Reply to Baltimore Sun article about Howard County rezoning

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Baltimore Sun article about Howard County rezoning"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Balanced article that seems to understand all sides.

I think the proposal embodies all the right ideas, although I do have some questions about individual details. I'd like to see it go further, actually, to provide greater relief to certain high schools. Also, some schools have profiles that change significantly, while others (River Hill High School rushes to mind) have very little change to their overall profile. That does feel a little uneven.

Since River Hill stands to send some students to Wilde Lake (which will only be 38 percent FARMs under the proposal - which really shouldn't scare people so badly - but I digress), there's ample yelling from people who imagined they were safely tucked within a very expensive new development and all but guaranteed a place at River Hill. I get it, I really do, but at the same time: cry me a river. I have a hard time being totally sympathetic with "don't break up our 'community'," when your community is defined by a single socio-economic profile. Maybe the boundaries of community need to be revised.[/quote]

I agree.

However, as someone who made the reverse commute from Wilde Lake to River Hill for two years, I am rolling my eyes at the parent complaining about reduced sleep and family time. Cut me a break: you’re not sending your kid across the county (and even then, it’s not a big county).[/quote]

I was also impressed by how fairly the article captured both sides.

As a resident of the Eastern part of the county, it is hard to hear River Hill parents complain about longer school bus rides for their kids or trouble picking up from after school activities.  Really?  Try living in the most densely populated part of the county where most of the population is not wealthy and where there isn't a high school within 7-8 miles because one one has bothered to build one, despite the extensive high density development.  We moved to our community because we wanted more diversity than River Hill offers. Even though it inconveniences our family, we recognize the need for low to moderate income housing in the county, so we have welcomed the developement.  But people can only take so much.

It is funny that no one from River Hill has cared about those of us in the East who have been either redistricted with small feeds or threatened with redistricting almost every year for what seems like forever. I have neighbors who  may wind up having kids attend three different high schools. No one from River Hill cared about disruptions, long bus rides, established communities , or our severely overcrowded schools when their own kids were not involved.

Having lived with the threat of redistricting for so long, I now wish more comprehensive  moves had been made years ago, even if it meant moving my kids to what would be considered a "lower performing" school.  River Hill can't continue to be all high SES with no FARMs forever.  Something is going to have to change.  This process is so painful for all involved; it is time to rip the bandaid off and make necessary changes that have countywide impact.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics