County seeks state aid for Salem
By LAURA ERNDE / Staff Writer
ANNAPOLIS - Washington County education officials pleaded with the state Wednesday to help renovate the poorest school in the county, which also happens to be the highest-performing school in the county.
"Salem Avenue Elementary is almost an anomaly," Superintendent Herman G. Bartlett Jr. told the Maryland Board of Public Works.
While it has the highest proportion of students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunches, Salem Avenue is the No. 1 ranked school in the county on Maryland's standardized tests, he said.
Washington County needs the state's approval to start planning a renovation and addition at the 50-year-old school.
The School Board wants to make room for fifth-grade students who are now attending Western Heights Middle School.
Parents are worried that's a disruptive environment for their children, who are being exposed to adolescent social issues at an earlier age, the school's two parent organizations wrote in a letter of support.