Superintendent Presents Redistricting Recommendations to the BOE

Superintendent of Schools Dr Elizabeth Morgan presented her recommendations to the Board of Education.  I am happy to report she chose to follow the FEAC Committee's recommendation regarding Keedysville students attending Boonsboro Elementary.  The link to her full report is here.   The article in the Herald Mail can be found here.

FEAC presents recommendations to Board of Education 11/17/09

The FEAC presented their recommendation for school redistricting to the Board of Education during their Business Meeting on 11/17.  They delivered their recommendations with a power point reviewing the process of coming up with the proposal and two very large binders that, among other things, held the proposals as well as all correspondence received from the stakeholders.

The Board thanked the members of the FEAC and presented them with a Golden Apple award for their many hours of volunteer service.

A member of the Board asked the Committee to give them some feedback about the overall process, specifically what worked and what didn't.  Adam Lewis, co chair of FEAC, committed to delivering their comments in writing.  My recommendation would be to get the stakeholders involved much earlier in the process and for the FEAC (and BOE) to answer questions at the forums instead of just allowing stakeholder's statements.    

Here are the next steps in the process.

December 8th School superintendent Dr Elizabeth Morgan will make her recommendations concerning the FEAC's proposal to the Board of Education.  She can accept it as it is or make changes.

December 15th Board of Education will have a public work session regarding redistricting  from 8:30 am to 11:30 am.  This work session will be televised.

December 22nd Second public work session will be held from 8:30 am to 11:30 am.  Also televised.

January 5th Public hearing tentatively scheduled at South High to hear from stakeholders.  This will be the only public hearing unless there are so many stakeholders that the Board of Education cannot hear from all of them during the time allotted.  If not, a second public hearing will be held on January 12th.

January 19th The Board of Education will take a vote on the redistricting proposal and make their final decision.  

As you can see, there are still several steps left before a final decision will be made.  Although the FEAC's decision to not send Keedysville students to Rockland Woods was a small victory, we are not out of the woods yet.  The Board can make a decision to not follow the FEAC's recommendation.  Please continue to communicate to the BOE and plan on attending (and speaking) at the public hearing if they decide during their planning process to send our children to Rockland Woods.

 

FEAC Meeting 11/03/09 FEAC Finalizes Recommendations to present to the Board of Education

The FEAC had their last meeting for the year on Tuesday 11/03/09 to finalize their recommendations for School Redistricting to present to the Washington County Board of Education.  

There was a lot of information gone over in this meeting in an attempt to wrap things up before the redistricting proposal is due to the BOE.  The full minutes will eventually be posted on the Washington County Board of Education FEAC website (as are all previous minutes).  The website has also been updated with all of the current proposals for redistricting with boundaries for each district.  I would highly recommend all interested parties visit the WCBOE website as well as the Herald Mail website to get additional information regarding the overall redistricting plan.  This blog focuses on the Boonsboro/Keedysville community and so the information shared about the meeting will omit other areas.  I also highly recommend interested parties to attend Board of Education meetings and future FEAC meetings if at all possible.

• A petition of 97 names of Keedysville residents who opposed the proposal to send our children to Rockland Woods was presented by Keedysville/Boonsboro representative Lorraine O'Connor to Staff for them to include in the presentation to the Board of Education.  Thank you to those concerned residents who went door to door to collect the signatures and those who signed this petition.
  
• The previous revelation that a new school being built in South County was not on the docket until 2018 came up and the recommendation was eventually passed to have the Board of Education review their capital expenditures in the CIP to raise the priority of this expansion happening due to the obvious need.  I am certain that I did not word this exactly right as there was a lot of debate about how exactly to word the recommendation but that is the essence of it.
• Deputy Superintendent Boyd Michaels shared the information that they reviewed the proposal to send approximately 20 Keedysville students to Pleasant Valley instead of Rockland Woods and the school would be able to accommodate the additional students without having to add staff.  
• The question about the usage of the area behind to soccer fields as a prime location for a new Boonsboro school was met with some hesitation from Executive Director of School Operations Rob Rollins who explained there were some stormwater issues as well as traffic issues that would have to be addressed and it may not serve the best needs of the school although he said when they do make the decision to look at that area for a school, all viable locations will be considered.  Which led into a conversation about...
• Site selection. Recommendation to the board to get FEAC involved on the front end of site selection spurred a great deal of debate.  Boyd Michaels and Rob Rollins both discussed the need for confidentiality for the selection process due to the unintended consequence of having the information shared with public, one of which would be to take away negotiating power for the real estate purchase and inflate the price.  Washington County  purchases the land for schools and in some cases use a third party to complete the transaction. The State of Maryland allows for meetings involving real estate selection to be closed to the general public due to the sensitivity of the information.  
• The magnet program at Boonsboro sparked a great deal of heated debate.  FEAC CoChair Adam Lewis held fast to the belief that if you take the program out of Boonsboro, several of the parents would follow the program giving voluntary relief to the school.  Lorraine O'Connor disputed that and referred back to the recommendation made a couple of years ago which led to outrage from the community.  FEAC committee member Bert Iseminger agreed with Lorraine and said he was against taking away such an important program from any school and felt test scores would suffer as a result.  A vote was held and the motion to recommend to the BOE to consider removing the magnet program for further relief of Boonsboro passed with only Lorraine O'Connor and Bert Iseminger voting against the proposal.

