Eastern Baltimore County News
The BCPS Board of Education approved a modified version of Option B which will have schools opening on the Tuesday after Labor Day on Sept. 8.
The school year would end on June 18, 2021 if there are no weather-related closures.
Spring break is scheduled for a 10 day vacation under this model from March 27 to April 5, 2021, and schools will reopen April 6 2021.
BCPS must meet the state requirement of 1176.5 hours for elementary schools and 1183 hours for middle and high schools.
Two Perry Hall Boys Soccer players have been selected to both All Division and All County teams.
Senior Captain, Andrew Fitch was a unanimous selection to the All Division team.
“He is a two year starter and true team leader. His selfless attitude and standout play placed him among the best backs in Baltimore County. Andrew was also selected to 1st Team All County as well as earning a spot to the Senior All Star game,” said a statement from the Boys Soccer team’s media page.
Junior midfielder Jaeden Asare was also selected to All Division and 1st Team All County.
“His athleticism, technical skill and vision separated his play from the field. Jaeden is a humble, hard working and dedicated to bringing out the best in the Gator program. We are honored to have both outstanding young men as key parts to our Gator family,” said a statement from the team.
As expected the Baltimore County Council passed the controversial HOME ACT, which would make it illegal for a landlord to refuse to rent to a potential tenant based on the person’s source of income, just as renters can’t be discriminated against based on their race, sex, religion, and other legally protected groups. The bill passed along party lines 4 to 3.
The four Democratic Council members voted for the bill and the three GOP councilman voted no.
County Executive John Olszewski, Jr. released a statement thanking the Council for passing this bill.
“Today is a major step forward for Baltimore County. I thank the County Council for recognizing that discrimination in any form is wrong and for working with me in taking this critical step to fulfill our legal and moral obligations,” Olszewski said.
“Together we will continue to expand economic opportunity, improve equity, and build a better Baltimore County.”
Fifth District Councilman David Marks explained why he was going to vote “no” over this past weekend.
“I posted a poll in Perry Hall Neighbors about the proposed HOME Act. The results are striking – 463 against and only 28 votes for. I posted an identical poll on Loch Raven and Towson Facebook pages, although there are no comparable Facebook communities with large number of members. But still, even in Democratic areas, there is strong opposition to this bill,” Marks explained.
“I have received many emails and phone calls about this legislation. Simply put, the supporters tend to live in areas – with almost no rental properties – that will not be affected by the HOME Act. It’s a point I made at the work session – the affordable housing settlement linked to legislation is fundamentally unfair and flawed. A wealthy neighborhood will not be affected. Those communities right in the middle – Ridgeleigh, Seven Courts, Carney – will bear the greatest impact.”
Seventh District Councilman Todd Crandell also released a statement before his “no” vote.
“A common theme in Tuesday’s Council Work Session testimony regarding the HOME Act was that the Housing Voucher program is deeply flawed, out of date, and administered horribly. An overhaul on the federal level is necessary,” Crandell explained.
“How does it make sense to require property owners. – against their will and against their rights – to participate in such a bad program? It doesn’t. The bill should be voted down.”
Ten-Year Improvement Plan for All Schools
Baltimore County and Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) today issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) (PDF) for an independent consultant to assist in the development of a long-range plan for identifying and prioritizing capital improvements to Baltimore County’s school buildings. The plan will prioritize needs based on enrollment projections and capacity, educational equity and adequacy, and the conditions of facilities.
“Every student and educator deserves a safe, modern school where they can learn and grow. While Baltimore County has made significant progress, we still have a number of aging facilities and a growing student population which leads to unacceptable learning conditions for many of our students,” said County Executive Johnny Olszewski. “Providing a world-class education for our children is and will always be the number one priority of my administration. This long-term plan will outline a clear roadmap to ensure we can best serve all our children and communities.”
“Building on the substantial progress made during the past decade to modernize our schools, this plan will allow us to comfortably accommodate our growing enrollment into the next decade,” said Superintendent Dr. Darryl L. Williams. “I deeply appreciate the support and partnership from state and County elected officials.”
Equitable and Effective Allocation of School Construction Funds
The RFP issued today anticipates identifying a consultant to develop a High School Master Plan by September 2020, followed by a plan for all remaining schools, centers and programs by May 2021. Baltimore County has significant school construction needs, including eight remaining projects under the Schools for Our Future program. In addition, the County is projected to have 1,700 more students than seats in its high schools over the next decade.
In response to these challenges, Olszewski has made support for public education his administration’s top priority. Recognizing the need for a long-term plan to ensure the County has a roadmap for equitable and effective allocation of school construction dollars, County Executive Olszewski included funds for the development of a 10-year capital plan in his Fiscal Year 2020 budget.
Olszewski also provided funds in the current budget for all remaining Schools for Our Future projects and has allocated $15 million for planning and design at Lansdowne High School. He also recently committed planning funds for both Towson and Dulaney High Schools.
Support for Public Education a Top Priority
All of these projects are unable to move forward without the State of Maryland’s remaining portion of funding. County Executive Olszewski has consistently called on the state to increase its commitment to help the County meet the needs of its growing student population. Earlier this year, Olszewski called on Governor Hogan to release $127 million in currently withheld school construction funding approved by the legislature in the 2019 legislative session.
Maryland House of Delegates Speaker Adrienne Jones has indicated that she intends to make school construction a top priority for the state in the upcoming legislative session and Olszewski has committed to advocating on behalf of Baltimore County students in Annapolis.
Eastern Tech Girls & Boys Soccer teams playoff runs ended over the weekend. The Girls lost to Century 1-0 and the Boys Team lost 4-0 to La Plata.
