At Perry Hall High School ? population 2,321 ? getting to school is one thing. Class size ? and getting to class ? are another.
“If you have to walk from one of the 10 or 11 trailers to, say, the foreign language area on the third floor at the other end of the school, that takes some planning ? the staircases are designated as up or down; it?s so crowded,” said PTSA parent member Jeanne Biemer, who has one daughter, Julie, at the school and another, Jennifer, going next year.
Baltimore County Council Member Vincent J. Gardina is pushing for a new high school in the eastern district. However, that?s not likely to happen in the near future.
“We?ve been looking for land for sometime in the northeast and the central part of the county. We?re always looking for land to build,” said Brice Freeman, a county schools spokesman. “The state requires 60 acres of land for a high school.”
In lieu of a new school, Gardina is working toward redrawing the school district lines and ensuring that every county student lives within its borders. In March, the County Council authorized an audit of the board of education and public schools? enrollment records.
In a letter, Gardina urged the Baltimore County School Board to “start the process of redistricting the most crowded schools,” adding, “At Perry Hall over 45 percent of the students live outside the peripheral neighborhoods.”
Recently, Gardina said most of the school districts in the county may need to be shifted to accommodate the changes in school population and unburden the high schools in the north and northeast parts of the county.
Perry Hall, according to county officials, is overbooked by 146.
“You should see what it?s like in the morning, or better yet, at afternoon dismissal,” Biemer said. “It?s a mess. Student parking, and transportation in general, is a problem. Kids have to park in the neighborhoods around the school. One neighborhood got a special residential parking designation to keep students from parking in their streets and another is trying.”
rcassie@baltimoreexaminer