So what happens next?  The FEAC Committee will present their completed recommendations to the Board of Education on November 17th at 6pm.  The Board of Education can send it back to them with additional direction to revisit portions of it (as they did last time).  There will be a series of public hearings on the matter during the month of January and further meetings during the month of February.  The final decision will probably happen at the end of February or the beginning of March. 

Although the FEAC Committee makes it's recommendations to the Board of Education, the Board can elect to accept all of it, parts of it, or none of it.  So in other words, it is still possible they can decide to send the Keedysville students to Rockland Woods. 

It is important to recognize the FEAC Committee for doing the right thing by voting against breaking up Keedysville.  It is a very difficult job they have and one they receive no compensation for.  Although I do not agree with all of their decisions or their methodology in coming up with those decisions, I do respect the time and energy spent in doing what they believe is right.

FEAC Meeting 10/27/09 Good News

The FEAC committee met today to continue voting on the proposals for school redistricting in Washington County, MD.  Many decisions were made tonight but there were several left that were not addressed requiring the committee to schedule an additional meeting on Tuesday November 3rd.

Since this blog is focused on Keedysville, we will focus on the portion of the meeting that impacts our community.  For those parties interested in other areas affected by the proposed redistricting in Washington County, I would refer you to the Herald Mail or the official Washington County Public School website for details.  If at all possible, I would encourage you to attend the meetings which are open to the public.  

I am pleased to announce that the FEAC Committee made the decision to reject the proposal to send our children to Rockland Woods.  There was an additional proposal made and passed to send approximately 20 students from Keedysville to Pleasant Valley which is closer than Rockland Woods and feeds into Boonsboro Middle and High Schools.

The FEAC Committee meeting was originally scheduled to end at 8pm but ran late and ended at 9:30 in an attempt to complete voting on all of the proposals.  At time the meeting became fairly contentious especially involving the Boonsboro area.  Lorraine O'Connor, who represents Keedysville/Boonsboro on the FEAC committee, presented an alternative plan to alleviate the overcrowding at Boonsboro and was very passionate and outspoken about the negative impact on the Keedysville community.  Board of Education Donna Brightman was present as an observer in the audience.  

Adam Lewis, the co chair of the FEAC Committee, made a motion to recommend to the Board of Education for the magnet program to be taken out of Boonsboro and placed into the new Eastern Primary School.  His thought process was he felt as many as 50 students would voluntarily move with the program which would alleviate the overcrowding at Boonsboro. The problem with this thought process is out of the approximately 90 students involved in the magnet program at Boonsboro, 82 of those students are Boonsboro residents.  Although there was a recommendation to poll the parents involved in the program whether or not they would follow the program if it moved, the likelihood of parents doing so is slim especially considering they would have to provide their own transportation.  

So what is next?  The FEAC Committee will meet next Tuesday to go vote on the remaining discussions and finalize their proposal for the Board of Education.  They will simultaneously present their proposal to School Superintendent Dr Morgan and the Board of Education.  Dr Morgan can elect to accept, reject, or modify the proposal.  She would then present the plan to the elected Board of Education who will vote on it.  The FEAC Committee only makes their recommendation to the BOE, they do not make the decision.  Although it is very encouraging that the proposal to send our children to Rockland Woods failed, we must continue to press hard and continue to make our voice be heard.  Be on the lookout for our petition to sign which we would like to present next week.  If you live in Keedysville and would like to sign the petition or help gather signatures, send an email to keedysvilleredistricting@gmail.com

Thank you very much for all of the parents and citizens of Keedysville and the Boonsboro area who showed their support by attending the FEAC meeting tonight.  I know there were many other who were there in spirit but were unable to attend. 

The next FEAC Committee Meeting in on Tuesday November 3rd from 6pm to 8pm.

 

FEAC Meeting 10/13/09 Time is Running Out

 

The FEAC Committee met Tuesday night in Hagerstown to continue the discussion about redistricting.  This post is just to hit some of the highlights of the meeting.  Full minutes for the meeting will be available on the Washington County school website at some point in the future. Previous meeting minutes are online (although a bit delayed) and I would encourage interested parties to read them.

• There was discussion at the beginning of the meeting regarding communication the FEAC received from Senator Munson's Office and Senator Barbara Mikulski.  A comment was made that the matter was out of their jurisdiction. 

• Misty Roosa from Keedysville was mentioned in reference to a letter that was not responded to.  They said an apology letter has been sent but said that according to their records, Dr Spong did respond to her questions.  They also referenced a question from Michelle Green that they were still unsure as to whether or not it had been responded to.

