Comprehensive school redistricting isn?t planned until the 2010-11 school year, but some parents in Howard County already are speaking out against a proposal they say would tear apart their community and jeopardize their children?s friendships.
Parents confronted the school board last week over a school system feasibility study that suggested sending about 85 students in the Elkridge/Hanover area from Howard High School to Long Reach High School.
“Education experts say switching schools during high school years is the most difficult time, because friendships are sealed and students are at the pinnacle of their academic and extracurricular activities,” Hanover parent Karin Seeley said.
Seeley is concerned her son would have to attend Howard as a freshman and then transfer to Long Reach his sophomore year.
Students could suffer depression, poor grades and a change in behavior, she said.
“The feasibility study further divides a tight-knit community, one of the oldest communities in the county,” said another Hanover parent, Charlene Daniel-Green.
“If the county is going to allow this explosion of growth, they should at least consider looking at the current boundary lines for both Howard and Long Reach in their entirety, and not consider pocket movement of smaller subdivisions at this time.”
School board members were sympathetic to parents.
“I think once a kid begins a high school, that?s the school they should finish in ? I really believe that,” Larry Cohen said.
Historically, the school system has not moved students who have started at a new school, school system spokeswoman Patti Caplan said.
“They?ve phased it in beginning with incoming ninth-graders,” she said.
At this point, a lot could change, but the school system will address comprehensive redistricting in time to handle enrollment growth, she said.
“A lot of people should be paying attention because we will be making a decision in 2010,” Caplan said.
The parents saidthey knew they were voicing their concerns early, but they wanted to let everyone know about their disapproval right away.
“[Redistricting] is absolutely the worst thing we do ? worse than the county budget ? because it affects families,” Board President Diane Mikulis said.
