Upologize. the Last Sentence of (2) Should Have Read "Is It Really the School, Or Family Affluence, That Produces (2) Work

Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Trade Schmidt idoud. com> Sent: Friday, September 27, 2019 11:42 AM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External; Re: suggested future BOE focus

Good morning again,

Upologize. The last sentence of(2) shouldhave read "Isit really the school, or family affluence, thatproduces the same, or marginally better, test scores for the affluent students in the HCPSS?"

Tracie Schmidt parent of a thriving Wildecat

On Sep 27, 2019, at 11:07AM, Trade Schmidt wrote:

Good morning,

Thankyou for attempting to improve the educational opportunity for all students in the HCPSS. As I have stated in an earlier email, I am supportive ofDr. Martirano's redistricting plan. Regardless ofthe redistricting outcome, I amhoping that after a redistricting decisionis made, the BOB will focus on making other changes to continue to ensure better equity in educational opportumty.

(1) Move the 30 credit and 60 credit Jump Start programs to ARL. These current HCPSS school- based programs should be open to all students. (2) Workto changethe MD Report Cardscore that serves as de facto redlining andfurther promotes de facto seeregation. i am always puzzled that a school with a student population that is 100% affluent is considered a better school. What challenge is this school facing when educating its student body? Isit really the school, or family affluence, thatproduces marginally better test scores?

(3)^Move the ROTC programs to ARL. Theseprograms provide skills for military employment and should be easily accessible by all students.

Tracie Schmidt parent of a thriving Wildecat Kings Contrivance Community Association Amherst House 7251 Eden Brook Drive, Columbia, Maryland 21046 (410) 381-9600 Fax (410)381-9628 kinssct)ntrivance(a)folumbiavillases. org

September 26, 2019

Board of Education HowardCounty Public School System 10910 Route 108 Ellicott City, MD 21042

Dear Board of Education Members:

The Kings Contrivance Village Board understandsthe challenge and the necessity of redistricting. We thank you and your stafffor working diligently to address issues in our school system while incorporating input from the community.

At our regularly scheduled September 18 village boardmeeting, residents from our village voiced concerns over proposed redistrictiag. Residents from Dickinson in our village are concerned that the neighborhood children may be separated into a different elementary school where ouly a small group from only three streets (Blue Sea Drive, Sandrope Court, and Stonebrook Lane,polygons 16, 1014 and 1016) would be sent to a school that no one around them would be attending. This small group would not be kept with their Dickinson village neighbors or their out parcel neighbors, with whom they share a fence.

The Village Board also heard from residents ofMacgill's Common who are part ofthe village. This neighborhood is being proposed to move at the middle and high school level from other children in our village. Again, the Board is concerned that this small pocket of children is being moved away from where the other children in the village attend. The children of the village commune together in our village center, our pools and in their early years at our tot lots. Although the map may show RT32 dividing our village, the reality is that Macgill's Common residents mix with our Dickinson and Huntington residents to the south Sequently in our village center and at our pools rather than neighborsto the north, or west across RT29.

The Board is also concerned about moving children in Macgill's Common from Hammond High school that is accessible by bicycle, with bicycle lanes along Shaker Drive and is walkable, with complete sidewalks, traffic lights and crosswalks and moving them to Atholton High which entails travel with no bicycle lanes, crosswalks, traffic lights or full sidewalk accessibility. The area crossing over RT29 at the Seneca Drive bridge has always been hazardous andhas had numerous bicycle accidents. The safety of our village residents is a major concern in this area. The Board feels that the value of accessibilityis very important for all highschool childrenwho may want to be involved in after school activities. It is why back in 1979 the Board successfully campaignedto include sidewalk access on both sides of the bridge across RT32 at Shaker Drive to enable easy access to the residents ofMacgill's Common who wanted to walk to the village center and Hammond High School.

The village board strongly believes that the success ofredistricting lies in keeping neighborhoodstogether. Rouses vision was to have a walkable community with village children goingto school together. The bike-pathsystem in Columbiawas developed withthat in mind. Residents living near each other will work together to be active members of their shared school. This will lend itself to more support for the school, teachers, and the PTA.

The Kings Contrivance Village Board asks that you revisit proposed district boundaries and keep our neighborhood children together. Please pay special attention to small pockets of neighborhoods (such as the aforementioned three streets) where proposed boundaries would sever a population of students from all close neighbors. Understandingthat a goal ofredistricting is equalizing future populations at county schools, we have no concerns about whichschool our residents attend. The small number of students affected in the proposals will make little difference to the school FARM statistics of any school. However, the grouping of residents in neighborhoodstogether is critical to paving the way to an active school community who work together.

Again, thank you for your thorough attention to this complex task.

Warmly,

BarbaraN. Seely Chair, Kings Contoivance Village Board

Cc: HowardCounty Council, Calvin Ball, HowardCounty Executive, Michael Martirano, Howard County School Superintendent Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Harry Li Sent: Friday, September 27, 2019 10:24 AM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [Externalj Request for data of per-student expenditure data by local schools

Dear Board of Education of Howard County, Maryland:

\ am very interested in the per-student expenditure data by each school, particularly high schools, for Howard County for the past 5 years. Such data is critical in understanding thetrue disparity of resource allocation/utilization for each local schools. It will shed light on the necessity of future interventions, if any. I believethat Howard County residents will appreciate if the Board can publish such data for public review, if it is allowed by the County rules.

Truthfully;

Harry Li

A resident ofdarksville, Maryland. Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Laura Strunk kw. com> Sent: Friday, September 27, 2019 8:57 AM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] From a Realtors Perspective

Good morning,

wante toAare mydirect experiences withbuying clients andhow the redistricting situation hasaffected and will affectthe real estatemarket in HowardCounty whichin turn will affectthe schools. I have beena Realtor inHoward County, my office is in Columbia, since2004. Themajority ofmy business is HowardCounty. Exceptfor the past three months wehave always had buyers who will say"We only wantto bein Howard County (or anarea of Howard County) because ofthe schools" This feeling hasbeen theone consistent theme over the last 14years that I havebeen in the business. Thatall changedabout 3 months agoas this redistricting discussionand situation has escalated. Whatwe are now hearing from many ofour new clients is "We don't want to live in Howard County because we are afraid that they will continue the redistricting policies andwe don'twant to bein the same situation 5 years or 10years from now andhave to go throw this mess every fewyears" So ourbuyers are choosing to go to other counties mainly Carroll County and SouthernFrederick County. We have 5 buyers on my team alone that have made this decision in the last 3 months. Which doesn't seem like a lot. However let's look atthis big picture. There are about 1100Howard County Association of Realtors andlets be conservative andsay only half are doing business - So550 agents. And lets saythey 0 ^_hTve \client inthepast 3 monttls thathave made that decision. Sothat is 550 buyers whohave possibly madethis decision. ^ Nowthis is not all. Anyagent in the state of Maryland can sell in Howard County even ifthey me not part of the Howard County Board of Realtors. Soa Realtorcould be part oftheCarroll CountyBoard or the Greater Baltimore Boardor PG Board and still sell inHoward County. Thisis very common. So let's be conservative again and say 200 more buyers made this decision in the last three months. Sothat is 750 potential buyers who decided NOT to buy in Howard County because they are afraid of redistricting in the future and once againI havebeen VERY CONSERVATIVE IN MY NUMBERS. Soif youforecast that out for anentire year that would be 2200 buyers who are deciding on othe/counties becauseof redistricting fears. nartnyear(20, 18) .Therewerc4377 llomes soldm HowardCounty. Soif we reduced the number of sales by 2200that is about 50% less homes sold than 2018. Notonly will this affect property values for mdividuals'in every areaof the county it will also affectthe tax revenue for Howard County. ' Sincemoney talks'I wilTbreak downthenumbers from a taxperspective. In2018 the total real estate sales were $1, 991,092,929and the Howard County Transfer tax for real estate is 1% whichwould make upjust shyof TWENTY MILLIONin re^l>estate taxfor the county ($'9'9'°'929)- Ifwe wt that in half the colmty wouldbe7osmg' $9,955,464^ Onceagain our buyers are not saying ...we want to wait so we can buy in a certainschool district in Howard County they aresaying wedon't wantHoward County anymore because weknow Howard Countyhas a patternofredistricting andwe don't want to bepart of that. Sothe tax revenue from real estate be greatly reduced. The Tax Revenue is what funds the schools. So ALL OF THE SCHOOLS will be impactedand we will have less money to spend on the kids . . .Meaning all kids will be at a'disadvaut'age" Pleaseconsider this real estate perspective and tax perspective along with all the other impacts parents and kids are sharing with you. Thank you, Laura The Laura Strunk Team ofKeIler Williams Realty Centre

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:. . I- 'Sva/nicTeam -l'". ;12< ff'^-r if..-- ."r, . >y'. t ^ ri.', i. ;Li.. iti,,'. .,.. '..'!', :<'

Laura Strunk, Owner MA: /74. 323. /825 MD; /!. 12, 90^. 3637

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Want to search for homes like a Real Estate Agent Click here for our FREE ReaLEstateA@p

You can get everything in life you want, if you will just help enough people get what they want Zig Ziglar INIPORTANT NOTICE: Never trust wiring instructions sent via email. Cyber criminals are hacking email accounts and sending emails with fake wiring instructions. These emails are convincing and sophisticated. Always independently confirm wiring instructions in person or via a telephone call to a trusted and verified phone number. Never wire money without double-checking that the wiring instructions are correct. Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Gale Stanford Sent: Friday, September 27, 2019 7:48 AM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] oppose the current attendance area adjustment plan

To Whom it May Concern:

I oppose the current plan for attendance area adjustments. The plan as written will detrimentally affect students and will not effectively address the equity concerns as intended.

I believe: 1. Once a student begins at a high school in ninth grade, they should not be moved involuntarily &om that school by the Howard County Public School System for redistricting purposes. Being forced to transfer schools is detrimental to students' mental health. 2. High School redistricting should be delayed until HCPSS is ready to move students into HS13. 3. Redistricting should only be considered to alleviate overcrowdingand, if necessary, shouldbe done in such a way as to impact the fewest number of families to achieve the desired outcome.

4. Once finalized, all families of students living in polygons to be redistricted should be given, at a minimum, notification of an upcoming attendance area change TWO years prior to the implementation of the change.

a. All legacy students already attending the school should be allowed to remain at their current school. b. Students may be given the option to attend the new school at the start of the next school year (rather than wait out the notification period) if the family provides transportation.

Some thoughts for consideration: 1. Pennanently enlarge the schools we have now. If certain areas of the county are more built up, renovate the schools that serve those areas, permanently expanding capacity at those schools.

2. Create a variety of "magnet" or "hub" prograins at all the schools and allow parents to em-oll tlieir kids on a lottery basis. For example, on the high school level, Althoton has JROTC, River Hill and Oakland Mills have JumpStart, ARL has Career Academies. We could make Centennial a foreign language hub, Oakland Mills a theater arts hub, and so on.

oppose Ae current re

Thank you for your time and all of your efforts on behalf of our community and our schools.

Sincerely, -Carolyn Stanford Polygon#194 TO: Board Of Education, Howard County

We are writing to you as parents of 3 children, and residents of polygon 181 We live in 1 of 3 polygons (181, 180, 1180) that make upthe Woodmark Community. Woodmark isa community that has been around since the 1970s. Our neighborhood ofabout 230 homes is still home to many of the original owners, new families, and all of the generations in between. This redistricting proposal goes against many ofthe policy 6010 factors with respect to our polygon, includingall ofthe factors intendedto help stabilizecommunities. Pleaseconsider the following: 1) Woodmark is an established contiguous neighborhood that has existed and been attending schools together for45 years. This proposal would divide our neighborhood for high school sending polygon 181 to Wilde Lake(projected only 19 kids) and polygon 180and 1180 to Glenelg (projected 35 kids). 2) The currentfeed for our polygon at River Hill HighSchool is approximately 33%. This proposal would decreasethe feed of polygon 181 to 17%to Wilde Lake. Not onlywould our children be without the support group that they've grown up with in their immediate neighborhood and surrounding community around Woodmark, butthey would be cutting their feed percentage in half as a result of this proposal. 3) With the expected redistricting to support high school 13 in 3 years, there is a likelihood that kidsmoved as a result ofthis redistricting are moved againas a result ofthe new highschool. This is incredibly disruptive for kids at one ofthe most vulnerable times oftheir lives. 4) WildeLake is much further by carand bus than other alternatives. It is the 4th closest highschool to me. It'salmost double the commute ofGtenelg HSby car, inthe opposite direction of our middle and elementary schools. We have 3 children, and at one time will have kidsin all 3 (elementary, middle, high)schools. Ifseparated from the rest of our neighborhood, carpooling to andfrom extracurricular activities becomeseven moredifficult as we can't rely on members of the neighborhood to share rides. 5)While this proposal separates us from our immediate neighborhood and community to the north and east, to ourimmediate south is2 miles comprised ofthe University ofMaryland Farm beforeapproaching the next closest community ofhouses in the proposed highschool district. This natural land buffer serves to create even more ofa feeling ofisolation'from the rest ofthe proposed Wilde LakeHigh School community. Wedo not havesidewalks andvillage centers or paths that connect our neighborhood to any other polygons proposed to go to Wilde Lake, and inthis proposal you aredividing usfrom the only members ofour community thatare walkable for our children.

Wewould iike the BOE to consider that this proposal doesn't just impact us negatively with one ofthese criteria, but it impacts our polygon negatively on each one. Ina timewhen depression, teensuicide, drugs, and bullying are of such a highconcern, we ask BOE to makeevery effort to not alienate small numbers ofchildren from theirgreater communities and support networks, particularly as they enter (or are already attending) high school. We encourage the board to consider putting off any high school redistricting until high school 13 is available, and to allow high school students to finish in the school they start in. When the BOE does determine that redjstricting is necessary, we askthat you do not divide the Woodmark Neighborhood, and that you include polygon 181 with the remainder of our nieghborhood and greater community in a school that provides a stable solution for our collective future.

Please consider howthese things impact community stability, particularly for relatively small rural communities such as ours.

Sincerely,

Joseph and Lynette Love and Family Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Anton Dmitriev Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2019 10:33 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Written testimony from polygon 209 in STRONGOPPOSITION to the proposed redistricting plan

Follow Up Flag: Follow up Flag Status: Flagged

Dear Board of Education members: Wewrite to youto expressour STRONG OPPOSITION to the proposed planto redistrict our Howardcounty schools. As parents oftwo young girls attending Triadelphia Ridge Elementary School (TRES) it makes absolutely no senseto uswhy moving our polygon (209) and adjacent polygons to Bushy Park Elementary Schoolis necessary. We are located only 3 minutesaway from TRES, either by car or by bus. Conversely, Bushy Park is approximately 20 minutes driving by car and, most likely, 45 minutes by bus from any address in our polygon. So,from the geographical stand point this makes no sense. Considering school utilization numbers this also makes no sense. Currently TRES and Bushy Park are indeed underutilized at 89% and 82%. respectively. However, afterthis move of 129 children out ofTRES, and havingit receive 137children from Manor Woods and West Friendship, the school will remain at 92%capacity. Conversely, Bushy Parkwill grossly exceed capacity at 117%. Keep our kids at TRES and augment with additional students from the schools' experiencing overcrowding. The proposed redistricting will not only be disruptive to the school community andfriendships, it willalso create an exceedingly stressful environmentfor our children. My older daughter will betransitioned in 5thgrade - last yearof the fundamental elementary education! This will also place the hard working parents in our communities under tremendous stress. Both our kids attend aftercare as both mywife and I maintain full-time employment in the DCarea. Addingthe extra time for pickup and drop offat the far away school will addanother 45minutes to ouralready hourlong daily commutes! When choosing our place of residence, dose proximity to the local schools was a critical component in our decision making. These extra miles will limit our ability to participate in school activities and remain engaged with the school community - because we simply wont make them after work... For the kids aged 6 and 9, it will extend their "work day" by hours! These are real life considerations - arethese factors of no importance? It certainly appears that we, the citizens of Howard county, are being mere pawns in someone else's game. What about the before- and after-care programs? Are they prepared to accommodate the influx of new children?These programs are not managed through HCPSS and we are already having a veryhard time signing upfor the before/after care.What about the school itself? IsBushy Park prepared to'|ump overnightfrom 82% enrollmentto 117%above capacity?? How will the quality of education be affected by this unnecessarvand" drastic change?

And lastly, the motivation behindthe proposed planappears to be misguided. Documentary andvideo evidenceuncovered bythe citizens of Howard County raises doubts about the intent of achieving true" equity and fairness for ALL citizens and ALL CHILDREN of our great county. This appears to be a veiled pursuit of" personal agendas underthe guise ofgood intentions. Therefore, please reject the proposal, vote to IMPROVE, but NOTsimply MOVE to satisfy county council pressure! Thank you, Anton and Alina Dmitriev 14083 Patterson Farm Ct Glenelg, MD 21737 I amOPPOSED to theproposed redistricting ofHoward County's public schools. I amthe first-generation daughter ofworking-class immigrants in the 70's who was bused in PG County, MD. My parents completed 3rd and 5th grades in their country. My father, a barber, worked twojobs. My mother took in sewing, and caredfor children in ourhome. Wemoved fromAnacostia, DC to Temple Hills, MD, across from the neighborhood elementary school. Regardless, I wasbused for kindergarten. I spokeno English, andmy newschool, farfrom the immigrant community, didnot offer ESOL.I didnot learn Englishtill first grade. I remember the trauma ofbeing injured atmy distant school. My mom was distraught-she had no car or transportation, and nobody to watch the children in her care. While businghad an important purpose, it tmly madelife harderfor poor families. Sadly, lower-income children will suffer under this plan. Some studies showthat low-income children benefit they attend school with affluent kids, but if you read them closely, those schoolshad very generous budgets to accomplishthis. HCPSS is struggling with $6million in budget cuts, andno wordyet on howthe millions needed for newbuses anddrivers will be found. This proposal will also harm low- income children to be moved from Title 1 to non-Title 1 schools. Title 1 schools receive $500-$600 per student (around $300, 000per school). Sen. Bidenpromised, if elected,to TRIPLETitle 1 funding,resulting in about$1800 per student-over a million per school, to be used for additional teachers, smaller classes, tutoring, etc. But Phelps Luck, for example, will fall below the required 40% threshold underthis plan, andlose its Title 1 funding. Also, children to be moved OUTofSwansfield INTO CES and PRES will losethe Title 1 fundingthey depended upon attheir former school. Title 1 funds doNOT follow students, they are school-specific, andcan also provide freebreakfast, tutoring, wellness programs, parental instruction, afterschool care, andother support for kids in need. Whenlower-income childrenarrive at CESand PRES, they will havelost the Title 1 resources of their prior school. Also, money raised by parents/PTA CA^^ST OT be used for educational purposes, sincethat is considered unfairto poorer schools. Underthis proposal, childrenfrom SwansfieldElementary will be "swapped" with children from PRESand CES. The school budget hasalready beencut, including eliminating 74 para-educators. Whenyou bring children ofdisparate abilities together, para-educators are especially needed for individualized learning. I've seen disparities with my own (gifted) child in HCPSS. He attended a great (and integrated) preschool. While hetaught himselfread at age four, none ofhis classmatesread. Butwhen we moved andI volunteered atPRES, I sawthat EVERYKINDERGARTNER could read. I've heard CES is the same. Will Howard County replace Title 1 funds to help Swansfield students who haven't hadthe same strongPreK preparation asCES/PRES students? Will the county replace para-educators who were let go, but are nowessential to supervise vastly different readingtracks? Orwill studentsjust betaught together, upsetting and humiliatingthose with no preparation, while leaving advancedstudents fmstrated andunchallenged? Will non-English speakers whomove to PRES/CESget the ESOLresources they need (which weren't neededthere before)? And will lower- income students getthe additionaltutoring, reading interventions, ESOL,etc. they need when bused to affluent schools? And consider howthe lower-income children will feel at CMS andPRES, among kids who areacademically-advanced, andwhose parents canafford tutoring, travel teams and nice clothes. Inferior, humiliated, less than? Finally, there is a school bus driver shortage, andHoward County will quickly need to addto its fleet andhire many more bus drivers. Please let walkers remain walkers, anddon't spendmillions to busany child, especially a poorer child, fartherfrom home. Please keep neighborhoods together at our schools-many communities are cruelly being split mid-street by this proposal. Also consider that not all soon-to-be built development is beingconsidered-for example, 200+ apartments areslated Hickoiy Ridge Village Center, whichthe BOB confirmed(at the Robinson Overlook hearing) were not included inthe redistricting calculations. Pleasedo what's right for the children of Howard County-especially thosemost in need-andvote againstthis ill-conceivedproposal. Maria Smiroldo

Polygon #64 Darlene April Rehmert 1180 9/26/2019 FULL NAME POLYGON NUMBER DATE

To the Howard County Board of Education, Superintendent Superintendent Martirano's proposal suggests moving 7, 396 students to relieve overcrowded schools and bring equity to Howard County." The improvements in both ofthese areas ?a^^we'm. pa,rt":'ular:whenweighed with the thousands of students moved indrastic ways aa'oss _eco^nty' Lurge the. BOEto compare Superintendent Martirano's plan against the standardsof Policy6010 to determinewhether this proposal should even be considere'd. As-resl.<:lerlts°fH°ward county'we a" have. Perso"al feelings regardingthe redistricting process, OTercrowded schools, andthe inequitable distribution ofhousingln HowardCounty. As'a'nelected ^°ardofEclucat'°"member'we implore you to teavey°"i" personal feelingsout of this process. instead, we askthat you represent the people of Howard County whoelected you. Listen'to ou7 ?e-d.ba^k°" SUPerintendent Martirano's proposal, the FeasibilityStudy Options, andyour own suggestions inthe coming monthsat your Boardmeetings. Weadditionally urge you to use Polic 6010 to weigh the positives and negatives for all options. Policy6010 Section IV.B outlines thethree main areasof consideration that the BOEshould work to address in the redistricting process. The first is facility utilization. Policy 6010 states. "Where ^'?-°J'?. l^. !ch°°l_att^da. n(:ea. re? "tilizatron shouldstay within the target utilizationfor as long a ?TS?_o-f_t!?-e-.as..p°s?t'le throughtheconsideration of:the efficientuse of space, longVange" enrollment factors, minimizing capital and operating costs, and walkers and bus riders". Superintendent Martirano's plan fails on all counts when looking at Policy 6010 standards related to ?»_y. ^t-ili^tL°^'-, lt i"creasestransportation costs, it moves walkers to bus riders on long S.ommutesla, ndltdoes.. "c't t"''ng a si9nificant amount ofschool attendance areas to target utilization. -l:',r?f.c!!al^ed, uces the number ofelementary schools that exceed 1 10% capacity from"21 to~'1"6' ^il!^?-'':'^15ete, m.ent?ry. s.c.ho?ls below90%. 'which is unimpressive. InfacY'acco'rding'tothe' forecaste. ^s"peri. ntendentMartirano'S. ProP°saLmoreschoolswi"beab°ve^ a.few. short years than we have cui:re"tly- At the elementary school level, the pla'n-wiil"move"3, 194' stlxients-resu, lt"1g. i,n alessthan 5%reduction in schoolsthat are over capacity in lyear'At t'he' m 1 ]351 stucients are dde-sch°°1 leye 1' , proposed to move achieving a 0% change in the number of orer capacity schools in 1 year. Superintendent Martirano's proposal moves 7, 396 students in an' : that fails to bring schools any meaningful change in target utilization. The moves in Superintendent Martirano's proposal are not reasonable. Second.LP°llcy 601, ° d"'ectsthe faoarclto co"sidercommunity stability. Policy6010 Section IV.C: comm"-"ltystab', litystates: "where reasonabte, school attendance areasshould'promote'a sense of community in both the geographic place (e. g., neighborhood or place in which a s'tudent7ivesi'and ^promotion ofa student from each school level"through the consideration of: keepjna'strona'feeds ^'nescho°Llevelto the next(tess th£ln a 15%feed'is ""acceptable), keeping contTguous' c°mmu"ltLesor.. ne'?hborho°ds to?ether. and minimizing the frequency with which any'o'ne student is !lT^?^-'-., ?.up,e."n!?n':le"th/!a'?'ran?. 's P'?"fails °" a"counts when looking at Policy6010 standards related to Community Stability;"Community", asdefined by Policy°60'10~is''a'geographic 3, specifically the neighborhood or place in which a student lives-''. Superintendent Mrrtirano''s" P1°posa'teareapart commu"ities a"over Howard County, negativelyaffecting'famNies'across"! soaoeconorr"clevel-we cannota"ow this to haPPen-1"addition, manyof these moves''s7gnifi weaken e feeds from one school to the next, and in three years' these samestudents''anl 3man'volf peerswill again be at risk of disruptive school changes'duringthe next redjsfricting' ir!1irt'^p°!'c'/. 601.0.CILrectsthe boal'd toj:onsider demographic characteristics. Policy6010 Section lie Characteristics of Student Population'states: "Where reasonable, s'chooT areas should promote the creation ofa diverse and inclusive student body at'bott the John Herbert Rehmert 1180 9/26/2019 FULL NAME POLYGON NUMBER DATE

