350 people crowding the cafeteria at Julius West MS in Rockville for a meeting on MCPS’ school boundary analysis—our front, officials told us the room is full and we might want to attend one of the other scheduled meetings 
meanwhile, protesters out front have signs and are handing out flyers that warn “FARMS (free and reduced lunch) rate trumps geography”
the consultants are trying to present, but keep getting interrupted by people like this gentleman, who demand to speak, and audience members cheering him on
some maps laying out the case for looking at school boundaries: where are students on free/reduced lunch; where are the crowded schools, and how many students currently don’t go to their closest school (about 37-45% of the county!)
Between various adults yelling, a student asks to speak: “As an 8th grader, I would not want to go to a meeting like this. It’s just people screaming and screaming back at each other.”
one of the officials told this guy “you’re not speaking for everybody.” people around him cheer, to say “he is.” He wants to know what the study’s result will be: recommendations, not actual redistricting, as @CaitlynnPeetz14 laid out: bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/…
in 13 years of going to meetings, this is one of the most hostile rooms I have ever been in. I have a hard time even following what’s going on between on the yelling and heckling from the audience.
One woman says the audience tonight is the “demographic that has been neglected, that works hard, that pays their taxes.” More than one mentioned a Facebook group (3000+ members) that started to oppose the boundary analysis.
This woman told a story about integrating schools in Chevy Chase in the 70s and got booed. “I understand. I’ve got lots of fears too. I want my kids to be successful. But I say go back and look at why this is happening.”
“Diversity may not be important to you, but it’s important to your kids that they experience this.” @xanushax, a 2019 MCPS grad, got more boos for saying this
we went home early. can’t say I was surprised by what people said, but I was very disappointed by how people behaved tonight, and all “for the kids”
the saddest part is that people came and left without seeing the presentation, which would explain that this study would produce recommendations for how MCPS could redraw boundaries at *some point in the future*
More details (and videos) from last night’s school boundary meeting—and how opponents encouraged people to disrupt the meeting
