Overcrowding

WASHINGTON COUNTY Though Washington County Public Schools' middle schools still have room for new students, projections of new students show most of the system's schools at every level will be facing overcrowding within the next few years, according to a presentation by a consultant Tuesday. Deanna Newman, a consultant with Public Pathways Inc. of Minneapolis, told a joint session of the Washington County Commissioners and Board of Education that certain schools and areas will face much more serious overcrowding than others.

HALFWAY -- After about 30 minutes of discussion one thing was clear: There is a problem. Nine candidates competing against each other for four open seats on the Washington County Board of Education agreed Thursday that the county's schools are overcrowded, and something needs to be done. They were asked to tackle possible solutions during a discussion that was part of a public forum hosted by the Citizens for Protection of Washington County. More than 50 people attended the forum at The Volunteer Fire Co. of Halfway.

HAGERSTOWN gregs@herald-mail.com Hagerstown City Council members on Tuesday disagreed with some wishes of the Washington County Board of Education, saying they will push for wording on a new law that will aid some downtown redevelopment as well as not create financial difficulties for developers or homeowners. At its Tuesday work session, the City Council took up a discussion on the city's proposed Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO), which would in part link the ability to build new homes to the amount of available space in local schools for new students.

The issue: Redistricting is possible at many Washington County Public Schools as officials act to relieve overcrowding and fill new schools scheduled to open in 2008. What's new: The Washington County Board of Education reached consensus Tuesday on all but three of the 20 proposed attendance zone changes. What's next: The board will discuss the proposed changes they did not reach consensus on during an Oct. 9 meeting. The board is scheduled to vote on the redistricting plan Oct. 16.

WASHINGTON COUNTY - A plan was presented Tuesday to move about 160 Boonsboro Elementary School students to a new elementary school being built south of Hagerstown. The proposal will be discussed during a public hearing Feb. 5. A lifelong resident of southern Washington County, Russell Grim said the proposal will disrupt the close-knit community. Grim is a Hagerstown Fire Department captain with four children attending Boonsboro schools. "I'm not happy with the fact that there's consideration of moving my children from my community (to Rockland Woods Elementary)

WASHINGTON COUNTY ? A plan was presented Tuesday to move about 160 Boonsboro Elementary School students to a new elementary school being built south of Hagerstown. The proposal will be discussed during a public hearing Feb. 5. A lifelong resident of southern Washington County, Russell Grim said that the proposal will disrupt the close-knit community. Grim is a Hagerstown Fire Department captain with four children attending Boonsboro schools. "I'm not happy with the fact that there's consideration of moving my children from my community (to Rockland Woods Elementary)

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley will not meet with a Washington County woman who opposes the construction of Eastern Primary School on the east end of Hagerstown. In a letter dated Oct. 27, State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick told Dottie Gruhler of Smithsburg the governor would not accept Gruhler's request to meet to discuss the school. Gruhler filed an appeal Oct. 9 that asked the Maryland State Board of Education to halt the construction of Eastern Primary School.

WASHINGTON COUNTY ? Seventeen redistricting changes were approved Tuesday by the Washington County Board of Education. Among those changes was a decision to move 201 Paramount Elementary School students to Maugansville Elementary to relieve overcrowding at Paramount. The board also voted to delay the closing of Conococheague Elementary and to enroll only prekindergarten and kindergarten students at Funkstown School for Early Childhood Education. Students now attend the school through second grade before moving to Emma K. Doub for third through fifth grade.

HAGERSTOWN -- The superintendent of Washington County Public Schools on Tuesday endorsed 23 of 24 proposals presented by a committee last month to alleviate overcrowding in elementary schools across the county. Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Morgan said during a Washington County Board of Education meeting the only proposal she disagreed with was one to reassign 44 Salem Avenue Elementary School students to Winter Street Elementary School. Morgan said the students shouldn't be reassigned to Winter Street Elementary School because the building, which was built in 1953, needs to be modernized or replaced.

Washington County Public Schools is one step closer to having a redistricting plan that will affect nearly half of the county's schools. The Board of Education reached consensus Tuesday on all but three of the 20 proposed attendance zone changes. Board members said they expect to be ready to vote on whether to make those proposals permanent during an Oct. 16 meeting. Board members postponed reaching a consensus on several of the more criticized redistricting proposals. They included moving more than 100 Greenbrier Elementary School students to Rockland Woods to ease overcrowding at that school, and moving 23 students from Boonsboro Elementary School to Rockland Woods.