To the Howard County Board of Education, Superintendent Superintendent Martirano's proposal suggests moving 7, 396 students to relieve overcrowded schools and bring equity to Howard County. The improvements in both of these areas are neg igible, in particular, when weighed with the thousands of students moved in drastic ways across the county. I urge the BOEto compare Superintendent Martirano's plan against the standards of Policy 6010 to determine whether this proposal should even be considered. As residents of Howard County, we all have personal feelings regarding the redistricting process, overcrowded schools, andthe inequitable distribution of housing"in HowardCounty. As~an elected Board of Education member, we implore you to leave your personal feelings out ofthis process. [nstead, we ask that you represent the people of Howard County who elected you. Listen to our feedback on Superintendent Martirano's proposal, the Feasibility Study Options, and your own suggestions in the coming months at your Board meetings. Weadditionally urge you to use Policy 6010 to weigh the positives and negatives for all options? Policy 6010 Section IV.B outlines the three main areas of considerationthat the BOE should workto address in the redistricting process. The first is facility utilization. Policy6010 states: "Where reasonable, school attendance area utilization should stay within the target utilization for as long a period of time as possible through the consideration of: the efficient use of space, long range enrollment factors, minimizing capital and operating costs, and walkers and bus riders". Superintendent Martirano's plan fails on all counts when looking at Policy6010 standards related to Facility Utilization. It increases transportation costs, it moves walkers to bus riders on long commutes, and it does not bring a significantamount ofschool attendanceareas to target utilization. The proposal reduces the number ofelementary schools that exceed 1 10% capacity from 21 to 16 while leaving_5 elementary schools below 90%, which is unimpressive. In fact, according to the forecasts in Superintendent Martirano's proposal, more schools will be above target utilization within a few short yearsthan we have currently. At the elementary school level, the plan will move 3, 194 students resulting in a less than 5% reduction in schools that are over capacity in 1 year. At the middle school level, 1, 351 students are proposed to move achieving a 0% change in the number of over capacity schools in 1 year. Superintendent Martirano's proposal moves 7, 396 students in an effortthat failsto bring schools any meaningful change in target utilization. The moves in Superintendent Martirano's proposal are not reasonable. Second, Policy 6010 directs the board to consider community stability. Policy 6010 Section IV. C: Community Stability states: "Where reasonable, school attendance areas should promote a sense of community in both the geographic place (e. g., neighborhood or place in which a student lives) and the promotion ofa studentfrom each school level through theconsideration of: keeping strong feeds from oneschool level to the next(less than a 15%feed is unacceptable), keeping contiguous" communities or neighborhoods together, and minimizing the frequency with which any one student is reassigned. " Superintendent Martirano's plan fails on all counts when'looking at Policy 6010 standards related to Community Stability. "Community", asdefined by Policy~6010,\s'"a geographic place, specifically the neighborhood or place in which a student lives". Superintendent Martirano's proposal tears apart communities all over Howard County, negatively affecting families across every socioeconomic level. We cannot allow this to happen. In addition, many of these moves significantly weaken the feeds from one school to the next, and in three years these same students and many of their peers will again be at risk ofdisruptive school changes during the next redistricting Third Policy6010 directs the boardto considerdemographic characteristics. Policy6010 Section IV. D. Demographic Characteristics of Student Population'states: "Where reasonable, school attendance areas should promote the creation of a diverse and inclusive student body at both the John Herbert Rehmert 1180 9/26/2019 FULL NAME POLYGON NUMBER DATE

sending and receiving schools. " Superintendent Martirano's proposal fails to adequately balance FARM data across Howard County when compared to the number of students moved. There are schoolswhere the plan moves hundredsof students and achievesless than a 5% change in students who receive FARMs. There are overcapacity schools with low FARMS numbers that have no proposed moves of polygons to adjacent underutilized schools with high FARMs numbers. There are significantisland moves that require transportation past multiple closer schools with capacity, and in some cases, unreasonable routes because of geographical barriers. Some examples include a West Friendshipneighborhood being sent to Bushy Park Elementary, a Swansfieldcommunity neighborhood being sent to CIarksville Elementary, a Pointers Run community neighborhood sent to Swansfield Elementary, a Fulton Elementary community neighborhood sent to Laurel Woods Elementary, a Stevens Forest Elementary community neighborhood sent to Bryant Woods,a Clarksville Middlecommunity neighborhoodsent to Harpers Choice Middle, a Harper's Choice community neighborhood sent to Clarksville Middle, a River Hill High School community neighborhoodsent to Wilde Lake High School, and pretty much all ofthe gerrymanderedAtholton High School attendance area, which also impacts the Hammond and Oakland Mills neighborhoods.

When making moves like these, Policy 6010 IV. D specifically states that consideration should be given to "the number of students moved, taking into account the correlation between the number of students moved, the outcomes of other standards achieved in Section IV. B. (Facility Utilization) and the length of time those results are expected to be maintained." When we weighthe demographic changes in this proposal againstthe number of students moved, the negligibleimpact on facility utilization, and the short length of time these changes are expected to be maintained, Superintendent Martirano's proposal fails. Only 10 out of 74 elementary, middle, and high schools see more than a 10% change in FARMs rates in Superintendent Martirano's proposal. Applying an even lower criteria of 5% or greater change in FARMs rates, only 14 out of 74 schools in Howard County are affected. Negligiblechanges in facility utilization and negligible changes in FARMSrates at the cost of the redistricting 7, 396 students does not meet the Standards for redistricting students as outlined in Policy 6010.

In summary, Superintendent Martirano's proposal fails to meet Policy 6010 standards, and therefore the BOE should not consider the proposal during this redistricting process. The BOE must consider whether redistricting is even necessary at this time or if waiting 3 years is acceptable. If redistricting is necessary as deemed by the standards of Policy 601 0, the BOE must only consider options that achieve the standards set forth in Policy 6010.

Sincerely,

Signature

_John H. Rehmert

Printed Name Board of Education Dr. Michael J. Martirano, Superintendent Howard County Public School System 10910 Clarksville Pike Ellicott City, MD 21042

DearBoard of Education Members and Dr. Martirano, Myfamily and I reside in polygon 140,and we aredistricted to SwansfieldElementary, Harper'sChoice Middle, and Wilde Lake High schools. I have been following the redistricting conversation in recent weeks with great interest, despite our polygon remaining with its current schools under Dr. Martirano's proposal. Betweenthe written testimonies I havebeen reading,social media conversations, in-person conversations, and word of mouth, there has been a lot of negativity and hostility displayed toward the schools my children attend (or will attend), toward the proposal, and toward all of you. I won't be addingto that. Instead, I'm goingto throw a little sunshine your way. Giventhat I am by no meansan experton education or administeringa school system, I can'ttell you if the proposed planwill achieve itsgoals. But I cantell youthat I wholeheartedlysupport the intent behind the plan, and I salute you for addressing the achievement gap and the inequities in our school system. Many don't believe they exist, but from my small corner ofthe county, they do. My husband and I have two sons, who are in 4"' and 5th grade at Swansfield. Our experience with the school has had its ups and downs, and in spite of the downs, we are happy that our boys have had the opportunity to go to Swansfield. It istruly a diverse school- racially, ethnically, religiously, and socioeconomically. There are wonderful people on staff at the school, and the parent community is filled with warm, kind people. Myboys are doingwell there- notjust academically, but also from the standpoint of learning our family values of diversity, inclusion, empathy, and compassion. However, Swansfield has its challenges. Our school is a Title I school, and it hasone ofthe highest rates of poverty in the county along with some ofthe lowest test scores. We had some difficult years with a principal who was not a good fit, and extensive school renovations created chaos for a while. After volunteering in the classroom, my husband and I were discouraged by the behavioral difficulties and disruptionsthat overwhelmed the staffand inhibited learning. At a particularly low point, several families decided to leave Swansfield, moving to other districts within HCPSSor choosing private school or homeschooling. There was significant staff turnover as well. It broke my heart to see our school struggle, and many parents (including me) reached out to the BoEand Dr. Martirano for help - and you responded. I'm happyto saythat after welcoming a newprincipal two yearsago and seeing an end to the construction a year ago, things began to improve. Additionally, we now have a second assistant principal, a secondschool counselor, additional paraeducators, anda restorativejustice lead. Thoseare all positive stepsto increasethe support forSwansfield's students andstaff, and I believe HCPSSis still working to increase the level ofsupport even further. The achievement gap remains, however, and according to HCEAjob satisfaction surveys, there continues to be a disproportionately high level of misbehavior along with a disproportionately low level of staff morale at our school. Swansfield still struggles to attract and retain experienced teachers. All of this is in stark contrast to our least economicallydisadvantaged schools, who report significantly less misbehaviorand higherstaff morale and to where manyteachers transfer once the "Title I burnout" gets to be too much. When I read Dr. Martirano's proposal, I noticed that the boundary adjustments had a significant impact on reducing the concentration of poverty at HCPSS' most disadvantaged schools, including Swansfield. I saw this as a good thing, because schools like Swansfield would retain their valued diversity, but they would experience less strain on staff and resources. It would increase our teachers' effectiveness and better balance the disparities in the learning environments between our most and least disadvantaged schools, leading to a more equitable school experience for all students. Overtime, it would help Swansfieldattract the experienced teachersthat are best equippedto help our most vulnerable students. These factors, along with additional social and educationalsupports and interventions, would perhaps begin to close the achievement gap. I'm thankful that my children are succeeding at Swansfield in spite of the school's challenges. However, it s clear that many other students are not. I do believe that additional funding and supports could help those students, but that cannot be the only solution. If it were. Title I would have helped close the achievement gapyears ago. It's time for a different, multi-faceted approach, and I believe that this proposal is a promising additionto the strategies laid out in Dr. Martirano'sStrategic Call to Action. I greatly appreciate your focus on lifting up our disadvantaged students, increasing equity in HCPSS, and making it a public school system that truly serves us all.

Jennifer Solpietro

Polygon 140

Columbia '-'riitan Ve^.'irnony on ;-)C;''5S Propossr; Sch^oi .^c'isu'ia;n^ F!sn, ?020-20';1 Polygon 1157 Kui Zhao, September 26, 2019

Myname is KuiZhao in Polygon 1157right off Centennial Lane. The redistricting plan would reassign the Polygon (and abutting Polygon 157) from Manor Woods Elementary School to Triadelphia Ridge Elementary School and from Burleigh Manor Middle School to Mount View Middle School.

The Polygons are in Manor Woods that is 4 miles away already due to redistricting in the 1990s. Triadelphia Ridge is in 8 miles, which is even farther than Marriotts Ridge High School to which the Polygons were redistricted in 2004.

As a professional plannerand parent, I uphold that it isconsiderately important to enroll kids to attend theirneighborhood schools. This Planwould betransporting childrenwho arefive to 11years old to an eightmile awayschool with at least 50 minutes bus ride oneway in order to transferring so much more students from Polygons 159 & 1159 to Manor Woods. Polygons 159 and 1159 are located across Route 40 and further from Manor Woods than Polygons 1157 and 157.

Additionally, Polygons1157 and 157 are fewer than 2 miles awayfrom Burleigh Manor(103. 7% over capacity). However, the Plan would reassign both Polygons to Mount Viewthat is 6.7 miles away in order to make room for a higher number of students in Polygons 159 & 1159 who reside further over the same main thoroughfare.

Moving children distant from their neighborhood schools is not a wayto equitably and thoughtfully "address the pressing issue of school overcrowding". Insensible gerrymandering is at the expenses of impacted children's health and wellbeing. It causes serious contentions among communities that have been so well integrated and harmonious before.

Ifa school's FARM rate is40% or higher, all students - regardless oftheir family incomes - will benefit from the federal Title I funding. I believe that the key to succeed academically is attributable to determination anddedication - FARM or not, minorities or not.

Thisredistricting planreminds me of building highways that hasdivided viable, integral neighborhoods. Itwill largely increasetransportation costs andfurther pollute environment bythe longdistance bussing and additional routesto transport childrento schoolsfar away from their neighborhoods. African American Coalition of Howard County Box 667 Columbia, Md. 21044 (443)546-3208 (afamcoalition.org) (aachc®,comcast. net)

September 17, 2019 Mavis Ellis, Chair Howard County School Board 10910ClarksvillePike Ellicott City, Md. 21042

"Separate But Equal Has Never Been Equal" "If^iy We Can't WaU" (MLK) Chair and Members of the Howard County Public School System, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight about the importance ofdesegregating the Howard County Public School System. In the simplest of terms, we're talking about the American Dream-how we can finish what was started 60 years ago with the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Decision.

The African American Coalition of Howard County (AACHC) is a twenty-year plus organization dedicated to ridding the County and the country of their legacy of social, political and economic injustice ofBlack Americans in Howard County-with special emphasis on gaps in education between Black and White students. We must, in other words, not add another year to the already years ofBlacks not being properly educated in this county. Pursuit ofknowledge and literacy is a must here. And the Howard County Public School System must not relive or experience ofthe Prince Edward County Virginia School System of the '50. (See below). h ^ s ^ >''.

, » L

Picketers

Southern congressmen and governors attacked me supreme court's aecision. Through state and local governments and private organizations, white supremacists attempted to block desegregation. People across the country, like these from Poolesville, Maryland, in 1956, took to the streets to protest integration. This kind of opposition exposed the deep divide in the nation, and revealed the difficulty of enforcing the high court's decision. (Courtesy of Washington Star Collection, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library) Not, of course, ignoring "overcrowding," rather the African American Coalition of Howard County perceives this fight, along with below views of The Century Foundation, " (Attachment) as a socio-economic one-combined with the removal of those embedded racial inequities and disparities that America has come to accept. Finally, many are asking the Board to address the Superintendent plan with "all deliberate speed" perhaps not understanding the vagueness of the "all deliberate speed" approach." That is, in implementing the 1954 School Desegregation Case, "all deliberate speed" resulted in extensive questioning on how to enforce the 1954, thus rulings giving segregationists the opportunity to organize resistance. " Hence, we must avoid maintaining separate educational opportunities between Black and White kids in Howard County and move urgently toward spearheading efforts of Jim Rouse in this county. To conclude, we support the Superintendent's Plan in that, as the Superintendent says, the Plan "empowers, embrace differences, and provide .. .access, opportunities and support needed to help students, families and staffreach their full potential Sincerely,

ri, a^we^if. Vice President,

Research & Agenda Planning African American Coalition of Howard County, AACHC & African Americans in Howard County (AAIHC) ec: Rev. /Dr. Robert A. F. Turner, President, AACHC & AAIHC Ken Jennings, Vice President, Operation AACHC & AAIHC Dr. C. Vernon Gray The Community The Press

Attachment

"The Century Foundation

Research shows that racial and socioeconomic diversity in the classroom can provide students with a range of cognitive and social benefits. And school policies around the country are beginning to catch up. Today, over 4 million students in America are enrolled in school districts or charter schools with socioeconomic integration policies-a number that has more than doubled since 2007.

Here's why the growing momentum in favor of diversity in schools is good news for all students:

Academic and Cognitive Benefits On average, students in socioeconomically and racially diverse schools-regardless of a student's own economic status-have stronger academic outcomes than sftidents in schools with concentrated poverty.

. Students in integrated schools have higher average test scores. On the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) given to fourth graders in math, for example, low-income students attending more affluent schools scored roughly two years of learning aheadof low-income students in high-poverty schools. ' Controlling carefully for sfaidents' family background, another study found that students in mixed-income schools showed 30 percent more growth in test scores over their four years in high school than peers with similar socioeconomic backgrounds in schools with concentrated poverty.' Students in integrated schools are more likely to enroll in college. When comparing students with similar socioeconomic backgrounds, those students at more affluent schools are 68 percent more likely to enroll at a four-year college than their peers at high-poverty schools.' Students in integrated schools are less likely to drop out. Dropout rates are significantly higher for students in segregated, high-poverty schools than for students in integrated schools. 4 During the height of desegregation in the 1970s and 1980s, dropout rates decreased for minority students, with the greatest decline in dropout rates occurring in districts that had undergone the largest reductions in school segregation.' Integrated schools help to reduce racial achievement gaps. In fact, the racial achievement gap in K-12 education dosed more rapidly during the peak years of school desegregation in the 1970s and 1980s than it has overall in the decades that followed-when many desegregation policies were dismantled. 6 More recently, black and Latino students had smaller achievement gaps with white students on the 2007 and 2009 NAEP when they were less likely to be stuck in high-poverty school environments. 7 The gap in SAT scores between black and white students continues to be larger in segregated disb-icts, and one study showed that change from complete segregation to complete integration in a district could reduce as much as one quarter of the current SAT score disparity. 8 A recent study from Stanford's Center for Education Policy Analysis confirmed that school segregation is one of the most significant drivers of the racial achievement gap.9 Integrated classrooms encourage critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity. We know that diverse classrooms, in which students learn cooperatively alongside those whose perspectives and backgrounds are different from their own, are beneficial to all students-including middle-class white students-because these environments promote creativity, motivation, deeper learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.T

Civic and Social-Emotional Benefits Racially and socioeconomically diverse schools offer students important social-emotional benefits by exposing them to peers of different backgrounds. The increased tolerance and cross-cultural dialogue that result from these interactions are beneficial for civil society.

Attending a diverse school can help reduce racial bias and counter stereotv'pes. Children are at risk of developing stereotypes about racial groups if they live in and are educated in racially isolated settings. By contrast, when school settings include students from multiple racial groups, students become more comfortable with people of other races, which leads to a dramatic decrease in discriminatory attitudes and prejudices." Students who attend integrated schools are more likely to seek out integrated settings later in life. Integrated schools encourage relationships and friendships across group lines. According to one study, students who attend racially diverse high schools are more likely to live in diverse neighborhoods five years after graduation." Integrated classrooms can improve students' satisfaction and intellectual self-confidence. Research on diversity at the college level shows that when students have positive experiences interacting with students of other backgrounds and view the campus racial and cultural climate as afBrming, they emerge with greater confidence in their own academic abilities." Learning in integrated settings can enhance students' leadership skills. A longitudinal study of college students found that the more often first-year students were exposed to diverse educational settings, the more their leadership skills improved." Meaningful relationships between individuals with different racial or ethnic backgrounds impacts how people treat racial and ethnic groups. Studies show that emotional bonds formed through close cross-group relationships lead people to treat members oftheir friends' groups as well as they treat members of their own groups. These types of relationships are most commonly formed within schools that have greater levels ofracial and ethnic diversity." Exposure to diversity reduces anxiety. Longitudinal studies in Europe, South Africa, and the United

. States, surveyed students and found that positive intergroup contact predicts lower levels of anxiety in relations with them."

Economic Benefits Providing more students with integrated school environments is a cost-effective strategy for boosting student achievement and preparing students for work in a diverse global economy.

School integration efforts produce a high return on investment. According to one recent estimate, reducing socioeconomic segregation in our schools by half would produce a return on investment of 3- 5 times the cost of the programs." Attending an integrated school can be a more effective academic intervention than receiving extra funding in a higher-poverty school. One study of students in Montgomery County, Maryland, found that students living in public housing randomly assigned to lower-poverty neighborhoods and schools outperformed those assigned to higher-poverty neighborhoods and schools-even though the higher-poverty schools received extra funding per pupil." School integration promotes more equitable access to resources. Integrating schools can help to reduce disparities in access to well-maintained facilities, highly qualified teachers, challenging courses, and private and public funding." Diverse classrooms prepare students to succeed in a global economy. In higher education, university officials and business leaders argue that diverse college campuses and classrooms prepare shidents for life, work, and leadership in a more global economy by fostering leaders who are creative, collaborative, and able to navigate deftly in dynamic, multicultural environments." Diversity produces more productive, more effective, and more creative teams. Integrated schools andworkplaces support the conditionsnecessary to foster the coretenets ofdeeper learning such as communication, inquiry, and collaboration. Simply interacting with people &om different backgroundsencourages group membersto preparebetter, to anticipatealternative viewpoints, andto be ready to work towards consensus." Children who attended integrated schools had higher earnings as adults, had improved health outcomes, and were less likely to be Incarcerated. Researcher Rucker Johnsontracked black childrenexposed to desegregationplans in the 1960sthrough the 1980s,and found a variety of positive outcomes for the quality and longevity of life associated with school integration.' Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Anton Dmitrievoedonline1@gmail. com> Sent: Thursday, September26, 201.9 10:33 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting .. Subject: [External] Written testimony from polygon 209 in STRONG OPPOSITION to the proposed redistricting plan

This will also place the hard working parents in our communities under tremendous stress. Both our kids attend aftercare as both my wife and I maintain full-time employment in the DC area. Adding the extra time for pick up and drop off at the far away school will add another 45 minutes to our already hour long daily commutes! When choosing our place of residence, close proximity to the local schools was a critical component in our decision making. These extra miles will limit our ability to participate in school activities and remain engaged with the school communitybecause we simply wont make them after work... For the kids aged 6 and 9, it will extend their "work day" by hours! These are real life considerations - are these factors of no importance? It certainly appears that we, the citizens of Howard county, are being mere pawns in someone else's game. What about the before- and affer-care programs? Are they prepared to accommodate the influx of new children? These programs are not managed through HCPSS and we are already having a very hard time signing up for the before/after care. What about the school itself? Is Bushy Park prepared to jump overnight from 82% enrollment to 117% above capacity?? How will the quality of education be affected by this unnecessary and drastic change?

Thank you, Anton and Alina Dmitriev 14083 Patterson Farm Ct Glenelg, MD 21737 To: HCPSS BOE members September 2019

From: Beverly Riling, Polygon 1079

Re: Proposed Redistricting Plan for 2020

I have been involved with HCPSS for more than 25 years, foremost as a parent and PTA member, and also as a Substitute teacher. Home and Hospital teacher and AP testing proctor. I've seen HCPSS from both sides of the coin.

Most of my time has been spent at Long Reach HS but also at Howard HS. The student population at these schools continues to grow to the point that these schools are well over their capacity. This presents multiple problems that must be addressed now.

Classrooms often have 30 plus students, usingevery space in the building.This greatly affectsthe quality of education within each classroom. Students are jammed together which can create distractions while large backpacks occupy the space between desks. A good teacher will roam the room to access how each student is learning. This is practically impossible because there are too many obstacles and too many students. To me, this is the worst part of overcrowding when it affects the quality of education.

The hallways are jammed with students between classes. Try being a teacher who has to move her cart from classroom to classroom during the 5 minutes between classes. Ifthere was ever an emergency where the entire school needed evacuation people could get hurt. Fire drills demonstrate a deliberate and calm exit but this will not happen during an emergency where students and staffwould be aggressivelytrying to exit the building. Portable classrooms have been addedto both ofthese schools to the pointthat there is no more room. In the case of Howard HS, the distance from a portable to the other side of the school can take more than the 5 minutes allowed for transition between classes. These additional classroom areas should not be a permanent fix.

HCPSS prides itself on being a top school system but overcrowding is causing significant challenges to this goal. This must be addressed at the high school level now. We cannot wait until 2023 for High School#13 to be built.

When considering which students move from school to school please consider the following: maintaining walkers (facilitates strong school/neighborhood relationships); limiting any increases to time in transit (when possible prevent students from passing one school to attend another school); keep school districts contiguous (no lone neighborhood surrounded by students attending a different school). All of these contribute to strong neighborhoodcommunities and school support which in turn fosters strong schools. Thankyou for letting me express my concerns and I hope you will consider these thoughts when you make your final decisionon the redistricting plan for the school year 2020-2021. Ifyou have questions, can be reached on 301-807-9822 or at Beverly_Riling@hcpss. org. My name is Diane Caplan. I live in Polygon #1185 and I am writing to express my strong opposition to Superintendent Michael Martirano's 2019 proposed Area Attendance Plan for HowardCounty schools.

Students from my neighborhood currently attend ClarksviUe Elementary (CES), Clarksville Middle (CMS) and River Hill HighSchool (RHHS). Mr. Martirano's proposalwould keep them at CES but reassign them to Harper's Choice Middle (HCMS) and Wilde Lake High School fWLHS).

Our Polygon was not even included in the original Board of Education (BOE) feasibility study as a neighborhood that could potentially be affected by redistricting. Because of that I did not closely follow the initial processes like participating in the summer community forum or the online family survey as I believed my neighborhood was not being considered for redistricting.

The original focus of the BOE feasibility study was to address overcrowding at some schools and make better use of underutilized schools. This is what our school community was told. However, Mr. Martirano has proposed that redistricting now should be mostly equity based. This is a reversal of what was communicated to the public initially and counter to what has been researched and debated over the last 6 months. Results from the online survey conveyed families priorities wereto limit student movement between schools, limit commute times and maintain community boundaries.

Currently, CES, CMS and RHHS are underutilized. Mr. Martirano's proposal would actually swap 276 students from RHHSinto WLHSand only 132 students from WLHSinto RHHS. This is a significant net decrease in utilization of RHHS. Similarly, his proposal would swap 207 students from CMSinto HCMSand only 87 students from HCMSinto CMS. Onceagain, a significant net decrease in utilization. Moving any students at all out of RHHS or CMS does not make logical seuse when the BOE's goal is to minimize underutilization. Whywould any students need to be moved out of either RHHS or CMS?

BOE Policy 6010 Section IV 2 considers the goal of maintaining community stabUity. Our neighborhood (Polygon #1185) consists of 26 elementary, 22 middle and 22 high school students. This is a small group. Underthe current proposal, our contiguous community planning polygon (#185) splits from us in high school. Our polygon, #1185, is the only polygon that is assigned to CESthat wdll not end up going to RHHS. All other contiguous polygons are proposedto staytogether from kindergarten through 12thgrade. This does not makelogical sense for our neighborhood. This proposal would tear our students from their established peer groups (friends, clubs, sports andestablished teacher relationships), for no apparent reason. There is no urgent or legitimate needfor our students to be moved from their current assigned underutilized schools. I worrywhat such unnecessary upheaval will do to our students' mental health.

Another concern of the BOE and county families is to limit the travel time and distance students have to travel to their schools. Currently, our neighborhood travels only .5 miles to CES and .7 miles to RHHS. Both CESand RHHS share one exit road. Sowe live very close to both schools. Mr. Martirano's proposal would have our students ta-avel over 5 miles to get to WLHS. The students that are proposed to swap places from WLHS with our RHHS students would also be travelling significantly further than currently districted. In fact, the students affected would actually cross paths both on the way to and on the way home from school. Think about that. All ofthese students would cross pathsgoing in opposite directions to schoolsthat are farther away from their homes than their current schools. This makes no logical sense.

