Board President Julie Yang opened the second public hearing on the FY2027 capital budget and the FY2027'FY2032 capital improvement program and reminded speakers the board will not respond during the hearing.

Community members from the Wootton cluster and surrounding neighborhoods urged the Board of Education to restore Wootton High School to the superintendent's recommended CIP and to fund a clear, time‑bound planning and construction timeline. Wootton parents and cluster coordinators cited the MCPS facility-condition assessment and repeated site visits to argue the building's HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems present health and safety risks.

"Wootton is the only school in the county rated poor for both HVAC and plumbing systems," said Brian Raven, Wootton PTSA president. "These failures are not monitoring conveniences. They are serious health and safety concerns."

Parents and students described recurring power outages, leaking ceilings, mold remediation and failing systems that cause early dismissals and interruptions during high-stakes testing. Several speakers said Wootton's facility condition index (FCI) places it among the most depleted high schools in the county and said that must translate into prompt planning and funding.

Cold Spring Elementary, an open-concept school built in 1972, also drew repeated testimony. Parents and the PTA described classrooms separated only by partial walls, chronic roof leaks, unreliable HVAC, and frequent noise and safety concerns during emergency drills. "Cold Spring is the last open-concept elementary school in the county," said Brooke Rickett, Cold Spring PTA president, "Our classrooms have no doors. You simply can't fix a structural problem without walls and doors."

Several community speakers backed a specific remedy: designate the new Crown High School as a secondary holding school to provide temporary space while Wootton, Magruder and other high schools are modernized. Supporters said a holding campus would accelerate projects by freeing construction phasing constraints and reducing the need for off-site relocations.

"Using Crown as a holding school might give us a path forward," said Vivian Xu, a Wootton cluster representative. "But the other bottleneck remains lack of funding and prioritization. Temporary fixes are risk deferrals."

MCPS staff answered board questions about follow-up steps, including requests for independent air-quality testing at affected schools, details about remediation already performed and timelines for planned feasibility studies. No formal actions or votes occurred during the hearing; the board and superintendent will include testimony when the board finalizes recommendations to county council.

Community members asked the board to add Wootton to the CIP with planning funds in the current cycle and construction funds in the next, and to identify interim mitigation steps such as targeted HVAC or plumbing repairs, independent mold and air-quality testing, and short-term security or staffing measures while full modernizations move forward.