After upsetting the six-time defending state champion Sparrows Point Girls Soccer 1-0 in the 2A North Region II Title Game, The Mavericks were reseeded eight in the 2A State Quarterfinals and drew the number one seeded and undefeated Century where Eastern Tech fell on the road.
The Boy Mavericks beat Sparrows Point 3-1 in the 2A North Region II Title Game and drew a fifth seed to travel down to La Plata. They finished 10-3 on the season.
Baltimore-area residents can once again get a free flu shot without leaving their cars at at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center this morning from 8 a.m. to noon, or when supplies run out at CCBC Essex Campus, Rossville Boulevard and College Drive.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a yearly flu vaccine for everyone 6 months of age and older. Last year’s flu season was the longest in a decade, and the 2017-2018 flu season was particularly severe, with 80,000 deaths attributed to the illness. In total, the CDC estimates that up to 42.9 million people got sick during last year’s flu season, 647,000 people were hospitalized and 61,200 died.
Clinicians will be ready to administer the shots to those who don’t have a known allergy to the vaccine. At MedStar Franklin Square, anyone aged 6 months and up can receive the vaccine.
Those who are getting the vaccine should remember to wear short sleeves or clothing with easy access to the upper arm. More than 900 people received the flu vaccine at the MedStar Franklin Square and MedStar Harbor Hospital events last year.
CCBC Essex Mens Soccer won their eighth straight NJCAA Region XX title with a 5-0 victory over CCBC Catonsville and the CCBC Essex Womens Team also won the Region XX title with a 5-0 win over Frederick Community College.
According to the team’s Twitter page, CCBC Essex Mens Team had a 1-0 lead at halftime and put the game away in the second half with four games. Acolmi Rios had two of those second half goals.
The Men Knights advances to the NJCAA East District semifinals to play for their District championship. If they win, they will earn an automatic bid to the NJCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship Tournament in Tyler, Texas.
CCBC Essex Womens team won their 18th straight game with their victory over Frederick. The Lady Knights Twitter page reported that goals were scored from Perry Hall High grad Kara Dietrich & Eastern Tech grad Mikayla Boyle.
Perry Hall Girls Soccer is now two wins away from back-to-back state titles as the Gators defeated Prince George’s County Eleanor Roosevelt High School on the road 4-1 to advance to the 4A State Semifinals.
According to the team’s Facebook page, the Lady Gators went up 2-1 on Roosevelt at halftime after they received goals from Kam Williams & Analyn Weyan.
Roosevelt was able to hang around in the second half, but a goal by Kyleigh Gough with four minutes left iced the game for the Gators. Erin Marciszewski added another goal to get the score to 4-1.
The Gators found themselves on the road in Greenbelt because they were seeded 7th and Roosevelt was ranked 2, but Perry Hall proved that they were underseeded.
Perry Hall will now play Montgomery Blair at Gaithersburg High School on Saturday, Nov. 9
– by Patrick Coonan of CCBC Esses –
It took Daigo Adachi and the Knights just 16 minutes to tally their first goal yesterday against Harford in an NJCAA Region XX Division I Tournament semifinal match in route to a 7-1 victory
The Knights (15-3) move on in search of an eighth straight regional title and play its sibling campus CCBC Catonsville in the championship on Saturday at host Harford Community College. Kickoff is currently scheduled for 3 p.m.
Adachi’s opening goal was assisted by Seth Onolaja who dropped a pass back to the Miyagi, Japan native. Adachi drove it low into the corner for the early 1-0 lead.
In the 25th minute, Sam Adunah slipped through the Harford defense and beat the goalie with a near post shot on the break.
CCBC Essex’s next goal came a minute later when Adunah fed Andy Portillo the ball and he finished for his second goal of the season.
The Knights controlled the pace of play for the next 15 minutes, keeping the Fighting Owls (8-11) on their heels.
Onolaja would capture his second assist of the day in the 41st minute, when he played the ball across to Marvin Martinez who converted.
With five seconds remaining in the first half, Harford would found light.
Wyatt Moran played a corner that Robel Bistrat headed home to cut the deficit to three at 4-1 heading into halftime.
The Knights came out hot in the second half.
Adachi tallied his second goal of the game with a header off a corner kick by Martinez.
With eight minutes left in regulation, Rezon Ahmeti scored off a free kick to make it 6-1.
In the 86th minute, Axa Hernandez (Bladensburg) capped the scoring with his first collegiate goal, assited by Ferdis Melgar.
“We started slow as we usually do,” head coach Joe Fiedler said. “But then we came through and played pretty well throughout the remainder of the game.”
The seven-time defending Region XX Division I champion Knights will play CCBC Catonsville on Saturday. The last meeting between the two teams – October 1 – ended with CCBC Essex winning a 2-0.
The winner of the Region XX Division I Championship advances to the NJCAA East District semifinals. District champions earn an automatic bid to the NJCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship Tournament in Tyler, Texas.
Defending 4A state champion Perry Hall Girls Soccer continued their winning ways as they defeated Catonsville 6-0 in 4A North Region I Title Game.
“So proud of this squad and the way the cylinders are firing. We are grateful to earn this win but make no mistake…WE are in the hunt for something even bigger. One practice, one game at a time,” said a statement on the team’s Instagram page.
The Lady Gators opened the 4A playoffs with a bye and defeated Dulaney 3-0 last week in the second round before defeating Catonsville on Tuesday night.
Perry Hall will now be reseeded in the next round and their next opponent will be announced after the reseeding. The Gators are three wins away from back-to-back state titles.
