The future of a decades-old Montgomery County Public Schools home-building program that gives students real jobsite experience, including masonry work, remains unresolved for the 2026-2027 school year.
The question follows a report by MyMCMedia that activity at Thomas Edison High School of Technology looked to have stopped after budget cuts, including empty parking spaces designated for the Foundations Office and no visible work at the site where students have built homes for years.
MyMCMedia also reported that Superintendent Thomas Taylor’s proposed budget eliminated four positions connected to the program for about $460,000 in savings, including the Foundations Office supervisor, instructional specialists, and a fiscal assistant. In June, the Board of Education adopted a $3.72 billion fiscal year 2027 operating budget that eliminated hundreds of positions across the school system.
The Construction Trades Foundation recently marked 50 years. Students from Thomas Edison and Seneca Valley high schools spent two years constructing the program’s 44th home, a three-level, four-bedroom house on O’Fallon Street in Silver Spring that sold for $799,000.
MCPS said its Career and Technical Education programs remain operational and teachers continue to provide instruction. The school system also emphasized that the supporting foundations are independent 501(c)(3) organizations, and MCPS is working with them to set formal Memoranda of Understanding, or MOUs, that clarify the relationships and how the organizations support schools, programs, and students.
Historically, MCPS documents have described the Construction Trades Foundation as operating a design-build business where students construct a single-family home using skills learned in areas that include architecture, carpentry, electricity, plumbing, masonry, and HVAC.
When asked directly if students will continue to construct and sell homes through the foundation during the 2026-2027 school year, MCPS spokesperson Liliana Lopez said the decision has not been made while the MOUs are finalized. MCPS added that it and the foundations are identifying appropriate projects and opportunities for students during that process.
Read the full, original article from The MoCo Show - here.