A girl is warming up on her violin as her instrumental music class gets in gear at Pangborn Elementary School in Hagerstown's East End. The class is sitting on the stage in the cafeteria/auditorium. Lunch isn't going on, but during the short time that class is in session during lunch, the stage curtains are closed to limit distractions for the music students, Principal Eric Meredith said. The instrumental music class is on the stage because the instrumental music classroom is home to a kindergarten class, Meredith explained.

A committee of volunteers reviewed several redistricting suggestions Tuesday night as they discussed ways to at least temporarily ease overcrowding at Pangborn Elementary School for the coming school year. The school board voted a week ago to task the Facilities and Enrollment Advisory Committee with making recommendations to the school board by no later than April 2 to help Pangborn for the 2013-2014 school year. The school board also asked the committee to make broader, long-term redistricting recommendations, but the committee focused on the immediate Pangborn issue during its Tuesday meeting at the school system's Commonwealth Avenue Central Office.

A Washington County Board of Education advisory committee will begin meeting Tuesday about redistricting school attendance zones for three reasons, the most immediate of which is to help ease overcrowding at Pangborn Elementary School for the upcoming school year, school system officials said. The Board of Education voted 6-0 on Tuesday night to task the Facilities and Enrollment Advisory Committee with making recommendations to the school board no later than April 2 regarding a short-term solution for Pangborn's overcrowding, according to a video of the Feb. 19 board meeting and a presentation document for the meeting.

The Washington County Board of Education this week approved a list of major school construction priorities, but school officials pointed to areas that need to be watched closely, including a middle school likely to be overcrowded by 2012. "The middle school we need to watch is (E. Russell) Hicks at this point," Deputy Schools Superintendent Boyd Michael told the school board during a discussion Tuesday about the 2011 Educational Facilities Master Plan. "And it may at some point trigger some type of redistricting that we need to take a look at and look at available capacity in other middle schools.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- The Washington County Commissioners voted 3-2 Tuesday to allow a 17-lot residential development near Beaver Creek Country Club to proceed, despite school overcrowding, if the developer pays a $4,000 per-lot mitigation fee. The single-family home development, known as Rye Field Estates, is planned for the east side of Stottlemeyer Road, about a half-mile north of U.S. 40 and adjacent to Interstate 70. The development would...

Editor's note: The 11 candidates for Washington County Board of Education on the Sept. 14 primary election ballot were asked to respond to eight questions. Four of their responses ran in Sunday's Herald-Mail and the other four are published below: The candidates were asked to provide answers of 100 words or less to each question. When an answer exceeded 100 words, it was edited to meet the word requirement. Except for occasional tweaking for clarity, the responses are as they were submitted.

HAGERSTOWN -- The superintendent of Washington County Public Schools on Tuesday endorsed 23 of 24 proposals presented by a committee last month to alleviate overcrowding in elementary schools across the county. Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Morgan said during a Washington County Board of Education meeting the only proposal she disagreed with was one to reassign 44 Salem Avenue Elementary School students to Winter Street Elementary School. Morgan said the students shouldn't be reassigned to Winter Street Elementary School because the building, which was built in 1953, needs to be modernized or replaced.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- The topics of crowded schools and five modular classroom buildings already scheduled for removal combined Tuesday as Waynesboro Area School Board members debated how to plan for the future. Modular units at Waynesboro Area Senior High School must be removed by June 30 due to requirements associated with renovating the school. Superintendent James Robertson said he received estimates that the district could get $81,000 to $90,000 if it sold the units, which range in size from 12-foot by 6-foot to 24-foot by 26-foot and larger.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley will not meet with a Washington County woman who opposes the construction of Eastern Primary School on the east end of Hagerstown. In a letter dated Oct. 27, State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick told Dottie Gruhler of Smithsburg the governor would not accept Gruhler's request to meet to discuss the school. Gruhler filed an appeal Oct. 9 that asked the Maryland State Board of Education to halt the construction of Eastern Primary School.

HAGERSTOWN -- A committee formed to redistrict public elementary schools in Washington County will take its proposals to the Washington County Board of Education during a meeting Nov. 17. The Facilities and Enrollment Advisory Committee on Tuesday wrapped up a series of more than 25 meetings over the last 10 months to address overcrowding in the school system. Boyd Michael, deputy superintendent of Washington County Public Schools, said the board will examine the proposals and decide whether to accept them at a later date.