Think high school redistricting was tough? Get ready for an elementary boundary study.

Montgomery County families should brace for possible elementary and middle school closures — and new boundaries to determine which campuses their children will attend.

Maryland’s largest school district recently wrapped up an acrimonious high school redistricting process. Now administrators are turning their attention to the campuses that serve younger students.

The next couple of years will bring emotional debate. Many parents buy homes and plan their lives around where they want their kids to attend school. Campuses are neighborhood hubs, sources of local pride and community that have educated generations.

But district leaders say a shake-up is necessary as Montgomery County Public Schools confront declining enrollment, uneven building utilization and other factors. They laid out their plans at a Thursday night board meeting.

“You’re going to have a lot of work in front of you,” outgoing school board member Julie Yang told administrators.

The number of students in kindergarten through fifth grade has declined about 9% since 2019.

“As enrollment has declined, utilization across elementary schools increasingly has become imbalanced,” district documents state. “While certain areas of Montgomery County are experiencing localized growth, nearby schools often have significant available capacity.”

Officials don’t expect to implement changes until the 2029–2030 school year.

Before anything happens, they will carry out a comprehensive study, solicit community feedback, study population trends and hold public information sessions.

Board member Rita Montoya advised district officials to cast a wide net for community engagement, including by reaching out to parents of infants and toddlers who are not yet enrolled but will be impacted by boundary changes in the future.

Under the timeline discussed Thursday, the board is expected to make a decision about school consolidations and closures by May 2027. A year later, they are to decide on boundary reassignments.

The district selected FLO Analytics to conduct the school consolidation and closure study, as well as the countywide boundary analysis. The board approved a roughly $2 million contract for the firm, the same one used for the high school study.