• A motion was made by Kira Hamman  to set aside time in each FEAC meeting to answer questions from stakeholders who were present.  Lorraine O Conner (representative from Keedysville and Cannon Ridge resident) was very vocal to say that it was not necessary or appropriate and that the stakeholders had their opportunity to send letters and address the FEAC at the public forums.  She stated that the same concerns were repeated over and over and that she had even been approached at the bus stop that very morning by concerned parents.  FEAC Co Chair Adam Lewis and committee member Bert Iseminger both verbally said they had no problem with it but when it came to a vote, the only person that supported  it was Kira who made the initial motion.  Once again I am very disappointed in the committee and our representative Lorraine O Conner for the lack of courage to engage the stakeholders in an open discussion.  Although the meetings are public, they accept written statements from stakeholders and, in the case of the FEAC forums, they have listened to stakeholders statements, they have never directly answered questions from the stakeholders, preferring instead to issue written response, most of which are prepared by Staff.

• The question of sending some students to Pleasant Valley came up again.  It is a possibility that up to twenty students could be sent from Boonsboro to Pleasant Valley without adding personnel or portables. 

• The magnet school system was discussed at length.  Ultimately it appeared to be decided that removing the magnet program from Boonsboro (and other schools) would be a detriment because it would cause a different fight and hurt the affected schools.  

• A committee member asked  if there would be a liberal policy about exceptions to the redistricting.  The response was rising fifth graders would be exempt.  Other than that, it would be on a case by case business although it was also stated that most principals would choose to say no to all request so they would not have to pick and choose. 

• They voted on some of the sections of the proposal focusing on the areas that showed little or no opposition.

• When the FEAC makes its recommendation, they will present it simultaneously to the Superintendent and the Board of Education.  The Superintendent has the option to make changes to the proposal before she presents it to the Board of Education.  The Board of Education then votes and makes the final decision.

• The last twenty minutes of the meeting were basically bickering about the impending deadline and what would be the best way to proceed.  An additional meeting was added since most members did not feel they would be able to complete it as planned at the next meeting.  The FEAC Committee can submit their recommendation with caveats (i.e. here is the best we can come up with although the stakeholders strongly disagree) and they can also roll out their recommendation in stages as long as future recommendations do not contradict previous recommendations.

• There was a lot of discussion about other schools that would be affected by the redistricting but this blog is focused on the Boonsboro/Keedysville Community. If you are interested in those areas, please watch the Herald-Mail who was represented at the meeting or better yet, make arrangements to attend the meetings whenever possible. They are open to the public.

The next FEAC meeting will be held from 6 pm to 8 pm on Tuesday October 27th.  The first order of business will be the discussion about Boonsboro.  Please mark your calenders and plan on attending this meeting.  Although we are not allowed to speak at this meeting, it is important to let them know we are there.

School Board Approves new Eastern Primary School

The school board chose to ignore public opinion and unanimously approve the new Eastern Primary school in Hagerstown.  Click on the link to read the Herald-Mail article and the comments from the readers.  There are 24 million reasons for the school board to force our children to attend Rockland Woods.  Eastern Primary will not be built until Rockland Woods is full.  

There are several seats up for election on the School Board in 2010 and I expect that we will see new leadership chosen by the voters.  

10/08/2008

Plans approved for new Eastern Primary school in Hagerstown

By ERIN CUNNINGHAM 
erinc@herald-mail.com

HAGERSTOWN — Plans for a new $22.2 million primary school across the street from Eastern Elementary School were approved Tuesday.

The Washington County Board of Education voted 5-0 in support of designs for the school that could enroll up to 620 students in prekindergarten through second grade and open in 2011. School Board members Ruth Anne Callaham and Bernadette M. Wagner were absent for the vote.

A new Eastern Primary School is one of five schools, including a new high school in Hagerstown's east end, that are being considered for construction in Washington County over the next six years at a total cost of $158 million. State money for Eastern Primary and other projects will be requested for the 2010 fiscal year.

The designs for Eastern Primary show a single-story, 77,523-square-foot building will be built on about 20 acres off Yale Drive. The design was prepared by Gilbert Architects Inc., based in Owings Mills, Md.

Rob Rollins, acting executive director for school operations, said the design is similar to three recently completed schools: Maugansville, Pangborn and Rockland Woods elementary.

Robert Spong, facilities planning manager, said the design documents approved by the school board Tuesday will be sent to state and Washington County officials for approval. Spong said he expected comments from county officials concerned about traffic patterns and intersections near Eastern Primary, which is to be built off Mount Aetna Road, near the new Washington County Medical Center site.

Board Vice President Donna Brightman said she'd like to see some flexibility with the design so older children could attend school there in the future if necessary.

Officials said that was possible by expanding on the planned wings of the building.

Preliminary plans call for construction beginning about one year from now and ending in April 2011.

