Protest Against HoCo Schools Redistricting Planned For Sept. 14

COLUMBIA, MD — A peaceful walking protest will be held Saturday, Sept. 14, on public sidewalks near The Mall in Columbia to show disagreement with Howard County Public School System's redistricting proposal.

At approximately noon, the community is invited to gather outside mall property for the demonstration. The protest will be one of several events planned in the coming months to show opposition to the redistricting proposal, specifically that the district is being "recklessly redistricted," organizers said.

The school board will vote on the redistricting proposal in November. Michael Martirano, superintendent of Howard County Public Schools, said changes are necessary because Howard County is the fastest-growing county in the state, and there's an "urgent need to reduce overcrowding and balance the poverty rate among all schools in the district." Martirano presented his redistricting proposal before the Howard County education board in August.

"This is a three-prong process for me to balance that utilization first and foremost, to balance out our poverty rates across our county, in terms of our equity agenda item and looking as we open up our 13th high school, to create a boundary for that for our community to start participating in, as well," Martirano said at the meeting.

According to the superintendent, 42 schools will be within target capacity for the 2020-2021 school year without changes to boundaries. According to the proposal, relocating students would spread those participating in the free and reduced meal program among more schools. Martirano said his plan will bring 11 more schools into target capacity by moving:

• 3,194 elementary school students
• 2,851 high school students
• 1,351 middle school students to new schools

"All of our schools in Howard County are quality schools and no matter where a child is going to school, they're going to receive a top-notch education," Martirano said at the meeting.

Some of the concerns opponents have expressed involve its impact on students, overall student achievement and the district as a whole. Organizers said in a release that there will be families on hand at the protest to offer their personal testimonies as to how the proposed redistricting will harm their students and families.

A public Facebook group of about 2,200 members is helping to spread the word about the event. HoCo Families for Education Improvement also will be present during the walk and will help those interested in writing letters of testimony to the Howard County Public Schools board of education.

The redistricting proposal would move about 7,300 students to improve socio-economic diversity in county schools. Some of these students may be affected again in 2023 for the next redistricting for HCPSS HS 13. Genevieve E. McCardell posted on the Facebook group's page her concerns about the impact on her eighth-grade son, who has an IEP.

"The proposal has my child going to AHS instead of OMHS, which is our neighborhood school. My son has an IEP and we believe that sending him farther away from home (2X farther) to a school that will have undergone such a large influx of new students will negatively impact him. How the heck are administrators and teachers going to plan when they don't even know nearly half of the students? We are not connected to AHS in any way, not even by zip code! It is a ridiculous plan to break up the OMHS and AHS communities to such an extent," she wrote.

Retired teacher Bobbie Schwind Rosnik shared on the Facebook group that FARMS students most impacted by the redistricting would benefit from "more intense interventions at an earlier level."

"This should include quality preschools that help children bridge the gap in readiness skills. There should also be parent assistance programs available so that parents can feel support in helping their very young children learn. I also feel that attempts should be made at an early age with FARMS children to identify potential and to provided additional support so that these students are not only achieving on grade level, but achieving above grade level where talent is demonstrated. Finally, I am incredulous about the positive impact of this proposal on older students. In my opinion, the best time to initiate change is when students are young. I also feel that this is best accomplished at a student’s community school, where other programs to support families are either already in place or can be developed for the community," she wrote.