The Fifth District that I represent stretches from Charles Street to the Harford County line. In the Towson area, demographic changes over the past decade have led to severe school overcrowding. Older residents are moving out, and younger families are buying their homes, attracted by our excellent public school system.
Overcrowding in the Towson area has been worse far than in the northeast. That is why the county has focused on building additions at Hampton and Stoneleigh Elementary Schools, the new school at Mays Chapel, and other classroom space. I have strongly supported these efforts, as well as the upcoming renovation of Dumbarton Middle School. But we can’t ignore the northeast.
Enrollment forecasts paint an alarming picture: Harford Hills Elementary School, for instance, is approaching 22 percent overcapacity. Several Perry Hall schools exceed their capacity. Crowding at the elementary school level will eventually lead to more students at the middle schools and Perry Hall High School as well.
I was concerned about school overcrowding long before my election to the County Council. The county should have used surplus funds in the 1990s and 2000s to buy land for new schools, particularly for a high school, but that decision was unfortunately not made.
Development is a factor in school overcrowding, which is why I took steps to reduce future growth on more than 417 acres in the Fifth District. But development is only one factor. Demographics are a bigger influence. There is almost no development in the Harford Hills Elementary School district, but that school is experiencing overcrowding because younger families are moving into this area. It’s the same phenomenon we see in Towson.
We need to be proactive and deal with school overcrowding. That is why I joined with the Perry Hall Improvement Association in urging the school system to give the northeast the same attention it has focused on central Baltimore County. Within days of that request, Superintendent S. Dallas Dance committed to me that the school system would start this process over the next academic year.
I would like to thank Superintendent Dance for his commitment to the students, parents, and community leaders of northeastern Baltimore County. It means that from one end of the Fifth District to the other, we are taking steps to ensure we have great schools for our kids. I will remain in touch as the process unfolds.