Bill Lang's Statement at the School Board Meeting

Below is the statement read to the school board on October 6th by Keedysville resident Bill Lang against building the proposed Eastern Primary School.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the School Board, thank you for taking the time to hear my comments.  I am here today to challenge you.  I am challenging you to make a tough decision not a politically expedient decision.  I am challenging you to provide leadership and help guide our school system for the next 20 years.  I am challenging you to live up to your charge of establishing a vision for the community schools and to participate in the strategic planning.  I am challenging you to begin earning back the trust of the citizens of Washington County.  I am challenging you to act in the best interests of the tax payers of Washington County and the State of Maryland, as well as acting in the best interest of the children of Washington County.  You have before you a great opportunity, the opportunity to show true leadership.  A true leader is one who is willing to say we have made mistakes in the past and we are going to learn from those mistakes and do things differently this time.  A true leader is willing to delay a project that does not serve the overall community.  As I see it you have 2 choices before you, choice number 1 is to build Eastern Primary and spend $25 million dollars on a school does not have popular support, does nothing to relieve overcrowding in existing schools, will not be close to filled even when it is completed and as of today the assumption is that the children will come to this school based on a redistricting program that has not even been presented to the School Board.  Choice number 2 is not going to be an easy choice, but it is the right choice.  The School Board needs to not award the contract for Eastern Primary today.  You as the School Board need to stand up and say enough to this philosophy of we will build it then force them to come.  That has worked so well with Rockland Woods.  You need to say to the voters of Washington County, we understand your concerns and we are not going to spend $25 million of YOUR TAX DOLLARS on a building a new school until we are certain that it is in the right location and the maximum number of children will be positively affected by this new school.  You need to advocate for those students who are in the overcrowded existing facilities to get those facilities relief and build Eastern Primary will not do that.  Finally, you need to restore the trust of the electorate.  The electorate who hears things said by employees of the Board of Education like “it costs less to build a new school than to renovate an existing school” and that a new school will be built in South County when “the time is right to receive maximum funding from the state.”   So Mr. Michaels feels that the welfare of the students is trumped by state funding?  One of the School Boards mandates are to “advocate for the needs of all of the students” now is the time to do so.  You stand at a cross roads ladies and gentlemen, do you want to be remembered as the School Board that went along with the status quo and did the easy thing, or do you want to be remembered as the School Board that stood up for what is right and what is in the best interest of the students and tax payers of Washington County.  Again, thank you for your time 

Herald-Mail Article: Parents eye legal action to halt plans for Eastern Primary

Good article on parents attempt to stop the redistricting and the unnecessary construction of Eastern Primary.  Also attached are some of the comments posted by readers.  Click on the link to go directly to the article and read all of the comments as well as leave your own.

The Herald-Mail

http://www.herald-mail.com/

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(Credit: Chad Trovinger / Graphic Artist)

(Credit: Chad Trovinger / Graphic Artist)

10/03/2009

Parents eye legal action to halt plans for Eastern Primary

By DAN DEARTH 
dan.dearth@herald-mail.com

HAGERSTOWN — A group of parents with children in Washington County Public Schools said they might take the school system to court in an effort to halt construction of the proposed Eastern Primary School on the east end of Hagerstown.

Bill Lang, who has four children at Boonsboro Elementary School, said several parents are considering whether to pool their financial resources to take legal action.

“All options are open,” he said.

The $25 million Eastern Primary School is being considered as part of a redistricting plan to help alleviate overcrowding. If redistricting is approved, it would affect 20 of 26 elementary schools in the county and roughly 1,500 students. Many of those students would be bused to Eastern Primary School, which has a state-rated capacity of 695 students.

The school is slated to open in 2011.

The Washington County Board of Education is scheduled to consider a bid for the construction of Eastern Primary School during a meeting Tuesday.

Deputy Superintendent Boyd Michael said Eastern Primary School is in a location that can accommodate overflow from several schools.

“Eastern Primary is in a flexible area to work with,” Michael said. “You touch a lot of different districts.”

Michael said the construction of Eastern Primary School has been discussed for the past seven years. School officials also talked about building additions to Boonsboro Elementary, he said, but they didn’t think the additions would provide sufficient space to handle students from pending developments in that area.

Michael said officials intend to build a school in the southern part of the county when the time is right to receive maximum funding from the state.

“It just doesn’t justify a new school at this point,” he said.

The state has committed $14 million to build Eastern Primary School, Michael said last week. The remaining $11 million will be provided by the county.

Michael said he felt fortunate that Eastern Primary School was one of 25 proposed schools to receive state funding out of 90 requests.

Dottie Gruhler, who has two children at Old Forge Elementary School, said she believes school officials aren’t considering the best interests of the students.

“That irks me,” Gruhler said. “That is so wrong because they want to bus kids to fill a school ... Parents across the county are very, very mad.”

She said parents have been gathering petitions and took their fight to the public in a newspaper advertisement. On Sept. 27, an advertisement in The Herald-Mail encouraged parents to attend the school board meeting scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday to oppose the construction of Eastern Primary School.

“Eastern Primary represents $25 million of taxpayer money not being utilized where it is needed most,” the advertisement said. “... We would like to request an additional evening meeting be scheduled before the vote takes place to allow all the parents who work during the day to be able to attend this important meeting.”

Several other parents whose children would be affected by redistricting said last week officials should build a school where it is needed instead of busing children halfway across the county. They suggested delaying the redistricting plan until more input can be gathered from the public.

In January, the board directed the Facilities and Enrollment Advisory Committee — an organization with members appointed by the board — to address the redistricting issue. The committee met several times and held three public forums in September to get feedback from the public. Each resident who wanted to speak was given three minutes. Committee members agreed to refrain from engaging in open discussions at the forums, in part to avoid confrontations.

Jennifer Ashbaugh, who has two children at Old Forge Elementary, said she believes the committee should have requested ideas from the public before creating a redistricting plan.

