It’s going to be uncomfortable — but it has to happen.

That’s the message Montgomery County Public Schools leaders brought to County Council members Thursday as they defended a contentious plan to redesign high school academic programs.

“The discomfort and the uncertainty is part of the process,” Chief of Staff Essie McGuire said.

District leaders are proposing a plan to divide Montgomery County’s 25 high schools into six regions, each with a slate of parallel academic programs focused on themes such as STEM, health care and the performing arts.

They say these changes are needed to ensure more students across the district can enroll in rigorous programs that align with their interests — without having to travel far from home or compete for scarce seats.

The high school program planning is unfolding at the same time as the district is debating new campus boundaries.

“We have a confluence of events that give us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get this right,” McGuire said.

But Councilwoman Kristin Mink said she worries the parallel programs will be given disparate levels of resources and staffing. She questioned district officials on whether their plan is realistic — especially because they want to roll it out in the fall of 2027.

“We know already that it’s difficult to staff some of these highly specialized programs,” Mink said. “So thinking about trying to staff all of these different buckets, simultaneously, at multiple schools across the county — it is hard to imagine how that’s going to be possible in such a short time.”

Councilmembers also pressed school leaders about the impact on the county’s budget, but district officials said they were not prepared to speak about the costs. That answer appeared to frustrate councilmembers because much of the county budget flows to the public schools.

“This upcoming budget is going to be hard,” Councilwoman Natali Fani-González said.

Why is MCPS making changes?

Officials said 10% to 15% of high school students — out of more than 50,000 districtwide — participate in specialized programs outside their zoned campus.

County teenagers have varying access to these academic pathways. Some students get more chances than others to apply for rigorous programs, including International Baccalaureate, that are housed only at certain campuses.

Many students end up on waitlists due to limited seats, while a dearth of transportation options makes some programs inaccessible.

“We have thousands of appeal letters, thousands of phone calls, thousands of families who feel that they’re not able to access programming in their area,” said Jeannie Franklin, who oversees application programs.

Parents and teachers raised concerns that replicating so many academic programs across six regions would compromise quality. The district would need to recruit far more specialized staff members.

District officials said they would focus on training educators and recruiting new ones. They emphasized the rollout would be phased in over several years.

Several parents sat in the first few rows of council chambers, holding signs that decried the plan.

Fueling some families’ frustrations is a feeling that the district has not solicited enough community feedback.

District officials said they have held student focus groups and offered community surveys.

“We acknowledge it’s messy. We acknowledge it’s uncomfortable,” McGuire said. “But we ask everyone to work through it with us.”

To Rodney Peele, the district’s comments about community engagement rang hollow.

“What they’ve called ‘engagement’ has mostly been rolling out information. There’s not a real dialogue,” said Peele, a Richard Montgomery parent. “They don’t have the track record [that shows] they can accomplish all the things they’re promising.”

Councilmembers said they’re eager for a clearer understanding of the district’s plans, even as school officials emphasized the details are not finalized.

They will present additional information next week to the school board.

“We don’t have a pretty picture tied up in a bow to give today,” McGuire said.