Donald Klees Testimony at August 21, 2025 Board of Education Meeting

One benefit of transplanting my life from Pennsylvania to Olney is being able to appreciate what's great about Montgomery County without taking anything for granted. That's especially true of MCPS, which provided my children with a world-class education.  

I sometimes wonder how liberal arts majors like Beth and I got such STEM-focused kids - whose resumes range from Microsoft and Booz Allen Hamilton to the NIH - but they are who they're meant to be. The Magnet Program at Montgomery Blair High School, which all three of my children attended, was a big part of that.  

I don't like singling out one of my kids over the others, but my son George is an instructive example. George's Senior Research Project at Blair was the foundation for the 2018 winner of the NSA's Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper Competition. George, who was a sophomore at UMD when it was awarded, was credited as the lead author, a very rare distinction for an undergrad. 

I have no doubt that this kind of achievement can be the norm across MCPS, but getting there involves treating the Blair Magnet as a model for how other programs can bring out the best in their students, not in stripping it down for parts.  

The regional approach to special programs being debated is clearly well-intentioned. Expanding access and improving equity are worthy goals, but how goals are pursued matters. Dismantling a program with a multi-generational history of academic excellence would not just be an affront to the values MCPS espouses but also counter to the aims supposedly being pursued. Even if MCPS can find enough qualified teachers to start this effort in 2027, simply assigning them to various schools won't in itself create programs overnight. 

The Blair Magnet isn’t some static entity, coasting on its reputation; it's a team that constantly challenges themselves to meet the needs of children like mine. For years it’s served as a guiding light for its students. It can - and should - play that role for other programs within MCPS.