The Board of Education will hear public comment on the school system’s proposed elementary school redistricting plan tonight at 7 at Loch Raven High School.
The Board will ultimately be deciding who will attend the new West Towson Elementary School. Tonight’s input could influence that decision.
For those interested in speaking, sign-up begins at 6 p.m.
The bad weather has forced Baltimore County school officials to reschedule two meetings regarding the proposed elementary school redistricting.
Central area superintendent Barbara Walker was scheduled to present her recommendation to the Board of Education at a meeting tomorrow night. This has now been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 16 at 7 p.m.
The public hearing on the redistricting recommendation will now be held Wednesday, March 10 at 7 p.m., at Loch Raven High School.
The West Towson Elementary School redistricting plan favored by a BCPS boundary committee will be formally recommended to the Board of Education at a meeting this Tuesday, February 9.
Barbara Walker, the BCPS central area superintendent, will recommend Scenario G to the Board, according to documents posted on the BCPS website. Her only modification to the plan would allow the Ruxton Ridge neighborhood to attend the school.
The Board will hear public comment on the proposed boundaries at a February 24 meeting at Loch Raven High School, and then announce its decision March 9.
The full recommendation can be found here. It is Exhibit “M” on the February 9 agenda.
Two years ago this month, Towson Families United was formed. If it’s hard to remember what was happening back in January of 2008, that might be because nothing was happening — at least when it came to the Towson area’s elementary school overcrowding.
Despite dramatic evidence that our schools would soon be unable to handle the number of incoming students, the county executive and the schools superintendent were engaged in a high-stakes game of finger-pointing. And the only plan the school system had put forth to partially solve the problem was shelved a month before, by the county executive.
That is when residents from many parts of Towson — Stoneleigh, Rodgers Forge, Riderwood, Hampton and West Towson — came together and got to work. We made phone calls. We wrote letters. We dragged our children to meetings and rallies. We got in the face of anyone who would listen to the facts.
Now, two years later, the results are becoming visible.
The new West Towson Elementary School will open this fall on Charles Street, and will accommodate 451 children. It promises to be a showcase for the county — a state-of-the-art school filled with the latest learning equipment, led by a passionate, experienced principal who is hand-picking her entire teaching staff from across the county.
But West Towson Elementary is only part of the solution to Towson’s overcrowding problem.
In the past few months, the school board has also approved $1.1 million for the design phase of an addition and renovation at Hampton Elementary — including funding approved this month to make it a LEED-certified, green project. It expected to be ready in the fall of 2012.
Another addition, at Stoneleigh Elementary, is in the planning stages. It should also be ready by 2012.
These three actions should take care of the Towson area’s elementary overcrowding. But it’s good to see that the school system is not stopping there.
BCPS recently announced that it would request $50.75 million over the next five years for new school construction and additions along the York Road corridor. This money could possibly address overcrowding at Lutherville, Timonium, Pot Spring and Sparks Elementary. The first portion of that request, in the FY 2011 budget, is expected to be ratified by the school board at its February 9 meeting.
What’s more, since we began our efforts, there’s been a change of leadership in the “Central Area” of the school system. A new area superintendent has taken over and is well aware of the challenges posed by growing enrollments.
The last two years haven’t been without their challenges. But progress is being made. We thank everyone, in every neighborhood, for getting involved and staying involved. Together, Towson Families United will continue to advocate for all the children of the greater Towson area.
The boundary committee responsible for advising the school system on who should attend the new West Towson Elementary School tonight recommended a plan that could leave Rodgers Forge Elementary slightly overcapacity as early as this fall.
The committee, composed of community leaders, teachers and administrators, voted 7 to 3 to approve what is known as Option G, a plan favored by the Rodgers Forge Community Association. The remaining three votes were for an option known as A1.
If Option G was in place today, Rodgers Forge would stand at 93.18% capacity, and West Towson would be at 85.59% capacity. School system projections state that Rodgers Forge would be at slightly over 100% capacity this fall — with 401 students in a building with a state-rated capacity of 396. West Towson is projected to open with 416 students this fall, in building rated for 451.
Controversy arose early in the meeting, as Baltimore County Schools’ Central Area Assistant Superintendent Barbara Walker addressed concerns over the legality of Option G, as well as whether the boundary process was tainted in favor of one community association.
