April 17th, 2019: After seven months of hours-long meetings, intensive training sessions, much deliberation, and heated debate, members of the Crofton redistricting advisory committee stepped out of the Anne Arundel County Public School (AACPS) offices off Riva Road in Annapolis, some smiling and some not.
The Crofton redistricting advisory committee’s founding mission was to formulate a plan for new geographical boundaries for the Crofton and Arundel public school feeder system, and to figure out how to most efficiently assign students to particular campuses. At the April 2019 meeting, the Board of Education voted for an option promoted by the committee that called for using Route 3 as the primary boundary line, delineating Crofton High School and Arundel High School catchment zones. Members of that committee who left that final meeting smiling were those whose families lived in Crofton. Under the adopted plan, their Crofton students will attend Crofton-area elementary schools, Crofton Middle School, and ultimately Crofton Area High School, which is scheduled to open in 2020.
Members of the committee who left the meeting less than satisfied were those whose children currently attend Waugh Chapel, Odenton, and Piney Orchard area elementary schools and Arundel Middle School. These families, who live on the west side of Route 3, hoped they too would be included in the Crofton Area High School catchment zone. Instead, their children will attend Arundel High School. Their elementary- and middle-aged students may have to move from the Crofton feeder system into the Arundel system as redistricting occurs.
Arundel High School was built in 1926 and is one of the oldest public high schools in the country, and the oldest mainstream public school in the state of Maryland. The current school building was built in 1949 and first occupied in 1950, with additions or renovations in 1966, 1986, 1987, 2006, and 2008.
The new Crofton High School is currently being built on property located near Underwood Road and is scheduled to open for the 2020–21 school year. Photos on following pages show various stages of construction.
Data provided on the AACPS website shows that Crofton and Arundel area schools are largely at or near capacity. The nine elementary schools are at least 93 percent full, up to 105 percent at Waugh Chapel and 116 percent at Crofton Woods. The two middle schools, Crofton and Arundel, are near capacity (93 percent and 96 percent respectively). Arundel High School is currently at 104 percent capacity. Even so, the contention between parents who agreed with the Board of Education’s decision and those who did not isn’t about school crowding. It’s about maps.
The Debate: Crofton Schools for Crofton Kids vs. Community & Property Values
Parents happy with the Board of Education’s decision have long called for “Crofton schools for Crofton kids.” They want their children’s community networks, comprised of neighborhood and school pals, teammates, and local service groups such as Scouts, to stay together from elementary through high school. In their view, they’ve been fighting for a new school for 15 years. They’ve watched as traffic congestion grew and their quiet suburban township became surrounded by commercial and residential development. They’ve known for years that schools would become overcrowded and they believe that they laid the path for a new school over decades and should have access to it.
John Boniface, a local parent, was instrumental in the effort to make redistricting about keeping Crofton kids together. A stay-at-home dad with a strong opinion on public education and a high interest in learning how to get what he felt neighborhood students deserved, Boniface and other Crofton parents petitioned politicians, educated themselves on every nuance of the state and county education systems, and attended civic and school board meetings to advocate for their children. Crofton parents were well-known for showing up en masse in matching T-shirts to demand improvements to classrooms, expansion of school facilities, and new construction.
Boniface, along with others, rallied around the fact that elementary, middle, and high schools in the Crofton feeder system, including Arundel High School where his children attended, were at or near capacity. “Since it was created in 1982, the Crofton feeder system reached out as far as Waugh Chapel,” Boniface explains. “But back then, there was a gravel pit and nothing else. Development has continued since Crofton Elementary and Crofton Middle were built in the 1980s. Now you have over 1,000 homes being built at Two Rivers, plus new homes going into Waugh Chapel and Odenton Town Center.”
Crofton township parents fought strongly to have a school districting map that used Route 3 as the geographic boundary that clearly defines Crofton Area High School and its feeder system as a service for students on the east side of Route 3. “Odenton has a school, it’s called Arundel High School, and it’s a great school. Crofton High is a Crofton school for Crofton kids,” Boniface says. This plan “brings [students] stability and consistency to that has been missing for 21 years,” Samantha Weaver, a parent on the committee who fought for Nantucket Elementary School to be included in the Crofton feeder system, told the Capital Gazette following the Board’s final decision. “We’re excited for there to be stable boundaries for the area. It’s encouraging that we finally get to come together as a community.”
On the other side of the debate are parents who live on the west side of Route 3, namely Two Rivers, Waugh Chapel, and Gambrills. While they share Crofton parents’ concern with school capacity, they disagree on the slogan and they strongly disagree about the map. They are disappointed and even angry that their children aren’t considered a piece of the fabric that weaves together the entirety of the Crofton community, even though they too attend Crofton area elementary schools, play on Crofton sports teams, and have joined Crofton area community groups. “At the meetings, there were all kinds of parents screaming, ‘Keep our kids together,’” said one parent. “But what they are really saying is, ‘Forget you, your kid doesn’t matter. What matters most is the kid on my block, who rides my bus.’ I got this very strong impression that we were being pushed out and no one cared about my kids.”
