Harford County parents are concerned about a proposal to move fifth-graders from an overcrowded elementary school to a less-crowded middle school.
In an effort to relieve crowding at Prospect Mill Elementary School, Harford schools staff recommended moving the entire fifth-grade class to nearby Southampton Middle School, where redistricting has reduced enrollment considerably.
Susan Schlegel, president of the Parent-Teacher Association at Prospect Mill, said that officials have many more details they need to flesh out before parents are comfortable endorsing the proposal, which will get another hearing before the Board of Education Dec. 18.
“When the board reconvenes, I?m worried that all the details won?t be worked through,” Schlegel said. “I would love to see some kind of focus group put together, including parents and the decision-makers.”
So far, parents are still concerned about how their children will get to Southampton Middle School, and whether there will be enough space to accommodate all their classes, she said.
School Transportation Director Norman Seidel originally recommended a bus that would take fifth-graders from their normal buses at Prospect Mill and shuttle them over to Southampton, but a “Questions and Answers” page on the county schools? Web site says officials are considering ways to have buses go straight to Southampton.
Southampton Middle School Principal Barbara Canavan said there are at least two available “pods,” or groups of classrooms, into which the fifth-graders could be moved. Using the pods and careful scheduling of lunch and activities would help keep the elementary students from having to mingle with the middle school students, she said.
The question on many parents? minds, however, is how the elementary schoolers? “special” classes, such as art, gym, music or special education, would fit into the new school: Canavan said some of the empty classrooms could be used for specials, but officials at a meeting with parents last week raised the possibility of busing students back to Prospect Mill for those classes, Schlegel said.
“We?ve reached the point where we just don?t have any more room,” said School Board Member Ruth Rich, who attended the parents? meeting. “We?re looking at an addition; we?re going to do some moving around of portable classrooms, and even with all that there?s still overcrowding.”
The superintendent?s staff will continue developing the plan for moving students from one school to another and will try to have more answers for parents at a future meeting, Rich said.
