Desegregation Comments Raise School Officials' Concerns

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — Howard County Council members Christiana Mercer Rigby, Deb Jung and Opel Jones have ignited concerns about the way in which they are insisting Howard County Public Schools desegregate to ensure the county's economic wealth is shared by every school and student. The trio believes that Howard County Public Schools must create a countywide plan to address the issue and has already crafted a council resolution they will introduce in September.

Howard County Schools Superintendent Michael Martirano was reportdly caught off guard when he first read a news release distributed by Rigby, Jung and Jones about their desegregation plan. He met with Jones about school redistricting just 15 minutes before the release was sent.

“To say I was surprised to see the press release right after my meeting is an understatement,” Martirano wrote in an email to all seven board of education members, the Baltimore Sun reported.

Rigby, Jung and Jones said that students who participate in the school system’s free and reduced meals program are concentrated in certain schools. They stated in the release that they would like to see "new systems that foster necessary change” from the “socioeconomic and racial segregation in the school system."

School board member Chao Wu wrote in an email obtained by the Baltimore Sun, “I was really disappointed on how the county council handled this. So it seems only Mavis (Ellis) knew this before the press release?” According to other emails obtained by the Baltimore Sun through the Freedom of Information Act, Rigby contacted two school board members the day of the news release and mentioned the resolution but not the release.

“I’m extremely proud of this resolution because it recognizes the past and promotes a fair and balanced future for our Howard County Public School System students,” Jones said in the release issued by the three council members. “We are working together to resolve the problematic and systematic inconsistencies that lower-income students face every day. This resolution helps to enhance, promote, and encourage a unified and socioeconomic blended education system for all.”

“While we often claim to prioritize diversity and inclusion in Howard County, our school districts do not reflect the values of integration and community that we have built our county on,” said Rigby in the release. “For decades, Howard County public schools have become increasingly segregated by race and socioeconomic status. Redistricting is a civil rights issue here in Howard County, and it’s time to take meaningful strides toward integration in our education system.”

“Let’s reclaim Columbia’s dream of equal opportunity for all by rebalancing the socioeconomic and racial profiles of Howard County’s public schools,” Jung said in the release. “We know what we have to do, and we know the time is now.”

Martirano has identified recommendations for redistricting for the 2020-2021 academic year and the school board will review his recommendations before voting on a plan in November.

Martirano wrote, “Simply put, this should have been communicated more effectively to us by the CC [County Council].”