A bold new construction plan to address Baltimore County school overcrowding is getting a passing grade of sorts from parents and the public.
The county School Board must sign off on the plan, but on the surface, it's already starting to spell relief.
You don't have to look very far to see why parents at Hillcrest Elementary School in Catonsville have been so concerned about overcrowding. The county's latest plan is to add more seats in the southwest comer of the county at a time when parents are fed up.
Parents voiced their concerns last spring, and now, there are plans to move Catonsville Elementary School students to a new building on the site of the Bloomsbury Community Center.
There are also plans to add seats at Westowne and Relay elementary schools. With that proposal in the works, Hillcrest parents and community leaders couldn't be more pleased with the overall plan.
"The scope and what they're able to address by doing this all at once is really the most impressive to us and makes us feel like we've been heard and that somebody is going to help us out," said James Kitchel, president of the PTA at Hillcrest Elementary School.
"It sounds good and I'm hopeful that the community and the parents and the community members and even those who don't have children will see the value and the need for this," said Beverly Coleman, a member of the Southwest Area Education Advisory Council.
Across town in the county's central school district, Halstead Academy students are set to move to the old Loch Raven Elementary School site not far from the campus. The issue is not overcrowding, but technology.
"It means so many more opportunities for our kids. I mean, we are doing so well here at Halstead. I think moving there and giving us so much more technology, a great environment for learning, it's just going to bump us to the next level," said Jennifer Mullenax, principal of Halstead Academy.
"We're very excited at the school of maybe having the possibility of moving over to a new facility, state-of-the-art building for a better opportunity and learning environment for the children in that community," said Cassie McBride, a Halstead parent.
Also in the central area, the district is planning to add almost 300 seats to Cromwell Valley Elementary School in Towson to make more space for students.
"The fact that BCPS and the county executive are willing to step up and do something this unprecedented, this innovative allows for a lot of equitability, it allows for one round of redistricting which is key for anybody who has been through something like that," Kitchel said. "The scope and what they're able to address by doing this all at once is really the most impressive to us and makes us feel like we've been heard and that somebody is going to help us out."
These projects are set to be done by the start of the 2016-17 academic year.
Changes are also in the works for the northwest area. The district is about to release a 10-year plan for reducing school overcrowding.
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