The Montgomery County Board of Education has approved a plan to close its only charter school at the end of its first year amid claims it ignored students’ special needs.
The board voted 6-2 on Thursday to adopt Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Taylor’s proposal to shutter the Mecca Business Learning Institute by June 30. Enforcement of the resolution is pending the outcome of a state appeals process.
In voting to revoke Mecca’s charter, the board’s majority also rejected an alternative plan from school leaders to stay open. Their decision came after district officials testified that the middle school in Germantown failed to provide legally required individualized education programs to 10 students with documented learning disabilities.
“We were going in weekly to work with them, and there was no movement,” Margaret Cage, the school system’s chief of specialized support services, told the board.
Ms. Cage said that while Mecca was making progress with one student, nine others had been out of compliance since November.
Mecca has filed an appeal with Maryland’s Office of Administrative Hearings. It accuses the district of pushing for closure without following its own due process rules.
“The case is still proceeding, and we have no further updates at this time,” said Cherie Duvall-Jones, a spokeswoman for the Maryland State Board of Education.
Mecca leaders insisted that the school system failed to provide “clear, timely, and consistent” expectations for addressing violations it flagged after the school opened in August.
“Yesterday’s action only confirmed that the subsequent process was not meaningfully structured as a pathway for reconsideration or reprieve,” they said in an email to The Washington Times.
Their statement also rejected “the continued claim that the school is not directly supporting its students.”
“The remaining ’concerns’ involve documentation, process, and shifting administrative expectations, not a failure to serve students,” Mecca’s leadership said.
Charter schools are independently managed public campuses that operate under state laws. Maryland authorized them in 2003.
Previously, the school board voted to deny Mecca’s charter application before a state appeal forced them to grant it in 2023.
Mecca opened in August with 186 students, but only 70 were still attending classes last month after the board voted to begin closing it.
School officials say nearly 200 students have expressed interest in enrolling for the fall, and another 400 people signed a petition opposing closure.
Education board members Rita Montoya, Laura Stewart, Julie Yang, Karla Silvestre and Natalie Zimmerman voted on Thursday to dissolve the campus. So did Anuva Maloo, the board’s lone student member.
“My understanding from MCPS is that they are not fully in compliance,” Ms. Montoya said. “And so it’s challenging for me to say that, well, they’ve then cured the issue at this point.”
Board President Grace Rivera-Oven and Vice President Brenda Wolff voted against the resolution. They supported placing Mecca on a “remediation plan” that would give it a chance to remain open under supervision.
“I think if they are making progress and so on, I just have a really hard time right now in supporting the recommendation that we currently have,” Ms. Rivera-Oven said.
Ms. Wolff noted that several district campuses have been out of compliance with special education requirements for years. She accused the school system of skirting its own due process rules, which normally give schools until May 30 to complete an “entire evaluation framework.”
“As I have continued to say, I do not believe that the superintendent has submitted sufficient evidence to support the revocation of MBLI’s charter,” Ms. Wolff said.
Serving over 160,000 students, Montgomery County Public Schools is Maryland’s largest district. A page on its website describes Mecca as “Maryland’s first business-focused public charter school,” with a focus on teaching job market skills.
“The next step is for the district to begin implementing the transition plan following the board’s decision, with updates to be provided in the coming weeks as that process moves forward,” Edith Lozada Salgado, a school board spokeswoman, said in an email after the vote.
