To: Prince George’s County Board of Education

Interim Superintendent Dr. Shawn Joseph
Prince George’s County Executive and County Council

Petition Statement

We, the undersigned parents, students, educators, alumni, and community members, urge Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) to retain the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) and reject their proposed elimination under the FY 2027 budget.

PGCPS’s FY 2027 budget proposal identifies a $150 million structural deficit and proposes addressing it in part by eliminating IB designation at the elementary and middle school levels, while retaining the IB Diploma Programme (DP) at the high school level. According to PGCPS budget materials, this change would generate approximately $2.8 million in savings.

The schools identified as losing IB PYP and/or MYP designation include:

• Melwood Elementary School (PYP)
• Maya Angelou French Immersion School (PYP & MYP)
• Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School (MYP)
• James Madison Middle School (MYP)
• Frederick Douglass High School (MYP only)

PGCPS states that because PYP and MYP schools use the district’s curriculum, the same educational priorities can be met “without the IB designation.” We strongly disagree.

Why This Matters

IB PYP and MYP are not branding exercises. They are internationally authorized, externally monitored educational frameworks with required teacher training, instructional standards, assessment models, and accountability mechanisms.

The IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) serves students ages 3–12 and emphasizes inquiry-based, transdisciplinary learning that develops critical thinking, global awareness, and student agency.

The IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) serves students ages 11–16 and is intentionally designed to prepare students for rigorous secondary coursework, including the IB Diploma Programme and other advanced academic pathways.

Removing the IB designation:

• Breaks the academic pipeline between elementary, middle, and high school for IB students
• Undermines program fidelity and accountability, as IB authorization, audits, and professional development would cease
• Destabilizes school communities, particularly schools that families deliberately choose because of IB programming
• Disproportionately impacts equity-focused schools, where IB programs expand access to rigorous, globally recognized education

PGCPS cannot credibly claim that it can preserve IB-quality instruction while simultaneously removing the very framework, training, and oversight that define IB programs.

Budget Reality Does Not Justify This Cut

PGCPS acknowledges that the $2.8 million savings from eliminating PYP and MYP represents a tiny fraction of a $150 million shortfall. Yet the educational harm to students, families, and communities is outsized.

Eliminating IB PYP and MYP:

Does not solve the structural budget problem

Risks enrollment losses and further funding instability

Signals that advanced, inquiry-based education is expendable at earlier grade levels.

This is not strategic budgeting. It is short-term cost cutting with long-term consequences.

What We Are Demanding

We call on PGCPS leadership and the Board of Education to:

Retain IB PYP and IB MYP programs at all currently authorized schools for FY 2027 and beyond.
Provide full transparency before any vote, including:

A school-by-school breakdown of how the $2.8 million savings figure was calculated
Staffing, training, and programmatic impacts
Enrollment projections and family retention data
Academic outcome data tied specifically to IB participation

Hold a dedicated public hearing focused solely on IB PYP and MYP, allowing affected school communities to provide meaningful testimony separate from general budget hearings.
Identify alternative cost-saving strategies that do not dismantle high-quality academic programs, including central office reallocations, phased efficiencies, grants, partnerships, or revenue enhancements.

What Success Looks Like

IB PYP and MYP remain fully authorized and funded in PGCPS
Families retain confidence and stability in their schools
Teachers retain professional training and instructional coherence
Students maintain access to rigorous, globally recognized education from elementary through high school

PGCPS must balance its budget—but not on the backs of students and programs that work.

We urge PGCPS to pause this proposal, engage the community honestly, and commit to retaining IB PYP and MYP programs.

Sign this petition to protect academic excellence, equity, and continuity in Prince George’s County Public Schools.

#SavePGCPSIB #KeepPYP #KeepMYP #EquityInEducation #PGCPSBudget #IBWorks