Arundel schools have the same curriculum, similar schedules, staff trained in the same policies and procedures, and a long history of excellent performance, especially in comparison to other schools in the AACPS system. While parents cite overcrowding as one reason Arundel schools may not be as appealing, Crofton schools are also near, at, or over capacity. Crofton Area High School will be at full capacity the day it opens.
Parents whose children will be redistricted from Crofton Elementary and Crofton Middle to the Arundel feeder system because they live on the west side of Route 3 complain about more than just feeling left out. One concern, expressed more discreetly but with no less passion, is the perception that Crofton area schools offer a better education than Arundel’s, a factor that could play into home values. “Redistricting can be a fearful exercise, because people sometimes buy homes in an area based on their trust and confidence in their local school,” says Jeff Macris, chair of the Annapolis Education Commission and a parent of five children who attend Anne Arundel County Public Schools. In this debate, families who purchased new homes in the Route 3 corridor considered local schools as a significant factor in their purchasing decisions; some parents pulled their students from area private schools because they believed in Crofton area schools’ excellent reputation.
In 2008, AACPS served 73,658 students. By 2018, that number had grown to 84,547
a startling 14.78 percent growth. AACPS projects the system will serve 95,458 students by 2027, an increase of 29.60 percent in the space of almost 20 years.
One parent expressed frustration with AACPS and Anne Arundel County government. “I would love to have someone answer the question of how the county let so much development happen without appropriate schools being built. Why didn’t the county realize the negative impact that development has on our schools?”
It’s a natural question for parents who are not intimately involved in redistricting and the many other important issues at play in the county education system. AACPS has an entire team of statisticians whose job is to use data from school enrollment records, the census, county building permits, and other sources to predict school capacities over the long term. Their data shows that the county school system has grown significantly in just 10 years, with even more growth projected. The majority of that growth is attributed to overdevelopment: the creation of new neighborhoods and subdivisions, the upzoning of previously commercial or rural land, and the permitting that allowed for high density building plans.
Schools Busting at the Seams: How Did We Get Here?
Bob Mosier, the chief communications officer for AACPS, would like to make one thing clear: neither the superintendent, the Board of Education, or AACPS administrators are in any way responsible for county decisions about zoning and development, the chief factors in school growth. “The county has a process in place to make development and zoning decisions, and they are singularly in the driver’s seat. They adopt a plan and we react,” he says.
But if the school system doesn’t have a say in development and how that development might impact school capacity, then who does? That job lies squarely on the shoulders of the county executive and the county council.
Anne Arundel County is guided in principal by a Master Comprehensive Plan that guides zoning decisions in particular areas. By upzoning an area, the county opens it to new or re-development. The school system is mandated to serve any students who might reside in those upzoned areas.
Upzoning is a term used for the process whereby the county changes zoning rules to allow for higher value or higher density use. The perfect example of upzoning is the case that led to redistricting: building in West County. Many place responsibility for the massive growth in the Crofton and Waugh Chapel areas at the feet of former County Executive Steve Schuh, who, in 2015, was privy to plans for development of the west side of Route 3. Under his administration, Koch Development Group and their partner, Classic Group, were able to change the zoning for their Two Rivers/Forks project from an age-restricted community of about 2,000 residences to one that allowed for more than 1,500 homes without age restrictions.
This single change meant a projected influx of about 1,260 students into the Arundel High School feeder system, the sole high school in use for Crofton, Gambrills, and Waugh Chapel at the time of the decision. Although Crofton Area High School will ease some of the crowding pain caused by development, it will be at full capacity the day it opens.
These decisions, along with the county’s support for the Odenton Town Center project and continued development throughout West County, contributed to voters removing Schuh from office and ushering in newcomer Steuart Pittman.
“People now realize that we have had reckless development without the necessary infrastructure; we’re forced to consider how to pay now for the true cost of past development,” Pittman says.
Pittman has to dissect and analyze county building code while also forming a comprehensive, county-wide, and area-specific plan for the future that includes sustainable, responsible growth with a vision for public services and infrastructure.
His administration is working with Smart Growth America to understand the fiscal impact of past development as well as the potential impact of future development, and to determine how much to collect in impact fees from developers that will be used to cover the true costs of development: roads, law enforcement, emergency services, and schools.
I Get the Politics, but…How Did It Happen?