One of Ashbaugh’s concerns about redistricting, she said, is that children and their parents won’t be able to participate together in school activities because they’ll be too far apart.

“I would much rather my children be in (portable classrooms) ... than to be uprooted,” she said.

Lang said school officials should consider building on to overcapacity schools instead of busing kids from their communities.

“This isn’t rocket science,” Lang said. “It’s about doing what’s best for the children.”

He said the board should think long and hard before it approves Eastern Primary School.

“I can’t see how any politician would put themselves in this position,” Lang said. “They’re putting themselves out there.”

Lang said school officials created what he termed a “cloak of secrecy” by failing to notify specific neighborhoods about how they would be affected by redistricting.

Lisa Milligan, who has one child at Old Forge Elementary School, said she believes school officials should have created focus groups long ago to get the public’s input.

“All we’re asking for is communication,” she said. “It’s a trust issue.”

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Reader Comments:

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From:bumblebee Sat 03 Oct 2009 06:01:42 PM EDT	What is best for children isn't always just creating a bigger school at the same location. Children benefit from smaller school settings, as opposed to settings where they may be one of 500+ students. Smaller schools create a better sense of community, despite where a child's actual home may be. Additionally, adding portable classrooms doesn't fix overcrowding completely. For example, in a school that is to accomodate a certain number, cafeteria space is created to serve that number of students. Additional students mean that lunch shifts must start earlier, and go even later, meaning that other activities held in that room during the day (PE, and other programs),cannot occur during that time. Often, schools employ one PE, art, music, and media teacher. If numbers increase, additional teachers are needed, but facilities do not exist for these teachers. There are many issues to be considered. Money, space for a school, and parent desires do not always match.
From:whatruthinkin Sat 03 Oct 2009 06:41:14 PM EDT	Small schools are a good thing but Eastern campus will be anything but that, since it will have over 1100 students there! This is an obvious example of people NOT knowing what is going on with this redistricting!! The lunch room and "encore" class situations are valid points but the schools have that are overcrowded have been dealing with it just fine! People aren't saying don't redistrict, the are saying to delay it to get more feedback and more ideas from the general public. There are other, more cost effective ideas that are less disruptive to the children. LET'S REMEMBER THAT OUR NUMBER 1 PRIORITY SHOULD BE THE CONCERN FOR OUR CHILDREN!!!
From: I-question-why Sat 03 Oct 2009 08:51:03 PM EDT	Deputy Superintendent Boyd Michael said it just doesn't justify a new school in the southern part of the county at this point? Does he look at his own data? Boonsboro 121%, Greenbrier 127%, Sharpsburg 127% and even Old Forge on that side of town at 105%. Yet the current Eastern 83%. Seems to me there is more justification to build a school in the southern part of the county AT THIS POINT than there is to build another school at this location. I would like to know what justification Michael's has for this school if ALL students will need to be bused from other areas?
From:wlang10549 Sat 03 Oct 2009 08:52:18 PM EDT	funny that the time is not right to do something for the south county schools, I mean Boonsboro is at 121% of capacity, Greenbrier is at 127%, Sharpburg is at 122% and Pleasant Valley is at 90% but let's ignore those schools and build a primary school by the hospital. Why is it that the BOE can find the money to build new schools, yet they can't find the funding to upgrade the existing schools to a point that they can support their communities.
From: I-question-why Sat 03 Oct 2009 09:00:06 PM EDT	I guess Michael's doen't think that the southern part of the county would be able to handle a new school. After all, it is getting along just fine without electricity in its schools. Do you think Boonsboro will have heat this winter or should the kids add coal to their supply list along with the flashlights?
From:wlang10549 Sat 03 Oct 2009 09:16:19 PM EDT	bumblebee, I would agree smaller schools are better, but if you look at the ratings and the test scores for the south county schools you will find they are thriving even though they are overcrowded. Doing simple math (students divided by teachers) Rockland Woods has an average class size of 26 Boonsboro is 23, Greenbrier is 21 and Sharpsburg is 23 which schools are the students getting a greater sense of community.

Bill Lang's Statement at the FEAC Forum

The following is a statement that Keedysville resident Bill Lang presented to the FEAC during the public forum at Rockland Woods on September 17th.  Unfortunately, due to the 3 minute time limit, Bill was only able to hit the highlights even though another audience member requested to allow Bill to use his 3 minutes.  Here is Bill's statement in it's entirety.

