Superintendent Joshua Starr focused on students’ concerns about the impact of budget cuts on extracurricular activities, class sizes and arts and music programs during his second town hall meeting Nov. 9 at Quince Orchard High School.

During the meeting, which followed up on Starr’s Oct. 12 town hall at Blake High School, Starr reiterated that he isn’t in favor of any additional budget cuts.

“The budget is a huge challenge, and I’ve been amazed at how we’ve been able to sustain a level of excellence and quality even though so much has been cut over the years,” Starr said. “My goal going forward is to, quite frankly, not add and not cut. I don’t want to cut anything from what we currently have, but I probably won’t be able to add anything either.”

Students also asked about magnet programs, technology in schools and standardized testing, which Starr spoke about in depth. Starr agreed that there is currently an overemphasis on standardized testing but maintained that while testing is not necessarily good at revealing students’ strengths, it can show their weaknesses.

Starr shared that he struggled with standardized tests as a student and that schools shouldn’t be as reliant on them.

“I don’t want us to be a results-focused organization; I want us to be a teaching and learning organization, which means that we have to have great teaching and learning for every student in every classroom everyday,” Starr said. “If we focus on creating the best lessons and the most engaging, high quality environment for every student, the results are going to come. I’m not worried about that.”

A video of Starr’s town hall can be found online at the MCPS website.