There has been no ti-ansportation feasibility study done. Therefore, there are no transportation costs, logistical or safety facts upon which to base a reasonable redistricting decision. My own simple investigation revealed that there would be 10 traffic light intersections between my neighborhood and WLHS. There is only l traffic light intersection between my neighborhood and RHHS. This would obviouslymean significantlymore travel time. The County's cost of addedbuses or longer travel routes hasnot been addressed. Moreover, it would significantly increase the safetyrisk for our students due to much longerbus rides, andmore seriously, with inexperienced high school students who would be driving 5 times further to their high school. Congestion on the local roads would increase as well. Yet no study has been requested or completed to address these community issues.

Mr. Martirano s proposal recommends relocating students in order to reduce high overall Free and Reduced Meals (FARM) rates at certain schools to get these schools closer to Howard County s overall average of 22. 5%. This was not the initial intent of this year's redistricting process and it should not be the intent going forward. Obtaining level FARM rates among our schools will not help those in need. It treats families as a number andmerely shufflesthem aroundin an effort to reacha desired county statistic. It isjust a shell game and diluting FARM rates amongschools doesnot help the actual students involved but merely makesthe county appear to be statistically better. Howard County schools would be better served if our resources wereused on students at schoolsthat havehigher FARM rates ratherthan addingcosts by moving students out oftheir communities in an effort to maskthe real needs in our County. Swapping students to affect statistics is not a civil, objective, useful or adequate manner to deal with real students with real needs in our County. I urge the HowardCounty Boardof Educationto vote "No"to the superintendent's plan on November 21, 2019 audtake the time to develop an inclusive, evidence-basedplan that benefits, not disrupts, the education of Howard County's young people.

Diane Caplan

Polygon #1185 Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Francis Irizawa Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2019 3:25 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Rising Juniors

Hello,

Please allow all risingjuniors in HCPSS the option to remain at their current high school whenthe redistricting plan is implemented.

Polygon 1033 is to be reassigned to Hammond High School from Long Reach HS under the proposed plan, alongwith 33 and266. The adjacentpolygon 1266 remains at LRHS,thus will be a tiny islandnext to the 1-95 whilepolygons right next it to are changingto OaklandMills andHammond. This kind offragmentation occurs in many areas, and I do not pretend to knowhow to resolve that problem.

As a parent of a sophomore at Long Reach High School, I am extremely concerned that my daughter will have to move to a new high school in the middle ofher high school years. I can't think ofa worse possible scenario for her except being moved to another school as a rising senior. She has established herself as a member ofthe marching band, the Techie Club, the Asian Cultural Club, the Photography Club and the French Club. She has many lifelong friendships withother LRHSstudents with whom sheattended pre-school, elementary school, and middle school. She doesn't deserve to have her high school years disrupted like that.

I myself, was forced to attend three different high schools. Altogether, I attended at least 15 different schools from kindergarten through high school because my father was in the US Army during my entire childhood. That is why I vowed that my family would not move while my children were still in school because I know, firsthand, how difficult it is to for children to change schools, especially high school. I will be willing to provide transportation for her, if necessary, if she is allowed to stay at her current high school.

Justto be clear, I do support the redistricting plan in general, and I hope that it does result in desegregation and equity amongthe highschools. I understandthat it is extremely difficultto plan andimplement comprehensive redistricting andit is impossibleto make everybody happywhen it comes to redrawingschool boundaries I commend and support Superintendent Martirano for his leadership and courage in creating a plan to integrate the HCPSS schools.

I do have some proposals to make redistricting less "painful" in the future.

1. Instead ofredistricting high schools by a sudden change to attendance area boundaries, gradually adjust the numbers of students by changing feeds from the middle schools, perhaps semi-annually. 2. Redistricting should focus on the adjustment of feeds from elementary to middle schools, and feeds from middle schools to high schools, as often as necessary. High school redistricting should only affect rising sophomores, and should be limited to no more than once every 4 years so thatmore students will be ableattend the same highschool for 3 to 4 years consecutively. 4. HCPSS high schools are far too small, resulting in more boundary changes and over capacity problems. It is not too late to build a much larger new high school, and rely on adding capacity to current ones in the future. Redistricting will never be painless at any level, but pushing it down from high school level to middle and elementary schools is probably less "painful". "Comprehensive" redistricting may be necessary, but is too controversial. Hopefully this will be the last one necessary.

Thank you very much for your efforts and for considering my input.

Regards,

Frank Irizawa LRHS & TVMS Parent, Polygon 1033 September 25, 2019

Dear Members of the Board of Education,

Our home is located in polygon 1113. I support the redistricting plan for two main reasons.I believe it will begin to address the need for both equity and empathy in the county.

Equity:When my daughterwas in the 6th grade at Oakland Mills Middle School, the students had participated in a several-day field trip every year for as long as people could remember. However, her year was the last year that the school was able to do that trip. Why? Because the number of students who needed financial help had exceededthe number of families who could help provide financial help. Everyone wanted to participate, but the money just wasn't there for enough students to go, so the trips needed to be cancelled. This was back in the late 1990s, and things only got worse from there. This is so unfair, and it is just one example of inequity in action.

It makes my blood boil to see the inequity in our school system. Some schools bring in donations at lOOx or more the dollars of others. The schools that that don't need extra enrichment receive it, while the schools with the greatest needs go wanting-no field trips, not enough instruments, old uniforms, few classroom extras, etc. In addition, most of the schools that need the most physical repairs are also the poorest schools. This is appalling, especially in a school system in one of the richest counties in the country.

Empathy: Empathy is sadly lackingin our society from our local county to our country and, indeed, the world. We have a chance to begin to change that in Howard County. When children of different income and ethnic backgrounds work and play together in an integrated school, it really helps break down those barriers, and ALL children benefit. Children see each other as individuals, not as members of a group. Maybe they like some people, maybe they don t, but they basetheir decisionson personality, not on preconceived notions. They develop a better understandingof the challenges other children face. Theysee the necessity for helping others, not because they're better or worse, but because they are friends and they see needs and assets they wouldn't otherwise see or understand. They develop empathy for people, and this empathy is an essential value that truly helps create a better society.

I understand that this redistricting plan is controversial, that it still needs some tweaking, and that many oppose it, some on very reasonable grounds. But I believe it is a step in the right direction, although it probably doesn't go far enough. Societies move in directions based on the decisions of its leaders. I hope that you will take us in the right direction.

Thankyou for the opportunity to express my opinion.

Karen Gray 5951 Camelback Lane Columbia, MD 21045 Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Patrick Lafond Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2019 2:30 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Opposition to Superintendent's Redistricting Plan

I write to express my opposition to the Board ofEducation's proposed redistricting plan.

I am particularly concernedby the tables in the Superintendent's August 20th report regardingthe projected academicperformance presented at pages 21 and 22. Whatconcerns me is the methods by whichthe projections are calculated.

The calculations projecting academic performance after redistricting assume that a child's performance is independent ofthe school they attend. Whichis to say if school A has a 75% average, and 100 students are redistricted from school A to B, then school B's projected performance is calculated assuming to have received 100 students that score a 75%.

This calculation is in line with the often parroted beliefthat if a child does well in school A they will continue to do well in school B. However, if that is indeedthe Superintendent's position, then you must also concede the reverse to be to-ue, that if a child is under-performing at school A they will continue to under-perform at school B.

That is the argument that the AAC and Superintendent have invoked when projecting the performance gaps preparing their report. If this is not their belief, then it would be troubling to know that a committee and Superintendent that do not understandtheir own methodology have beenplaced in charge of our children's futures, as they would seem to lack the skills necessary to make such a decision. So I must assume that this is their belief.

Further, by holding this belief, then the redistricting plan has been conceived from the outset to be to the benefit ofno child's academic performance. In other words, the AAC and collaterally the Superintendent, believe that no child will academicallyperform better after the redistricting.

Not only is this against the 4th pillar ofthe Board of Educations operating standards (Policy 2000 Section FV A. l. d) which states "Academics are aprimary focus of education. " But it also indicates that the AAC and Superintendent fully expect no changein the performance gaps defined in CR112-2019.

CR112-2019 specifically outlmes support ofthe redistricting as an effort to "reduce the achievement gap" which is definedthrough a number ofsocioeconomic graduationrate disparities, andnot school-by-school disparities. As I have statedabove, it is the apparentbelief of the AAC andthe Superintendentthat a students success is independent of their school, and because redistricting a child will not change his or her socioeconomic status, then by the AAC's own assumptions, it will not affect any ofthe performance gaps defined in the Council's resolution.

A simple redistricting, especially oneas disruptive asthis, is clearly not the vision ofthe County Council's resolution. Insteadof helping the childrenthat CR112-2019hopes to help, the AAC andSuperintendent have aimed to scatter them throughout the communities, and simply dilute the problem. Instead ofpushing for a redistricting, the Board ofEducation should be examiningwhy our schools are failingto prepare certain communities, and remedy the problems at their source, not try to diffuse them. As it has been presented, the redistricting would be a superficial change to our system at the cost of tens of thousands of children's social networks, and millions of dollars annually in transportation costs (to an already indebted system), and would come at benefit of no child's academic performance. I would like to know how the Board of Educationcan justify such a plan.

Thank you, Patrick Lafond (polygon 28) Hsu Family Polygon 176 September 25, 2019

Dear Howard County Board of Education Members:

As a member of the Howard County community over the past twelve years, I'm writing this letter to strongly oppose the proposed school redistricting plan by the School Superintendent. We currently reside in Polygon 176 and are directly impacted by the proposal to move 7, 400 students to new schools beginning in 2020-21.

I'd like to share our personal experience. We previously lived in Polygon 1189. When the girls reached 6th grade a couple years ago, half of the Girl Scout troop who our daughter had been together with for five years at Pointers Run ES went to Clarksville MS while the other half went to Lime Kiln MS. Concerted efforts were made to keep the troop together but it was undeniably a major factor in the troop disbanding a year later. Please keep school feeds together- separating them severely disrupts our community.

In deciding to move to Polygon 176 prior to the release of this proposed redistricting plan, we anticipated minimal disruption from the move during these formative years with high school on the horizon. Being a stone's throw from River Hill HS, our daughter looked forward to still see friends from the neighborhood once she heads to high school next year. Since a young age, she has regularly attended open community events such as concerts and sporting events at River Hill HS. The local schools are integral to our community. Following our move in December 2019, we were seriously disconcerted to learn that the new redistricting proposal unveiled after our move aims to send her much further away. The drive to River Hill HS takes less than five minutes. Under this proposal, she will be required to spend a minimum of 20-25 minutes commuting to Wilde Lake without accounting for high traffic periods. This increased drive time will affect after school learning opportunities for all children in our situation and generate work-life balance issues for the parents who take them to school. Ironically, had we not moved, we would not have been subject to proposed high school redistricting even though our old home is located farther away from the high school than where we currently reside in Polygon 176.

Personally, I have taught chess to hundreds of students over the years in before and after school programs in schools throughout Howard County watching kids grow into respectful, productive members of society, and would like to believe that I have firsthand knowledge of the educational needs of children. These plans have much further reaching, lasting deleterious impacts on communities, families and our children than those who proposed them might imagine. There are much better and more transparent ways to address the important issues that the Board of Education is considering, ways that facilitate opportunities for all students. I have confidence in the generosity and resourcefuiness of Howard County to achieve this in a manner that does not result in far greater harm than perceived good and lead to the uprooting of families and communities.

Respectfully,

EdHsu Ellicott City, MD Good evening everyone. My name is Irene Mosyak and I am currently a senior at River Hill High School. I belong to Polygon 181 and strongly oppose the superintendent's plan for redistricting. Because I am a senior, thankfully, no matter what, I will not be impacted by this plan. I am, however, testifying on behalfof my younger brother, Isaak, and his friends who are all currently on the Triadelphia Ridge ES, Folly Quarter MS, and River Hill HS track. Something that he will no longer get a chance to experience if the superintendent's plan goes into effect. Now, admittedly, I never really felt like I fit with my peers in school before I moved to Howard County. Moving from Montgomery County to Howard County in 5th grade and attending Triadelphia for half a year was only the beginning. It was not until I began attending Folly Quarter did, I get a true taste of what it means to be a part of this community. I remember the move being extremely difficult, but what I will never forget is being welcomed with open arms, both physically and literally to be a part of what we have here on 108 and beyond!

Community. Community. Community. Whetherit be a teacher, friend, teammate, or neighbor the community we are all a part of is an integral part of every aspect of our lives, and I am not just talking about where we live or go to school. I'm talking about where our siblings and children grow up, where we make our fondest memories, and most importantly, where we embrace each other. Yes, my family is rooted in our home and the physical location we reside in, but when the Board of Education proposes redisto'icting, not only are they dismpting who were but what we stand for. The official definition of a "community" is a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. We are those particular characteristics. We are love, diversity, acceptance, we are the River Hill Culture. That, however, does not mean that other Howard Communities are not the same way. Other communities would certainly feel the same way if their traditions and values were dismantled.

Now, I would like to transition a little bit. I am sure after all these testimonies, one "buzzword" remains ingrained in our minds; "community". Obviously to everyone that is different. To me, community is dressing up for "Friday Nights Under the Lights" football games, drinking bubble tea from Clarksville coinmons with my friends, late night ice cream runs to Giant, spending hours eating snow cones in the Kendall's Hardware parking lot, and learning how to do a reverse two point turn in the school parking lots. So much of what it means to grow up around here is what the youth do outside of school with the relationships they form from the moment they are introduced to this environment. Withredistricting the Board of Education strips, us ofwhat community mean to all of us individually. Longer bus times, more funds allocated to the transportation budget, negative physiological and psychological states in children are all incredibly negative aspects I canhsa-p on, but I am sure everyone here is aware of. Forcing our community to intertwine with another, is certainly not a solution. Redistricting students and parents in which their inherent community is in one place and the school in another creates an unjust disconnect. i DSAGREE with the Howard county school redistricting proposal,

It doesn't have considerable merit and only brings hardship to the innocent children, their families, fracture communities and increase unwarranted traffic and transportation cost in the HOC

Martirano's Proposal Fails to Meet Policy 6010 Standards

Martirano's proposal suggests moving 7, 396 students to relieve overcrowded schools and bring equity to Howard County. The improvements in both of these areas are negligible, in particular, when weighed with the thousands of students moved in drastic ways across the county. I urge the BOE to compare Martirano's plan against the standards of Policy 6010 to determine whether this proposal should even be considered.

As human beings we all have personal feelings regarding the redistricting process, overcrowded schools, and the inequitable distribution of housing in Howard County. As an elected Board of Education member, we implore you to leave your personal feelings out of this process. Instead, we ask that you represent the people uf Howard County who elected you. Listen to our feedback on Martirano's proposal, the Feasibility Study Options, and your own suggestions in the coming months at your Board meetings. We additionally urge you to use Policy 6010 to weigh the positives and negatives for all options.

Policy 6010 Section IV. B outlines the three main areas of consideration that the BOE should work to address in the redistricting process. The first is facility utilization. Policy 8010 states: 'Where reasonable, school attendance area utilization should stay within the target utilization for as long a period of time as possible through the consideration of: the efficient use of space, long range enrollment factors, minimizing capital and operating costs, and walkers and bus riders". Martlrano's plan fails on all counts when looking at Policy 6010 standards related to Facility Utilization. It increases transportation costs, it moves walkers to bus riders on long commutes, and it does not bring a significant amount of school attendance areas to target utilization. The proposal reduces the number of elementary schools that exceed 110% capacity from 21 to 16 while leaving 5 elementary schools below 90%, which is unimpressive. In fact, according to the forecasts in Martirano s proposal more schools will be above target utilization within a few short years than we have currently. At the elementary school level, the plan will move 3, 194 students resulting in a less than 5% reduction in schools that are over capacity in 1 year. At the middle school level, 1, 351 students are proposed to move achieving a 0% change in the number of over capacity schools in 1 year. Martirano's proposal moves 7, 396 students In an effort that fails to bring schools any meaningful change in target utilization! The moves in Martirano's proposal are not reasonable!

Second, Policy 6010 directs the board to consider community stability. Policy 6010 Section IV. C: Community Stability states: 'Where reasonable, school attendance areas should promote a sense of community in both the geographic place (e. g., neighborhood or place in which a student lives) and the promotion of a student from each school level through the consideration of: keeping strong feeds from one school level to the next (less than a 15% feed is unacceptable), keeping contiguous communities or neighborhoods together, and minimizing the frequency with which any one student is reassigned. " Martirano's plan fails on all counts when looking at Policy 8010 standards related to Community Stability. "Community", as defined by Policy 6010, is "a geographic place, specifically the neighborhood or place in which a student lives". Martirano's proposal tears apart communities all over Howard County, negatively affecting families across every socioeconomic level. We cannot allow this to happen! In addition, many of these moves significantly weaken the feeds from one school to the next, and in three years these same students and many of their peers will again be at risk of disruptive school changes during the next redistricting. Third, Policy 6010 directs the board to consider demographic characteristics. Policy 6010 Section IV. D. Demographic Characteristics of Student Population states:"Where reasonable, school attendance areas should promote the creation of a diverse and inclusive student body at both the sending and receiving schools. " Martirano's proposal fails to adequately balance FARM data across Howard County when compared to the number of students moved. There are schools where the plan moves hundreds of students and achieves less than a 5% change in students who receive FARMs. There are overcapadty schools with tow MRMSnumbers that haveno proposed moves ofpolygons to adjacentunderutilized schools with high FARMS numbers. There are significant island moves that require transportation past multiple closer schools with capadty, and in some cases, unreasonable routes because of geographical barriers. Some examples include a West Friendship neighborhood being sent to Bushy Park Elementary, a Swansfield community neighborhood being sent to Clarksville Elementary, a Pointers Run community neighborhood sent to Swansfield Elementary, a Fulton Elementary community neighborhood sent to Laurel Woods Elementary, a Stevens Forest Elementarycommunity neighborhoodsent to BryantWoods, a Clarksville Middlecommunity neighborhood sent to Harpers Choice Middle, a Harper's Choice community neighborhood sent to Clarksville Middle, a River Hill High School community neighborhood sent to Wilde Lake High School, and pretty much all of the gerrymandered Atholton High School attendance area, which also impacts the Hammond and Oakland Mills neighborhoods.

When making moves like these, Policy 6010 IV.D specifically states that consideration should be given to the number of students moved, taking into account the correlation between the number of students moved, the outcomes of other standards achieved insertion IV. B. (Facility Utilization) and the length of time those results are expected to be maintained. " When we weigh the demographic changes in this proposal against the number of students moved, the negligible impact on facility utilization, and the short length of time these changes are expected to be maintained, Martirano's proposal fails! Only 10 out of 74 elementary, middle, and high schools see more than a 10% change in FARMs rates in Martirano's proposal. Applying an even lower criteria of 5% or greater change in FARMS rates, only 14 out of 74 schools in Howard County are affected, Negligible changes in facility utilization and negligible changes in FARMS rates at the cost of the redistricting 7, 396 students does not meet the Standards for redistricting students as outlined in Policy 6010!

The bottom line is Martirano's proposal fails to meet Policy 6010 standards, and therefore the BOE should not consider the proposal during this redistricting process! The BOE must consider whether redistricting is even necessary at this time or if waiting 3 years is acceptable. If redistricting is necessary as deemed by the standards of Policy 6010, the BOE must only consider options that achieve the standards set forth in Policy 6010"'

Janki Patel Polygon -176 Statement

Sub: DISAGREE with the proposed Howard county school redistricting.

The feasibility study did not recommend moving polygon 176. I want to make couple point s here.

1. Children are not Polygons. 2. Children are not pawns in a political game, personal propagation plan. 3. PLEASE do not sacrifice innocent Children, put them through unwarranted hardship of long travel against traffic, make them feel insecure, steal their sleep or break up communities.

I am not opposed to other kids coming to underutilized schools if they're willing to. The/re welcome. But moving Kids away from RHHS is an idea I am completely opposed to. I don't understand why a kid living next a school should compromise on his essential sleep and secure feeling of being close to home, should shuttle across a long distance against traffic spending hours in the bus day in and day out. That's hundreds of hours of punishment for innocent children and their parents. It will increase traffic burden across the county and increase cost of transportation for the schools. It takes away the sense of security from the kids that they are close to their home and that their parents / loved ones can be reached soon in an adverse event.

Some students fare better than others, it's natural talent. In that context, not even all the fingers in the hand are same, they are unique in their own ways. Additional support for excelling students comes at home where Parents spend hours tutoring them, encouraging them to study hard and create an environment, an ambition to achieve higher goals. Unfortunately, some students lack a supportive environment at home and efforts should be made to help them in this regard rather than shuttling them around.

Additional classes after school is an option for those willing. Perhaps recruiting additional teachers to bring down the student teacher ratio in lower GPA schools may help give more individualized attention. Sensitizingparents, parent teacher meetings may help. Improving home and community environment is paramount and school redistricting doesn't help. It may even increase rate of absence if a a kid misses the school bus and the parent isn't willing to drive those additional miles in addedtraffic burden. A good student in a relatively lower GPAschool could easily feel frustrated and inferior in a highly competitive environment without adequate support and could get lost in the translation. In the end, please do not subject these innocent children to undue, unwarranted hardship for the ulterior motives of few individual.

Srinivasa Narayanaswamy. Sheppard Manor

Polygon: 176 Woodmark Neighborhood Members Polygons 180, 181, 1180

To Howard County Board of Education,

We are writing as dedicated parents, concerned citizens of Howard County, and committed members of the Woodmark Community. Weare a neighborhood (polygons 180, 181and 1180), established almost 50years ago, located along Carroll Mill Rd., consisting of 232 homes. Woodmark is still home to many of the originalowners, newfamilies, and all generations in between. InWoodmark, we have no public pathways, no shared playgrounds, and no "village center" within walking distance. Despite these barriers, we are a tight knit small community. We have many annual events including a Halloween paradeand party, a Fall Picnic,and Neighborhood yard sales. We even havemonthly Buncogatherings. We paycommunity association dues. It requires effort, but we are dedicated to maintaining the close- knit community that is Woodmark. I havethree boysunder the age of 6. Onlyone child iscurrently in ElementarySchool. Two of my boys receive speech servicesthrough HowardCounty PublicSchools. Underthe proposed redistricting planand feasibility studies, polygon 181,comprised ofapproximately 60 homes, is proposed to be split from the rest ofthe neighborhood. Thisgoes against many ofthe policy 6010factors, including all the factors intended to help stabilize communities.

Summary 1) Woodmark is comprised of polygons 1180, 180, and 181. This proposal would divide our neighborhood for high school, sending polygon 181to Wilde Lake (projected only 19 children) and polygons 180and 1180to Glenelg (projected 35 children). 2) The current feed for our high school. River Hill, from our middle school Folly Quarter isapproximately 33%. Thisproposal woulddecrease the highschool feed for polygon 181in halfdown to 17%. Notonly would ourchildren bewithout the supportgroup that they've grownup with inthe Woodmark community, but they would be cutting theirfeed percentage in halfas a result ofthis proposal. 3) Withthe expected redistrictingto support highschool 13 in 3 years,there isa likelihood that kids moved asa result ofthis redistricting are moved againwhen the highschool opens. Thisis disruptive. 4) Wilde Lakeis much further bycar and bus than other alternatives. It is almost double the commute of Glenelgor RiverHill bycar. Ifseparated from the restof our neighborhood, carpoolingto andfrom extracurricular activities becomes increasingly difficult. 5) Whilethis proposal separates usfrom our immediate neighborhood and communities to the north andeast, to our immediatesouth istwo milescomprised ofthe Universityof Maryland Agriculture school andthe FranciscanFriary and their farmland. Thisnatural land bufferserves to createeven more of a feeling of isolation from the rest ofthe proposed communities offSheppard and Homewood. Point by Point We understand that the Howard County School system isworking to address a crisis ofovercrowding. Weunderstand children must move.We want the bestfor all students in HowardCounty. However, ~we want to draw BOE members' attention to how each plan would affect our neighborhood and what BOE members can do to help our neighborhood continue to thrive.

Neighborhood Division Three proposals have been released in 2019 regarding redistricting. The Feasibility study provided two options andSuperintendent Martiriano proposed oneoption. All options unanimously keepour entire neighborhood atTriadelphia Ridge Elementary School (TRES), and Folly Quarter Middle School (FQMS). Yet,for highschool, a myriad ofoptions havebeen proposed, all ofwhich divide our neighborhood. The following chart summarizes the proposed high schools for our neighborhood aswell ashow many children are in each polygon.

Projected # Current HS Feasibility Feasibility HS students study Option Study Option 2020-2025 #1 #2 Martiriano's Plan 1180 <10 River Hill HS Glenelg HS Glenelg HS Glenelg HS 180 31-35 River Hill HS River Hill HS | Glenelg HS Glenelg HS 181 16-21 River Hill HS River Hill HS ! River Hill HS Wilde Lake HS ALLOPTIONS send all three Polygon'sto TRESand FQMS

Asyou can see ourneighborhood is currently districted to RiverHill HighSchool (RHHS). The feasibility studyoptions divideour neighborhood between RHHSand Glenelg HighSchool (GHS)and Martiriano's plan^dividesour neighborhood between Glenelg HighSchool (GHS) and Wilde LakeHigh School (WLHS). WeOPPOSE the proposals thatdivide our neighborhood andwould arguethat our neighborhood should bedistricted TOGETHERto oneof the geographically appropriate highsschools'such as RHHS or GHS.

