Boundary change could be tabled

April 22, 2004 Wednesday

SECTION: FRONT; Pg. A1

LENGTH: 594 words

HEADLINE: Boundary change could be tabled

BYLINE: DAVID EMANUEL, Staff Writer

BODY:
The Blade-News has learned that another school boundary change could be in the works, even though there has apparently been a "last-minute move" that would put any action off for at least a year.

According to County Councilman Douglas J.J. Peters, D-Bowie, sources have said that south Bowie students who attend Pointer Ridge Elementary School could be attending Kettering Middle School in the fall.

Apparently, a boundary committee reported this to Prince George's County schools chief Andre Hornsby, without any public hearing.

"We've had this battle before," said Peters. "When the Pointer Ridge folks get hold of this, they're going to be furious."

Also in the works, according to Peters, is a proposal to finally make Samuel Ogle Elementary into a middle school and move the students there to the former Whitehall Elementary School, which the school system recently reacquired. (Whitehall had been the home of United Cerebral Palsy of Prince George's County, which has since moved to new headquarters in Lanham.)

In a letter to Beatrice Tignor, chairwoman of the Board of Education, Peters writes, "I believe that the proposal to move Pointer Ridge area students from Benjamin Tasker to Kettering Middle School is not in the best interest of those children, nor does it advance our shared commitment to neighborhood schools."

Peters said that while he is still deeply concerned about overcrowding at Tasker, he believes that "this overcrowding is best relieved not by moving Bowie children out of Bowie schools, but rather by using the facilities within our area to educate these children."

Peters said the use of the Belair Annex as an additional middle school site would solve the current overcrowding problem as well as prepare for the opening of new developments within the Bowie area.

But Belair is still being used as a temporary school for Bladensburg High School, the renovations of which were supposed to have been completed a year ago.

"The commitment to neighborhood schools is a vital one," writes Peters. "Sending children to schools within their communities allows students and parents to develop a greater sense of belonging, building a stronger sense of community involvement, and, especially in this era of working parents, increases parental participation."

Peters said the neighborhood school concept "must be embraced from kindergarten through 12th grade."

"The current boundary proposal sends some, but not all, of the children from the Pointer Ridge area of Bowie to Bowie schools for elementary school, moves them out of the community for middle school and then sends them back to Bowie High School. The middle school age is a critical one in a child's development, a time when peer support and a sense of belonging are particularly important. Those needs, clearly, are best served within neighborhood schools."

Peters is meeting with school officials tomorrow to address this concern.

Also, Bowie City Councilman Michael Lyles announced a hearing for next Thursday at the school board building in Upper Marlboro.

But, Lyles did say that the Pointer Ridge boundary change, as far as he is aware, has been tabled for at least a year.

"I think that we have to support Dr. Hornsby's attempt to alleviate overcrowding at Tasker," he said, "but I think that going away from the neighborhood schools concept is wrong. We need to find another solution."

Said Mayor G. Frederick Robinson of the possible boundary change: "This clearly runs counter to the efforts of the last generation."

demanuel@bladenews.com