Preface: The reprinted article posted below regarding the future of both

                Dundalk and Sollers Point High Schools is in response to a

                community meeting held at Sollers Point High School on Monday

                November 24^th 2008; in which NHCA Leadership and official

                representation “was asked not to attend by a representative of

               The Turners Station Community Association in the November

                17^th Monthly Meeting of the NHCA”.  While this article states the

                events and facts of the November 24^th 2008 meeting, the

                NHCA Organizational Leadership Board respects the views and

                Opinions contained within the article, but does not totally agree

                with the final outcome from the meeting.  Because the future of

                Dundalk High School is critical to the NHCA coverage area and

                the entire Dundalk Community.  The NHCA Leadership Board will

                be formulating an official response to this article and its content.

                Once the official NHCA response has been completed, the Leadership

                Will make its formal announcement regarding the official response

                and communicate it to the public at a future NHCA 2009 meeting. 

             

REPLACE TWO SCHOOL BUILDINGS?

County wants to raze DHS, Sollers Point

POSTED: 8:45 pm EST December 7, 2008

 
Baltimore County school officials have proposed an alternative to sinking more money into patching up the nearly 50-year-old Dundalk High building. The plan now involves the 60-year-old Sollers Point High building too.

During a feedback meeting last week in Turner Station, representatives from the county school system and the county’s Office of Community Conservation unveiled a $105 million proposal to build two new high schools.

The county would raze Dundalk High and Sollers Point Technical High and construct two new schools side-by-side on current Dundalk High and Baltimore County property.

Turner Station was the first community contacted for feedback because the county was aware of the importance and significance of Sollers Point High to the largely African American neighborhood, according to Office of Community Conservation director Mary Harvey.

“New schools can breathe new life into older communities,” Harvey said at the Nov. 24 meeting, held at Sollers Point. “We have the opportunity to build two new high schools right next to each other and connect the programs of each school.”

Or, the county could leave both schools where they are and spend $93 million on renovations.

That was the preference of many people at the Turner Station meeting, who voiced opposition to closing and razing Sollers Point High.

One option: Renovate Sollers Point, DHS

Sollers Point, which opened in 1948, is a technical magnet school serving the Southeast Area of Baltimore County.

Its students spend half the day in their “home” high schools and are transported to and from Sollers Point for half-day technical programs.

When it first opened, however, Sollers Point was a high school serving the African-American students of Turner Station. It graduated 17 classes from 1949 to 1966 before becoming a career and technical center.

Sollers Point renovations, which are projected to cost $33.5 million, would address critical infrastructure improvements such as the heating/ventilation systems, the electrical system, plumbing and windows.

It will also include an addition to the building to house the auto body program and culinary arts area with dressing rooms, restrooms and utilities for various equipment.

Construction would take place in phases. Students would be housed in temporary classrooms while sections of the building are vacated, with a projected completion date of 2012.

The Dundalk High renovations, also projected to be finished in 2012, would cost about $59.5 million.

The building, which opened in 1959, would receive infrastructure improvements similar to those at Sollers Point.

The technology building (once known as the industrial arts building) would be demolished and rebuilt, the art department upgraded and the entire auditorium area renovated.

Second option: Raze and rebuild

By contrast, two new state-of-the-art schools have a projected cost of $105 million and could be completed within 26 months of the start of construction.

The two schools likely would be built in the area now holding the Dundalk High “bowl” and the county school bus parking lot.

Students would continue to use the old school buildings during construction. Afterward, both old buildings would be razed, with an athletic facility and parking lot replacing Dundalk High, and a multipurpose community center replacing Sollers Point.

Too important to demolish?

Turner Station residents opposed to demolishing Sollers Point were not placated by the proposal of a new community center.

“Why can’t we keep this building and [use it as the multipurpose center]?” a man at the meeting asked. “We’re worried about our history. Why do we need to raze Sollers Point?”

Harvey responded that the proposed new facility would cost $5 million, while renovations needed for Sollers Point would cost $33.5 million.

Other people stressed the importance of Sollers Point High to the community and questioned whether anything would be built after the school was demolished.

“Our community is dear to us, and we do not want to lose it,” one woman said. “A school is the backbone of a community, and you want to take this school away from us?”

Others complained about problems with sewers, flooding, the proposed liquefied natural gas facility at Sparrows Point and the high cancer rate among Turner Station residents, asking why the county isn’t using the money to address those concerns instead of building a new school “that isn’t needed.”

Alice Mason, president of the Turner Station Conservation Team, addressed these points by responding, “We have accomplished much in the conservation plan. These problems didn’t happen overnight and won’t be solved overnight.”