Facility Utilization In Policy6010, facility utilization includes subcategories ofefficient useof available space, long-range enrollment, fiscal responsibility by minimizing capital and operating costs, number of students that walk or receive bus service, and location of regional programs. Target Facility Utilization is defined as enrollment iseither below 90%or above 110%of capacity. Forthe three highschools being considered forour neighborhood (RHHS,GHS, and WLHS), the Superintendent's plandoes not improve target facility utilization, but, infact, exacerbates overcrowding. Historically WLHShas had the highestof capacitiesof the three highschools (see below): 2017-2018 | School Total % Capacity school ! Capacity Enrollment profiles

GHS 1420 1173 82%

RHHS 1488 1157 78%

WLHS 1424 1276 89%

In his proposal, the Superintendent plans to move part of our neighborhood from RHHS (at lower % capacity) to WLHS (at higher % capacity). Rather than improving facility utilization, his plan exacerbates overcrowding at WLHS. In his plan, WLHS would be at 108% capacity the year of 2024-2025 making it more crowded than GHS and RHHS.

Community Stability Community stability would be compromised by sending a small percentage of our neighborhood to WLHS.There are three high schools (GHS, RHHS, and MRHS) that are closer to the Woodmark Community as you can see below:

High Minutes Miles Traffic School drive from from Mt lights Mt Albert Albert Rd. Rd.

GHS 9 min. 4. 6 mi

RHHS llmin. 5. 3 mi.

MRHS 13 min. 6. 7 mi.

WLHS 16 min. 7 mi.

Driving directly without busstops, WLHSis 77%further awaythan GHSand 45% further awaythan RHHS.Spending more time on a bus means that our children will have LESSTIME to sleep, complete homework, participate in extracurricular activities, and enjoy time with family. The riskfor accidents would be greater on a commute to WLHS, especially for young drivers, which has6-7 more traffic lights than the alternatives.

Importantly, parents who have middle and high school students who choose to drive their children directly to school in order to limit time on the bus will NOTbe able to make it from WLHSat its start time of7:25 andthen to FQMSat its start time of 7:40. It takes 17 minutes withouttraffic to make this drive- meaningthat the middle schoolchild would easily be 5 minutes LATEto schoolevery day.Our carbonfootprint would also be much larger. Small Feeds Community stability, in Policy6010, calls for "feeds that encourage keeping students together from one schoolto the next, " in additionto "areasthat are madeup of contiguous communities or neighborhoods. " Atthe time ofthe writing of this letter, theentire Woodmark neighborhood goes from FQMSto RHHS.Our children aresurrounded byabout half of their friends from FQMSwhen they arrive at RHHS. Currently about halfof FQMSgoes to GHS(433/869) and halfgoes to RHHS (436/869). Put another way, when they are at RHHS 32% of RHHS is comprised of students from FQMS. This feed would besplit in HALFunder the superintendent's proposalfor one of our polygons- whereonly 17%of WLHS would be fed from FQMS (see chart below).

Current The Feed Superintendent's proposal

Feed from FQMS to RHHS 32. 86%

Feed from FQMS to GHS 42. 37% 45. 50%

Feed from FQMS to WLHS 17% superintendent's proposal divides our neighborhood, sending two polygons (1180and 180) to GHSand one polygon (181) to WLHS. Our neighborhood is literally being sent in opposite directions- while our children can walk to each other's homes, they would be attending high schools 20 minutes from each other. Weunderstand thatthe Superintendentwas likely unawarethat Polygons181, 1180and 180 wereall partof one neighborhoodand would askthat this be addressed,and proposed schools reconsidered. Wedo notwant there to bea precedent that makes it acceptableto divideour neighborhood. Keepingour neighborhood together at RHHSor GHSshould notsignificantly impact anyoverall plan's numbers aswe are a relatively small neighborhood. Inthe schoolyear 2018-2019, Polygon 181is currently comprised of31 high schoolers, Polygon 180 has21 high schoolers, and Polygon 1180 has<10 highschoolers. Thefeasibility study projected that Polygon 181would have16-21 high schoolers, Polygon 180would have 31-35 high schoolers, and 1180would have <10high schoolers. Our numbers aresmall and,considering the numbers, it should befeasible to keepour community together at one of the high schools that provide larger feeds and closer proximity to our community. Ifthe BOE is committed to keeping Polygon's 180 and 1180at Glenelg, as is recommended in the Superintendent's plan,we would request that Polygon 181also be sent to GHS.If the BOE is considering the ideaspresented in the Feasibilitystudy's proposal whichprovides GHSand RHHSas options to Woodmark, wewould askthat our neighborhood bekept together asa community at either highschool. Whateveroption ischosen, we would requestthat there bea clauseto keeprising Juniors at their current high school (which is RHHS) until they finish their education. Woodmark members work to promote community and continuity for their children. The superintendent's Proposal dividesour neighborhoodand sends it in different directions. We believe that sending all three ofour polygons to the same HSwould be most consistent with Policy 6010 in that these options provide efficient facility utilization and ensure community stability without significant impact to the distribution of farm percentages. In the Area Attendance Boundary Review Survey citizens in Howard County prioritized what aspects of Policy6010 they beiievedwere most important. Transportation considerations, keepingfeeds of students together, and maintaining contiguous communities or neighborhoods were listed as the top three priorities. Considering demographic factors wasthe 5th most important priority. We would ask that these Voter's preferences be considered. Pleasevote "NO"on the Superintendent's Proposal.

Sincerely,

The Members ofWoodmark

Courtney Greer

Polygon 181 YanWang Polygon 64

I am a mother of two girls. As an immigrant and minority, I fully support diversity and good education for future generations. We do respect the BOEand superintendent and think that you arefrom a good place when developingthe current proposal. However, after reviewingthe current proposal, we have the following questions/concerns: 1) Quality of education, what are the keyfactors affectingquality of education and doyou have datato support this plan.The current plan has overly simplified a complicated issue. It does not seem that there is enough evidenceto support the claim thatthe current planwill help students, especially the oneswho need special support. How confident are you that this plan will work? Has similar plan been implemented in other similar school districts, if so, were the outcomes positive? Those of us who will be affected will like to see data and solid evidence to back up your claim and plan. Education should not be about politics and is definitely not a numbers game, our children's future is at stake. Students' welfare should be the priority and needs to be taken into real consideration. 2) About diversity, we see every color in our community and there are black, Asian, Indian, Mexican, and white kids in my daughter's class, so I am puzzled and curious, what doyou mean whenyou sayour school/community is not diverseand howcan the current plan bring more diversity? Ifyou are concerning the economic status of the kids' families, busing kids over longer distance is not the right solution to bring equity. It only makethe numberappear better. Again, education is not politics and this is not the right place to deal with economic issues. Instead of putting more money into transportation based on the current plan, please make better use of the money and make some real impact on supporting the families in need. 3) Transparency. As a new voting residence, I would like to request the board to have more transparency when developing redistricting p»an. Were the public's input collected/reviewed and reflected in the decision. Since you are targeting at diversity during this round of redistricting, please shareyour thoughts on the diversity of the current AACcommittee. Is the committee diverse enough to well represent the majority of our county residence? 4) Community stability. Is the board aware of the potential impact of the current plan on community stability? Sincethis is a democratic country, we have rights to choose our own community and the schools within our community. Having a stable community is very important for kids' emotional wellbeing and the overall development of a county. If a plan is lackof committee support, it will not be a successful plan. Pleasekeep an open mind andvalue the public's input. Inthe end, I urgeyou to revise the current proposal to keepour kids in the community schools. Thank you! DATE: September 25, 2019 TO: Howard County Public School System FROM: Rabbi Barry Rubin, 11818 Linden Chapel Rd., Clarksville, MD 21029 SUBJECT: Superintendent Dr. Michael J. Martirano recommendations

I live in Polygon 1185and want to add my thoughtsto the manyyou no doubt have already received.

Although I'm all for quality education for all the children in Howard County, don't think that Dr. Martirano's plan that would accomplish this.

Wouldn't it be more effective to improve each of the schools with better administration, better teachers and better facilities?

It seems to me that moving kids all over the county, away from their communities and families, causing them to have to leave for their new schools earlier and get home later, would detract from family life, cause confusion in the schools and make it MORE difficult to educate our kids. Please vote againstthis current plan proposed by the head of our school board. I truly believe it will do more overall harm to the education of our children and be detrimental to our County, even while trying to do good.

Thank you for considering my thoughts.

Rabbi Barry Rubin 11818LindenChapelRd. Clarksville, MD 21029 410-499-4540 Xiaomina Xu Polygon 64

Heilo BOE,

I am writing this letter to oppose the current redistricting plan. This plan overly simplifies a complicated issue and it does not resolve any problems. It will only make the number appear better, which is not the kind of support children need from you as leaders. This plan will increase the cost of transpiration, which is completely not necessary. Please make better use of the money. Use the money to improve facility, improve curriculums, and give families/kids who need help more support.

urge you to listen to the public and revise your current plan.

Thanks, Xiaoming Dear Board of Education Members,

whenmLfami!y fi,rst m°vecl to the Riverw°°d neighborhood of Ellicott City, located in Polygon r-?-7-^^. 2?1l, 'l, v*"ll, admit' '.w??a bit confused as to whywe were slated to attend Longfellow , -^.Tf-l?,t-ary?c:hool instead ofClarksville. However, as my son has nowmatriculated through i;?!1§!!ll°.vvlhayin_g. g?!:luat^clto Harper'sChoice Middle School, and my daughter'is attenSing herfirst year at Longfellow, I am so thankful thatthese are theirschoolhomes. And, lpraythat these homes remain theirs, as every time I see this school, I see the vision of James Rouse in action.

When we first moved to this area, my son, who was three, attended a Montessori school, and very much intended for him to continue there throughout his elementary years. I researched every Montessori in the area, with the first requirement being divBrsity-noton!yofrace, butof !l-ig-.'?r'. ec°n°, mi?:status'. and beliefs Because my husband is such a large advocate of public school, we ended up moving ourson in first grade to the local elementary" and I was'nervous.' However, what we found was exactly the type of diversity that I had been searching for when we first moved.

Longfellow^Elementary currently has 34. 1% Black, 22. 6% white and 22. 6% Hispanic students, an _o r'1°°/°.. °f studerlts identifyasbi- °r multiracial. Formy biracial children, theycouTd ask for nothing better. A little over 49% ofstudents receive free and reduced meals', however" am aware that the economic scale for Longfellow families is wide, with middle class and even millionaires attending. This is the representation of the world that I want for my children. Manyof our neighbors sendtheir children to private schools, and infact, McDonough hasa bus stopd°wn-the-stre_etfr°m °.ur house' T° be h°nest. having beenthrough private schools'myself- -because my hometown publicschools were lacking-1 looked into private schools for our children. However, the concern that I kept having was that lack of diversity, both racialand e.c-°n°m.ic:J belley,e my I:h.i.ldren are n°t °nly receiving a top-notch education, butthey also have friends who look like me, like their father, and everything in between. The anticipated changes for my children would move them from some ofthe most diverse schools in Howard County (Longfellow, Harper's Choice and Wilde Lake) into schools'that are S.^e:?^^r°te?tirlg the intermi"glin3 oftheir current students withthose who may be FARM. ^.is-'i?. ^?!.a?Tnln-??", rT'?nyways-Not onlywouid mychildren leave alltheir friends, andmy a school daughter^leaye she has known (through my involvement with her brother) since she was a baby, but we would be with students and parents who love integration.. iust'don;t1ove' integrating. -feel. t.hls-w°ulc:lals°hurt °ur h°me sch°°ls-some ofthe most involved parents are my neighbors, with the president ofthe PTA living around the corner from m'e-and'aTso slated to

.rn°ve'. lft,heg<:'al °fthls redistricting is to achieve the diversity and integration that'Columbia" wants to befamous for, then they should not only leave Long'fellow/Hai'per's Choice/WildeLake i, but they should use it as a model for other areas in the county. In my career as an educator, I had the privilege ofteaching at a very diverse, Title I school in A.Iexandria;'found. thatthedw8rsity a great benefitto the students. 'asthey were'ableto ask questi°r's. ancl^ett°, knowthose who may n°t share their race. economic-status-o7religion"And hopefullythose children have now grown into adults who encourage diversity. Workingnow on Howard Community College's campus, know that our students will come in contact with those different from themselves, and it only helps the climate ofour campus for all those to understand that differences do not mean division.

I do believe that many schools need to become more integrated, and support other moves for students. However, taking the integration from Longfellowmay be hurting this goal, ratherthan helping it.

Thank you for your consideration,

Cari Coteman Godin, M.A.T., M.A. Kathleen V. Hanks

From: sayyadajinnah Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2019 8:56 AM To: Hcpss Redistricting; Mavis Ellis; Kirsten Coombs;Vicky Cutroneo; Christina Delmont- Small; Jennifer Mallo; Sabina Taj; Chao Wu; Student Board Member; Superintendent Subject: [External] Oppose superintendent Dr Martirano's redistricting plan

Dear BOE members, We are family from Polygon 1296 We strongly oppose the large scale redistricting proposal proposed by Superintendent. The redistricting process started is because of High School 13 opening to relieve the overcrowding issue ONLY. The primary goals for Superintendent and board members should be setting the boundary now for High school 13 and Hammond High new boundary with increased 200 hundreds seats in 2023. With keep this in mind that should be less disruption to vulnerable students and more stability to the community.

- splitting community - create burdens to kids longer commuting, make local traffic even worse less sleep, more stress, unhealthy life large scale redistricting >7000, where this busingfee come from? I strongly urge the board reject superintendent's proposal. Thanks for your time.

SayyadaJinnah

1296 Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Madhuri Muktha Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2019 8:54 AM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Oppose superintendent Dr Martirano's redistricting plan

Dear BOE members,

We are family from Polygon 311 We strongly oppose the large scale redistricting proposal proposed by Superintendent.

The redistricting process started is becauseof HighSchool 13 openingto relievethe overcrowding issue ONLY. The primary goals for Superintendent and board members should be settingthe boundary nowfor Highschool 13 and Hammond High new boundary with increased 200 hundreds seats in 2023. With keep this in mind that should be less disruption to vulnerable students and more stability to the community.

strongly urge the board reject superintendent's proposal. Thanks for your time.

Polygon number: 311 Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Danica Novacic Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2019 7:52 AM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] School redistricting polygon 1256

Hello, I wouldlike to letyou know that we respectfully disagreewith the Howard County Schoolredistricting plan. I live inpolygon 1256. Webought thishouse andpaid more for it solely because ofthe goodschool to whichour childrencould walk or ride a bike.Every morning I walkand see many kids walking thm Maple Lawn to getto school. This is exactly thehealthy lifestyle parents andschools should bepromoting. Forcing children to commute bybus to a faraway school will ruin thehealthy mantra ofincoiporating physical activity into one's dailyroutine. Obesityrates in children in our country aresecond to none because of policies likewhat the schoolredistricting plan is proposing now. Kids that are bused also don't have as much ability to stayafter school andparticipate in sports and other after school activities becuase working parents can't leave work to pickthem up. They need to be able to walk home in a safecommunity with a sidewalk. Exactly what Maple Lawnhas developed. Weand many others in our community will likely haveto move andtake a loss onour houses. This is not about anykind ofdiscrimination against any child. This isjust common sense measures promoting a healthy lifestyle andkeeping a community together. Thank you for listening. Maple Lawn Resident Donna Chandra Boppana Ploygon 304

Dear Board of Education Members,

I am emailing to express my concerns with regard to the elementary school redistricting proposal for the year 2019. I am here to ask you not to let the elementary kids from a few polygons in Howard County be denied of equitable education as promised by Policy 6010.

Kids from our polygon have already been moved from Manor Woods Elementary to Waverly Elementary School in 2018. How many times do these kids have to gothrough this before they complete their education in public schools?

The distance to Waverly Elementary is 4. 5 miles, where as to Bushy Park Elementary is 10. 1 miles from where I live. Mind you, these are only one way distances.

Taking the miles into consideration, imagine for a second, the amount of time and the number of miles that any parent would have to travel to and from school in a single day, if the kids are moved from Waverly Elementary to Bushy Park Elementary?

Imagine how miserable it would be if a parent or a guardian or a grandparent had to reach their kid in emergency?

Needless to say, the mental and physical stress caused due to travel fatigue affects the overall well being of the kid. In today's world, a kid's learning doesn't end with returning from school. They participate in one or the other extra-curricular activities every day. This business of travelling 20 miles a day for school is going to leave them with no energy to pursue any of their other interests. Whyshould 5-11 yearold kidshave to travel so manymiles every single dayto obtain elementary education, especially residing in one of the best school districts in the state.

Isthis what you call equitable educational opportunity? would appreciate your support and careful consideration in this matter. I urge you to reject this proposal, which has already been rejected by you in 2017.

Thank you for the opportunity. Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Priti Bijpuria Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2019 8:35 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Polygon 1256 move

To whom it may concern, My name is Priti Bijpuria andI ama resident ofmaple lawn(polygon 115)not currently affectby the redistrictmg However I wanted to voice my concerns regarding the 1256 polygon move and how it negatively impacts the dayto day lives ofthe community members. As a physician, I spend hours awayfrom my family as do many other working families. I choose every dayto take care ofpatients which ultimately takes time away from my family but I do it because I want to give back to the community. I have missed countless school events due to my careerbut beinghaving my children go to school close to where we live makes it possible for me to participate asmuch aspossible or allows my kids to still take part in practices because they areminutes away andneighbors are more then happyto help out. I know a lot offamilies inmaple lawn are in sameposition - two working parents and to move their kids to a school where they could not easily rely on neighbors to help out withresult in manykids beingisolated andnot ableto partake in school activities. Andthose parents will not be ableto make events becausethe school is not minutes from home. Schoolis notjust a place of education. It is the coreof a community andpeople shouldnot be separatedwithout seriousthought to the ramifications. I recently reada statement where someone implied maple lawnis full ofstay at home parents - that is not tme andcoming from a business owner andphysician-1 rely on my community to help with my kids. As they say- it takes a village to raise a kid.

Please do not separate our village.

Respectfully, Priti Bijpuria

Sent from my iPhone Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Benjamin Vaghari Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2019 8:15 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] HCPSS Redistricting - Polygon 1256 Constituent Email. Not Testimony

Dear Board of Education Members, As a resident of the Maple Lawn community, not the particular polygon in question (hillside district), would like to ask that you please keep the Maple Lawn community together during the redistricting process. As a child I was redistricted and ended up separated from my friends. I realize due to class sizes and overcrowding that change needed to be made, but that knowledge did not make the transition any easier. For me, my friends were all spaced out geographically as I didn't grow up in a large neighborhood, just a small collection of houses. After that separation, I never felt the same way about school again. To sum up years of my life withjust a fewwords, I began a stretch of excused absences related to gastrointestinal symptoms. I did not realize until I was much older that my symptoms were a physical manifestation of the psychological stress I was under. Everything turned out well for me, I suppose. I am a physician and happily married with two young children. But I had hoped by moving to Maple Lawn I would both give my children that great neighborhood I never had growing up and spare them from the separations of social networks that a growing county can all to often require.

Thank you all for your consideration, Benjamin Vaghari 11271 Market Street Fulton, MD 20759 Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Victoria ML Budich Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2019 7:10 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Please Vote NO - 2020 Boundary Review Recommendation

My name is Victoria Budich, and I reside in Polygon 180

I live in Woodmaikand our diverse community is comprised ofthe following polygons: 1180, 181, and 180. For nearly 50 years the Woodmark coinmunity has been a close-knit community in Howard County. We have beenredistricted several times, but alwaystogether. Wehave a strong Home OwnersAssociation, community leadership, and community activities throughout the year. When Bus 775 picks up my daughter on Carroll Mill Road, the next stop is at her best friend's house on Mt. Albert Rd. I reviewed the Superintendent's proposal it threatens to tearmy community in half. Carroll Mill Roadties our community together, andBenson Branch should not be used to divide it.

My husband grew up in Columbia and graduated from Howard High School. We stayed for the Howard County Schools and for the community. We spend Halloween together, we ride bikes together, we take walks together, and our kids should be able to go to high school together.

Speakingof going to school together, pleasenote that ourneighborhood has one ofthe longestbus commutes for elementary, middle school, and high school. My elementary schooler is on the bus at Sam in order to arrive for the first bell by 8:45am. My son is on the bus at 6:45am to arrive at his middle school for the first bell at 7:3Oam. I cannot fathom what all ofthe proposed changeswill do to the busroutes in our community. In an effort to allow their kids to sleep in, I see more parents leaving the bus option behind and clogging Triadelphia Rd., Folly QuarterRd., Sheppardand Homewood to get their kids to school ontime, makingbus and school commutes even longer.

Several months ago I voiced my concern to the BOE as well as the County Council about the constant fire-drills associated with HCPSS. I've advocated for a strong fulsome HCPSS budget, I've organized citizens to speak out against cuts to education staffin our schools, and I am writing now asking you to STOP breaking up communities. STOP. You have 2 years to prepare thoughtful meaningful transitions into HS-13. Do not waste any more public funds to learn howto carve up Howard County communities. Do not spend funds on extra buses when you can spend that money on what our schools need - TEACHERS, PARAEDUCATORS, COUNSELORS. Put our children and educators first. The current recommendation threatens to tear apart communities in Columbia, Ellicott City, Clarksville, etc. STOP. Youwill not findequity for any citizenof the county with these tactics. We have 2 years to take the correct next steps in Howard County. Those steps include; bmlding schools before newresidences, investing in aging schools before redistricting, and advocating the HowardCounty Council to approve CB-42 2019 for higherschool surcharge feesthat encourage builders to invest in the land they dig up.

Respectfully submitted,

Victoria Budich Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Gabriel Maznick Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2019 5:44 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] School Redistricting

I amvery much against the proposed re-districtin^using proposal for Howard County Md. I thinkthis wrong and should not be allowed to proceed. My rationale is:

. K sends a badmessage to theyoung house buyers. Theypay increased housing costs to move into Howard °^nt^fwsw^ schoolsfortheir children Nowthe county wants to say you can still pay the high housing costs for a good school district, butwe will shipyour child offto a poorperforming school ifwe wantto 2. Îfcrowding is a concern Aen redistrictinûsing not a solution itjust hidesthe problem, whichis over building. Insteadôfa bussingprogram the county shouldhave a moratorium onall residential bmlding untilthe school system is fully capable to handle the number of students. 3. Busingfor economic reasons is not a solutionto theproblems asit wasnot a solutionto segregation. I it creates a have andhave notproblems as students compare what one has anddoes not have. The schools should be receiving anequal funding basedon student population. Ifthis is occurring, thenthe schools should be perfomiing at the same level. Ifthey arenot the problem is withthe school andits administration or student body. Busing does not fix that. 4. I donot think race should be part of the redistricting decisions. Inthis area we have a very diverse ethnic/religious grouping. Ifyou go by race it creates a very difficultproblem ofwhat races should be included. white,black, Indian,mid-eastem, Asian, southAmerican, etc. andhow much of each should be included where. As I indicate above busing did not solve segregation. Dr.Wu raises a goodquestion whythe significant difference on numbers inone year. To methe proposal seems to be more of a "personal agenda" than one designed to help the community.

Gabriel Maznick Howard County MD Poly 1003 September 25, 2019

Howard County Board of Education Ellicott City, MD Re:Written Testimony inSupport ofSuperintendent's RedistrictingPlan

Greetings Board of Education Members:

-.".. -!.!n_a. nv°!mv MapleLawn nei8hb°rs. I appreciatethe opportunity to offertestimony to share my SUPPORTfor Dr. Martirano's proposed redistricting plan. Theopposition to the Superintendent's Plan reflects the fact that change is difficult and few parents (and students) want to move to new schools especially if they are further away from their homes than their currently zoned schools. Nevertheless, the Superintendent'sproposal to pursue redistrictingto relieveover-crowding AND to advancesocio- economic integration is the RIGHT course of action.

The highconcentration of poverty among a subset of HCPSSschools while others have FARMS rates belowfive percent is nothing lessthan criminal when we understand the deleterious impact of concentrated poverty on student achievement. Justthis past week, Stanford University researchers recognized socio-economic segregation asthe primary driver ofthe Black-White achievement gap. 1 I am sure your Board is also familiar with research by the Century Foundation demonstrating a more favorable Impact ofsocio-economic integration on student outcomes (that narrows the achievement gap) than providing additional resources to high-poverty schools to offset the negative impacts of concentrated poverty on student achievement.2

Since we know concentrated poverty undermines student achievement andfosters opportunity and achievementgaps, the rightthing to dois to reduceit wheneverthere isan opportunity. I applaudDr. Martirano for his proposed plan. I am also encouraged bythe draft resolution being considered bythe County Council to encourage HCPSSto develop a larger equity and integration plan that encourages the Board of Education to make socio-economic integration a priority and encourages the development of anexplicit plan for promotingsocio-economic integration acrossthe school system. We are a County that upholds CIVILITYwhen we advocate for the public good ratherthan own individual interests and follow the Golden Rule oftreating one another the waythat wewould want to betreated. HCPSSis a strong school system which isthe reason why myfamily moved to the County seven years ago. But it is not a great school system for everyone asthe persistent gaps byrace, ethnicity and income across most measures of opportunity and performance demonstrate. We can do much better; the Superintendent's redistricting plan isa wayforward, hopeyou will offerit yourunanimous support.

