The new superintendent of schools for Montgomery County, Maryland is entering his third week on the job with the new school year beginning in just over a month.
Thomas Taylor, who came from Stafford County, now leads the largest school district in Maryland, with a budget of $3.3 billion, more than 160,000 students and over 200 school buildings.
WTOP talked to him about the job he’s taken on.
Parents of up to 800 students who were served by the Virtual Academy — the program that provided specialized online education to a variety of students throughout the pandemic — were furious to find that the program would not be continued next year. That decision was made when the Board of Education voted on the FY2025 budget — prior to Taylor’s arrival.
Taylor planned to meet with parents affected by its closure on Tuesday night. He told WTOP he’s looking to learn more about their concerns and how to address them while working within the current budget constraints.
“I do want to hear from them, some of their challenges, some of their needs,” Taylor said.
But he admitted that “superintendents don’t overrule boards of education.”
Taylor said he had many concerns about the tight budget year and the “hard fiscal realities associated” with the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future — the multibillion dollar education reform law that, among other things, will set the floor for teacher salaries at $60,000 a year.
The added pressures come as federal money given to help schools cope through the pandemic is no longer available.
Taylor said the bulk of Montgomery County’s operating budget — close to 90% — is spent on personnel.
“So when we add a body to the mix, (while value is added to the schools and to students) … it does come with a cost,” he said. “(Managing those costs) is going to be really important part of our fiscal stewardship mix.”
Safety, whether it’s “physical safety or emotional safety,” is a priority, Taylor said.
He’s taking over as superintendent at a time when the school system has also hired Marcus Jones, Montgomery County’s former police chief, as the head of security.
Jones has been vocal on bringing back school resource officers (SROs) back to school campuses. In 2021, Montgomery County schools eliminated the program, which placed officers in a single school full-time and switched to having community engagement officers (CEO), assigning an official to a single high school cluster.
Taylor said it’s “a hard call to make” whether to bring SROs back.
“I think I need to evaluate their effectiveness, and to backtrack a little bit, and determine what goals we set for that particular program and what their metrics are for success before really weighing in on that,” he said.
Maryland’s State Board of Education wants to see the state’s students’ reading scores go up by 2027 and have outlined using the “science of reading” approach to reach that goal. The drafted policy calls for the return to teaching phonics in state classrooms and screening for “reading deficiencies” among children from kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Taylor says the policy “does have some merit” and that “many of our teachers and staff have gone through that training, and it is destined to have some positive impact.” He said he looks forward to seeing what that looks like.
When it comes to holding back third graders who don’t read on grade level, Taylor indicated he does have some reservations. He calls the practice “a complicated issue.”
“It also concerns me that (it) might disproportionately affect historically marginalized communities,” he said.
But, Taylor concluded, “The stakes have never been higher for us to get it right, and I welcome that challenge.”
During the last year, students — including former student school board member Sami Saeed — complained that the school system wasn’t doing enough regarding student safety, and many said they needed more access to mental health services.
Taylor said, “We have to acknowledge it’s a tough time for our students today,” and that they’ve faced unique pressures.
“I think it’s really incumbent on the adults to have some empathy about what our students are experiencing right now,” he added.
His message to students who may be struggling: “Not every day is going to be a huge success, and that’s OK.”
Taylor, a product of Montgomery County Public Schools himself, reflected on a teacher who made a difference in his life.
“Gail Glazer!” he said with a smile.
Glazer was a music teacher at Westland Intermediate School, now known as Westland Middle School, in Bethesda. While he admits he had no musical aptitude, Taylor said she “created a learning environment where I could be successful.”
“It felt very personalized and very focused on me, but she did this for all children,” he said.
Glazer’s ability to create programs and activities to engage students made Taylor eager to get to school each day.
He said half-jokingly, “I don’t think my attendance has been better anywhere since.”
Taylor said Glazer also found ways to lift him up when things didn’t go well.
“Here’s the best part about Montgomery County Public Schools; she’s not alone,” he added. “We have teammates at MCPS that emulate those characteristics every day for our kids, and that makes me so proud to come home.”
