A group of Aberdeen parents say they have questions about overcrowding issues facing Aberdeen High School, but have been frustrated by what they perceive as a lack of cooperation on the part of Harford County Public Schools officials to provide answers.
“My son?s math class has 38 students in it,” said Jerry Lacey. The 10th-grade geometry class is so crowded, that when all of the students show up, Lacey said, some must sit on the floor or use the teacher?s desk.
Lacey himself graduated from Aberdeen High in 1974, when the school consisted of both a north building and a south building. The south building was torn down in 2002 to make room for the new building that opened in 2004. The old north building was converted to be used as an alternative education site and a center for faculty training.
Meanwhile, the new Aberdeen High School is already over capacity, a situation the parents group expects will get worse over the next few years when military base realignments bring thousands more jobs to Aberdeen Proving Ground.
School officials say a new 13-classroom wing is expected to be added to the new building by fall 2008, boosting the school?s capacity from about 1,360 to 1,660 at a cost of $6.2 million. “We are solving the overcrowding issues at Aberdeen High School,” said Superintendent Jackie Haas.
But Lacey said many parents wonder whether it wouldn?t be cheaper, faster and more efficient to keep north building as part of the high school.
Lacey said they are especially concerned because they feel they can?t get answers to reasonable questions.
After being denied an opportunity to meet at the school, they are holding a meeting 8 p.m. Thursday at the Aberdeen Senior Center. They have invited School Board, county and city officials as well as other parents.
“I don?t understand what purpose it would serve,” Haas said Tuesday. She said she would not attend the meeting because of a prior scheduling conflict. She said if parents had concerns about issues regarding any schools, the best way to get answers is to contact her office. She said she planned to get in touch with parent leaders to see if there?s another time they can sit down and talk.
She denied allegations that Aberdeen public officials were being discouraged from attending Thursday?s meeting.