Sincerely,

Elaine Bonner-Tompkins, Ph. D. Fulton, MD 20759 Polygon 1259

^fi^/my)nuisshinhtonposi.. comflncai/education/achiavoment-. -ap<-i;i-

Jonathan Weiner 5007 Altogether Way Polygon 1200 Re: Proposed School Redistricting Plan Dear Board of Education, I strongly oppose SuperintendentMartirano's proposed schoolredistricting planand ask that you vote against it. Theproposed plan would result in high school students frompolygon 1200attending Wilde Lake High School insteadof River Hill High School. Thecommute from our neighborhoodto Wilde Lake High School will take over an hour each way when accounting for traffic andbus stops. Thelong distancerequired to commute is unnecessary whenour current highschool is a short distance and short drive away. My children will not havethe opportunity to participate in before school or after school activities if so much oftheir day is wastedcommuting to andfrom school andif it is more difficult for their parents to make a trip to the school when still needing to commute to and from work. Theadded cost to transport students andthe addedtime andcost forparents to drive further whenneeding to attend school functions, participate in activities, andassist students hasnot been accounted for with a feasibility study. The entire plan should be rejected until more information can be collected and reviewed. - ad(iitionto thelonger commute times, theproposed plan violates the concept of Community Stability as outlined in Policy 6010(IV)(B)(2) as it isolates polygon 1200 as a'land island. Polygon 1200is isolatedgeographically by deadend back roads becauseLinden Church Road doesnot connect to anyback roads that feed to SheppardLane, so it will createa verydifficult commute that will rely on congested highways to drive to and from Wilde LakeHigh School. According to the "data-em-oll-projections-suppressed. xlsx" spreadsheet provided by HCPSS, Polygon 1200 is projected to have 31 high school students in the 2020-2021 school year. A bus pickingup these students will likely needto pick up students fromanother polygon to fill the bus,so the commute time will be extremely long because there is no access to a neighboring polygon byutilizing backroads. Furthermore, theproposed plan's redistrictmg ofPolygonl200 violatesthe concept of Community Stabilitybecause it isolatesPolygon 1200by making it the only polygon thatattends Dayton OaksElementary School thatwill thenattend Wilde LakeHigh School. Friendships anda sense ofcommmity developed over sixyears ofattending elementary school with neighboring friends will be lost. The Superintendent's plan is too flawed to enact in its current form and I ask that you vote against it. Sincerely, JonathanWeiner To whom it may concern:

MynameisLaurynLukinand I have two children in the Howard County Public School System. Onejust started this month for the first time as a kindergartner at Clarksville Elementary and the other just began second grade. I am writing in response to the redistricting proposal recently shared bythe Superintendent as I strongly oppose the plan as it is currently constructed. The goal ofthe plan is far-reaching and attempts to satisfy a number of county-wide challenges. I understand those goals and applaud the effort, but the approach appears to have holes that could be detrimental both to the objectives of the plan, but to the kids who are affected. I grew up in Howard County. Went to Elementary, Middle and HighSchool in Howard County. Was an all-state athlete. Played in the band. Made lifelong friends. And built a foundation to not only achieve my career aspirations but life aspirations as well. While living in New York City I had two children and as we approached the point in which our oldest would start kindergarten, my husband and I decided to move from New York to find the best possible community for them to learn and grow. The choice was easy, of all the places we had lived, we knew Howard County wasthe environment wewere lookingfor. Not just for the excellent schools and wealth of activities and opportunities for kids, but for the sense of community the neighborhoods in and around Columbia could provide. The concept of finding friends as 5-year old's that could last a lifetime was all we could have hoped for. So we did just that. My husband is able to work remotely and we picked a house that was near a town center, walking distance to the gym, and across the street from a tot-lot. We made friends in the neighborhood almost immediately (thanks to the kids) and they welcomed us into their lives and homes. And now, uncertainty. The plan dividesour neighborhoodin half. It results in numerous feedsto the same high school. And byway of example, has our kids going to elementary school with one group, middle school with another, and then backto high school with the same group as elementary school. Its as if they are beingasked to be seperated for middle school asa test to see ifthey still want to be friends when they reunite? Or perhaps to see who is better prepared for high school? Our kids, all kids in HowardCounty, did not sign up to be part of an experiment. I encourage you to go neighborhood-by-neighborhood. Polygon-by-polygon. Engage leaders in each area to work with you help establish common sense boundaries that could be used to inform your redistricting. Take a step back and look at the feeds you've created. Fixthe ones that don't make sense or may provide an unnecessary level of change for the students. Help us keep neighborhoods strong. Help us keep communities together.

Thank you for your time,

Lauryn Lukin Polygon 2028 Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Adam Bahrain Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2019 4:01 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] My testimony

Dear BOE Members and Dr. Martirano, My name is Adam Bahrain, and live in polygon 176, close to River Hill High School, where I am a freshman. There are some points that are concerning me and my family. I have many friends that are going to River Hill with me and we are all going to get separated if this goes through. Also, the school bus comes at 6:48 am, even though the school is 5 minutes away, whereas if we go to Wilde Lake High School, we will be 20+ minutes away. What time will the buses arrive and what time will we have to wake up; 5:00? We have to go past River Hill to get to Wilde Lake. I usually get migraines and headaches if I don't get enough sleep at night and my academic performance suffers. There is also another concern running through my whole family. My brother is special needs and he sometimes gets seizures and has to be picked up from the bus even in the five minutes it takes to get to school. Even if he gets seizures in school, it isn't that hard for my parents to pick him up from school. If he's at Wilde Lake High School, then it's going to be a burden on my parents who will have to drive 20 minutes to pick up my brother from school. My brother also has specific teachers to help him around the school, and if he moves to Wilde Lake, then he will have to get used to new teachers, new routines and a new school. If I am at a school that is more than 20 minutes away, then after school activities will be extremely hard, especially with a disabled brother who needs special care and extra time commitment from my parents, as my mother hasto fit us in with hisschedule and myyounger sister's after school activities. Thank you for taking my thoughts into consideration and please think about these points in the future. Kathleen V. Hanks

From: Jiang Zheng Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2019 4:00 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting; Mavis Ellis; Kirsten Coombs;Vicky Cutroneo; Christina Delmont- Small; Jennifer Mallo; Sabina Taj; Chao Wu; Kathleen V. Hanks; Student Board Member: CalvinBall@howardcountymd. gov; qjones@howardcountymd. gov; djung@howardcountymd. gov; dyungmann@howardcountymd. gov; crigby@howardcountymd. gov; ewalsh@howardcountymd. gov Subject: [External] strongly object new redistricting plan

To Whom It May Concern: My name;.s JLan9-2heng-, Myfamily "ves in the Glene'9 district- Although wewon't be impacted by this redistrictir wej'^°. "9.'y. °pp°!ed itLTI'"^s_pla1, is notthou. 9htful andwell design. It is'unfair, in-efficiency-and-senously'impacts"" '""'" cohesi°". This will c°m-m, "nlty""ity a"d. plan make lots of students commute a long distance to schoord ismot'manv of there'at'onsl'"ps students formed so far in the community, reduce parents' involvemen'tinthe'school actTvitie£, 'a'nd"waste resources. ' ------....-, Ts. p''°p°^'seems_tobe. °ne, made. w.ith. 9°°d intent ata 9'ance. buta detailed analysis exposes notonly critical flaws 1 some political motives behind it. Sacrificesomeones to benefitsothers is alwaysnot a smart'and'fai'r move^twill c.rea.tene.w.'ssue"ndcan't solvethe. ro°t causesof school inequality. School inequalit'yisjust a symptom ofsocial' Lnequa. "tyL't-l;an'tberes°"/ed by movi"gstudent around. Rebalance'the school budge"andteanTng'the'resou'rce"to"the area-wmchneedshelp'enc°urages builderto develop high-end communities across'the whole co'unt'y, 'attracti'r ; to provide more opportunities to county residents should be the direction ofour efforts'"""

acl

~~Jiang Zheng Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Jodi Guzewich Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2019 3:58 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Oppose redistricting~~

I'm JodiGuzewich inpolygon 1079and my family graciously requests thatour friends inpolygon 79 not be redistrictedout of their community. It'sa veryvery small group. We are like family in our neighborhood. We co

~~From: Cassie Lopez gmail. com> Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2019 3:20 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Polygon 118- Redistricting Feedback~~

~~Hello, I amwriting to saythat we are in support ofthe redistricting efforts beingput forward. Weare part ofpolygon~~

~~Sincerely, Cassie Lopez September 25, 2019~~

~~Polygon 3223~~

~~West Friendship Elementary Mount View Middle School Marriotts Ridge High School~~

~~School Board Members~~

We moved our family from the Perry Hall school district in Baltimore County last summer for one reason and one reason alone, the Schools. Weselected our home basedon the elementary, middle and high schools that we want our children to attend. We understood the history of redistricting in Howard County and accepted the risk of additional disruption based on the need to balancecapacity responsibly. We believe in the publiceducation system and are willing to support it through highertaxes, personal expenditure oftime, talent and philanthropic support. Although our familywill not be personally affected by the proposed change we feel strongly that the superintendents plan is bad for the county, bad for communities and most of all badfor the children that we are all hearto support.

We cannot tout the universal prowess of the Howard County school system and then follow the statement by declaringthat we must redistrict select students to create equity and promote equality. If all Howard County schools have the same curriculum and all the schools are fabulous, then the only reason to redistrict students would be to balance capacity, in the event that local permitting and zoning lawsfail to control overcrowding. Redistricting should be a last resort not a biennial social experiment. The proposed plan does not meet the originalgoal of balancedenrolment and doesn't even come close to meeting the superintendents misguided new goal of redistributing the FARM population to create social equality. Moving more than 7, 000children will move the FARM numbers a scant percentage point or two in a handful of schoolswhile disruptingthe livesof an exponential number of people. Put yourself in the shoes ofthe children you are trying to "help". Ifsome schools are failing to meet the needs of the students, then fix the schools, don't move the kids. Stop trying to use the school system to satisfy the social agenda ofa small group of political powerhouses. Ifyou wantto spread low-income students thought the county, work to create opportunities for low income housing thought the county instead of bussing children out of their community to satisfy your arbitrary poverty distribution goals. Please REJECTthe superintendents proposal and require a new plan to be presented thatfocuses on capacity, community and a stronger Howard County.

~~JillJohnsonVanKuren~~

~~Cheryl Johnson VanKuren Chairwoman Ellis and Members ofthe Howard County Board ofEducation,~~

The following is my wrinen testimony for the public Boundary Review Board hearing onThursday, September 26, 2019. I submit thistestimony withthe hope that I am ableto convey support for many ofthose familiesand communities who agree with Dr. Martirano's redistricting plan. My intentis to amplifythose voices,which I fear,may be drowned out by the vociferous opposition to the aforementioned plan and any potential future proposition, by Howard County, to rectify a growing disparity in our county.

Wewant our childrento goto schoolnear -where we live andwith the people within our communities." This sentiment, on its surfaceseems ordinaryand completely reasonable. Manyfamilies have chosen their home locations heavily factoring in the reputation ofthe corresponding school. The prospect of attending a newschool canbe daunting for parents andstudents alike. Coordinatingextracurricular activities, commutes, and social engagementsmay be cumbersome. It is human nature to be somewhat resistant to change, nevertheless, some communities feel they are unjustly bearing the brunt of Howard County's Board ofEducation redistricting plan. The hours oftestimony over three hearing sessions have made it clear that some residents seethemselves as exempt from partaking in any solution. Common excuses are high costs and burdens. The county as a whole, as well as its residents, at the individual level, needto committo themuch needed changes required to stemthe growing trend ofre-segregation in Howard County Schools and communities along socioeconomic andracial lines. This is essential if we are to continue to be a model community, where, as stated by the Howard County Library's Choose Civility Initiative, we "value diversity, respect, compassion, empathy, and inclusiveness as essential to our quality of life."

Unfortunately, the origins ofthe communities with a large vocal opposition to the Superintendent's redistricting plans areproblematic. All communities should have had affordable housing built into their designsfrom theirinception. In fact, HowardCounty mandates affordablehousing inclusion since, often there is little political will for it. Ifzoning requirements had been adheredto, as intended, there would be a more 'even' distribution ofaffordable housing and subsequently students in the FARM program in all county schools. In actuality, there arelittle to no affordable housing options in several ofthe county's more prosperous andrelatively new communities, including TurfValley, River Hill, Maple Lawn, New Town, Village Centers, andDowntown Columbia. Developers, with their fee-in-Iieu clauses, with the backingof the County Council, founda profitableworkaround to safeguardsin place, andeveryone,

Wendy Munera, Polygon 2002 I including residents, turned a blind eye. Developers found it more profitable to pay a fee than to build affordable housing into their affluent community plans. Affordable housing has been 'red-lined' out of these sixafifluent areas in the county andconcentrated into very specificareas. Thisregrettable and historically persistent, form of social engineering places added pressure on the schools that serve these less affluent communities.

Howard County's redistricting plan has a several goals, one ofwhich is to begin diminishing disparities acrossall communities inthe county, in an attempt to acknowledgeand account for this systematic 'gerrymandering' ofeconomically disadvantagedfamilies . Outspokenresidents of the economically advantaged areas would like to place the blame solely on the shoulders ofdevelopers andthe County Council forthe lackof affordable housing in their area. However, whenaffordable housing or homeless shelters have been proposed in the past, many of these same residents come out in full force with 'Not in My Backyard'sentiment. Whilethey may seem to recognizethat the developers andthe county engineered an environment ofeconomic/housing inequity, these residents are insulated from the ramifications. Affluent communities are galvanizing to exert maximum pressure on the BOE and flex political muscle forthe privilege to keep enjoying thefruits ofintentional marginalizafion. Ifit is not these residents' 'fault', then whythey should they be forced to participate in the solution? Several protest signs stating, "No Child Needs to Suffer, " completely ignore the fact that there are children and less affluent communities sufferingright now in overcrowded schools, crumbling infrastructure, andschool support staffstretched beyond their limits. This attitude demonstrates anunwillingness, by some residents, to recognize those politically underrepresented voices whose predicament compounds under the status quo.

The fear ofa drop in property values is palpable, as is the perceived loss ofsafety and community. Perhaps property values in these areas are over-inflated, especially if the real estate market adds a value multiplier to the by-design exclusion ofeconomically disadvantaged families in affluent areas. Perhaps, affluentschools, unencumbered by someof the pressures disadvantagedfamilies andtheir schools face, have skewedperformance metrics, distinctly due to the exclusion ofthese same families. The inverse should be true aswell: aggregating and compounding stress factors facing disadvantaged communities into specific community schools negatively skew the metrics andtheir reputations unjustly. It is worth noting that a disproportionate amount ofdisadvantaged families are minorities. Is the exclusion ofthe disadvantaged families, in these local upscale communities and their corresponding schools, the 'feature'

WendyMuiiera, Polygo;] 2002 2 that makes them so desirable? It is truly disheartening to see how FARMs data and standardized testing results are allowed to be disingenuously misinterpreted by real estate corporations, and how it has become an essential tool in continuing this version ofred-lining. Entities such as Great Schools andNiche are now neatly embedded in popular real estate websites. They have become ubiquitous guides for families making determinations about the worthiness oflocal schools using nebulously interpreted 'statistics'. Their easy to digest 0-10 rating scale and their simple stoplight color scheme, where red and yellow circles seem to indicate danger, ' allow for the further marginalizationof communities. Reducedto its simplest form, a child's accessto federal program for/oorfat school is beingused to undermine communities wherethey live.

The stigmathat is beingbranded on these children, their families, andthe local communities by other fellow residents is unconscionable. There is nothing intrinsically 'flawed' with families that struggle financially or have other specificneeds. These children may thrive immensely ifthe stress on the schools were eased along with being supported with high quality, trained staff. Funding is always important but alone won't provide results. "Improve not Move" opposition signs are very reminiscent of separate but equal, ' mentality. What many fail to see is that affluent schools will also gain with a more inclusive student body. Is it impossible to believe that, given the right opportunities, all students can be as highly achieving as those students in more privileged communities? The coded language conjuring the myth ofthe self-made man or the idea of'pulling your selfup by the boot straps' is counterproductive andjudgmental. All parents should be involved in their child's education and ideally all schools would have a strong PTO/PTA, but one hasto recognize that there are significant barriers to that goal. Everyone is simply doingthe bestthey can. Everyone, without exclusion, is also one disasteraway from a financial precipice. Also, don't begmdge federal Title I funding in schools, whose population could use the extra resources. All schools need to be well funded. However, we should carefully examine the County Council's past legislative sessions andthe pacts formed with developers that have kept school facility surcharge fees and impact fees at woefully low levels. Several residents have been sounding the alarm on this issue for some time; hoping to gain traction. I hope many residents pledge public support for resolution CB42, proposed to both significantly raise these fees and close loopholes that have allowed for development to outpace infrastmcture. Renovations, expansions, maintenance, and new school construction for the entire school system depend on this resolution.

~~The fear parents have that advantaged children will somehow 'lose' something by being educated within~~

Wendy Munera, Polyison 2302 3 less advantaged community school and the children they serve is demoralizing to witness. Sentiment seen in protest signs suchas, 'Keep Communities Together, ' and'Don't Take Away My Friends, ' are also readby students thatattend the 'less desirable' schools. Whereare the messages of inclusion, expansion ofcommunity networks, andadding more friends ofall backgrounds?Have the 'ChooseCivility' bumper stickers become simple virtue signaling lip-service?

Is it beneficial, in both the short and long terms, for the county to keep widening the educational, housing, and income inequality gap? Keeping the status quo will only ensure that. Only the affluent can affordto delaythe changesnecessary; 'kicking the can down the road, ' indefinitely. The redistricting plan is not perfect and the varied iterations that will come to pass will appease some and rankle others. Unfortunately, I fear many aretoo entrenched to accept any boundary review changes. Forthe affluent, money will always buy options. Onepossibility is an exodus from the county. Maybe, there will be an enrollment boon for existing private schools. More families may choose homeschooling or perhaps a new crop ofcharter schools will make their way into Howard County, to subvert the redistricting plan and continue the process ofre-segregation. I can only hope that families will choose to walk the halls of the schools that fill them such anxiety,interact withthe great students, faculty, and staffin these communities, and see the great potential. Great strides were made in Charlotte, North Carolina for nearly 30 years before one legal case forced the school system abandon their integration efforts (Capacchione v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, 1999). Perhaps, we could learn as a county, how to implement the changes needed while mitigating the growing pains.

I also hope to see members ofthe more affluent areas in the county, along with County Council members exert equally forceful political will for affordable housing in those markets that currently offer little to no options, as a long term (though not languishing) strategy for improving the imbalances in our county. Like wealth, economic disadvantages can also be inheritable. All families deserve the chance to overcome the obstaclesthey facein orderto provide a better future for generationsto come, thereby uplifting the county and the country as a whole.

~~Mrs. Wendy Munera, MPH Polygon 2002~~

~~Wetidy Miuiera, Polygoti 2002 4 Dear Board of Ed,~~

I am writing you as a mom of three HCPSS students, a resident of Polygon 2028, and as Columbia Native who is a Swansfleld (SES), Harpers Choice (HCMS) and Centennial (CHS) graduate. I am opposed to the Superintendent's proposed redistricting plan.

When my husband and I moved back to Howard County ten years ago to raise our family, we chose a Columbia Village with a house where we could walk to the Village Center and the neighborhood schools - both Elementary and high schools. We also chose schools that had a solid feeder where our children would move through the grades with the same children. I found attending CHSfrom HCMS to be a hard transition when such a small percentage of students were districted with me.

The Superintendent's proposal has Clarksville Middle School (CMS) students in our polygon swapping places with HCMS students. It will make the Harpers Choice feeder to River Hill High School (RHHS) less than 18% which is just a few dozen students with whom they are moving from middle school to high school. It breaks apart our community and the Pheasant Ridge neighborhood in halfwith Great Star Drive and Fall Moon Ride as the dividing line. I am urging you when evaluating this plan to keep neighborhoods together and buy into the Columbia ideal of the neighborhood schools. Rouse had a vision that every neighborhood would have an elementary school that would feed into the village middle school. Please keep our neighborhood from being cut in half and keep communities of students together to feed through the school system with strong bonds. Keep Rouse's vision for village community together. In addition, CMS is just over a mile away in our neighborhood and HCMS is over 5 miles away making for a much longer bus ride. Many middle school students get off the bus and walk up to the elementary school to pick up their younger siblings. The longer bus ride will cause a child care issue for many families as the middle school children will not be home in time to walk to the elementary school. This is vital as most families in our community have two working parents.

In addition, not directly related to my polygon, I think that busing walkers in this plan is a horrible precedent to start in this county from a community, economic and environmental perspective. Columbia was built on the idea of communities and neighborhoods and villages. This plan completely disrupts the fundamentals on which our community was built.

Lastly, at our most recent Clarksville Elementary (CES) PTA meeting, it was bought to our attention by the administration that the capacity number for CES is inaccurate. The capacity is listed as 543 students but this number has not been updatedsince CEShad the wonderfulALS program addedto our school. Whenthe ALSprogram cameto CES, they modifiedfour classrooms for the program. The ALSprogram currently has 14students and CEShas a current population of about440 students. Pleaseverify the capacitynumbers for the schools are accurate beforeyou make a final decision and maybe cause more overcrowding situations.

~~Please consider the value of community and neighborhoods when you are analyzing the proposals. Put children and education first above politics.~~

~~Thank you,~~

~~Micaela Crooks~~

~~Polygon 2028 Jennifer Gardner 7534 Moms St. #1 Fulton, Maryland 20759 Polygon #1256 Jennifergardner0529@gmail. com 443-538-4349~~

~~September 25, 2019~~

~~Howard County Board of Education 10910 Clarksville Pike Ellicott City, Maryland 21042 redistrictinB@hcpss. orR~~

~~Dear Board Members:~~

My family resides in Maple Lawn in Fulton and am writing to oppose Superintendent Martirano's proposed redistricting plan that adversely impacts our community and violates several elements of Board of Education policy. My daughter is a second-grader at Fulton Elementary School. She has attended Fulton Elementary since Kindergarten and loves her school. She feels very secure at Fulton and is happy to go to school each and every day.

Allie started Kindergarten at Fulton and has thrived. She feels very connected to Fulton and has made friendships and connections there. Lastspring I told Allie that wewere goingto be moving. Before I could get out my entire sentence (We are moving, but we are staying in Maple Lawnso you can continue at Fulton Elementary) Allie becamevery upset statingthat she did not wantto move and go to another school. It was not until I could explain to her that we were staying in Maple Lawn and that she could continue at Fulton that she was able to relax. I purchased a home in the Hillside district of Maple Lawn at the end of July and felt so good knowing thatAllie could stay at Fulton Elementary School. A few short weeks later notice of the redistricting came out. I was in utter disbelief that Allie was being redistricted to another school. My whole purpose in purchasing a home in Maple Lawn was so that she could continue at her school. A couple days before school started I gently told aboutthe possible changesthat may lie ahead. Allie, who is a child that rarely cries, starting crying and playing with her LEGO'S. I tried talking with her and helping her process what she was feeling. She built a few" kids" out of her LEGO'S. She put one figure on one side of the room by itself, and put all the other children together on the other side of the room. She explained to me that she was the kid by herself, and her friends were the ones grouped together acrossthe living room. Shestated that she will be goingto a newschool and all herfriends will be at Fulton Elementary. As her mother, this broke my heart. I wanted to tell her that everything would be okay and that she would not have to switch schools. As an adult, I know that nothing is "for sure" and promising her that she would remain at Fulton Elementary could may be a promise I could not keep. told her that her dad and I would do everything we could to keep her at Fulton Elementary. The proposal callsfor polygons#256 (which hasone school-aged child) and#1256 to be redistricted from Fulton Elementary School to Laurel Woods Elementary School, creating an isolated island that is not contiguous with the current or proposed district boundaries. This effectively splits the Maple Lawn neighborhood across 2 separate school districts (Fulton ESand Laurel Woods ES) and also splits the Laurel Woods EScommunity into 2 separated geographicdistricts. (Areas of concern circled below)

~~f Gyilftafd ES~~

~~CiS^ln^ES BndgoES'~~

Capacity utilization is rightfully of concern. However, this proposal results in a 115%capacity at Laurel Woods ES and thus does not achieve a meaningful improvement in school capacity for students in polygonsff256 or #1256. Also, accordingto the projections presented in the superintendent's proposal, the disruptive redistricting of a portion of Maple Lawn does not result in a meaningful improvement in anyachievement gaps existing at LaurelWoods ESand arguablyincreases their burden by crowding their classrooms.

The proposal also refers to the Attendance Area Boundary Review Survey and prioritization of Policy 6010elements. Whenthe community wassurveyed, the overwhelmingtop 3 priorities were: 1. Keepingfeeds of students togetherfrom one school to the next (Policy 6010 IV. B. 2.a) - 65.95% 2. Maintaining contiguous communities or neighborhoods (Policy 6010 IV. B. 2. b) - 59. 59% 3. Transportation considerations(e. g. walkers, bus routes, etc.) (Policy6010 IV.B. l. d)-42.64% Forreference, the next highestpriority only received 25. 88%of responses. In relation to thesetop priorities, the proposal for polygons#256 and #1256 results in a very small feed from Laurel Woods ESto Lime Kiln MS (10.6%) whereas Fulton ESrepresents 48.4%of Lime Kiln MS. Policy 6010 refers to "avoidingfeeds of less than 15%at the receivingschool". The proposal also does not maintain a contiguous community or neighborhoodfor Maple Lawn(Policy 6010 IV.B.2. b). Asthe proposal wascompleted by a consultant group based in Ohio, I would like to emphasize that Maple Lawn is not merely a collection of streets in close proximity to one another; it is a planned community built specifically with a variety of homes and retail close together so that residents could easily build community. We are a diverse, engaged, tight-knit community in which families frequently interact (community center, festivals, activities, etc.) and both children and adults have established support networks. This is all intentional. My family and others chose this neighborhood specifically for the sense of community the neighborhood was designed to foster. Rightfully considering Maple Lawn as a community in school district proposals would sustain the community and its collective contribution to their school.

In addition to the adverse impacts of separating the community, the proposal greatly increases the transportation distance (over 400%) for students redistricted from Fulton ES to Laurel Woods ES. There are 8 elementary schools closer to polygon #1256 than Laurel Woods ES,with Fulton ES being the closest. In addition, the transportation distance and disconnected polygons in the superintendent's proposal provide unfair challenges for before and after school care, whether at a center or using neighbor/family support.

