The Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) Board of Education voted to add more learning cottages to the overcrowded Perry Hall Middle School.
There were many different options on the table for BCPS, including initiating a boundary study to create a balance enrollment across the entire North East Area and annexing which would relocate households in a targeted area from one school to another.
The annex plan called for students from Vincent Farms Elementary to go to Middle River Middle School, and to annex some families from Chapel Hills Elementary down to Stemmers Run Middle School in Essex. The annex plan was controversial and unpopular among many families.
Fifth District Board Member and Vice President Julie Henn stated she was in favor of a comprehensive, community-driven boundary process and she did not agree with her fellow board members decision to add more trailers to Perry Hall Middle.
“[T]he Board voted to stay the course and ‘address’ Perry Hall Middle overcrowding by adding more trailers – a decision of inaction, rather than action, and one which I did not support,” Henn wrote in a statement.
“I also did not support the proposed option of annexing two select communities – without community input and for an indefinite period of time.”
Councilman David Marks said he was also disappointed in the Board’s decision to add more trailers and agreed with Henn for a boundary study.
“Perry Hall Middle School and Perry Hall High School are so large because in the 1990s, parents fought boundary changes back then – and the School Board opted to build the largest schools in Baltimore County,” Marks stated.
“Make no mistake – I opposed a sudden annexation of neighborhoods to other schools. I did support a thoughtful, deliberate review of boundaries.”
Baltimore County announced in 2017 that it was building a new northeast middle school at Nottingham Park and expanding student seating at Pine Grove Middle School to decrease enrollment at Perry Hall Middle for the 2021-22 school year. Baltimore County budget shortfalls and lack of state funding have delayed those projects for at least one year and Henn is hoping BCPS will receive that funding for next year.
“Councilman David Marks and I will be asking for your engagement and your advocacy as we seek full support from our state legislators to provide funding to advance the new northeast middle school that we so desperately need. We will be in touch with details on how you can help.”
