Booming population

In Baltimore County, the emotionally charged exercise of redistricting will be repeated in coming years as a booming population has forced a massive building plan. Since 2011, when the total enrollment was roughly 105,000, about a thousand new students have been added each year. Officials plan to spend $1.3 billion for 15 new buildings, and renovations and additions to many deteriorating facilities.

Decisions about which schools get renovated or replaced involve a complex mix of factors, including the conditions of the buildings, anticipated growth, and to a certain extent, campaigning by parents and politicians. Many of the changes require new school boundaries.

While some districts rely on school administrators to draw the new lines, many others, including Baltimore County, use volunteers from the community. The county’s policy calls for a committee made of teams of three or four people from each of the schools affected.

Led by a consultant, Matthew Cropper, the group was to scrutinize the map and divide blocks, streets and houses among the Catonsville-area schools. Cropper, who was paid roughly $61,700, according to the school system, ran the meetings, developed the maps and was to be a neutral third party.

The board directed the committee to give preference to solutions that left