Furthermore, friendships are vital to school-age children's healthy development and can improve their approach to school and academic performance. For young children, these friendships are strengthened by geographic convenience where they live and play. Neither a divided Maple Lawn neighborhood nor a divided Laurel Woods ES geographic community facilitate such.

Two of the equity concepts stated by Dr. Martirano are removing barriers and individualizing supports. In contrast, his proposal quite literally placesgeographic barriers for the proposed LaurelWoods ES districts, which is why the priority of boundary continuity is so important. Regarding individualized support, the elementary students residing in Maple Lawn are equally deserving of individualized support by attending school within their neighborhood and not being isolated from their community, neighbors, and friends.

Boundary continuity is of utmost importance to achieve the priorities stated by both the superintendent and the community, as well as the needs and fair treatment of the students. I would like to strongly advocate for a revised plan with reasonable boundary continuity and consideration of Maple Lawn as a contiguous community neighborhood. I also encourage and support public policy decisions that halt the over development of neighborhoods without adequate public facilities. Taking into the account the stated goals of the redistricting effort, our community looks forward to presenting several alternatives that achieve more goals with less violations of Policy 6010 at our public hearing.

~~Sincerely,~~

~~Jennifer Gardner Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Yang Yu Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2019 1:30 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Opposing Howard County Redistricting Plan for River Hill District~~

My family is lucky to be inthe part ofRiver Hill District that will not be impacted. As such, it would be easy for us to ignore what is going on, but we stand in solidarity with those who oppose this ill-conceived proposal. Not only is it unjust andyet another example ofproblems that arise from centralized decisions made by a few, but it will set a horrible precedent for the future ofHCSPSSand HoCo as a whole.

These actions and the misguided belief system behind them destroy community cohesion. Coimnunity cohesion andparental involvement have a much bigger impact on a school's performance (and a child's well-being) than money redistribution and attempts at social reform made by a small group ofpeople outside of said commumties.

Justthe mere factthat a superintendent cangrab a box ofcrayons andcreate his ownDalian work ofart based on his interpretations ofjustice, then put it forward as a plan for the fate ofour kids makes me sick to my stomach. Addto thatthe factthat there aremany people cheering it asthough it's a greatthing for the government to wield suchpower, andit really leaves me scratchingmy headabout what's happening here.

~~Yang Yu 6425 Richardson Farm Ln Clarksville, MD 21029 Sent from my iPhone. Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Linda Yu Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2019 12:24 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Opposeto superintendent's redistricting plan~~

» Hello, » » My name is LingpingYu. I live in Ellicott city. My polygon numberis 109. » »I am writing this email to express my opinion on the superintendent's latest redistricting plan. I strong oppose this plan as it causes great harm to many communities and leads to higher bus costs and longer commute time for many kids. We should not sacrifice our kids health and opportunities for better education for political reasons. » » Thanks, » LingpingYu September 25, 2019

~~Board of Education~~

~~1091 OCIarksville Pike~~

~~Ellicott City, MD 21042~~

~~Dear Board members:~~

~~My name is Amit Narula, and I am a parent residing in polygon 3176.~~

~~I am writing to urge the Board of Education to vote NO on Martirano's Proposed Area Adjustment Plan.~~

I have waited to send in my testimony in order to be able to continue to think about the ramifications of such a large shift of children and its overall disruption. I have taken the opportunity to speak to others in this situation, from families that oppose this proposed adjustment plan to those that are in favor. I have gone to the CR 112 and other polygon oral testimonies to hear arguments. I remain confused on what the purpose of this mass shift of students will accomplish. At times it is referred to a way to ease overcrowding but looking at the number of students projected to move from school to school, it does not accomplish that goal. At times it is referred to a way to balance socio economic disparity. This plan does not take into account the disruption it will cause to thousands of children and their families. For me personally, we chose to live in Howard County dueto its diversity. I practice medicine in Carroll County but I wanted my ch Idrento grow up in a more diverse area. I am a product ofthe public school system in Maryland and want my children to be as such. We are currently assigned to River Hill High school which is 1 mile from our neighborhood and I have three kids ofvarying 9 and who ages y2 ' 5) currently 90 to three different schools. Proximity of schooFis incredibly important in order for our family to accomplish all we need to "forwork and home. We help out at school when possible but going 7 miles further would make it very difficult to able to participate as parents and moreso difficult for our children to do anything beyond go to and come home from school.

Y^-?ur children_Pass by our local (one mile away) school to travel down a busy route 108another 6-7 miles twice a daydoes not make common sense. It is illogical to think this would benefit anyone. I tookthe drive and without any morning commute traffic or stops to pick up students, the travel time from our bus stop to our local school is 5 minutes but to the possible newly assigned school, it took 25 minutes againwithout any stops, traffic, etc. I venture to say that time would double. Children and their success should be everyone's priority. Less sleep, more time on a likely crowded bus serves no positive purpose.

There should be applied science, data, cost analysis prior to just coming up with a plan that moves 7400 students. Nothing I have seen, read or heard justifies this current proposed plan to the correct plan. Community input is needed. Third party involvement on how to accomplish/achieve what is best is required.

~~I am opposed to this plan on many levels. Not only does it not accomplish its intended purpose which in itself should make it void, it can potentially harm children.~~

~~Sincerely,~~

~~Amit Narula~~

~~POLYGON NUMBER 3176 Howard County Public Schools Board of Education 10910 Clarksville Pike Ellicott City, MD 21042~~

~~Dear Howard County Board of Education Members:~~

~~Our polygon, 1178, along with Polygons 1179, 178 and 179, were just redistricted in the 2018- 2019 school year. We are now possibly going to be redistricted again in the 2020-2021.~~

Policy 6010for the HCPSSstates, "Frequencywith which anyone student is reassigned, making every attempt to not move a student more than once at any school level or the same student more frequently than once every five years. " Accordingto this, we and the other polygons listed above should not be allowed to move again.

My main concerns with the CONSTANT redistricting in Howard County, are families losing their sense of community and stability. Children thrive on routine and feeling comfortable in a familiar environment. Being moved from school to school every couple of years can be traumatizing for some students. Some children are resilient, and some are not.

~~After attending multiple meetings that present data on student ratios, it seems that these children have becomejust statistics and numbers for a third-party consulting firm to play around with.~~

How do you expect families to have school pride if they don't know if they will be in the same school the next year or the year after? As of now, we currently have "school pride gear" from Manor Woods Elementary School (MWES) and West Friendship Elementary (WFES).

My oldest son attended MWES in Kindergarten and 1st grade, WFES in 2nd and 3rd grade and now will possibly be in Triadelphia Elementary School (TRES) in 4th and 5th grade. My middle son attended MWES in kindergarten and then moved to WFES for 1st and 2nd and now possibly TRES in 3rd-5th. I also have a younger son who is three years old, but who knows what school he will be in by the time he is of age.

How do you expect parents to want to contribute to the PTA? Whywould families want to put in all this effort to help raisefunds for a new playground or new computers for their school, if their children may be moved to a new school the next year.

The most infuriating part about us possibly being redistricted, is that West Friendship Elementary School is NOT at capacity and will NOT be at capacity in the near future. This school was so under capacitated, that in 2013 there were even discussions of closing it.

One of the reasons the BOEsuggested closing WFESin 2013, was because it's one of the oldest schools in the county - and it has a septic system. To expand the septic system, it would be super costly. So, in turn, it made sense for them to want to close an old school that wasn't close to having enough students to enroll.

WFESwas built in 1925 with a capacity for 400 students, in 2013, there were only 274 students enrolled, making the school way under capacity. According to the current WFESstaff, WFESis still under capacity this year and isn't projected to be over capacity until 2022-2023. So why even move anychildren from WFES?This school shouldn't even be in the redistricting discussion.

There was an article I read on the Baltimore Sun written in 2013 discussing redistricting at that time. It stated, that duringthe 2013 Board of Education feasibilitystudy, Joel Gallihue, the school systems manager of school planning (at the time) said, "There's been chronic underutilization atthat school (WFES). "We'vetalked about making better use ofwestern capacity and we ve talked about what's coming in terms of Turf Valley development. It's our recommendation that the process for closing the school needs to begin. It's a process that won't be easy, but it takes time."

They had estimated closingthe school as early as 2014and as late as 2017,and fortunately for us - it never happened. If one were to guess, the BOE saw how many new homes are being built in HoCo and decided we would NEED this school.

The 2013 Baltimore Sun article also stated that "a new school could be needed in the Turf Valley area in the near future as development happens there, meaning that school could serve as a replacement for West Friendship, accordingto the feasibility study."

That was over SIXyears ago. The Turf Valley area is developed -those students are districted to Manor Woods- which is why my children had to move the FIRSTtime. Yet, there is still not anotherelementary school to keep up with the all the homesthat HowardCounty allows to be built. Not including the HUNDREDSof homes built bythe Kiwanis-Wallis baseball park.

It seems you cannot drive more than a few miles in this county without seeing new construction. That is one of the main problems. We bought a house that was built in 1985 with one owner besides us. How is it fair that these new homes take priority over established homes and neighborhoods in Howard County?

We understand that redistricting is necessary in growing communities, however, there should be more attention paidto what polygons werejust moved and there should be a limit on how frequently they can be moved.

Our polygon as well as the other polygons listed above, are all older communities that have been herefor 30+years. The number of students in these polygons is 60. Allowthese students to stay at WFES. Again, it's a smaller/under capacityschool and should NOTeven be considered in the redistricting process.

~~Thank you for your time and consideration.~~

~~Best, Dara Canty Winston Timp 7504 Carpenter St. Fulton, Maryland 20759 Polygon #1256 wtimp@jhu. edu 410-417-8467~~

~~9/15/2019 Howard County Board of Education 10910 Clarksville Pike Ellicott City, Maryland 21042 redistrictlne@ hcpss. org~~

~~Dear Board Members:~~

My family resides in Maple Lawn in Fulton (polygon #1256), and I am writing to express my concerns with SuperintendentMartirano's proposed redistricting planthat adversely impacts our community andviolates several elements of Board of Education policy.

The proposal calls for polygons #256 (which hasoneschool-agedchild) and(fl256tobe redistricted from Fulton ElementarySchool to LaurelWoods Elementary School, creatingan isolated islandthat is not contiguouswith the current or proposed district boundaries. This effectively splits the Maple Lawn neighborhood across 2 separateschool districts (Fulton ESand LaurelWoods ES) and also dividesthe LaurelWoods ES community into 2 separated geographic districts. (Areas of concern circled below)

School capacity remains a concern at Fulton ES. However, this proposal results in a 115% capacity at Laurel Woods ES and doesn't achieve a meaningful improvement in school capacity for students in polygons #256 or #1256. Also, according to the projections presented in the superintendent's proposal, the disruptive redistrictingofa portionof Maple Lawndoesn't result in a meaningful improvement in any achievementgaps existing at Laurel Woods ESand arguably Increases their burden by crowding their classrooms. This negates one of the proven interventions in Title 1 schools, small class sizes. The proposal also refers to the Attendance Area Boundary Review Survey and prioritization of Policy 6010 elements. When the community was surveyed, the overwhelming top 3 priorities were:

1. Keeping feeds of students together from one school to the next (Policy 6010 IV. B. 2. a)-65. 95% 2. Maintaining contiguous communities or neighborhoods (Policy 6010 IV. B. Z. b) - 59. 59% 3. Transportation considerations (e. g., walkers, bus routes, etc. ) (Policy 6010 IV. B. l. d) -42. 64% Forreference, the next highest priority only received 25. 88% of responses.

In relation to these top priorities, the proposal for polygons #256 and #1256 results in a very small feed from Laurel Woods ES to Lime Kiln MS (10. 6%) whereas Fulton ES represents 48. 4% of Lime Kiln MS. Policy 6010 refers to "avoidingfeeds of less than 15% at the receiving school".

The proposal alsodoes not maintain a contiguous community or neighborhoodfor Maple Lawn(Policy 6010 IV.B. 2. b). This proposalwas completed by a consultantgroup from Ohio-theydon't understandthat Maple Lawn is not just a collection of streets near one another; it's a planned community with a variety of homes and retail closetogether so that residents can live, work and playtogether. Weare an engaged,tight-knit community in which families frequently interact (community center, festivals, activities, etc. ) and both children and adults have established support networks. This Is all intentional. My family and others chose this neighborhoodspecifically for the sense of community the neighborhoodwas designed to foster. Rightfully considering Maple Lawn as a community in school district proposals would sustain the community and its collective contribution to their school.

Furthermore, friendships are vital to school-age children's healthy development and can improve their approach to school and academicperformance. Foryoung children, these friendshipsare strengthened bygeographic convenience where they live and play. Neither a divided Maple Lawn neighborhood nor a divided Laurel Woods ES geographic community facilitate these relationships.

Two of the equity concepts stated by Dr. Martirano are removing barriers and individualizing supports. In contrast, his proposal quite literally placesgeographic barriers for the proposed Laurel WoodsES districts, which is whythe priority of boundarycontinuity is so important. Regardingindividualized support, the elementary students residingin Maple Lawnare equally deservingof individualizedsupport by attendingschool within their neighborhood and not being isolated from their community, neighbors, and friends.

~~Transportation~~

In additionto the adverse impacts of separatingthe community, the proposal significantlyincreases the transportation distance(~1. 5mi from our houseto Fulton ESvs 5. 3 mi to LaurelWoods ES) for students redistricted from Fulton ESto Laurel Woods ES. There are 8 elementary schools closer to polygon #1256 than LaurelWoods ES,with Fulton ESbeing the closest. Reassigningpolygons 1256and 256 will result in children from polygon's 1256and 256 beingbused past7 other polygons attendingFulton, their buseswill likely pass each other going opposite directions on Rt 216. While I'm against creating any island districts, the particular island selected will drive past Polygons 1227, 8, 221, 1221, 2221, 1007, and 7, at least one of which, if not two are closer to LWESthan FES. In addition, the students who currently live on the east side of polygon 115 will be bused through polygon 1256 to reach FES. This is not using our resources wisely, children's time, parent's time or bus time. Consider the current bus driver shortage and the cost of the additional bus routes - wouldn't that money be betterspend on actual education resources instead of shufflingstudents around? This is specifically difficult for our family due to constraints on childcare and time. I work in Baltimore (at Johns Hopkins University) and my wife works at the JHU Applied Physics Lab. We chose this location specifically because of its proximity to both my wife's work and the schools. I frequently travel for my job - and when I do, my wife has to be able to handle transportation and childcare for our 3 children. Currently, that transportation is all within close proximity of Maple Lawn. If a 15-20 minute one-way commute to Laurel Woods is added for drop off/pickup from before/aftercare, this will add considerable logistical difficulty and lost family time. As our children are still small and need 10-12 hours of sleep a night, that family time is already severely limited. I think often these school decisionsare madeassuming a stay-at-home-parentrather than two working parents. Though my family will be able to adjust to these constraints, I suspect there are many for whom this will be a significant burden in either money or time.

Boundary continuity is of utmost importance to achieve the priorities stated by both the superintendent and the community, as well as the needs and fair treatment of the students. I would like to strongly advocate for a revised plan with reasonable boundary continuity and consideration of Maple Lawn as a contiguous community neighborhood. I also encourage and support public policy decisions that halt overdevelopment of neighborhoods without first providing adequate public facilities.

Taking into account the stated goals of the redistricting effort, our community looks forward to presenting several alternatives that achieve more of the goals (improved education for all students) with fewer violations of Policy 6010 at our public hearing.

~~Sincerely,~~

~~^ * M». Jl^'ll Mv0>iy^-~~

~~WinstonTimp~~

~~ec: Michael J. Martirano, Superintendent Good Evening,~~

~~My name is Darshi Shah and I am in 4th Grade at West Friendship elementary School. Our polygon number as per my parents is 232.~~

~~I love my school. I love the teachers and my friends. My best friend's name is Lakshmi who lives in my neighborhood. I have other very good friends who live down the street from the school.~~

My sister, who is in 8th grade and currently goes to Mount View Middle School comes home every day and tells me how much fun she has with her teachers. Her science teacher tells fun stories about science. I want to also have him and stay with all my friends.

I love my bus ride, and after talking with my sister and my parents my bus ride is going to be longer. I always get very hungry after school and if I don't eat my head really hurts. Our bus driver is amazing but does not let us eat on the bus because we all would make a mess. If I have to go to a far school, my head will hurt every day.

~~Also, my sister's middle school is very cool. It has an awesome library in the middle. And you can see the library from the top.~~

I would just like to say that we are not packages that should be moved every couple of years. I love my school and would like to stay in the school where all my current friends are going and which is near my house.

~~Sincerely Darshi Shah 2026 Terrapin Creek Rd, Sykesville 21784 Polygon #232 Good Evening,~~

~~My Name is Monali Shah we are in polygon 232. My kids are slated to go to Bushy Park, Glenwood Middle and Glenelg High School as per the superintendent's proposal.~~

Currently I have an 8th grader who attends Mount View Middle and a 4th grader who attends West Friendship Elementary which are both about 1. 6 miles away from our house. Even with such short distance their current travel time on the bus is over 45 minutes for middle school and 30 minutes for the elementary school. Now imagine the time it will take for my kids to travel to and from school, which are 5 miles for high school and 7 miles for elementary school.

We all try to create a well-rounded student who excels academically and in extracurricular activities. Asfor both ofmy children, theyboth actively participate in afterschool programs, Mt. ViewTV program, SGA, GT programs, etc.... The 4th grader participates in after school drama and coding classes. This is all possible because the school is so dose. I am not sure what will happened when the school is moved further away. Parents are always chauffeuring their kids like a taxicab (more like a free Uber service now days) from one location to another. We as parents really don't know how much commitment the children and ourselves will be able to make to the school with extra activates and volunteering. Not only will the students not be able to participate, but schools will be depleted with valuable resources and helpers as students and parents pull back on these supporting activities.

As parents we all think ofour kidsfirst and ourselves second. The homewe purchased, we purchased due to the proximity of the school and knowing that the community around the schools are made up of parents and children who attend that school. Not only ours, but many other communities are going to become disconnected and isolated from the school. Currently schools hold fund raisers at local restaurants which we all enjoy. Our kids get to eat out, we get to get out of the kitchen and the schools earns a few dollars. These are done in "local" restaurants, when you are not local to the school (7 miles away) where do you participate. This redistricting is creating orphan neighborhoods and depleting the community bond that is so valuable.

Everything that is proposed is done to create equity in all the schools. Where is the equity when the students feel betrayed? Us as parents will get over it, but the students will not. These students have friends and attachments to theirteachers. They look up to these teachers more then they look up to us sometimes. Don't break theirtrust. Equity is not created by shuffling kids on a chess board. Equity is created by investing in the students and allowing them to flourish without having to feel insecure. Light a spark in each kid's heart and let it spread like a wildfire that engulfs all the knowledge and wisdom this world has to offer and make them stronger.

~~Our kids are not a number on a map.~~

~~Sincerely Monali Shah 2026 Terrapin Creek Rd Sykesville21784 Polygon No: 232 Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Tracie Schmidt Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2019 9:53 AM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Thank you~~

~~Goodmorning,~~

I wanted to thank the board for attempting to improve the educational opportunity for all students in the HCPSS. Not sure what the outcome ofredistricting will be. Regardless, thank you for serving on the Board of Education. Serving is definitely a thankless task at the moment!

~~Sincerely,~~

~~Tracie Schmidt parent of a thriving Wildecat Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Mike Buscher Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2019 9:29 AM To: Hcpss Redistricting Cc: Mavis Ellis Subject: [External] Polygon 2176~~

~~To the BOB:~~

We woke up this morning reflecting on last night's testimonies and the seemingly endless "I support", "I don't support" statements being read to a Board that rarely made eye contact, looked down and hardly ever had a pen in their handto take notes. It is disturbing and seemingly a waste oftime.

And what was happening right outside those doors was our own neighbors and community members shouting racial slurs at each other, neighbors now questioning the motives of neighbors they called friends just weeks ago, an entire school district being labeled a racist community simply due to the fact they do not want to have kids uprooted from a community.

A community is definedas a "united group".... and what our Superhas done and Calvin Ball have allowed is create a "divided group" that has become a firestorm of emotion. It is an utter embarrassment of leadership.

This group of "leaders"has the responsibility to lead, not destroy. Where is the condemnation from this leadership group regarding the pastors comments that all River Hill kids are all "rich white kids"? Where is the calming voice ofleadership to reactto an overwhelming tide ofnegative feedbackon a planthat history proves didn't work over and over again leading a pathway of evidence all the way to the Supreme Court? This is not leadership, this is a circus and perhaps we should call up the next level to step in to calm the waters before we have true riots and rebellions on our hands.

Weneed to fix the resource gap, stop allowingmore residential buildinguntil wehave anexecutable plan for managing the infrastructure of our county and the suitable educational housing for our kids, and put together a plan to provide support to all children equally of all walks of life, not uproot our children out of their communities.

~~Find a way to reunite, not divide, or those responsible including the BOE members for the upending of an entire County will likely find themselves out of a job next election or maybe even sooner.~~

~~What Martirano is purposing is an insult to everyone in this county, including the FARM families. Most ofyou at the BOE should be ashamed of yourselves.~~

~~Mike Buscher 11678 Laureloak Court Ellicott City Polygon2176 Radhiks Wijsiunge 2; Xishan Amarasekera 12800 Linden Church Road, Clarksville MD 21029~~

~~Our morning high school bus, currently going to River Hill, is as follows:~~

~~RIVEK IIILL IIS Bl'S 874 AM Direct distance to River Hill HS from the furthest home on S74 Chapel Chase/Linden Church is 3. 7 miles. The current time on~~

ItMl )ix-vil(n the bus is 38 minutes. Since Wilde Lake HS is approximately » o-~7. '.t l, i\;'>t M( Ht KCHki)&< tiM'rl, 11 miles away, the proposed time on the road will certainly be a'.A^ DP much longer, potentially over one hour with traffic. 1 u:ai " TWf:l, \FmiL-»RI)^nvU\- U. -.. K.S C T 3 y. y. i...n Tft-FtVE h(LL\ RD& P~n MAT'l. ;- If you look at the current bus route, the Redistricting plan has \* w the following: ^ f."l.. . 'i'V. LLVd. DLl. " KJ«. t n?-;t. V;. TR:iS(-T Stops 1-7 redistricted to Vrfilde Lake HS 5 ti: ?, ;-n ' :^(J; '1v tH itHI .{'»^. ln".'E.i..vi' (:II IS RD d t.,."'ft, ';) j^rtftfN'DfMIit ;;t ilRD Stops 8-16 redistricted to Gtenelg HS

7 ^37 . ':, . 'EEFKAM'LStt;\y>\. (. >Ki. r\Bt::mv LN Splitting the kids from Polygon 1200 will ensure that the 8 . '. 4f,,m ( H \MBL t> US, ti ( HAMlfH Y Olt number of children from Polygon 1200 be less than one bus 9 t:.i .n ^ ! i'-534i* i3.

lit *. 4i(...u .^. iHi.RRfctUtML1, load. Therefore, the proposed bus route would need to li , 49 ;;) UK.};L.\\DR^d;, lNCl itd combine Polygon 1200 with others, but there is no direct l:i9sK[ii<-iIfLA>;DRD 12 t:5<- ffl road to other polygons going to Wilde Lake MS. In order to 13 <': '.'.H 1?.- A» BftOLCUL'>. 0 l'AV M <>: 5; .im t3?56BRUttOLK<^-», -i1k' get to school on time, currently the first students to board are

~~15 ;. 1:>2AI - l-^~~

For the sake of our children's mental health and well-being, we respectfully request that this Redistricting plan is not passed, or at least amended to make it a reasonable bus ride for the children in Polygon 1200. As you are no doubt aware, High School students in Howard County Schools are already highly stressed with high homework loads and extra-curricular activities, and as a result get far less than the recommended amount of sleep every night. Any changes to their bus schedule that increases their commute times will directly and detrimentally impact their health and welfare.

Therefore, as active Howard County voters, we once again respectfully request that you, as our elected representatives on the school board, seriously consider the impacts on the children of Polygon 1200 and either vote against the proposed redistricting plan, or request amendments to address the concerns raised herein.

~~Thank you.~~

~~Respe.ctfully, ^A^ ^SJ^S Radhika Wijetunge & Kishan Amarasekera 12800 LInden Church Road, Clarksvitle MD 21029~~

~~Page 2 of 2 Radhika Vtfijeiange S: !(ishan Amarasekere 12800 Linden Church Road, Clarksville MD 21029~~

~~September 25, 2019~~

~~Dear members of the Howard County Board of Education,~~

~~RE: Proposed Howard County Redlstricting Plan~~

We live on Llnden Church Road, which is in Polygon 1200. The proposed Redistrirting plan proposes to send our high school kids from River Hill HS to Wilde Lake HS. We request that you consider the extreme hardship this will cause our children and many others like them, and vote against this ill-conceived redistricting plan, or at a minimum, ask for revisions so that children in Polygon 1200 are not forced to undertake busjourneys every day that are projected, at a minimum, to be over one hour long one way.

While it may seem that Polygon 1200 could be combined with others redistricted to Wilde Lake HS in this move by only looking at "as the crow flies" distances on a map (see below), there Is one big difference: there are no roads that connect our neighborhood directly to Route 108 and consequently, to any other Polygon going to Wilde Lake High School.

~~Of*:R2'i/HS .~~

~~G*iiMtO L ' ^|i!t . '*>~~

Linden Church Road (which includes the side roads Chapel Chase, Twelve Hills, Greenberry, and Broadwater) has Ingress/egress only from Route 32, or the overpass on 32 to Ten Oaks. Linden Road is a dead-end road, with a Howard County owned property at the bottom of the street.