FEAC Redistricting Response

Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Bill Lang and I live in the Cannon Ridge subdivision, in Keedysville, Maryland.  First, thank you for giving me the time to respond to the redistricting proposal that has been put forth, as the parent of 4 children in Boonsboro Elementary, if I am not the single largest consumer of teaching services at Boonsboro I am sure I am in the top 5.  I would like to focus my comments on the section of the proposal of moving the children of Cannon Ridge and Rockingham to Rockland Woods Elementary.  I am sorely disappointed that in the 9 months that the committee has been looking at the redistricting that the best that you can come up with is a modified version of a proposal that was rejected 2 years ago.  Let’s review some of the factors that were supposed to be taken into account in this redistricting:

·      The geographic location of each school in relationship to the surrounding population area.

o      There are 5 elementary schools that are closer to Cannon Ridge and Rockingham than Rockland Woods; they are in order Boonsboro, Sharpsburg, Greenbrier, Fountain Rock and Pleasant Valley.  None of the other redistricting candidates are forced to go to a school that far out of their natural area.

o      There is no geographic connection between Keedysville and the current Rockland Woods district.  The proposed district has been drawn so that at one point it is as wide as the 2-lane road it is on so that there can be a connection created thus allowing the committee to not violate county transportation edicts that do not allow transportation across school districts.  If we were talking about election districts what you have done would be called gerrymandering

·      Assigning students to schools so that the LRC of each school is not exceeded.

o      The 2012 percentage of SRC projected for Rockland Woods is 100%.  The 2012 projected percentage of SRC for Boonsboro is 103%, so even with disenfranchising these 75 students you have failed to meet the objectives of school capacity.

·      The cost associated with the various options.

o      I am not going to focus on the cost to the BOE; I want to focus on the cost to the community.  First is the cost to the parents, especially those who require before and after school care.  Parents will be forced to change their child care providers as the county will not allow buses to transport children outside of their school district.  To put it simply children from Cannon Ridge or Rockingham would not be able to have afterschool care at the Keedysville community center which is less than a mile from their house under this proposal.  Parents who work to the east in places like Frederick, Loudoun or Montgomery Counties would be forced to drive to Hagerstown to pick up their children.  Adding time to their commute and costing them money.  Second, let’s talk about the cost to the children, Rockland Woods starts their school day at 7:25am, which means that when you factor in the time to pick up the students our children will be getting on the bus between 6:15 and 6:30am, and traveling 30 minutes on a bus, and depending on the route passing within 1 mile of Sharpsburg Elementary and 2 miles of Fountain Rock.  Children getting on the busses that early will be forced to get up at about 5:30am, and since the American Association of Pediatrics recommends 10 to 12 hours of sleep for elementary age children, those children would be going to bed between 5:30 and 7:30pm on school nights which would not allow them to participate in activities such as scouting, sports or music programs.  These times would also reduce the ability of parents to be active participants in school venues such as the PTA.

·      Here are some other areas of contention are.

o      You are moving 35 students from Rockland Woods, back to Fountain Rock so that you can accommodate the number of incoming students.  These students were just moved to Rockland Woods when it opened.  Wouldn’t it be better to keep those students in place?

o      The local activity area.  These children have no connections with the Westfields or Hagerstown.  They play sports in Boonsboro, Pleasant Valley, or Sharpsburg.  They attend Church in Boonsboro, Keedysville or Sharpsburg.  They are members of Scout troops in Keedysville or Boonsboro. 

The definition of arbitrary and capricious is: Absence of a rational connection between the facts found and the choice made, and the decision to include these 75 children is a classic case of an arbitrary and capricious decision. 

I don’t want the members of the committee to think that I am only here to denigrate your work, instead I would like to offer some suggestions that I believe make more sense moving forward. 

• Move the 5^th grade from Boonsboro Elementary to Boonsboro Middle.  There is historic precedent for this and based on the current number of 4^th graders it would provide and instant relief of almost 100 students, pushing Boonsboro Elementary below SRC, while not pushing Boonsboro Middle above the SRC.  There would be no need to move the children from Cannon Ridge and Rockingham to Rockland Woods, or from Rockland Woods to Fountain Rock.   The projected enrollment for Rockland Woods in 2012 would be 700 leaving room for expansion.
• Draw a line in the map, at either Reno Monument Road or Marble Quarry Road and send children south of that line to Pleasant Valley.
• If you want to send the children from Rockland Woods back to Fountain Rock, then make up the difference by sending the children in the Beaver Creek area who are not being redistricted to Eastern, to Rockland Woods or include them in the redistricting to Eastern.  This would relieve the stress on Greenbrier and both Rockland Woods and Eastern have the projected capacity.

In closing I would like to say that the Board of Education has failed the citizens twice leading up to this process.  The first failure was being seduced by the thought of free land, which leads to the building of a school that was positioned not to support the greater good of the county but to support a single subdivision.  The second failure was by not following their own policies in attendance projects and expanding Boonsboro Elementary to be able to handle the increased load put on it by all of these subdivisions, some of which have been on the books for over 10 years.  It is not the children of Cannon Ridge or Rockingham’s fault that the adults who are in charge failed to act for the greater good, nor should they have to pay for those failures.  It is my duty as a parent to look out for the best interests of my children and my family, and I can promise this committee and the members of the Board of Education who are here, if this redistricting is approved as proposed I will use any and all means at my disposal to fight it.

Thank you for your time.

Redistricting Panel Won't Recommend School Building Delay

Article in the Herald-Mail today about the FEAC meeting last night.  I also posted some of the comments that have already been put up although the article was just posted.  Click on the link above to go directly to the article and scroll down to read additional comments as they are posted or leave your own.

The Herald-Mail

http://www.herald-mail.com/

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09/29/2009

Redistricting panel won’t recommend school building delay

By DAN DEARTH
dan.dearth@herald-mail.com

HAGERSTOWN — A committee responsible for making redistricting recommendations for 20 of 26 elementary schools in Washington County will not suggest delaying the construction of the proposed Eastern Primary School.

