Misson Road: The Wrong Site Now

Perhaps the largest issue the County is facing at the current moment is where to build the next High School (HS#13) there's the more sensible location; Elkridge and the not so sensible one; Jessup. Currently there are two locations in Elkridge. The first and most walker friendly is on Montgomery Road at the intersection of Landing Road and the other is in Troy Hill Park surrounded almost entirely by highways. The Jessup site is located between Route 1 and Mission Road just below the Railroad Tracks.

The reason I got involved in the HS#13 debate is because I read an article that gives reasons as to why the Mission Road Site should be the site selected. They point to the fact that the southeast has had less School construction and that locating the School there would lead fewer Schools with high FARM percentages. Sadly the southeast isn't where the growth is at the moment. The growth is in the northeast and the two High Schools that need it the most are Howard and Long Reach. The article sites a grandiose redistricting plan that "back fills" Howard and Long Reach after HS#13 opens. I don't  that's gong to happen since HS#13 can fill itself simply by taking Students out of Howard and Long Reach and without further redistricting, all three Schools will be at capacity in a very short time.





I agree that additional redistricting need to happen in 2022 when HS#13 is slated to open. I also understand why the southeast believes they're owed a High School. In 2002 they were cheated out of one. Reservoir should have been built there instead of what would become Maple Lawn. The Site that became the North Laurel Park and Community Center was reserved for a High School at one point. Had that occurred, the entire North Laurel Community would have been able to walk to School and Atholton, River Hill, and Reservoir wouldn't have been next door neighbors.

Not only was the southeast cheated out of a High School in 2002 but Elkridge was in 1996. The County chose Long Reach to relieve crowding at Howard despite both Schools being less than two miles from each other. Like the southeast, Elkridge has to travel far to either Howard or Long Reach. Yes both parts of the County were cheated out of a High School in the past but Elkridge needs one now. As I stated earlier, HS#13 can fill itself with excess students from Howard and Long Reach alone and no in bound redistricting will be needed to either existing School. I also stated that more redistricting will have to take place in 2022 and I believe I can map out the Countywide redistricting for other Schools. First, here's my plan for the HS#13 District. This will be the District regardless of which site in Elkridge is used.  

As you can see this District follows a feeder system with Thomas Viaduct and Elkridge Lading Middles attending HS#13 and Mayfield Woods and part of Bonnie Branch attending Long Reach while Ellicott Mills and the rest of Bonnie Branch attending Howard. The remaining redistricting for 2022 will follow the same goal of a balanced feeder system.

As you can see in the western part of the County, I have flip flopped parts of River Hill and Glenelg. This allow a better split of the Folly Quarter Middle School District between Glenelg and River Hill. Under this plan, if you attend Dayton Oaks you attend River Hill and if you attend Tridelphia Ridge, you attend Glenelg.

The above plan creates a better feeder system for the west but River Hill will remain under enrolled. That is why I have sent the northern section of the Pointers Run Neighborhood to River Hill from Atholton. To refill Atholton, I have redistricted a part of Reservoir to Atholton. This area was chosen as a future feeder fix that will occur when ES#43 opens. And yes, I have carved out a district for ES#43.

 

 

Next we come to Hammond which serves most of the southeast and will serve more of it under my plan. Reservoir will continue to be crowded as Maple Lawn grows and will need more redistricting than just area I'm sending to Atholton. That's why I'm eliminating the feed from Patuxent Valley to Reservoir by sending it to Hammond. All of Patuxent Valley will then attend Hammond. The Guilford and Macgills Common Communities currently attending Hammond will be redistricted to Oakland Mills. I'd like to point out that Hammond is going to undergo a massive renovation/modernization that will include a 200 seat addition scheduled to be completed in 2022 when HS#13 opens.

Now I'm not trashing the Mission Road site completely. In fact, I think it should be the Site for the aforementioned ES#43 scheduled to open in 2023. In the future it should also be used for MS#21 as Middle Schools in the northeast and southeast become crowded again (yes I have carved out a district for MS#21 as well.) Since the Mission Road Site totals 100 acres, there will be land left over from ES#43 and MS#21 to build HS#15 or 16 one day in the future. What about HS#14 you ask? Notice Centennial and Mount Hebron are absent from this redistricting scheme. Stay Tuned.