below.

The recommendation achieves the geographic proximity of assignments and respects community boundaries desired by the boundary advisory committee and PTAs. The recommendation also minimizes the number of students moved by only reassigning students from Sligo Creek Elementary School. In addition, by reassigning zones SC4 and SC5 to Takoma Park and Piney Branch elementary schools and maintaining the current boundaries of East Silver Spring Elementary School, the addition projects that are under way at both schools will be fully utilized for the long term.

The complete text of the superintendent’s recommendation can be found at the link below.