In 2005, federal base realignment (BRAC) resulted in new and more military service members and government contractors moving to Fort Meade. Simultaneously, the National Security Agency, reacting to the Post-9/11 world, expanded cyber security programs and workforce expansion. Later, Crofton was named one of the “100 Best Places to Live in America” by Money magazine. Odenton was named “the Most Patriotic City” in the state of Maryland—defined as the number of people who classify themselves as military service members or connected to military service. “This designation connects to the theme of job hiring and growth that occurs with NSA and Fort Meade,” says Anne Arundel County Council Member Andrew Pruski (Democrat, District 4). “Those are good paying jobs added to our area. But it also put pressure on schools and infrastructure.”
In the mid-2000s, market forces came together in a way that made it profitable for big developers to purchase land and to promote political policies that allowed upzoning of formerly rural or undeveloped space. Their projects were designed to appeal to a growing middle class able to afford new homes, and who wanted those homes within easy commuting distance of West County workplace destinations, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. AACPS acknowledges this growth strains the system. Their 2019 Capital Improvement Plans notes: “...the increasing number of proposed residential developments that have been approved in the Arundel, Glen Burnie, Meade, North County, Old Mill, and Northeast feeder zones will translate into significant enrollment gains in the coming years. Very large residential development projects are underway in these areas, and combined with the demographic shifts described above, there will be significant enrollment increases in the future.”
At the same time that construction of residential units took off in places like the Route 3 corridor, Waugh Chapel, Odenton, Millersville, and Gambrills, commercial landowners, retailers, and restaurants took advantage of upzoning opportunities in a bid to serve these burgeoning pockets of suburban residential development. As access to groceries, shops, and dining grew in an area previously considered semi-rural, property values soared. Everywhere across West County, business was, and is, booming.
Taxpayers had then and, in fact, have now, little recourse to combat decades of growth, beyond their electoral vote. This fact is largely due to two factors. One, the county’s General Development Plan (GDP), a land use plan that says where things can be developed and how, is configured by the county council every ten years. The GDP reflects the priorities of voters, who put the chief crafters and decision makers in office. The good news in regards to the General Development Plan is that it is up for renewal and both the County Council and Pittman are working on it now with plans for a 2020 release.
The second factor is, Anne Arundel County requires developers to submit construction applications that are valid for up to six years. Final permit approvals and the timing of construction are determined in part by school enrollment projections. The bad news as it pertains to development and subsequent overcrowding in schools is that when those six years are up, developers can build.
It’s this law that Pittman says needs to be changed. “Lawyers have always told us that we can’t have a permanent moratorium or go longer than [the six years], but I don’t believe that and our law office is looking into it,” he says. Pittman also believes that developers should have to pay higher and more appropriate impact fees.
According to Pittman, when members of the county council worked on the 2009 General Development Plan, they voted on allowing developers to pay lower impact fees than what the outside consultant hired by the county suggested. Pittman says the impact fees in no way cover the true cost of construction, namely the infrastructure required to support the thousands of people moving to the area.
While Steve Schuh believed that more and smaller schools should be built around distinct communities, a plan that suited Crofton parents, Pittman believes that “the county needs to create a General Development Plan that ends the policy of approving subdivision applications where we don’t have adequate facilities.” Beyond closing loopholes like the six year wait list, his administration is looking to other tools like forest conservation and environmental regulation.
Redistricting Isn’t New, Or Even Unusual
In a system where county zoning policies, gentrification, and rampant development has directly impacted schools, redistricting has become an annual exercise for AACPS administrators. “There is a misconception that this year has been different,” Mosier says, in response to families who contest the redistricting decisions that removed them from the Crofton feeder system. “But it’s the same process, same amount of hard work, same amount of introspection. We’ve been doing this for two decades so this year is not atypical for us. The process is the same whether you are opening a new school or not.” In fact, Crofton schools were redistricted in 2014, and while the recent redistricting impacted several feeder schools, it didn’t touch nearly as many students as the 2017 countywide plan that moved thousands of students in the Annapolis and Edgewater catchment zones.
Redistricting is a formal and formulated process determined by regulation and law. The Board of Education looks to their own Educational Facilities Master Plan, the county’s Comprehensive Plan, their budget, and real time data on school capacity to decide when a school will expand, undergo reconstruction, or when a new school will be built. AACPS states that “a fundamental goal of the Board is to balance the utilization of facilities and provide capacity for programs and services as they develop.” This is a line they stand by in terms of annual redistricting review. Pursuant to the Education Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, the Board of Education, upon the advice of the superintendent, determines the attendance area for each school.
When AACPS and the Board of Education determine a need to redistrict, principals of impacted schools choose parents as representatives to a committee that will make recommendations to the superintendent on the geographical lines that determine a feeder system. The committee also puts forth a formula for how students will move through a system as the redistricting plan is put into place.
AACPS provides intensive training to the volunteer committee members on county law and policy. They also provide current data and future projections to help the committee members form a full picture of what school attendance and enrollment will look like over time.
