A handful of Anne Arundel County Council members said community impact and quality education should be priorities in any recommendations made to the county Board of Education about system restructuring.
Anne Arundel County Schools hired MGT of America to produce a comprehensive analysis of the way school facilities are used and offer suggestions for accommodating existing and future population growth. A final report is expected by the end of next month.
Council Member Cathleen Vitale said she worried about the school board being presented a package of projects and recommendations, and “taking the easy way out” by adopting a rigid list of priorities.
“The cookie-cutter formula is not going to be used here,” said Joe Clark, MGT?s consultant who briefed the three council members Thursday afternoon. The county council is responsible for approving the school district?s annual budget.
Some council members said they had been swamped with constituents worried about their children being separated from their friends in middle and high schools if the district chose to solve overcrowding problems by redistricting schools.
Vitale said she had constituents willing to settle for overcrowded schools if it meant quality education and keeping the community together.
But Council Member Pam Beidle, who represents parts of the high-growth areas of the county around Fort George G. Meade, said she was hearing the exact opposite from her constituents. She said the onslaught of new subdivisions has parents worried about overcrowding. She said moving away from a rigid feeder system or moving some fifth-grade classes into middle schools where there was more room should be considered.
“It?s a philosophical thing,” she said. “Sometimes we need to try something different if we can?t raise taxes, which we can?t, and we obviously can?t build schools fast enough, then we need to rethink things.”