Residents also expressed concern that taking Sollers Point out of Turner Station and moving it to the Dundalk High site would be telling young people in Turner’s there was no school there for them.

(According to Harvey, only 12 Turner Station residents are enrolled in the technology programs at Sollers Point.)

Repeatedly, residents opposed to building two new schools said the once-segregated Sollers Point High is too important to the history and character of Turner Station to be razed.

Opponents also thought the county had already reached a decision, based on the display of construction plans for the proposed multiuse center, which would include a museum to commemorate the history of Turner Station and Sollers Point High, a gymnasium, community meeting room, a commercial kitchen, athletic facilities, classrooms and a computer lab.

“There is no done deal,” said County Councilman John Olszewski Sr. (7th District). “[School superintendent Joe] Hairston said that, without community support, he’s not going to move forward with this initiative.”

Chosing children over nostalgia

Not everyone at the meeting was opposed to the proposal to build two new schools.

“Buildings don’t educate children,” said the Rev. Dred Scott of St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church. “We’re not talking about forgetting the past. We’re honoring the past.

“But if we forfeit the future because we want to hold on to what was, that is not in the best interest of our children. We have to put the interests of our children first and not the feelings we have for this building.”

The Sollers Point High building has served its purpose, Scott said, and the community now had to decide what it wants to provide for its young people now and in future generations.

“If you keep this building, still none of our children would go here,” he said. “Nothing can ever happen to our memories, unless we chose to forget them. We’ve got the power, and we have to exercise it to demonstrate we want to help today’s babies and the babies to come.”

Another resident, who said he had graduated from Sollers Point High and that it would always be in his heart, stressed the prospect of getting a brand-new school and community center.

“We have the opportunity to give our children brand-new stuff,” he said. “Why would we settle for second-hand, patched-up stuff?”

Renzellous Ranson, a Turner Station resident who works for the U.S. Department of Defense, pointed out the idea was to benefit their children, “not ourselves and our history.”

“If you want things to be the same as they were 40 years ago, it will never change. But change will bring about more things to benefit us than all the nostalgia talk sitting around a table,” Ranson said.

The question was also raised as to why a new Sollers Point High wouldn’t be built on the spot of the old building.

Putting the two schools side-by-side would eliminate the need to bus students between the schools, Harvey said, and help cut costs through, for example, using a centralized heating plant to serve both facilities.

“With both schools in close proximity to the CCBC Dundalk campus, opportunities for students to participate in parallel enrollment and receive college credits would increase,” she said.

Statistics on how many Dundalk students are participating in the parallel enrollment program were unavailable, according to a CCBC spokeswoman.

The road ahead

The review of the two proposals will continue after the holidays, Harvey said. The next feedback meeting will include more details on the scope of work each renovation project would require, as well as more information on the educational programs that would be included with building new schools.

“Last night’s meeting was a great opportunity for folks to learn about the proposal,” Harvey said on Nov. 25. “Obviously, we have a lot more work to do. We’re going to open discussion up to the Greater Dundalk community and try to build a consensus.”

A quick consensus would be a good idea, according to State Sen. Norman Stone (6th District).

“The money is there, now,” he said at the feedback meeting. “Think about the kids. We don’t want to lose this money. We may disagree, but we have to work hard together on this issue”.

New County School Pricier In Weak Economy

District Admits Costs Will Probably Go Up

POSTED: 4:54 pm EDT October 17, 2008

 

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. -- Baltimore County Public Schools unveiled its newest elementary school Thursday, but the district admitted that the cost of the building and supplies would likely go up as county and state leaders tighten their belts.

The Vincent Farm Elementary School in northeast Baltimore County is helping to ease school overcrowding, but the solution to the overcrowding problem hasn't come without a steep price tag -- $25 million.  School administrators said if the same school had gone up nine years ago, it would have cost the district only about $13 million. They said they recognize that a weak economy could drive the price of the building up even more.

"The cost of materials, the rising cost of gas -- everything is constantly going up in terms of the economy, so this is pretty much running parallel with what we see happening in the world right now," said county schools Superintendent Dr. Joe Hairston.

 

The new Vincent Farm Elementary School is just one example of government doing more with less. Much of the number crunching is done at county Executive Jim Smith's office, where budgets are sorted and competition is high.

"Contractors are so competitive to get. The labor costs are coming down because they are trying to win the bids to do the work, but the cost of materials is off the chart," Smith said.   The Baltimore County Government is also pushing more environmentally efficient schools in order to save on building costs. But as the state sees it, local school systems shouldn't stop there.