Option G is a plan that keeps the majority of Rodgers Forge Community Association homeowners attending Rodgers Forge Elementary. But it does not include the adjacent Gaywood community, as well the Pinehurst neighborhood, Schwartz Avenue, and those renting in the Rodgers Forge apartments.
Because of this, some residents have said this option appears “gerrymandered.” In addition, some have said that Option G was not discussed during an open meeting, but rather, at a hastily called unpublicized meeting just before the holidays. They said that information about Option G was provided to only one neighborhood group — the Rodgers Forge Community Association — enabling it to mobilize its members to support the plan at a public hearing January 6, while other community groups were left unaware.
Walker told the committee, and an audience of about 75 people, that the meeting to add Option G, while not made public, did not violate any open meetings laws, because the boundary committee was not officially convened by the Board of Education. She said she was advised of this by BCPS attorneys.
As for the allegation that information was leaked to the Rodgers Forge Community Association, Walker said she had no way of knowing how that affected the vote at the January 6th public forum.
“I don’t know whether it made a difference,” she told the group.
The results of the vote at the public input hearing showed that 46% of individual voters preferred Option G; 20% preferred Option E1; 18% preferred A1; and 12% preferred Option I.
Walker said she didn’t know who leaked the information, but said that it violated her charge to the group not to discuss potential scenarios until they were presented at the public forum. She then told the committee there would be no more discussion of the matter.
Stuart Sirota, a parent representing the Rodgers Forge Elementary PTA, took a vocal stance throughout the meeting, strongly recommending Option G. But when he asked if the committee could discuss the various options in more detail, a vote was taken and the rest of the committee did not think that was necessary.
Tonight’s vote was a recommendation to Walker, the area assistant superintendent, who has the right to modify the recommended plan before presenting it to Superintendent Joe A. Hairston. She said she will make her recommendation a week from today. That plan will then be presented to the Board of Education on February 9. A board hearing will be held Feb. 24, where the public is invited to comment on the plan, and then a final vote will taken on March 9.
Walker asked committee members whether they had any suggested modifications to Option G that she should consider. Towson Families United chairwoman Cathi Forbes, a committee member, asked that Walker consider adding two streets adjacent to West Towson Elementary — Charles Ridge Road and Wine Spring Lane — so children there could attend the school. There is a paved walking path from their neighborhood to the new school grounds. The request was seconded by Beth Purvis, a representative of the Ruxton Riderwood Lake Roland Area Improvement Association.
Sirota then proposed a number of changes, including adding the 144 homes in the Gaywood community. Several committee members said this would put Rodgers Forge Elementary significantly overcapacity, and that making such additions is a “slippery slope.”
And some committee members appeared concerned that Rodgers Forge Elementary was being left with so many students.
“Rodgers Forge is going to be overcrowded. That’s what we just voted for,” said committee member Yara Cheikh.
Speaking of the controversial redistricting process, Forbes told the committee: “What’s been disheartening to me these past few weeks is that there really isn’t a bad choice here. Both schools will be great, with great principals and teachers. A school isn’t a building. It’s the people who fill it.”
Janice Moore, the Rodgers Forge Community Association president who yesterday was quoted saying her neighborhood was being treated like a “bastard stepchild” by the school system, today apologized for the remarks. She said she believed the comments she made to a Towson Times reporter were “off the record.”
Read her apology letter here.
The president of the Rodgers Forge Community Association says the school system’s plan to move some of its residents to a new, state-of-the-art elementary school on Charles Street is unfair and will hurt their sense of community.
“Hampton and Riderwood get to stay on the periphery, while they dump on us like the bastard stepchild,” Janice Moore, the association president, told the Towson Times today.
Some residents in Rodgers Forge who can currently walk to the elementary school there will be transported to the new West Towson Elementary, under four proposed redistricting scenarios.
School officials say that allowing all current walkers to stay at Rodgers Forge would leave the school 115% overcapacity now, and more crowded in coming years — defeating the purpose of building the new school.
In the article, Moore seems to oppose efforts to break up the school at all, despite it being among the most overcrowded in the state of Maryland.
“It is bad enough that the school is facing the redistricting that will break up the current school family,” she told the newspaper, “but to break up our community family is not acceptable.”
However, Moore’s statements contradict earlier comments she made to the same newspaper, when she said there would be competition among residents trying to be redistricted into the new school.
