What’s happened so far
October 13, 2025
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) announced a plan to close Silver Spring International Middle School (SSIMS) in June 2030 and relocate Sligo Creek Elementary School (SCES) in August 2029, in order to repurpose the buildings into “holding” schools for students from other schools undergoing construction.
This announcement came as a shock to the community, which had not been informed or consulted in any way during the proposal’s formulation. MCPS said its proposal addressed a need for downcounty holding schools, that the buildings are no longer fit to be used as permanent facilities, that declining enrollment is impacting school populations, and that the incoming Purple Line would pose a safety concern for the school community.
MCPS failed to evaluate other holding school alternatives or the impacts to the community of closing the only middle school in downtown Silver Spring. Further, close analysis revealed that MCPS’s proposal was not data-driven, was fiscally irresponsible, and ran counter to the principles laid out in the county’s Thrive Montgomery 2050 plan and the prior support of MCPS for a Purple Line stop to serve the school community.
The timeline from MCPS’ proposal announcement to Board of Education vote was five weeks—a fast-tracked schedule that attempted to severely limit community engagement. Despite this expedited process, Save our Silver Spring Schools formed quickly and organically in response—organizing rallies and demonstrations, spearheading a community petition that garnered more than 1,000 signatures, speaking out loudly through both written and verbal BOE testimony, and advocating tirelessly to the BOE and County Council.
Read the fact sheet that SOSSS developed in the Fall of 2025 to inform the community about the proposed closures
Read an article from Montgomery Perspective outlining the original proposal’s flaws.
December 11, 2025
The Board of Education voted unanimously against Superintendent Taylor’s expedited closure recommendation for SSIMS, demanding greater community engagement—an acknowledgement of our community’s well-founded concerns. However, MCPS submitted its recommended FY27 Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) to County Executive Marc Elrich nonetheless, including funding to close SSIMS and SCES.
January 15, 2026
County Executive Marc Elrich removed funding for the closure of SSIMS from the budget, citing the importance of smaller middle schools for student success. This removal of a specific line item from MCPS’s CIP was extremely rare—providing further validation of the rushed proposal’s many flaws. As a result of CE Elrich’s decision to remove the funding for the closure, the decision of whether to close SSIMS and SCES was postponed—not permanently stopped. It will now be considered as part of the upcoming countywide consolidation and closure process.
Early February 2026
Community members testified before the Montgomery County Council regarding the urgent need for $60 million in health and safety repairs at SSIMS and SCES—including immediate investments to address the dangerous “Stairwell 7” and unhealthy levels of mold. In addition, dozens of community members submitted written testimony to the Council regarding these desperately needed safety repairs.
February 5, 2026
Superintendent Taylor presented to the BOE “Modified Option B” as his recommended boundaries for the reopening of Charles W. Woodward High School—the culmination of a years-long boundary study of which SSIMS was a part long before the October closure announcement. Previously unseen and not included in any options presented to the public for feedback, “Modified Option B” drastically reduced the facility utilization of SSIMS to 55.8% (as compared to today’s 86.4%).
SOSSS asserts that this recommendation is a strategic attempt to bolster a future argument for closure through what can only be described as “demolition by neglect.” By withholding necessary investments in health and safety repairs while simultaneously directing enrollment away from the school, the Superintendent is creating the conditions necessary to justify an eventual closure of SSIMS.
Late February 2026
Community members and Northwood Cluster representatives testified before the Board of Education against Modified Option B, calling it an 11th-hour strategy to advance MCPS’s agenda to close SSIMS. In their testimony, community members asserted that the boundary proposal is again an attempt to bypass the public process and runs counter to the BOE’s unanimous December vote demanding community engagement. They also asserted that the new boundaries’ artificially manufactured decreased utilization would negatively impact SSIMS students and teachers.
March 26, 2026
The BOE voted in favor of Modified Option B, meaning SSIMS enrollment numbers will drop drastically beginning in the 2027-2028 school year. The BOE also approved a process to consider consolidating and closing elementary and middle schools across the county, to be followed by boundary changes.
You can read the BOE resolution here.
Save Our Silver Spring Schools 