Readers respond to last week’s Feedback Friday topic, which was:
Anne Arundel County Public School Redistricting
Posted Jan. 6, 2023
After a publicly open Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) Board meeting dubbed a “Redistricting Workshop” earlier this week, many parents left frustrated. The concern being that the county’s redistricting process, which will affect thousands of students and their families beginning in 2024, might be flawed. Download the Redistricting Workshop presentation here.
A specific complaint that has emerged is that the school redistricting process is split into “Northern” and “Southern” phases versus observing the county as a whole. With a new Old Mill High School being built, the Northern tier of school clusters will be greatly affected, while it remains to be seen how much, if at all, the Southern tier will change.
But notably, the north/south designation given to school clusters appears oddly skewed in favor of Southern schools. A look at the map with these designations leads to more questions than answers.
For example, why is the Severna Park cluster designated Southern instead of Northern?
How will the Northern Old Mill cluster—with its new high school and location directly in the middle of the map—be redistricted if immediately adjacent Southern clusters, such as Severna Park, Arundel, and Crofton, are not included in its redistricting phase?
Or will redistricting of elementary and middle feeder schools cross between Northern and Southern tiers? If not, then where will Crownsville’s schoolchildren—located closer to Severna Park, Arundel, and Crofton high schools than Old Mill—be sent?
I’m certain there are many nuances and data points that feed into the redistricting process, which admittedly I’m ignoring at the moment, but the general optics of this process thus far, is concerning.
Is school redistricting on your radar, do you care, and how would you like the County to respond?
Here’s what you said:
Crain West has always attended SP schools, which is why most purchased there. Will this area be moved to a different cluster?
Joan Duryee, Severna Park
This redistricting plan is a farce. They are presenting this two phase idea under the guise of equity when it has clearly been designed to protect affluent areas such as Severna Park and Crofton from change. Anyone who looks at that map can see how skewed the northern and southern line has been drawn. How is Severna Park considered South County when it is directly across the river from Crownsville? Please! If they are truly looking for equity they would evenly redistrict our schools, not just move around students from one under performing school to another!
Danielle Randall , Crownsville
The new school districts should take into account children that would benefit from a shorter car ride and bus ride to and from school. The children in Crownsville have middle schools and high schools that are a lot closer to the location than Old Mill Middle School and Old Mill High School. It would make more sense for the children that currently attend South Shore Elementary School system to go to a school that is closer to them. For example: from South Shore at this time google maps shows that the following amount of time is required for each trip from South Shore elementary to the desired high school: (1) Old Mill High School - 18 minutes, 9.8 miles, (2) Arundel High School - 13 minutes, 6.8 miles, (3) Crofton High School - 7.6 miles, 16 minutes, (4) Annapolis High School - 7.1 miles, 16 minutes. And if you look from my home to those same schools the time to high school changes from (1) Old Mill High School - 20 minutes, (2) Arundel High School - 11 minutes, (3) Crofton High School - 13 minutes, and (4) Annapolis High School -11 minutes. Going North to Old Mill High School from the Crownsville area does not make sense for a lot of families especially families that work in the DC work area. This route will increase traffic along I-97 and decrease the amount of time children and teenagers can spend with their families. How does this plan make sense for the Crownsville Area?
Hannah McLain, Crownsville
During this week's Redistricting Workshop the Board pointed out that the County has not been comprehensively redistricted in over 40 years. It is imperative that the County redistricts the entire school system in one phase.
Anne Arundel County is a growing county. U.S. Census records show our County population has increased by roughly 10% since 2010. It is also a very old County, founded in 1650, with many peninsulas and miles of shoreline. A significant portion of the development in our County has been infill development, and our unique topography can create challenges for transportation. For these reasons, the entire County could benefit from redistricting now.
There is another important reason to redistrict in one phase -- all of the redistricting is guaranteed to be done. If the Board allows the creation of a "Northern" zone and a "Southern" zone for redistricting purposes, what happens next?
At a minimum, Annapolis High School, which is seriously overcrowded, absolutely must wait an extra two YEARS for relief. This relief, of course, would only come if the "Southern" phase of the project is ever attempted at all. It will never be less expensive to do it later than it is to do it now.
Finally, designating specific "Northern" and "Southern" attendance zones could prevent some of the best possible solutions to the redistricting challenges from being considered. The households in the Middle part of the County are the most flexible as far as possible appropriate attendance areas are concerned. Our County resources, both short and long term, are stewarded best by undertaking this process in one phase.
Wendy Haas, Crownsville
1. AACPS Board needs to hold a series of meetings at each school affected to elicit input of area residents after a presentation regarding how (methods and methodology) they arrived at their proposal.
2. Gerrymandering is common for a lot of reasons. AACPS needs public, not private, input to process. Also need clear justifiable (with documentation) explanation of proposals. There will be unhappy folks no matter what the decision is but the fewer the better.
Richard Olney, Crofton
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