The CMS board will vote Tuesday night on a compromise of sorts for those families who have long pushed for a Montessori high school.
CMS offers several Montessori magnet programs throughout the county, including one for seventh and eighth graders at Sedgefield Middle School. But the district has no Montessori high school.
In October, Superintendent Ann Clark said she’d like to add one soon, but CMS doesn’t have a building that can fit several grades. Parents urged Clark and the board to find a way to extend the program for next year.
“I know we need a facility, but the Montessori program is not huge. It’s a few hundred students. I’m sure we don’t need to wait for a bond for a few hundred kids or even for 25 students for the ninth grade class,” Doug Sheridan told the board at last month’s meeting.
Indeed, they may not, if the board approves a measure Tuesday night to add a ninth grade class to the existing Montessori program at Sedgefield Middle School. It’s unlikely Sedgefield would have room to expand beyond that. It would cost about $250,000 to hire two teachers and buy instructional materials.
A new member of the board will help make that decision. The board will say goodbye to Tim Morgan and welcome Elyse Dashew to an at-large position. Also Tuesday night, the board will select a chairman and vice-chairman.
