Montgomery County schools Superintendent Thomas Taylor wants to replace Eastern Middle School, renovate Sligo Middle School and close Silver Spring International Middle School as part of a major plan to tackle the district’s aging facilities.

If his proposal is approved, several elementary school buildings could also be replaced by 2031, as could Damascus High School.

Many other campuses should also be on the list for major renovations, the superintendent said, but there just isn’t enough money to cover everything.

“There’s hard truths coming,” Taylor said during a Monday presentation in which he ran through the data that guided his capital improvements program recommendations.

Taylor is asking for a $2.7 billion investment in campus infrastructure over six years. He warned that the enormous figure covers only half of the district’s actual facility needs.

His recommendations are far from a done deal. The school board must sign off on it, and then county government.

As Taylor ran through the numbers, council member Will Jawando listened near the front of the district’s Rockville boardroom. He said the county must balance competing interests for funds.

Taylor’s presentation was “realistic about the need,” Jawando said. “As far as what we can afford, that’s a different question, right?”

Complaints about campus infrastructure have long dogged Montgomery County Public Schools leaders. The district operates more than 230 buildings, some built more than a half century ago.

“This is a big ask,” Taylor said. “It’s a big ask because our needs are really significant.”

Earlier this year, staff members at a school board meeting decried building conditions they said made them sick. Parents regularly tell board members about problems at their kids’ campuses, from broken HVAC systems to mold.

The school district has more than $740 million worth of overdue HVAC projects alone, Taylor said.

The school district’s old strategy for dealing with facility issues was burying its head in the sand, said Taylor, who has led the district since 2024. That led to a system in which the majority of county public schools need repairs or are functionally unreliable, according to a recent report from the comptroller’s office.

“It took us two decades to get into this mess. It’s going to take two decades to get out of this mess,” Taylor said.

Those who will be stuck waiting on their campus’ turn for renovations are sure to feel frustrated.

“I would love to include them if funds would allow for that,” Taylor said. “They don’t.”

Brigid Howe, president of the Montgomery County Council of PTAs, said she feels for students at schools on the cusp, like Magruder and Wootton high schools, which need repair but don’t make it onto the high-priority list.

Those campuses “have real needs,” she said, “and are having to wait yet again.”

Other changes could be coming too. Taylor said he wants the district to do an elementary school boundary study after it finishes the process at the secondary level.

Silver Spring International Middle School

Shortly before the meeting, Taylor spent 15 minutes on a Zoom call with Silver Spring International Middle School families to give them a heads-up about his proposal.

He rattled through the campus’ myriad problems: poorly designed staircases, subpar bathrooms and other “really scary” issues. He said it’s no longer a tenable learning environment.

“All of that being said, it’s still not the worst facility in Montgomery County Public Schools,” Taylor said.

The superintendent said his plan to close the school will not affect current SSIMS students.

School parents asked how the district will keep their children safe on campus until then. They’ve raised concerns about mold, leaky ceilings, broken railings and other problems that have lingered for years.

“We will continue to make improvements to SSIMS as a building, but just know that it won’t be sweeping, big changes” because it’s not worth pumping that much money into the building and needs are even greater elsewhere, Taylor told them.

The building could eventually be used as a “holding school” for students while their own campuses are undergoing renovations.

Silver Spring International Middle School operates out of what was the original Montgomery Blair High School building, constructed in the 1930s.

That history now “haunts” the facility, Taylor said.

The school board will host community listening sessions over the next several weeks.

The superintendent will formally present his plan to the board on Tuesday.