“There is going to be a lot of jockeying,” Moore told the Towson Times in an October 21, 2009 article. “It could be a sticky wicket. Who doesn’t want to go to a brand new school with state-of-the-art computers? Who doesn’t want the best for their child?”
Read more of today’s Towson Times article here.
Attached is a pdf of the four boundary options now under consideration by the BCPS boundary committee. These options were presented at a public input meeting on Wednesday night, where residents from all affected communities were invited to comment.
west-towson-elementary-school-community-forum-4-scenario-maps2.pdf
More than 300 people attended tonight’s public input session to help the school system decide where the boundary lines for the new West Towson Elementary School should be drawn. The decision could affect students currently attending Rodgers Forge, Hampton and Riderwood elementary schools.
A committee composed of parents, teachers, administrators and community representatives presented four possible boundary scenarios tonight. After an overview by Central Area Assistant Superintendent Barbara Walker, the audience at the Loch Raven High School meeting was randomly split into small groups.
The groups were asked to rank the factors that were important to them in making a boundary decision, and ultimately each group member was asked to express a preference for one of the four plans. The data collected tonight is being sent to an independent research facility to be tabulated and analyzed. The boundary committee will then reconvene and make a recommendation to the area superintendent, based on the input provided tonight.
On Tuesday, Feb. 9, school system officials will make a formal recommendation to the Board of Education at its regularly scheduled meeting at the Greenwood Campus on Charles Street.
The public will be invited to comment on the recommendation at a second public hearing, at Loch Raven High School, on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m.
The Board will announce its final decision on Tuesday, March 9th, at 7 p.m.
Where will the boundary lines be drawn for the new West Towson Elementary? How will your child be affected?
Baltimore County school officials have scheduled a January 6 public input meeting to review and comment on three options being presented by a committee of parents, community leaders, teachers and administrators.
This is your chance to have a say in where the lines are drawn. Parents are urged to attend. You should not assume that your child will stay in his or her existing school until a final plan is approved by the Board of Education. The West Towson Boundary Committee has been working throughout the fall, analyzing enrollment data and projections, and formulating possible scenarios. If you miss this meeting, you miss a chance to have your voice heard.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
(Snow Date: Thursday, January 7)
Loch Raven High School
1212 Cowpens Avenue, Towson
Based on this public input, the process will then continue as follows:
• Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 7:00 pm, Greenwood Campus ESS Building, Board of Education Regular Meeting: The Central Area Superintendent will recommend a boundary scenario to the Board of Education.
• Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 7:00 pm, Loch Raven High School, Board Hearing: Members of the Board of Education will hear additional public comment on the recommended boundary scenario.
• Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 7:00 pm, Greenwood Campus ESS Building, Board of Education Regular Meeting: The Board of Education is scheduled to vote on recommended boundary scenario.
Below is a school system flier with more information.
And here is a story about the redistricting that was broadcast tonight on WBAL-TV.
The four elementary schools serving Towson’s core are now 662 students over their mandated capacity, according to data presented at a Baltimore County school board meeting last night.
Rodgers Forge Elementary continues to be the most overcrowded school in Baltimore County, at 181.31% capacity. There are now 718 students enrolled there, in a school rated for 396. That’s an extra 322 students.
Hampton Elementary is the second most overcrowded school in the county, at 145.28% capacity. The number of students there totals 446 — an additional 139 students more than the 307 allowed.
Stoneleigh Elementary is the fourth most overcrowded school in the county, at 124.45% capacity and a total of 621 students. That’s extra 122 in a building rated for 499.
Towson’s other elementary school — Riderwood — is operating at 117.06% capacity. The total there is 542 students — 79 over the building-rated 463.
According to school system data, Sparks Elementary school is the third most overcrowded in the county, and nearby Lutherville Lab — a magnet program that gives preference to students who live close to the school — comes in fifth.
This means that the top five overcrowded schools in the county are in the school system’s central district, an area clearly overlooked by school system officials charged with planning for future needs.
Part of the solution to Towson’s problem opens next year. The new West Towson Elementary, on Charles Street, is expected to alleviate about half of the projected over-enrollment. Additions are also being planned for Stoneleigh and Hampton; these are at least three years away from opening.
Read a related Baltimore Sun story here.
The school system is about to launch its process for redistricting elementary students in the area, in preparation for the opening next year of West Towson Elementary. Students at Rodgers Forge Elementary, Riderwood Elementary and Hampton Elementary may be affected.