~~Page 1 of 2 Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Qijin Lu Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 11:38 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Opposes superintendent's proposed school attendance area adjustment plan~~

Dear HCPSS Board of Education Members, I ama registered voter inHoward County District 5. Thepurpose ofthis letter isto opposethe superintendent's proposedattendance area adjustment plan, because this plan will adverselyimpact two many students and families, and yet it does not effectively solve the overcrowding issue. There are better alternatives flian this ^oc?"1^6 aI;Proal;hto Promote opportunities for economically disadvantaged students. For example, HCPSScould make more resources (fundingand teachers) availableto thoseunderprivileged schoolsto address theirneeds. Inter-school activities (sports and academic events) can be held to promote student interactions and i.nte?,ati-°n'.Theseand other. lessintrusive tools shouldbe considered first, before resorting to usingdisruptive" boundary adjustments to addressa socialissue. I urgeyou to vote againstthis ad]ustment planmid maintain the greatreputation ofHoward County Public School System.

~~Sincerely, Qijin Lu Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: troy abernathy Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 10:42 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Re: Polygon 1256~~

~~Dr. Troy Abemathy 7883 Maple Lawn Blvd Fulton, MD 20759 Polygon#1256 abemathYmd@gmail. com~~

~~9/24/2019 Howard County Board of Education 10910ClaiksvillePike Ellicott City, Maryland 21042 Redistricting®.hcpss. ore~~

Dear Board Members, My wife andI purchasedour first home in the Maple LawnCommunity in March2018, andwe currently reside inthe Hillside District ofthe community (Polygon 1256). Wehave two young childrenwho will be directly affectedby Superintendent's proposed redistricting plan. I amwriting to express our concerns anddissent with theproposed planthat will adversely impact our children within Maple Lawnby splitting children andfamilies withinthe community. Maple Lawnis definedby more thanjust a group ofstreets in close proximity to eachother withinthe five neighborhooddistricts - it is a community - ONECOMMUNITY. My wife and I chose to live in Maple Lawn because of its strong sense ofcommunity and the close proximity ofgreat neighborhood schools. My older brother andhis family moved to the neighborhood 7 years ago. My wife and I would visit them and saw firsthand what it meant to be a part of such as close-knit community - &om the neighborhood festivals to hearing my nephew talk about all of the wonderful activities he was participating in at his school - Fulton Elementary. I knewthat I wanted our children to be raised in this kind ofcommunity andattend the same neighborhood school thatwe had heard my nephew speakso fondly of. During our home buying search, we found homes that were comparable to those in Maple Lawn;however, none ofthe other homes hadthe sense ofcommunity that we were looking for. We were excited to finally be able to move to the neighborhood that my brother and his family spoke so highly of. We were even more elated to knowthat our children would be able to attendthe top-rated nearby schools, which was the driving force in deciding where we would ultimately purchase our first home. My parents recently down-sized andmoved to the community as well. Thisproposal would not only split the community, but also families like ours wholive withinMaple Lawn.For example, my nephewwould attendthe nearby school, whilemy sonwould be redistricted out ofthe neighborhood to a school that is 5. 5miles away, versus a school that students in our neighborhood walkto. This proposal will negatively impact these children psychologically, byuprooting them from their friends, neighbors, classmates and forcing them to attend another school outside their community where they live. This would also impact the ability for my parents to assist withmeeting our children at the bus stop on days in whichwe arenot ableto. It would meanthat we would have anadded expense for before andafter care dueto our sonhaving to attend a school that is further away, thus adding significant travel time to and from school. My brother, my parents and my family moved to the community because we truly believe that it a place in whichpeople foster long lasting relationships with their neighbors and the families with whom their children go to school with. Moving to Maple Lawn was very intentional for us. We are invested in being residents who take pride in the community and the neighborhood schools that our children are assigned to. We are ONE COMMUNITY with the expectation that our children attend ONE SCHOOL. While we are fully awarethat a solution is neededto resolve the overcrowding andpromote equity among certainschools within the county, splitting the Maple Lawn Community is NOT the answer. County officials must work to ensurethat ALL children in the county are receiving quality public school educationand do sowith a thoughtful approach that does not result in uprooting kids &om their Community friends and school aged family members. We are confident that the Board ofEducation and Superintendent can come to a resolution that does not consists ofmaking such drastic proposals to meet arbitrary measures within the county at the expense of our children and our community.

~~Sincerely, Troy Abemathy, MD, MS, FAAP~~

Dear Howard County Board of Education: MynameisNataliaHlaskoJam 16years old and ama Juniorattending 11 "grade at RiverHill HighSchool. I love thesense ofcommunity that I haveexperienced in bothour neighborhood and in our school where I've made many good friends at River Hill HS and had many^positive experiences there. When I found out that my Polygon 1200 is being reassigned from River Hill to Wilde Lake HS, I was totally shocked. Itturns outthat polygon 1200is furthest awayfrom anyof the neighborhoods beingrelocated to Wilde^Lake HSand most shocking isthat Wilde LakeHS is the eighthfurthest awayhigh school from Polygon1200. Theclosest is my current River Hill HS: 4. 3 miles, Glenelg:5 miles, Atholton: 7. 8 miles, Reservoir: 8. 7 mites, Centennial: 9 mites, Mamotts Ridge: 9. 3 miles, Hammond: 9. 7 miles, Wilde Lake: 10 miles! Both River Hill HS and Glenelg HS are both considered under capacity and are located much closer, halfthe distance, compared to Wilde Lake. So if there are seven high schools that are locatedmuch closer to us,then why am I beingsent to the eight furthest away school?

~~River Hid . FLFMFWAHYSCHGOl 4.3 mit^. :0[., ;. t: i14 t7, cute driva ^ t"iL"'lri A MDDLESCHOOl <.:i\e. A x^-/- Atholtan . HIGKSCHOOL~~

There are a numberof High Schools nearerPolygon 1200and 200 than Wilde Lake'HS' Another serious problem with this plan is that it violates BOE's established policy 6010 Section B. 2 - for the Standards on Community Stability. Ourneighborhood has a singleWest access or exit road on to Rt. 32 and no other connecting roads, and we all attend River Hill even though our neighborhood is made up oftwo polygons:1200 and 200. Underthe new plan our neighborhoodwill be split in halfwith each polygon sent to two very different High Schools; polygon 200 will be sent to the nearby Glenelg HS and polygon 1200 will be sent to much further away Wilde Lake HS, which is double the distance of my current school, even though both polygon 1200 and 200 would still be sent to the same elementary and middle school (Dayton Oaks ES and Folly Quarter MS). Redistricting would in effect to cut or divide our neighborhood in half, splitting friends and disrupting social activities.

~~-p^4 s.. "/ / -r r''l^. >IL / (.3 UJ,:U ! -i \~~

~~r. " -i;i, -, ;^.- ^... ^i?*. >. ;. ^-. ^^. ' I.32 Oral.'Ace. -.g ROL.J ?.".- f ^Sr,^. ;.^~~

~~, 1/. £ an-' 12C3. -. tie- . ^...' [ V-J~~

"^.. Under proposed redistricting plan our neighborhood is split in Currently both Polygons 200 and 1200 are sent to River Hill two, with Polygon 1200 to Wilde Lake and Polygon 200 to HS and both are assignedto Dayton Oaks Elementary. Glenelg HS, but both still sent to Dayton Oaks Eiementary. BOEs policy 6010 calls for the promotion of contiguous communities and for community stability when assigning school districts through the consideration of: a) Promoting school feeds that encourage keeping students together from one school to the next - This plan would divide our neighborhood separating kids who together attend the same Elementary and Middle schools b) Keeping areas together that are made up of contiguous communities or neighborhoods - Our neighborhood is made up oftwo polygons but is a single community with a single access road and no other connecting roads. Underthis plan our neighborhood would be split and sent to two different high schools, whilestill attending the same elementary and middle schools. c) Frequency with which any one student is reassigned - Because my family has moved last year, I've already changed schools twice within the last two years and now under this plant would have to change schools again. This change of schools is very stressful and I would like to ask the BOE to let me stay in the same high schools as my friends in the other part of our neighborhood!

As a high school student at River hill I get up at 5:45am to catch a school bus at 6:30am. My morning commute to River Hill takes around 45 minutes and if I have to go to Wilde lake I would be driven past River Hill HS and continue for another 15 to 20 minutes. My current oneway commute could turn from 45 minutes to an hour or more. A two hour daily commute means time lost on studying or sleeping and this is stressful. Being a teenager is challenging enough and some kids deal with stress by smoking or as seen more recently by using vaping products. Other kids deal with stress by consuming alcohol or sometimes even more serious addictive drugs like opioids or narcotics. For teenagers stress coping mechanisms are not yet well developed and adding more stress with a change of school and with longer school commutes could lead to more stress, less sleep and possibly cause other serious health problems. As a 16 year old I will soon be getting my driver's licenses and I hope to start driving myself to school sometimes. By increasing school commuting distances along the already congested Rt. 108 and reducing sleep time this could seriously increases risks associated with teenage driving. According to the CDC driving accidents are the leading cause of death among teenagers, and fatal crash rate per mile driven is nearly twice as highfor 16 and 17 year olds compared with 18 and 19 year olds. This redistricting plan calls for longer school commute times that could cause more accidents as young drivers will need to travel longer distances. Last year at River Hill high school I had a great opportunity to become friends with students who were part of the JumpStart program. These students take classes in other high schools including at River Hill. Students made a choice to change schools without being forced to do so as we are being forced under this redistricting plan. Ifthe Board of Education wants to integrate schools then allowthis through a choice, through programs like JumpStart. Greater school integration can be achieved by focusing on programs like JumpStart and by building low income housing where there is none right now, but not by forcing kids to travel on a bus to much further away schools hours each day. Best thing that could happen is for me is to remain in the school that is closest to us, which is my current River Hill high school, and also grandfathering current students at River Hill. The next simplest solution is to move our Polygon 1200, along with Polygon 200 to Glenelg which is considered underutilized and much closer. This would allow our neighborhood to go to the same school. Sincethere are seven highschools that are much closer compared to Wilde Lake, why make us kids travel so far away? Allowing us to remain in our current schools would be ideal. but there are also many better alternatives to the currently proposed redistricting plan. Ofall my concerns with this plan, my greatest worry is that I will lose myfriends whowon't have to change schools and that I would no longer see them in school on a daily basis. My neighborhood friends who live less than 1 mile away will now go to a different school. This is worrisome and stressful for me and I sincerely ask to please vote against this redistrjcting plan. It would be much easier for me to finish school at River Hill or be sent to school closer to home like Glenelg HS. Please kindly consider our concerns before you make your vote. Very Best Regards, Natalia Hlasko (16 years oldjunior in 11thgrade at River Hill highschool) 13010 Red Maple Way Clarksville, MD 21029 Polygon 1200 Likethe thousands of others in this great county that have voiced their displeasure with the most recent redistricting proposal, I am writing to express my complete opposition to Superintendent Michael Martirano's plan. I am part of Polygon 2011that ISN'Tbeing redistricted. Butwe are part ofthe Atholton communitythat would bedecimated bythe plan asit standsright now. Mywife and I have a sophomore and freshman atAtholton that have already been subjected to a redistricting oftheir friends in elementary school. And now, with almost 60%of non seniors being potentially moved out ofthis high school, the relationships my sophomore son hasformed with his classmates, after-school clubmates, and teammates (JVfootball andtrack), andmy freshman daughter who is in the early stages ofcreating newfriendships with herclassmates andteammates (JVsoccer), will take a significant and irreparable hit. All kids andfamilies in the Atholton community lose withthis current plan.

WhenINTERIM Superintendent Martiranoassured our families two years ago that hewould not consider or support redistricting until at least 2022, we took him for his word. And for someone that has beencommuting for3-^ hours a dayto myoffice in Virginia for the last19 years so my kidscould stay in the wonderful Athotlon community aswe have known it, Dr. Martirano's commitment to our community reinforced mydecision many years ago to not relocate myfamily to FairfaxCounty and to stay put in a place we love. The sacrifice has been well worth it. But now this?!

The stress and anxiety thisflawed plan hascaused the communities within Howard County needs to be addressed with a more thoughtful and inclusive plan that allows usall to have the time and a platform to work together to find a solution. Not 3-4 month fast track that will disrupt and damage the fabric of HoCo.

~~Lance Wain Father of 3 Polygon 2011 Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Larry Ohler < lohlertravel@yahoo. com> Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 9:05 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Cc: daria.gaykalova@gmail. com Subject: [External] Dangerous~~

Today in the morning I neededto goto a morning appointment in Columbia My starting point wasGlobe drive. I knewthat centennial lane would be cluttered with school buses and walkers and other vehicles. So I elected to go east on route 40. Big mistake. Larger back up of traffic. Ifyour redistricting more thandoubles children's bustime you more thandouble their exposureto accidents.

~~Larry Ohler Resident - 45+ years Sent from my iPhone Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: R Meyers Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 8:16 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Fwd: Sodoeconomic Integration VOTE No on busing plan.~~

~~Dear Board Members,~~

~~Thankyou for takingon this job entmsted to you bythe majority ofHoward County voters. I amwriting to you with factual information to oppose the experimental social busing plan.~~

The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization that has been in existence for over 100 years. Its roots can be traced to 1916 and the founding of the Institute for Government Research (IGR). Today it is comprised of over 300 leading experts from around the globe in government and academia who provide the highest quality research, policy recommendations and analysis on a wide range ofpublic policy. These experts are open-minded with diverse points of view much like Howard County voters! They tackle hard issues to include academicsand the effects ofbusing for socioeconomic integration. They claim it is an ideological beliefthat the real facts show it to be much more harmful then good in the long run.

~~Here are but a few opinions about the Brookings Institution:~~

For almost a hundred years Brookings has been thefirst word inforward-looking public policy. This institution [has] beena strong andsteady intellectual resource to public, private andnon-profit policymakers across the country." - Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

~~It seems as ifwhenever we have something important to say, we come to Brookings. Andthat's no random choice."~~

~~- IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde~~

Brookings has a long andproud history oftackling difficultpublic policy issuesand fostering robust public debate." - Kara Stein, Commissioner, Securities and ExchangeCommission All ofthese ladies are leaders, leaders of diversity and for positive socioeconomic impact for all.

In a Brookings article, Bringing back busing: Do the benefits outweigh the cost? (by: David Armor, August 2016)ffl TheInstitution statesthat while busing was needed, asdetermined soby the U. S. Supreme courtto correct long standing segregation of separate schools for blacks and whites, it also hadthe unwanted effect of contributing to a greater segregation " in our society. I am 110% for diversity and integration in the HCPSS and in all oflife. But the HCPSS is one ofthe most highly integrated school systems in the United States. It is not broken but you're aboutto break it!

Howard County has students and families from over 100 countries that are native speakers ofover 80 different languages. What a great community we live in. Because of our great diversity the schools in the State of Maryland rank2nd in the Nation. This is according to U. S.News & World Report. 1"1 However, a more recent publication datedAugust 6, 2019, Maryland's BestSchool Districts 2020: NewRankings Released, ranks Howard County as #1 in the State. 1"2What are we trying to fix with busing? We are doing an incredible great job ofattracting families here, having anextremely culturally diverse county md providing a great education. When I walk around Centennial Lake, I can't count the number ofdifferent languages I hear as people converse.

From hearingall ofthis factual data, datanot derived from a personal beliefbut from facts, a person with common sense would wonder, why would Howard County with an incredibly school system, as evidence by our rankings, would even consider a busing plan. I am certainly wondering that. I hadmany questions:

Will busingprovide better resources to students'? No, it will not. All the County schools receive the same level ofresources withexcellent teachers andstaff. In addition, the HCPSSteaches the same curriculum at all the schools. Busing does not provide any student with better resources.

Is busing desired by the majority ofthe voters in Howard County that elected the School Boarif? No, it is not. That is why students and families and the voters ofHoward Coimty that pay taxes are overwhelmingly against it. That is why the Howard County Police reported that there were about 5, 000 people protesting against the plan recently.

IVhatwill busing do to help the students? Absolutely nothing. Infact, it will have a substantially negative impact and adversely affect many students with a crazy plan develop against the recommendations conducted by experts in the HCPSS Feasibility Study. Curious andskeptical ofsuch a radical ideaI kept digging. I thoughtthere must be a reasonfor this busing plan, even thoughit wasnot obvious to me. Thena goodfriend andeducator ofover 15 years in the HCPSS told me the reason. By shifting the student population around Dr. Martirano can raise the scores of some ofthe lower performing schools! That made sense. It is a plan not intended to help one child, it is a plan to raise some scores at certain schools and make Dr. Martirano look better. I found it! There was my answer - not one child helped but with busing and moving very select populations around we can increase some schools scores. INCREDIBLE!

No student is helped by Dr. Martirano's busing plan. It is a plan to redistribute students to raise the performance scores of select schools. Children that need help will not get the help they need but they will get a longer bus ride, disruption and be separated from friends and communities. If implemented this plan will have a permanent and devastating effect on Howard County.

How aboutthe people that wantthis plan standbehind it with more than words? If Dr. Martirano andthe Board are sure this is what's best for the students, then have then sign a binding agreement that if it fails, each Board Member will pay to the HCPSS $50, 000 and that Dr. Martirano will return one year's salary. That seems extremely reasonable giventhe factthat they are absolutely surethey're correct. They shouldstep right up and agree to this offer with naiy a thought. It would stop all the consternation and wasted time with hearings. The public would embrace this. Endof debate. Come on Dr. Martirano, youhave nothing to lose because you're certain. This is called, put up or shutup! Ifyou knowwhat's best andyou're certain, then standbehind it with more thanwords. That is whatthe voters in this county are doing! It is clearthe vast majority opposethis plan!

DavidArmor, the authorof Bringing backbusing: Do the benefits outweighthe cost, points outthat there are little to no facts that support socioeconomic integration in schools by redistricting andbusing. He states that it is simply a "belief that is "misplaced andtends to bebased on ideological positions, ratherthan grounded in evidence. "1"'1 His study states that socioeconomic integration in schools hasone oftwo effects. First, no measurable effect at all. No student is helped. The second effect, ofsocioeconomic busing, is the loss of diversity in the long-term and lower overall school scores!

Empirical evidence is clear that forced busing for the purpose of socioeconomic integration hasmany bad effects and in the long run has serious negative consequences. The HCPSS will lose diversity because families will move out of our school system. This has been well documented. "Historical lessons students will flee in the face ofmandated integration. "1"1

Today in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools (CMS) the students are 30%white and60% black andHispanic, this is the ratio since forced busing was implemented. Prior to forced busing CMS was 71% white. "Based on past history, a mandatory busing plan will lead to" loss ofdiversity within Howard County, "thus becoming a self-defeating policy."

Another loss if Dr. Martirano gets his social plan approved, by the way let's not forget he has a temporary job. He can leave at anytime and leave the HCPSS holding the bag! The United States is a great country because of our freedom of choice. Who on the Board knows what great person in our history said, "Give me liberty or give me death! People come to Howard County for freedom ofchoice - for liberty. Take awaythat choice and people will leave in droves and it will be devastating to the HCPSS. This plan has lose-lose written all over it and the voters see that.

Many family's largest lifetime investment is thepurchase oftheir home. Many families decidewhere to live because they want their children to have a good education. They want the liberty ofpicking what school their child will attend. Our school system hasworked phenomenally. That is whywe have attracted students in the HCPSSthat speakover 80 languagesfrom over 100countries. Whohas the rightto strip those families oftheir choice? Choiceof what school your childwill aHend"is highly valued by mostparents. ."IYUAffluent parents can simple move out ofHoward County, they have options. But "mostminority parents do not havethat financial ability."

Busing for socioeconomic integration puqioses is a test - results vary widely - it is anunproven social experiment! It is truly a social experiment, withfar reachingand lasting implications for over 7, 000 students and families. Why can't the HCPSS do a pilot program and determine real facts first. Get real data! The National Academy ofEducation has statedthat the results from busingfor socioeconomic integration canbe quite variable and certainly why some students may benefit other students will certainly be harmed. So, who on theBoard is voting for certainharm for some children and possible but unknown benefits for others? Thisplan is anideological social experiment with datathat overwhelming shows a long-term negative effect.

A casestudy "relevantto the critical question ofwhether economic desegregationcan raise" FARMs students' performance useddata &om2004 and 2005 it wasshown that socioeconomic integrationdid not improve students' scores. Ivul We live in a great community with one ofthe finest school systems in the Nation as evidenced by numerous surveys and reports ranking the HCPSS so highly. Data shows this type ofplan will have a long-term and possibly penneant negative effect. I wastold a long time ago - If it's not broken, don't fix it! HCPSS is not broken! Busing helps not one student. All the busing plan may do is raise performance scores at some schools and probably just temporarily. Let's get the kids the help and resources that Dr. Martirano has failed to provide as opposed to busing to improve school scores. I urge you to vote no for the plan and do a pilot program, like the HCPSS has done so many times before, before we move 7.000+ students and cause mass dismptions. Test this theory and get real facts. Be ideological but also be smart, keep our schools great - keep attracting families - keep attracting diversity - but do not bus our kids!

~~Thank you.~~

B httDS://www. brookines. edu/bloe/brown-center-cha!kboard/2016/08/23/brinEinE-back-busina-do-benefits-outweieh-cost/ IulhttES:/^www.usnews. com/education/best-hieh-schools/anicles/how-states-comDare Iuilhttt)s://r)ateh. coin/marvland/columbia/marvlands-best-school-districts-2020-new-rankmes-released

~~M httDS://www. brookines. edu/bloe/brown-center-chalkboard/2016/08/23/brineme-back-busme-do-benefits-outweieh-cost/~~

~~^ Id.~~

~~Ml id. un id, Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: ms optikoptions. com Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 8:13 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Violation of Federal Law by Dr. Martirano is Clear~~

~~Board Members, HCPSS 10910ClaiksviUePike Ellicott City, MD 21042~~

~~RE: Violation of Federal Law by Dr. Martirano~~

~~Dear Board Members,~~

~~Federal lawhas been violated by the Superintendent by using students FARMs datato designhis socialbusing plan! You cannot give it any further consideration.~~

Thankyou for undertaking suchan extremely important and demanding roll in leading our County's nowhighly controversial educational system. This is the largest busing plan and most higMy controversial plan ever proposed in HowardCounty. The shameof it all is that it admitsthat the Board andDr. Martirano fully admit thatthey haveno ideahow to help students at lowerperforming schools. I can easily saythis because Dr. Martirano's Proposed Area Adjustment Plandoes absolutely nothing to help students. It doesnot allocate anyadditional resources to schools in need. It failsto addressany actual issuesand methods to help failing schools succeed. NOTHING! Whathe is proposing is outrageous! Dr. Martirano's plan is designedto move students from highlyperforming schools to lowerperforming schools only to increasethe scores ofthe lower performing schools andmake him look better. He haspromised much anddelivered very little. It is amazinghe has not been terminated for his clearinability to deliver onpromises. Ohhe's smart and sly as shown by his effort to try andpull the wool over everyone's eyes andclaim hisplan helps students. It does nothing more then bus students - it is a student exchange program. Let move these kids from school A to schoolB andwe can claim achievement when the schools performance scores improve. In addition, his plan intentionally targets areas where there is a higher density ofAsian students in order to move those students to thelower performing schools Thisplan in no way address the studentsneeds and in no way shows in any manner how students will be helped. U. S.News andWorld Report for 2019ranks Maryland schools number two inthe Nation! Whatan outstanding ranking. ButDr. Martiranowants to setthe County backand implement hispersonal, unproven, highly controversial planthat the vast majority ofHoward County fully opposes! His planhelps no one andinjures many as well as it will have an adverse impact on the State ofMaryland's ranking. I do'not think that the State Board ofEducation will permit his plan to move forward for many reasons detailed below. Are anyof you aware which high schools in Maryland helped Maryland achievesecond place nationally? From Howard County the schools included River Hill ranked 4 th, Centennial, andGlenelg. TheHCPSS is achieving international recognition for our schools. Right now we are being looked at as insane for one mans determinationto implement his personal social program with busing. Howard County is a highlyintegrated county witha wealthof diversity. I cansay this becausethe HCPSShas native speakers ofover eighty(80) Imiguageswith students from over 100countries. Howcan anyone claim we lack diversity andintegration? Thatperson would needpsychological help! Sincethe 1960's interracial couples that have beencoming to Howard County and we have developed a diverse and welcoming community that includes many vibrant lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer(LGBTQ) aswell as samegender-loving community.

Lets be honest to the citizens of Howard County and the world. HCPSS is fantastic! Dr. Martirano's Proposed Area Adjustment Plan was developed by him, against the results ofthe Feasibility Study purchased by the HCPSSand performed by experts, for onepurpose and onepurpose only - TO EXCHANGE THE STUDENT POPULATION - and increase performance scores at lower performing schools! It is not designed to help students at all! He shouldbe ashamedto thepoint ofresignation for this terrible plan andthe amount ofwasted time, resources andmoney. His personal agendais causing great harming the County nothelping one student. He developed this plan to raise school scores by a massive shift of student population. Ifthe Board adopts Dr. Martirano's then you are sayingthat all ofyou are failures! Failures because you can't help the students atthe lower performing schools. All you can do is move the student population aroundto even the scores out. That is anoutrage! Youwould beadmitting thatyou lack, drastically lack, the ability to help students andto help the underperforming schools to improve and improve the performance scores. Further, his plan drastically targets Asian students, shifting pockets ofneighborhoods that have a hive ratio ofAsian students to the lower scoring schools.

Ifyou implement this crazy busingplan you are admitting failure. You are admitting that you can't fix the actualissues at the schoolsand address the actual needs of the students andthe community. Youhave already shown how poor ofa Board we have we you had to release the last Superintendent and pay her over $1 million to leave.

