MCPS operates Alternative Education Programs that support students in Grades 6-12. The program is intended to support students who have been unsuccessful in their home schools for a variety of reasons. The program currently operates out of two locations in Rockville: the Blair G. Ewing Center campus on Avery Road, as well as the North Lake Center, which is typically used as a holding school. An FY 2027 appropriation was requested to fund the planning of a permanent location located at the Spring Mill Center. Due to fiscal constraints, in the adopted FY2027-2032 CIP, the County Council approved the project with expenditures starting in FY2029.

MCPS asserts that this project conforms to the requirement of relevant local plans, as required by the Maryland Economic Growth, Resource Protection and Planning Act.