The committee makes a formal recommendation to the superintendent, who can use the ideas put forth, or come up with others. A final plan is sent by the superintendent to the Board of Education, who votes on which version to accept and adopt. In Anne Arundel County, the Board can go with the superintendent’s recommendations, propose another plan of their own, or one put forth by residents not on the committee.
In the case of redistricting in the Crofton area, a committee of 18 local parents spent two months learning about the issues that most impact students and families: residential location, current school capacity, school funding, and future growth trends. The group had three priorities: keep enrollment numbers under control, keep neighborhoods together, and keep students from splitting up. After much deliberation, they formulated four plans, one of which was adopted by Superintendent George Arlotto and forwarded to the Board of Education. “It was clear to Dr. Arlotto that the committee did an incredible amount of work and that their recommendation was well-crafted, well-reasoned, and well-justified,” Mosier says.
The final decision made by the AACPS Board of Education marks the district’s first attempt in 30 years (since construction of Broadneck High School in 1982) to create new high school boundaries. The new plan includes students temporarily moving from Crofton Elementary School to Piney Orchard Elementary School until West County Elementary School opens in the Arundel feeder system. Those children will then attend Arundel schools, a blow to those residents of Two Rivers and the nearby area who say they purchased homes based on the Crofton feeder system’s reputation for excellence in education.
The plan sends Arundel High School students who live east of Route 3 in the Nantucket, Crofton Meadows, and Crofton Elementary School attendance zones to the new Crofton Area High School, a boon to parents who anticipate that attending a new school will benefit their children and their home values. The plan also allows for the few students from Crofton Meadows and Crofton Woods elementary school zones who currently bus to South River High School to move to Crofton High, a benefit to parents who don’t like their children’s commute. Redistricted Arundel and South River high school students will be phased into Crofton Area High School over three years, by grade level.
The reality is that construction of Crofton High School is budgeted for $134 million and is expected to accommodate about 1,700 students.
The option approved by the Board of Education does not include any grandfathering provisions. Along with temporary moves, and concerns about property values, the grandfathering provisions seem to be what has many parents either deeply satisfied, or not. “The redistricting decision means that my three children will have to transfer to Piney Orchard Elementary School. Not only will they have to adjust to a new school, but Piney Orchard is farther away from their current school [Crofton Elementary],” says one parent. This same mom worries about her middle school-aged son who will have to transfer to Lindale Middle. “[It’s] a 45-minute bus ride. My son will be forced to quit his after-school activities because he won’t be home in time.”
Mosier and the administrators at AACPS recognize the emotional nature of redistricting. “Change is hard and when change involves children, it’s ultra-hard,” Mosier says.
Which brings us back to the ugly side of redistricting: the fight to get what communities think they deserve and those parents who don’t get what they want. The reality is that construction of Crofton Area High School is budgeted for $134 million and is expected to accommodate about 1,700 students. It fit perfectly into Steve Schuh’s plan for smaller schools in clearly defined communities. But redistricting didn’t address the issues of overcrowding at Arundel Middle, Arundel High, or Old Mill High. The AACPS 2019 Capital Improvement Plan indicates three new high schools will be built in the county, with a new high school to replace Old Mill and, perhaps, another in West County. Mosier indicated in an email that the Board of Education will review an educational specification for Arundel Middle School at its next meeting. “That document is the first in the process that will look at options to expand/renovate [that] school.”
Takeaways
What can you do if redistricting looms over your community, or if your feeder schools are overcrowded or under-performing? Andrew Pruski, the County Council Member who represents portions of West County, says to get involved. Ultimately, it is parent involvement from every demographic of our county that will matter most in guiding the decisions our elected leaders make in regards to development and its impact on the classroom. Educate yourself on local elected officials at every level, from your city or township to the county and state. Talk with them to fully understand their position in regards to developmental regulations, policies, and their stance on school budgets. Demand that the county executive and their advisors work in transparent ways to legislate reasonable and sustainable upzoning and permitting with the future in mind. Studiously consider how the county functions and how their proposals for zoning might impact infrastructure in your area, then vote for the person who you believe will advocate for your community’s best interests. The Anne Arundel County government website allows citizens to take a deep dive into all of these issues.
If you have students in county schools, join the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO or PTA) and make clear your willingness to volunteer on possible redistricting committees. Attend Board of Education meetings to better understand the issues that impact our schools directly. The recent decision to move to a fully-elected school board has important ramifications for parents, students, and every taxpayer. Learn about who your local Board of Education representative is and what they stand for. If your town has an education commission, join it, and take an active role in learning about everything from testing to special education. “Counties change. Students populations and schools change, it’s just a fact. But what parents can do is be involved,” reiterates Jeff Macris, the Annapolis Education Commission chair. Commissioner Pruski concurs: “Educate yourself, get involved, and advocate for your community.” The AACPS website indicates multiple ways parents can be informed and active.