 

"With the economy the way it is, we are saying to systems, 'Please look at renovation when possible' -- expansion of existing schools, which is often cheaper to do. But we have to provide for facilities that will nurture the idea that we are in the 21st century," said state schools Superintendent Dr. Nancy Grasmick.

 

Baltimore County Public Schools has at least two new schools on the drawing board that they hope to build on a 2008 budget.  Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith said “the new schools will be eco-friendly by working to conserve energy and water and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions”.

County Votes No To Retirement Option Changes

Angry Educators Protest Possible Changes, Help Sway Vote

POSTED: 6:30 pm EDT October 7, 2008

UPDATED: 6:50 pm EDT October 8, 2008

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. -- The Baltimore County school board voted Tuesday night against changing retirement plan services for its educators to a single provider. Hundreds of teachers and other union members protested outside Tuesday's Board of Education meeting because the board was to vote on one vendor to handle teachers' and other labor members' investments.

The proposal would have affected school employees who take part in the district's 403(B) investment program. Currently they can pick from a list of 10 vendors, but the board could have voted to reduce that to just one, a company called the Lincoln Financial Group.

The board unanimously opposed the recommended contract. If approved, the change would have affected as many as 5,000 county teachers.

"I'm really not sure how the county comes out ahead. I do know the teachers come out behind on this basis," said high school financial management teacher Bob Lever. "They are dealing with my money now, and to restrict us to one source means I can continue to invest in the companies I want to, but I will get charged extra for that. We already know there is a pay controversy here in Baltimore County. Why would they want to charge me more?"

Cheryl Bost, head of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County, said she was stunned to learn that the board wanted to cut the number of vendors.

"I compare it to the flu epidemic. You don't change doctors in the middle of a flu epidemic. You go with the person who knows you, knows your history and knows what you are looking for in the future, and we're asking people to uproot from where they are," she said.

"Why would you want to invest through one company?" Lever said.

"We are telling folks to uproot from where you are and move to another company, and all of the experts nationally are saying don't do that," Bost said.

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Jim Smith: County Can't Afford Teacher Pensions From State

Tuesday, September 23, 2008
 

The Baltimore County Executive says one of his top priorities these days is to make sure the state continues to pay for teacher pensions and that funding is not put on the backs of local jurisdictions.

Jim Smith told Baltimore Media outlets that he has had no discussions with state leaders regarding any transfer of any portion of the teacher pension retirement being to local jurisdictions.

Jim Smith stated to members of the Baltimore Media, "It would be a draconian measure for local governments if that was done and I have been steadfast in my opposition to that".

The Baltimore Sun reported on Tuesday that Governor might try to shift the cost of teacher pensions to county governments as a way of dealing with the budget deficit.

Governor O'Malley on WTOP Radio was asked about the state talking with locals to pay for the pensions. He says that it is not a so-called solution that he has promoted or pushed. But he says it is something that comes up every year in Annapolis.

 

Panel: Baltimore County Teachers Should Get Pay Raise

POSTED: 5:40 pm EDT September 11, 2008

UPDATED: 7:24 pm EDT September 11, 2008

 

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. -- A pay raise could be in the works for thousands of Baltimore County schoolteachers.

A mediation panel that was picked to help settle the teacher pay dispute issued an opinion on the matter on Wednesday. The group said the school system should find the money to pay educators by next summer.

The fight over teacher pay came to a head last spring when educators picketed outside the county executive's office in Towson. They were looking to give teachers at least a cost-of-living pay hike, but when that didn't work, the teachers union took the matter to a three-person mediation panel.

The panel agreed that a 2 percent cost-of-living allowance was a modest and responsible proposal and should be adopted and put into place by next June.

"It's a compromise, but it's a win to say teachers do deserve it," said Cheryl Bost, the head of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County.

Bost called the ruling a positive first step.

"What it means for the teachers is one thing. We were right that they deserve it, it will help with recruitment and retention and that the county can afford it. What it won't do is immediately put money in their pockets," she said.

The panel concluded that hard choices almost always need to be made relative to spending tax dollars for the public good. Baltimore County school officials said money is still an issue, but they are not ruling out a possible pay increase next year.

The county said its schools chief is on board.

"Since the spring, the superintendent has indicated that with the new budget cycle, he certainly wanted to take a look at the whole budget situation and take a look at seeing what could be done for salaries," said county schools spokesman Charlie Herndon.

"The total cost of the package for this year is less than $1 million," Bost said.

The mediation panel said teachers still have some catching up to do. It said lower percentage salary adjustments mean that Baltimore County teachers fall further and further behind their counterparts in the most relevant neighboring jurisdictions when it comes to salary.

 

Updated 01 February 2009