If we had to pick two words to sum up last night’s meeting at Rodgers Forge Elementary, it would be these:

“Absolutely, probably.”

That was the response from Erin Roberts, the county executive’s education liaison, when asked if the county would begin funding a construction project now to help alleviate Towson’s overcrowding problem.

The response reminded us of something out of a George Orwell novel: A government content to provide answers that — in fact — are both contradictory and nonsensical.

That is what we heard the entire evening. A chorus of ineptitude and small thinking from officials so beaten down by Baltimore County’s backward school system that they’ve forgotten how to think outside their box.

From the crowd of nearly 300 parents — many of them professionals used to expecting accountability and results — came some very good suggestions. But each time someone in the audience stood up, the county representatives shot them down.

Can we move forward with the Mays Chapel plan and re-open Ruxton Elementary? Answer: No.

Can we re-open the former Towson Elementary school, which currently houses a senior center? Answer: No.

Can we buy a portion of the YMCA’s land, which has been up for sale? Answer: No.

There was such a lack of flexibility in their approach that you begin to wonder if the needs of children in this county simply come last.

Yet despite our frustration with school officials last night, we almost have to pity them. For any solution they propose must be funded. And the one person who holds the purse strings has made it clear he’s not interested. Jim Smith — the “renaissance county executive” — smugly holds on to the people’s money, as if building a school were some kind of extravagant, pork-barrel expense.

If Mr. Smith would take a leadership position on this issue, he could still be a hero to all of Towson. With the same hand that put the finishing touches on a $70 million prison in our neighborhood, he could open the door to a new school. And yet he seems satisfied to finish out his term hiding behind transparently false statements that he is “working hard” on solving this problem. He is not.

His liaison, Ms. Roberts, last night seemed to regard our community’s letters and phone calls to the county executive as a major annoyance. In a discussion after the meeting, she suggested that all we are doing is stirring up trouble. We might refer her to this organizational chart on the county executive’s website, which lists “voters” at the very top — above the county executive himself.

And so we will persist, increasing both our voice and our numbers, until the county does not just what is right but what is obvious. Towson cannot be home to three of the top five overcrowded schools forever. Something has to give.

Or rather, someone.