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.”

The plaintiffs suing the Board of Education to stop construction of West Towson Elementary School had their day in court today.  But Judge Michael Finifter declined to make an immediate ruling.  Lawyers for Baltimore County Public Schools filed a motion earlier in the day to immediately dismiss the case, as the plaintiffs did not bring forward any witnesses.

The attorney for the plaintiffs, Margaret Fonshell Ward, asked the judge if she could have until Tuesday to respond to BCPS’s request for dismissal.  The judge agreed, but it was unclear when he might actually decide the case.  Attorneys for Towson Families United said the ruling could come in days, or it may take months.  Meantime, construction can proceed.

Ward is asking for a preliminary injunction, which would halt construction until the plaintiffs’ case can be heard in court.  To win such an injunction, the plaintiffs have to prove all four of the following:  (1) the likelihood they will be successful in court; (2) that they will suffer irreparable harm if the injunction isn’t granted; (3) the balance of interests, showing which party would suffer greater injury ; (4) that what they are asking for benefits the public interest.

Andrew Nussbaum, an attorney representing Baltimore County Public Schools, said the plaintiffs had not brought forth any evidence to prove these things, nor did they produce any witnesses.  The law, he said,  requires a “full, adversarial hearing” in order to receive a preliminary injunction.

Ward countered that she had filed affidavits proving these points, and that witnesses weren’t necessary.  The judge questioned Ward on that point, asking her what she thought a “full, adversarial hearing” meant.  Ward responded, “What is happening right here.  They’re presenting their case, we’re presenting our case.”

A packed courtroom watched as Ward and Nussbaum made their arguments.

Ward opened by saying the school system has acted recklessly in its deliberations over a new school site.  “There has been an abuse of power by the Board of Education toward the plaintiffs and the community as a whole,” she said.

Nussbaum later responded that the school system followed all procedures, and that in many cases, the plaintiffs were misinterpreting the school system’s stated procedures.  In particular, Nussbaum said the site selection process was not violated, as the plaintiffs contend.

“There is no requirement to establish the site as a school site.  It already is currently being used as a school,” he said.

Ward also claimed that the Board violated it policy by not looking at the possibility of redistricting students through boundary changes.  Another school system attorney replied that BCPS did, in fact, study this.  But that only 40 seats were available in other schools — and more than 400 are needed.

When the issue of public interest arose, Ward argued that it “can’t be quantified as four (plaintiffs) versus 450 (children).”  She said the four plaintiffs had been “abused” by the Board of Education, and their rights must be preserved.

Nussbaum, meantime, noted there is a long tradition in Maryland that courts won’t intervene in the building of schools.  He cited a state statute from 1879, which read, “Unless the Board of Education has acted corruptly and fraudulently, the court should not intervene.”

Stay tuned to this blog for further updates.  And read Baltimore Sun coverage of the hearing here.

Susan Hershfeld, currently principal at Fort Garrison Elementary in Pikesville, has been named principal of the new West Towson Elementary on Charles Street.

The Baltimore County Board of Education approved the hiring tonight, along with contracts that allow major construction to proceed on schedule. Early digging at the site has already begun. And a BCPS official told Towson Families United tonight that a construction trailer will be on site very soon.

The school is still scheduled to open in the fall of 2010. The name “West Towson Elementary School” was also officially approved tonight.