Redistricting is being considered to alleviate overcrowding. If it is approved, about 1,500 elementary students could be affected, and many of them would be sent from their current schools to Eastern Primary School.

The Facilities Enrollment and Advisory Committee met Tuesday to review redistricting recommendations that were made by the public during three forums held this month. One of the most popular proposals from the public was to delay building Eastern Primary School on the east end of Hagerstown.

Many people who spoke at the forums said South County would be a better spot for a new school.

Committee co-chair Adam Lewis said the group needed to decide at its Tuesday meeting whether to recommend delaying the construction of Eastern Primary School because the Washington County Board of Education is to vote on awarding contracts for the $25 million project next week.

The committee voted 5-3 against recommending to the board that the project be delayed.

Lewis, Darin Lewis and Dirk DeVault were the committee members who voted to delay construction. John Bellistri, James Micco, Bert Iseminger, Gwynne Cavey and Kira Hamman voted against recommending a delay.

Adam Lewis said he believed the board would approve the contracts for Eastern Primary School regardless of the committee’s vote. He said the board acquired the land for the school without consulting the committee.

“The board never asked for the committee’s or public’s input on the site,” Adam Lewis said.

Iseminger said Eastern Primary School needs to go forward because that area of the county will need a school when development resumes.

He said he didn’t have enough expertise to doubt the professionals who determined that Eastern Primary School would be among the best solutions for redistricting.

“What justification do I have to say that?” Iseminger asked. “I don’t have that ability.”

Iseminger said he also supported Eastern Primary School because the funding was in place.

About $14 million of the project would be provided by the state, Deputy Superintendent Boyd Michael said. The remaining $11 million would come from the county.

Rob Rollins, executive director of school operations, told the committee the school system already received approval from the state to proceed with Eastern Primary School.

“Eastern Primary was picked because we thought it would help the most kids,” Rollins said. “We felt that would be the best place to put a school to meet the greatest need.”

He said additions to overcrowded schools would cost more than building a new one.

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Reader Comments:

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From: niverd Tue 29 Sep 2009 11:56:53 PM EDT	So much for listening to the public. I think Mr. Lewis' observation is quite telling: “The board never asked for the committee’s or public’s input on the site,” Adam Lewis said. Also regarding Mr Rollins' comment "He said additions to overcrowded schools would cost more than building a new one." So when were these estimates done and who had a chance to review them? This whole process was a joke from the start. The BOE will do whatever it wants to in spite of the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of its past (ie Rockland Woods). Incompetence lives on in Washington County.
From:never_trust_u Wed 30 Sep 2009 12:15:05 AM EDT	Lets take account of the ones who voted against the delay: (1) one is a WCPS bus driver (2) one is a neighbor of Dr. Morgan (3) one is a former county commissioner who is close friends with BOE President Wayne Ridenour, sits on the zoning appeals committee and who publicly stated it is okay to change schools multiple times because he did himself as the child of the military. Even Mr Iseminger said it may take many years, but the area near Eastern will eventually be developed. Eventually....how about addressing South County NOW!!!! Thank you to the FEAC members who had the courage to at least consider the recommendation of suggesting to the BOE to delay the acceptance of the bids for Eastern.
From: SafeTfirst Wed 30 Sep 2009 06:09:12 AM EDT	The public forums seem to be held at the wrong time in the process. Perhaps public input should be sought prior to funds being applied for and contract bids initiated and the members of the FEAC should not be stakeholders... I would think all of the relationships mentioned by never_trust_u above would make each of the FEAC members ineligible - sort of like jury selection. How sad for the children and families who will be affected. Does anyone know who owned the property for the new Eastern Primary? There's more than likely a link back to someone in position as well. Children do better in smaller neighborhood schools not the larger ones. Schools add to community and are the center focus. Remove the school from the community where the attendees family lives and you've created additional stress and headaches for the families. Add Pres. Obama's extra time to the school day and families will only see their children in time for a bath and bath. Schools will be raising our kids as the only ones who see them
From:AConcernedMom Wed 30 Sep 2009 06:13:57 AM EDT	I too want to thank those that stodd up for the right thing, and not the political thing. Yes, seeing who voted against stopping Eastern.... It is exactly for these reasons we as parents filed a formal complaint with the State Ethics Department. We do not need another shiny new school in Hagerstown (sorry Art Callaham), we need to address South County without disrupting 1500 kids. ANYONE who says that ripping 1500 kids out of their schools is the best thing for the kids, is not thinking of the kids at all, are they. They are hoping they will just push this through, and over time parents will forgive and forget. With elections right around the corner, they are committing political suicide. There are parents working in groups on stopping this, and parents working on plans for the upcoming elections, to make sure the public knows how any of these elected officials do NOT care for the citizens, nor the children of our district.
From: brihunt Wed 30 Sep 2009 07:02:46 AM EDT	I think the FEAC just held the forums for show. They new from the beginning that there was no way of stopping or delaying the process. I am glad to see that at least three had some sense. I guess they will be the only three who will be re-elected to their post. I know I will not re-elect and I will make sure my friends and family will not re-elect the four who clearly do not care about the little ones. When you are selfish you do not deserve to work in a county of non-selfish people who care about their kids. My daughter will not being moving to this school. I will do everything I can to make sure this does not happen. If the school is in the east then the children to attend it need to come out of the east. My daughters elementary, middle and high school are all within 3 to 5 blocks from my house and I refuse to send her 10 miles out of her way because the four on the FEAC and the board do not have anything else to do but to interrupt little kids lives!!!!!!!!!!