The central area superintendent has formed a Boundary Study Committee consisting of parents, community representatives, teachers, administrators and others from the area. The procedure is in accordance with BCPS board policy 1280, which lays out a strict process for redistricting.
The committee will meet several times to study enrollment and population data, ultimately recommending a few different options for consideration. These meetings will be held at Dumbarton Middle School on October 28, November 18, December 16 and January 20, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The public may observe, but not comment, at those meetings.
The first opportunity for public comment will be January 6, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m, at Loch Raven High School. That forum is an opportunity for the public to review the boundary scenarios presented by the committee, and provide their feedback and preferences. This is your chance to weigh in on this important decision.
The process will then continue as follows:
• Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 7:00 pm, Greenwood Campus ESS Building, Board of Education Regular Meeting: The Central Area Superintendent will recommend a boundary scenario to the Board of Education.
• Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 7:00 pm, Loch Raven High School, Board Hearing: Members of the Board of Education will hear public comment on the recommended boundary scenario.
• Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 7:00 pm, Greenwood Campus ESS Building, Board of Education Regular Meeting: The Board of Education is scheduled to vote on recommended boundary scenario.
Read a Towson Times article on the process here.
Proposed additions to Stoneleigh and Hampton elementary schools, which will alleviate the remaining elementary overcrowding in the Towson area, finally have some dollar signs attached to them.
Baltimore County Public School officials are recommending that the Board of Education approve a state funding request of nearly $14 million for the two projects. The county would be required to match whatever amount the state ultimately approves.
Officials envision renovating Stoneleigh and building a 200-seat addition, and are asking for state funding of $7.118 million. At Hampton, a 300-seat addition is proposed, along with a renovation, and a request for $6.8 million from the state. Both numbers are fluid and subject to reduction at the state or county level.
The funding is part of the school system’s FY 2011 Capital Budget Request, which prioritizes its projects by number. No. 1 on the list is $2.949 million in continued state funding for completion of West Towson Elementary School, set to open in 2010. Hampton is number 6 on the list; Stoneleigh is number 20.
Together, the three school projects are expected to alleviate current overcrowding in Towson elementary schools, and meet the projected need in coming years.
Interestingly, the budget request also includes a chart showing that additional seating will be proposed in the Lutherville and Sparks areas; funding for those projects will be requested in FY 2013 and 2014.
The school system’s request for state funding will be presented at a Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, August 11. The Board will vote on whether to forward the request at its September 8 meeting.
In recent weeks, Towson Families United has been contacted regarding two unfounded rumors.
First, some parents have heard that Riderwood Elementary is experiencing a huge growth in enrollment due to transfers from Rodgers Forge Elementary. The rumor is that a large number of RFES 4th graders have transferred, hoping to avoid the temporary annexation to Dumbarton Middle this year.
This rumor is “completely wrong,” according to RFES Principal Susan Deise. “If children are leaving, it is news to me, but they are not receiving transfers to Riderwood,” Mrs. Deise reports. In order to transfer, parents would have had to receive “special permission,” which would be unlikely because Riderwood is already overcapacity. The deadline for requesting such permission was June 1st, and Mrs. Deise said she didn’t receive, or sign, one request.
The second rumor is that decisions have already been made on the redistricting that will happen when West Towson Elementary School opens next year.
“It is truly a rumor,” Mrs. Deise confirms. BCPS is in the process of forming a Boundary Study Committee of parents, teachers, administrators and other representatives of the schools and communities involved. That committee won’t even meet for the first time until October, after the school system’s September enrollment projections are published.
Mrs. Deise said parents wanting more information on redistricting should read Board of Education Policy 1280, which is available on the Board’s website, and which we are attaching to this post. It lays out specific steps that must take place in order to ensure that the decisions made are in the best interest of students.
“The Board recognizes the importance of community involvement in the educational process,” the document states.
We hope this information is useful to Towson parents. Please spread the word to anyone you think may be interested. As new information becomes available, we’ll be sure to post it here.
Read the Board of Ed procedures for redistricting: Policy 1280.pdf
Below is a copy of Judge Michael Finifter’s ruling against the four Ruxton homeowners trying to stop construction of West Towson Elementary. Click on the small square in the top right of the document to read an enlarged version of the court order. Thanks to Bryan Sears of the Towson Times for posting the link to this document.
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