For the past three years, I have been working with Perry Hall Improvement Association President Dennis Robinson on initiatives to reduce school overcrowding. The most recent enrollment statistics are proof of the importance of these efforts.
The projections show that schools throughout northeastern Baltimore County exceed their state-recommended enrollment. Many of these schools, such as Harford Hills Elementary, are in older communities where there is little growth. In places like Carney and the developed parts of Perry Hall, demographic changes are occurring as younger families replace older homeowners.
Because development still plays a role in overcrowding, I initiated a downzoning of more than 400 acres of land throughout the Fifth District. This has had a significant effect. Downzoning of the wooded area between Perry Hall High School and Silver Spring Road, for example, blocked at least one housing development from being constructed.
Many of the homes now being built were approved before I took office in 2010. A recent report has showed a steep decline in Perry Hall building permits since that time. There was a yearly average of 163 building permits approved between 2000 and 2010, versus only 20 over the past three years.
I was criticized by a few landowners for limiting their right to sell property for development, but this downzoning was the right thing to do. We blocked future construction that would have only worsened school overcrowding.
Then, last May, I received a commitment from Superintendent Dance that the school system would initiate a review of school overcrowding in the northeast similar to that now concluding in southwestern and central Baltimore County.
The Perry Hall Improvement Association joined me in pushing for this review, which is desperately needed to equalize enrollment in our schools. We did not wait for the most recent numbers to come out before taking action. The review of schools in the northeast will begin this academic year, likely in the spring.
The Perry Hall Improvement Association and I are making progress to address this overcrowding problem that has impacted our schools for decades. I urge residents of northeastern Baltimore County to remain aware and attend the community meetings that will begin this spring on the enrollment study.