Hundreds Of Students Must Change Schools In Anne Arundel County: Reports

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Reports said the Anne Arundel County Board of Education on Wednesday approved a redistricting plan that will reassign over 700 students to different schools. The plan reduces overcrowding at some, but not all, schools.

The adopted map moves fewer students than the four initially proposed, which would have resulted in school shifts for between 900 and 1,500 students.

The Baltimore Banner reported that the finalized plan calls for these changes:

• Nearly 300 students who would have matriculated from Nantucket Elementary to Crofton middle and high schools will now be sent to Arundel middle and high schools.
• 100 Arundel students were reassigned to MacArthur Middle School and Meade Senior High School.
• 88 students will move from Belvedere Elementary to Arnold Elementary, 72 from Odenton Elementary to Seven Oaks Elementary, 57 from Tracey's Elementary to Deale Elementary, 54 from Folger McKinsey Elementary to Severna Park Elementary, 27 from Davidsonville Elementary to Central Elementary, three from Lothian Elementary to Tracey's Elementary and one from Piney Orchard Elementary to Odenton Elementary.

"The board keeps saying this redistricting is about community, but you can't preach community while you’re the one tearing it apart," Crofton High student Cali Kwong said Monday, according to The Banner. "That's not leadership; that's hypocrisy."

The Capital Gazette said the plan passed by a 5-3 vote with Gloria Dent (District 1), Joahanna Bache Tobin (District 6), Brayden Morgan (student member), Robert Silkworth (District 2) and Dawn Pulliam (District 7) voting in favor. The newspaper reported that Sara McDermott (District 4), Erica McFarland (District 3) and Dana Schallheim (District 5) voted against the map.

"I can't get behind this," Schallheim said, according to The Banner. "My heart breaks."

Dissenting board members tried to soften the blow with amendments, but all failed.

McDermott motioned to remove the split articulation from the plan, the Capital Gazette said. The newspaper reported that Schallheim suggested amending the legacy option to include fifth, eighth and 11th graders. The legacy clause lets seniors remain in their current school if they can provide their own transportation. The Capital Gazette added that Pulliam attempted to prevent students, mostly from Riva, from being reassigned away from Davidsonville Elementary.

"I understand the pain people are going through," Anne Arundel County Public Schools Superintendent Mark Bedell said, according to The Banner. "I don't want to be up here having to do this and feel the way that I feel and hear the pain that's coming from these families. But I don't know another way."

Read The Banner's story to see which schools still face overcrowding. Check out the Capital Gazette's article for a breakdown of why the amendments failed.

Related:

• School Redistricting Reaches Final Proposal: See Changes In Anne Arundel
• Over 1K Students Could Change Schools Amid Redistricting