County school board OKs attendance zones

Map’s goal is to relieve capacity at overcrowded sites

Baltimore County’s school board approved its largest-ever boundary study Tuesday night, setting new attendance zones for 19 elementary schools.

The board unanimously approved a map presented by a committee of educators and community members who redrew the central area boundaries during a fourmonth process. The board amended the proposed map with a minor change to add 24 houses to the same zone as the rest of their homeowners association.

The houses on Ridgewood Road and Jacobo Lane do not have school-age children residing in them. But future students will attend Stoneleigh Elementary along with the rest of the houses in Fellowship Forest community.

The elementary schools in the study are Carroll Manor, Cromwell Valley Regional Magnet, Halstead, Hampton, Jacksonville, Lutherville Laboratory, Mays Chapel, Oakleigh, Padonia International, Pine Grove, Pinewood, Pleasant Plains, Pot Spring, Riderwood, Rodgers Forge, Stoneleigh, Timonium, Warren and West Towson.

Seven schools are over 100% capacity. Four schools off Interstate 695 — Hampton, Padonia International, Pine Grove and Timonium — are all above 110% capacity.

The goal of the selected map is to equitably relieve capacity at overcrowded schools and maximize available seats until schools can be renovated or built to increase capacity. Three members of the 11-person board, Emory Young, Brenda Savoy and Robin Harvey, were absent from Tuesday’s vote.

Board member Tiffany Frempong praised the central area boundary study committee for making selfless decisions during a rezoning process that was contentious at times.

The committee had a “welcoming environment,” Frempong said. “I hope we continue that at the school level. Parents and children welcome new communities in and help them get adjusted to the change.”

The approved map lowers the average capacity across the 19 schools to 95%. Timonium’s and Lutherville’s attendance zones are unchanged despite their high capacities because community representatives said they felt the schools didn’t need relief.

Also Tuesday, members of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County urged the board to find a solution to reduce special education teachers’ workload and “sea of paperwork.”

Teachers must maintain an Individualized Education Program for each student with a disability, an extensive legal document that is updated as a student progresses toward their goals.

Baltimore County has the second-largest population of students with disabilities in the state. But, according to statistics raised during public comments by a teacher and repeated by superintendent Myriam Rogers, around 195 special education teachers left BCPS over the past two full years in addition to about 37 so far this year. The main driver behind the vacancies, teachers said, is the demand to complete unending paperwork required by state and federal special education policies that leave educators with little time to prepare lesson plans and have a life outside work.

Rogers broke from usual board meeting etiquette to address special education teachers’ public comments. She noted that the number of vacancies is declining and that special education is a priority of the school system’s fiscal year 2025 budget. Central office staff also will create more opportunities for teachers to give specific feedback to reduce workload strains, she said.

“We hear you loud and clear that there’s more work to be done,” Rogers said.