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Washington County Schools Plan Redistricting

Washington County Schools Plan Redistricting

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Craig Whetstine Letter to the FEAC

The following is a letter sent to the FEAC by Keedysville resident  Craig Whetstine via email

September 18, 2009

Facilities & Enrollment Advisory Committee

Washington County Public Schools

Via email:  FEAC@wcboe.k12.md.us

Committee Members,

I attended the FEAC Public Forum at Rockland Woods Elementary School Thursday night (September 17).  I elected to provide my feedback in written form rather than speak at the Forum.

Each member of the FEAC is to be commended for being involved on the committee.  Your charge from the WCBOE is difficult, at best.  Each of you has sacrificed many hours of your life to contribute to the committee, a fact most parents involved in this process recognize.

My wife and I just moved into the Cannon Ridge subdivision in July 09 and were not involved in the proposed redistricting last year.  We are looking at this with a “fresh” view.  We have a daughter who will begin kindergarten in September 2010.

There was a great deal of information available at the Forum, both written (from the FEAC) and verbal (from the speakers).  The most striking information is the list of considerations in the FEAC Charge from the Board of Education (page six of the PowerPoint handout).  There is no consideration listed regarding the well-being of students impacted by the proposed redistricting.  Some 1500 students and their families would be affected by this plan, a fact the Board of Education has, seemingly, deemed not worthy of consideration.  The Board’s Charge reduces the children involved to a commodity to be moved in order to reach a projected number at each school.  I think the FEAC realizes the numbers being looked at represent kids.  Not percentages, not projections…kids.  I hope the FEAC will be able to help the Board of Education realize this, as well.

My concern is sending kids from Keedysville to Rockland Woods.  Keedysville is connected to Boonsboro, figuratively (children’s activities and community events) and literally (our water line comes from Boonsboro).  When we moved to Keedysville (from Middletown) the calls for local civic services went to Boonsboro.  The kids in our neighborhood play soccer, learn gymnastics and go to cheerleader classes in Boonsboro.  This is part of the fabric of the community.

Moving kids from Keedysville to Rockland Woods is counter to several of the guidelines put forth by the Maryland State Department of Education:

1.    The MSDE Division of Early Childhood Development tells parents “…most five-year-olds need 10 to 12 hours of sleep a day.”  Kids who have to catch a school bus at 6:30AM will likely not reach this goal.

2.    The Maryland Early Childhood Advisory Council writes in What Success Looks Like that “A child…exposed to stress is not in a good position to learn.”  Five-year-old kids boarding a bus at 6:30AM for a minimum 30-minute ride to kindergarten will be exposed to stress.

3.    The MSDE has instituted an award for parental involvement in education, the JoAnne L. Carter Memorial Award.  This is the second award the MSDE has for parental involvement in education (the Comcast Parental Involvement Matters award is the other).  You heard at your Forum that parents from Keedysville will struggle just to make certain their kids get to after-school care.  There are scores of parents in Keedysville who will want to contribute time to their kids’ school who will be unable to do so because of the geography involved in this proposal.

A number of options were presented at the Forum as well as a number of concerns.  Many were valid and there’s no reason to repeat them here.

What I did not hear at the Forum, either from the presentation or any of the speakers, is mention of a ten or twenty year plan from the Board regarding growth in Washington County.  Without such plans, which project population distribution and growth, these redistricting plans will become an annual event.

I suggest this committee add a recommendation putting a cap on the number of times a kid can be moved to a different school.  This cap should be once for grades K-6 and once for grades 7-10.  High School juniors and seniors should not be moved. 

Has there been any consideration of moving to year-round schools?  This will immediately ease the overcrowding without moving kids to different schools.  I recall one committee member saying the FEAC was told to “think outside the box” and year-round schools in Washington County would fit that description. 

My “fresh” look at this redistricting issue includes the comments made about the Eastern Primary School.  From what I’ve read, heard and researched that school is clearly not being planned for optimal use in Washington County.  Anyone can see, based on the Summary from the FEAC proposal that a new school needs to be located in the southern part of the county.  It was stated at the Forum that because the state has approved funding for the proposed Eastern location that the plans cannot change.  That’s incorrect.  A review of Title 23, Board of Public Works, Subtitle 03, Public School Construction will provide information about how to change the location of the new school. 

I left the Forum with the sense that the FEAC is making an honest effort to create a fair and effective redistricting plan.  My concern is that the Board will ultimately do what is politically expedient for the Board and not what is best for the kids of Washington County.

Thank you again for your efforts.  I would be happy to discuss this letter and/or contribute in any way to the committee.

Sincerely,

Craig Whetstine