If implemented I can tell you what will happen. First, many students and families will be hurt. Families that are stmggle to make ends-meet will haveto struggle harder andmany may lose their homes! Second,when it is time to elect a newschool Boardyou will not be re-elected, you cantake that to the bank! Third, Dr. Martirano will resign or beterminated Lastly, hisplan will be scrapped andthe boundaries readjusted, causing families andstudents stress once again It is a lose-lose plan! No one wins hereto pass it the State loses, Howard County loses the Board ofEducation loses and the students lose. There would be one temporary winner - Dr. Martirano. Is oneperson andhis personal crusade for his social busingplan worthall this? OurNation has become overly obsessedwith tests andscores andforgotten howto educate childrenor at least educationhas become clearly second to testing. Ask any educator on flie front lines! Sothis miracle plan of Dr. Martirano's doesnot helpthe students, it helpsto improve certain schoolsperformance scores andis his personal social experiment before he retires. HowardCounty in the last twenty years has become a meltingpot for the world. Wehave vast diversity with over 80languages in our schools! I viewthis aslucky for us. These families thatmake thepilgrimage to Howard County findjobs and a place to call home and a community to live. They contract other friends and families andthey come to Howard County to bepart ofthat "community. " They all move into the samemea. Thisis all great!Many thrive and make incredible lives for themselves. Dr. Martirano's plan would breakup thesecommunities andhave an adverse impact. It woulddiscourage more culturally diversepeople from coming to Howard County. Are you aware some communities herehave setup website in other countries to tell them aboutHoward County, the schools andtheir community? They tell them to come here to the land of opportunity. Now Dr. Martirano wants to stem that flow and break apart communities. Howmany Boardmembers have sat downwith students andfamilies that wouldbe affected andgotten their thoughts? Do they want to be moved? I was in Wilde Lake the other day and the high school was having a pride day. I saw no Board members! I asked the kids in the Village Center their thoughts on Dr. Martirano's plan. I was surprised to learnnone ofthem were awarethey might bebussed. None ofthem werehappy; it was upsetting to them all. You are elected officials.

HCPSS states on its website ; "Equity is providing the access, opportunities andsupports neededto help students, families andstaffreach their full uotential by removins barriers to success that individualsface. It does not mean equal or eiving evervone the same thine. "

Dr. Martirano's has openly stated that his plan is "sisniflcantlv different than the recommendations presented in the Feasibility Study." This statement alone raisesquestions andmuch concern. Whywould the HCPSS engage experts, expend time smdmoney for a study if Dr. Martirano refuses to accept the findings and wants a highly hurtful plan? Whywould the Board adopt Dr. Martirano's plan over that ofexpeUs? Experts with far superior knowledge, education, experience and skills than that ofDr. Martirano.

Dr. MaUirano states, "Equity has been the basis for all of our decisions . . . " But his version of equity is significantly different from the Board's andthe voters ofHoward County. His version is clearly to provide the same thing to everyone. That is completely counter to the HCPSS vision, as stated on your website, that equity does not mean to provide the same thing to everyone. His sole intent is simply targeting the Asian population andto busthem to lowerperforming schools. No help for students thatneed help! Should we ask the County Executive to stop allowing the expansion ofKorean businesses along Route 40 in Howard County because it is making the area not culturally diverse? Ofcourse not! In fact, Howard County and the State promotes expanding pockets singularly cultural communities (not breaking them apart like Dr. Martirano) made up solely ofone culture andsocioeconomic class. The County alongwith the State of Maryland celebrated just this with Korea and launched the website MarylandKoreanWay. com. The HCPSS should be promoting the expansion ofculture and socioeconomic classes of students and not deciding on a social experiment that is the sole idea of Dr. Martirano's designed to break these communities apart and disrupt students andfamilies. Again, all he is doingis busingAsians to lower performing schools to getthe scores up. It is not a solution that will help anyone. It will certainly hurt many. Whatis very alarmingis thatit appearsDr. Martirano violated Federal law. Dr. Martirano plan states that he is focused on the redistribution of students in the FARMs program. I find this deplorable. Families that are in the FARMs program do not want to be there. They do not want to be identified. This federally funded program mandates that information about students certified eligible for free and reduced-price school meals is covered byvery strict confidentiality restrictions administered by the U. S. Department ofAgriculture. It is my opinion that Dr. Martirano has breeched the law by focusing on these families and making them the center of his controversial andoverwhelming unwantedbusing plan. It is a violation ofFederal Lawto access data on students in the FARMs program without the written consent of the parent for any purpose other then determining eligibility! The law appears to have clearly been broken by using FARMs as a basis to determine who to bus.

TheRichard B. Russell National SchoolLunch Act (NSLA), has extremely strict privacy provisions andit restricts who may have access to records on students who are eligible for free and reduced-price meals. Without consent ofthe families in FARMs program Dr. Martirano accessthis datato determine the level of students at various schools as well as where those families live and then he developed a busing plan to redistribute the FARMs students. Federal law was broken when information pertaining to students and families in FARMs was accessby Dr. Martirano andhis teamin order to develop his student exchangeprogram to redistrict FARMs students to other schools. He is clear and vocal that his plan was highly focused on families in the FARMs program. Violation ofthe FARMsprogram dataoccurs whenthat data is accessedfor anypurpose otherthen to determine student eligibility! The data cannotbe accesswithout violating federal law to develop a redistribution plan ofthose students. There are monetary penalties as well as a possible federal prison term for breaching this restricted data!

You can't access records ofwho is in the FARMs program to develop a busing plan - it is illegal to do so! Our community will be contacting various federal authorizes to include the USDAand U. S. Attorney General's Office to pressure them to conduct a full investigation as to what data was access concerning FARMs students, by who and if it was for any purpose other then determine eligibility for the program. If the data was access in violation ofthe law we will continue the pressure for fall prosecution of all involved.

What has been done is illegal. What the Board is considering is damaging not only to the students but additionally to Howard County and the State of Maryland. I do not see how the Board can at this point knowing Federal law was violated to develop Dr. Martirano's plan give it any further consideration.

~~Thank you,~~

~~Dr. Maria Sachs Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Ruth Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 8:01 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Opposition to Superintendent's Redistricting Plan~~

~~Dear Board of Education Members,~~

~~I would like to voice my opposition for the redistricting proposal.~~

The proposed redistricting directly goes againstPolicy 6010 Standards B.2. b, wherefor my polygon (28), the contiguous residentialcommunity is beingfractured, and redistrictedto schools separatedfrom our residentialarea bythe natural boundary of the Middle Patuxent Environmental area.

Further, the redistricting goes against Policy 6010 Standards B. 1. d where virtually no students will have a shorter distance to travel to school, both In my polygon, and in other polygonsthroughout the county. In my particularneighborhood, many students will have their travel distances increased from 1 or 2 miles a day up to 6 or 7 miles. By going againstthe Board of Education Policy, our childrenwill havetheir social networkstorn apartas theytraverse the proposed convoluted feed system, and by having longer bus rides the newsystem limits the ability ofstudents to engage in extra-curricular school activities, and literally is taking time away from home for our children. I voicethese concerns, notjust from speculation ofthe effectit will have on ourchildren, but from first hand experience. As child, my home-county forced a redistricting similarto what is being proposed here. It was detrimental to my network of friends, as many of us hadto partways as we wentfrom elementaryto middle school andthen againas wewent on to high school. It a so. made my bus "de take over 45 minutes just to travel to school, which took away precious time from home, and limited my ability to participate in school activities. These were pains that I had to deal with, and I do not think any child should have to go through.

~~Please consider the impact this redistricting will have of the lives of our children. How it will affect their social development, and their lives outside of school.~~

~~Thank you, Ruth Rodman, polygon 28 9-24-2019~~

~~Board Of Education Howard County 10910 Clarksville Pike Ellicott City, MD 21042~~

We are Joan and Tony Zakel, from polygon 182 and I have lived in Howard County for almost 22 years. Over this span of time, I have seen many changes occur in Howard County. Throughout this time, our three children have been educated through the Howard County Public School System.

Howard County has an exceptional school system. Much of this is due to parental and family participation in the school system. When my children were in elementary and middle school, my husband and I were active participants in the school community and in our children's education, through volunteering at schools, actively participating in PTA and working with our children on their studies. The schools that my children attended were Triadelphia Ridge and Folly Quarter. For high school, my children attend River Hill. I feel that my children were very well prepared to deal with the requirements of a "high performing" high school because of our involvement in our children's education. We feel that a child's success in education is directly related to the parent involvement in the school and community.

The school is usually viewed as the center of a community. Public events, school competitions and gatherings occur at the school and bringthe community together. Therefore, it makes sense that the students who attend a school should live in the community surrounding the school. This will allowthe students andtheir parents to have easyaccess to the opportunities at the school and provide the students with the best community support for their education.

In the current redistricting plan, my child is assigned to a high school (Wilde Lake) that is farther away from our community than 3 other high schools. This type of redistricting goes against the idea of the school asthecenter of the community. Moving students to school out of their neighborhood causesthem to lose out on the benefits of parental and community support. It can also cause the students to be less involved in the school because they are unable to participate in after school activities due to transportation concerns.

Every child in Howard County deserves the best education that can be provided. Throughout the county, there are schools that perform academically higherthan others. The goal of the Board of Education should beto provide extra resources and services to improve any lower academically performing schools. We should strive to develop all the schools in Howard County into academically high performing schools. By raisingthe academicperformance of schools, you benefit the surrounding neighborhoods and communities. It is unfair to present this redistricting plan as the solution to school improvement.

~~While it is clear that some redistricting will need to occur, the redistricting plan should take into account the effect it has,to the students, community and the academic performance of the schools.~~

~~Joan and Tony Zakel Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Keith Turner Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 6:54 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] FES Maple Lawn Redistricting~~

I live in Maple Lawn at 7741 Water St, Fulton. Currently your are proposing that my house will be redistricted from Fulton Elementary to Laurel Woods Elementary. One of the reasons I bought my house was because it wasclose to a really good school. My house will beredistricted to a schoolthat is much much further awayand hasmuch lowertest scores. This is deeply unfair, weworked andsaved for yearsto buy this house! Webought the house because of the schools.

I havevolunteered atthe schoolmany times becauseit is so close, belowis a tweet I made afterteaching computer science in my kids math class one day. I have done many things like this. https://twitter. com/rkturn2/status/847502213152780288

~~I could only do this becauseit wasclose. Sendingus to a school that is so muchfurther awaywould make it harder for parents to do this kind of volunteer work.~~

My wife andI will vote againstall incumbents at the State andLocal level shouldthis come to pass. I hope it doesnot come to this. I hopeI canvote for you that represent me, this single issuewill decidemy vote.

~~Regards,~~

~~Keith Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: William kenney Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 6:47 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Redistricting Proposal~~

Dear Howard County Board Members, Thepurpose of my letter is to express my protest against the new redistricting of students proposed by Howard County School's Superintendent Michael Martirano. I ama retiredHoward County teacher who spent 26 years teaching in the Howard County Public Schools. My ownkids have long since graduated from Glenelg High School, andI live in Howard County asa renter, not an owner. I haveno "dogin the fight", but felt theneed to express my dissatisfaction withthe Superintendent's plan for a number of reasons.

1 The schools system is already one ofthe most diverse counties inMaryland. SeeMaryland Reporter article: httos://maTylandreDorter. com/2019/09/15/ODinion-howard-countv-is-not-segreeated/ Theproposal to buskids to make it more diverse is unnecessary, andcreates a burden onstudents, parents and commuters.

2. Bussing^more than7, 000kids will beexpensive anddisraptive. The cost ofmoving students across the countywill no doubt cost tax payers money in both the cost of fuel for busses, and bus driver hourly pay. In addition parents whoneed to dropor pick their child up from school will bearthe cost of additional driving timeand fuel^and maintenance costs. Traffic in the Columbia area is already gridlocked in many villages. 'For exaniple inRiver Hill, thebackup from Great Starto RiverHill HighScho'ofoccurs everymorning^ Backups occurin Wild Lake on the road adjacent to the tennis courts. These are just two of the many that oc"cur every' schoolmorning andafternoon. Addingmore busses and cars on the road traveling to andfrom schools isgoing to clog the roads even more.

. :_ ageTtlcomm, *mity..brea^down:parents buyhomes in areasthey like. Somestruggle to saveover many yearsin order to^purchase their dream home in a communitybecause of the housing, schools, pools and local conveniences Martirano's plan goesagainst the vision ofthe original developers ofthe Columbia plan - c ummiT'-st.udents'wi11be bussedto unfamiliar schools, thusnpping them apart from their home community, otherchildren they have bonded with and established relationships wittiand would have otherwise continued to shareexperiences with. Instead, they are placed into unfamiliar territory, with strangers, and forced to siton bossesover extended periods oftime. Homework andprojects will haveto be done with kids across county. 4. Fallacyof equity Jhe. Superintendent's plansmells ofa leftistpolitical agenda.The goals to createa more balanced md equitable distribution ofresidents withregard to socioeconomic levels, to redistrict acrossthe county and force socioeconomic equity by valuing anddevaluing property, is tantamount to socialism"Ina : economy,the fruits of hard work, good decision-making, " andsaving money allows one the ability to La-safeeommunity withattractiv. e. housmg-. R isinsulting, andfrankly, just plainwrong to'suddenly" : anexpensive home m Clarksville by 30% inthe name ofequity. The incentive to investment in Howard ?o*ulty-isdimmislled with.thisPlan> because an investor will never know if or when an arbitrary decision will e_madet?. red.istri^a Particula'home-Geographic boundary redistribution of students to adjustfor overcrowding in schools is perfectlyjustified, aid this approach hasbeen, and should betheonTv'for of redistricting. Sincerely, William Kenney 5902 Gentle Call Clarksville, MD 21029 443-472-0731 September 24, 2019

~~Dear Board Members,~~

~~Thank you for serving on the Board of Education. We value your commitment and your support for the education of Howard County children.~~

I am a member or a family residing in Polygon '127, currently districted to Foin'iers Run ES (PREG), Clarksville MS (CiviS) and Atholton HS (/.-. HS). In 2017, ou,- polygon v'/as redistrictad from Clemens Crossing E3 (CCES) and Lime Kiln iviS (LKiviS) to PRES and CiviS. Our neighborhood understood the reason behind the Board's decision to redistrict our community arid overwhslmingly supported the move i:o PRES/ CiviS. The 2018-2019 schooi year was a challenge for our children as they adjusted to new academic snvironments and friend groups, bui: overall they have adapted v

As the counly is faced with redistricting this year, we are writing to first express our support of the stability currently being proposed at the elementary and middle school levels for !;)olygon 'i 27, which is iri keeping with Policy S010 (IV. B. 2. )that states the Board will make "every attempt to not move a student more than once at any school level or the same student more frequently then once every rive years. " As the Board considers feedback and considers redistricting proposals, we implore you 1:0 !'.eep Polygon 127 districted to PRES and CiviS as they appear in the Superintendent's and AAC's current proposals. Because of our students' redistricJrig last year, stabiiicy is critical and moving Polygon '127 eie;Tien'i:3ry e,-id middle school children in just two years' tims would not be in the best interest of the students or in keeping with county policy.

t. At the high school level, we understand that county redistricting of some kind is warranted due to overcrowding issues a'i: certain schools and that there is a focus on shifting capacities west to address this overcrowding. ~i'he Superintendent's proposal would n-iove Polygon 127 from AHS to RiverHillnS(RHHS). ^ : . I;

~~.. . -I),~~

~~f"f^ " ^.' »J>- .I* - tj" ,.^~~

~~. .1*' - 11~~

~~In the event the Board considers adjusjng the Superintendent's proposed moves for polygons in or out of ;^HHS, our position in sup. -jori: of the move to F~~

~~' remairi 81 A:-;S ii tney provide iheir own trarisponation co and from the schoo!.~~

We understand the importance of a comprehensive redjs'cricting plan and hsve always fallen a reasonable approach TO redistricling. We are also sensitive to any moves given our recent rediscricting and we ask that before making any final decisions for our children, the Board consider our position and the impact on the children in our communi'ty. We w\\ be paying close attention during the Board meetings and will update the Board if Poiygon 127's position changes based on new considerations or Board discussions. Thank you for your considersiion.

~~Sincerely, Katy and Derek oetty Polygon 127 Christina Lambert Polygon 1010~~

~~September 24, 2019~~

~~Dear HCPSS BOE,~~

~~Dr. Martirano has lost his mind with his redistricting plan that goes againstthe feasibilitystudy.~~

On the HCPSSwebsite, it says "Dr. MichaelJ. Martirano considers himselfa teacherfirst and foremost, and believes children must be at the center of all decision-making." Let'stake this to heart. CHILDREN, not FARMS numbers, must be at the center of all decision-making.

Children do not want to be moved from their current schools. It's incredibly stressful for kids to attend a new school and have to make new friends. Some kids have a hard enough time making a friend or two and he wants to rip some of them away from the only friends they have. This county redistricts every 3-4 years, and that is just ridiculous! Children need stability, and the churning of neighborhoods every few years to different schools has got to stop.

~~As my elected officials, your priority in redistricting for 2020 should be the least amount of disruption to the children. You should accomplish this by:~~

. Moving the minimal amount of students necessary to relieve the worst overcrowding. o This does not mean churningto improve FARMsnumbers (i.e. moving 600+kidsout; 470 kids in to Atholton High School). If you need to move 50-100 kids out because it's too crowded, then do so, but DO NOT swap an equal number in. That's a slap in the face to the students and families. . Forthe polygonsthat you move in 2020, DO NOTmove them again in 2023 or wheneverthe new high school opens. Please have the decency to let those kids finish high school wherever you move them to this year. . Restore funding to Hammond High School so they can do their long-promised renovation. Yes, this might mean delaying HS13 by another year or two. We will be fine with that. Let's show some respectto the staffand students of that school who have been waitingfor their long- overdue renovations. . When you are ready to open HS13, THEN you can do a massive redistricting. Please, please don't make families go through this uncertainty and stress more than once every 10 years. Parents buy homes in the communities where they want their children to attend school. Children want to stay with their friends. The social aspect of school is just as important as the academics. After all, these are all top notch schools in Howard County.

~~It'sin ourchildren's best interest for them to haveSTABILIT/ in their lives, not constantchange, beg you to be that voice of reason and that invisible force of stability for our kids.~~

~~Thank you, Christina Lambert Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Lauren Norkin Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 5:30 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] False Logig behind FARM Redistribution: Heart in Right Place but wrong consequences~~

~~Please listen to this Podcast regarding the unintended consequences to African American populations as a result of Brown v. Board of Education.~~

~~Not to give anything away, but the speaker is DIRECTLY related to and affected by that case. You need to hear HER speak. httD://revisionisthistorv. com/eDisodes/13-miss-buchanans-Deriod-of-adiustment~~

I do not personally know anyone receiving FARM (or, if I do, the topic did not come up). As a group, I do not know their position regarding FARM redistribution so would not presume to suggest their point of view. My question is.... do you know?

~~If you do not know, may I suggest you find out so that you do not follow in the same footsteps as our well-intended predecessors who solidified the very inequity they were trying to stop.~~

~~Lauren Norkin Laui'en.Norkmfal.vahoo. com (410)505-8773 voice only (703) 581-8582text only~~

~~J am only one; but still1 amone. I cannot doeverything, butstill] can dosomething andbecause I raniwt doeseything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.~~

-Edward Everest Hale Laura Johnson (Polygon 1035) Elkridge, MD HCPSSParent and 2'"' Vice President, NAACP Howard County Testimony IN SUPPORT OF the Attendance Area Adjustment Plan Before the Board of Education September 24, 2019

Greetings Madam Chair and members of the Board of Education. lam Laura Johnson, mother of a student at Thomas Viaduct Middle School, and I am testifying in general support of the Attendance Area Adjustment Plan proposed by Superintendent Dr. Martirano. I'm not defined by nor beholden to any polygon assignment (1035 forthe record) because I truly believe that HCPSSis the best public education in Maryland, and that a high quality education will follow my son here no matter the school assignment. Are we perfect? No. Do we have lots of deficiencies and disparities to address, you bet.

I have listened to the arguments of longer bus rides (which there is no mention of bus schedules or travel times cited in the proposed plan). I have listened with empathy to the arguments of student desires to remain with their neighborhood friends and the school supports needed for them to thrive. And as a mom of an ADHD child on the autism spectrum, I get it, and fully understand the research connecting stable environments and the value of childhood friendships to healthy childhood development.

I offer, however,the perspectivethat ifwe areto build resilient, global citizens, andfuture leadersof this society, our students must learn to adaptto change, interactand collaboratewith students from all walksof life and ultimately push beyond their comfort zones. This Is called Life and these critical skills are necessary In the 21"century workforce.

And so, here we are at a critical crossroad. With guidance from the Superintendent, it is the Board of Education's civic and bindingduty, accordingto Policy6010, to "establishschool attendanceareas to provide quality, equitable educational opportunities to all students and to balance the capacity utilization of all schools."

The proposed plan courageously goes beyond the capacity utilization issue and looks at distribution of students participatingin the Freeand ReducedMeals Program. Forsome reason, this particular proposed idea has brought out the ugliest side of our community for those who fall to see the value, the light, the possibility in every single child who deservesto be nurtured, supported and given the wingsto succeed in any of our public not private schoolsin Howard County. Despite what so many sayfrom their mouths... "oh, we moved here for the diversity of the community, " their hearts and actions speak otherwise in this particular instance. Diversity at a distance feels comfortable, safe... and preserves property value, it seems.

Whilewe can't undo historical missteps around this process nor can we, overnight, correct the inequities in our housing and zoning laws or shortfalls in our school revenue, what we can do right now is follow our moral compass and continue to anchor ourselves in Jim Rouse's vision to create an "open city" and a place that would "upliftjnspire, stimulate and develop the best in man." Page 2. Laura Johnson's Testimony, Attendance Area Adjustment Plan, Sept. 2019

~~What I implore the Board of Education and the Superintendent to do in finalizing this plan is to:~~

1) Stand firm and courageous. The families of the voiceless must be heard here. Some of our families, particularly our lower income families, may not always have the tools or band-with to navigate the education system, organize a protest, analyze the implications of all the data, but they require leaders and advocates to stand in the, amplify their voices and do what's right for every child to have the greatest chance at success. 2) Make data informed and logical decisions in the school reassignments that factor in every child's need to feel safe, supported and connected to a welcoming, nurturing and positive school community where friendships and teacher-student relationships can flourish and grow across any polygon. A strong and comprehensive transitional and school community-building plan must be part of the strategy. We must also go further and address head on discriminatory practices, claims and incidents of racial and religious hatred that still permeate some of our schools and pockets of our community. 3) Advance a community conversation that helps families understand that test scores do not define the quality of a school. Just as we hardly want our children defined by one test or data point, neither should our schools. But if we must make a case around test scores, then let's stand on the research offered by the Century Foundation that shows "students in integrated schools have higher average test scores. On the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) given to fourth-graders in math, for example, low-income students attending schools that are more affluent scored roughly two years of learning ahead of low-income students in high- poverty schools.

Controlling carefully for students'family background, another study found that students in mixed-income schools showed 30 percent more growth in test scores over their four years in high school than peers with similar socioeconomic backgrounds in schools with concentrated poverty. " Ultimately, we need to broaden the conversation about marks of school excellence and what makes for an exceptional school climate producing exceptional outcomes of student growth and success. 4) Articulate and build a world-class, welcoming educational experience for every single school here, ensuring our students who need the most continue to receive the academic, social-emotional and funding resources they need to thrive while advancing an actionable plan to address serious school structural and deferred maintenance issues that diminish the teaching and learning environment. 5) Continue to articulate our values as a school system, as a community and communicate goals of the plan and success measures along the implementation of the plan.

According to the Century Foundation, "racially and economically integrated schools promote the very purposes of public education-to foster social mobility and social cohesion-and do so in a way that is cost-effective. " The time is now.

~~#ff# Septs nbcr2t, Wi9~~

~~Board of Education 10910 Clarksville Pike, Ellicott City, MD 21042~~

Dear Board of Education Members, Weare writing to you to express our concern and disappointment with the proposed school changesfor our children and neighborhood(Winterbrook, polygon 25). We wantjo be clear that we do not want our children or neighborhood to be moved to Guilford Elementary and Thomas Viaduct Middle school forthe following reasons. ; he sma]l amount of children that are affected and proposed to be moved is not Significant to make that much of a difference in Guilford Elementary. In add'ition, Bollman Bridge is not overcrowded.

2. Bollman Bridge Elementary School is exactly one mile from our house and we are jusôutside the walkers line. We are further from Guilford Elementary and even'further to Thomas Viaduct Middle School. 3-Moving the few houses that have been picked will not significantly change the amount of children who receive reduced lunches. 4. My children are both in fourth grade andwould be moved for oneyear to finish fifth grade in a^schoolwhere they don't know anyone, don'thave any friends, anddon't" know all of the teachers and school staff. This is absurd. i-. îân.?e_t?Th°. m, EISviaduct middle school is almost7 milesaway taking at Least-, 1_6minutes to 9etthere without traffic. My children and our neighbor's children will riding in a bus way longer than necessary on major highways when their current sô°!^s. 1, mileâwaywith no majorhi9hways. Are you prepared toensure that my children will be safeon a longercommute on major highwaysthrough a state with one ofthe worst traffic areas in the entire country? This plan will dram'atTcailv'i'ncrease . liability with the safety of our children.

~~B. \w\\ no longer be ableto attend school events orvolunteer dueto the distance awavfrom our house and considering the traffic in Howard County.~~

7. Ourson hadan IEPup until lastyear and nowhas a 504plan. He hasachieved tremendous successes at his school because of his effort and that of the team at Bollman Bridge. The team helping our son put in a lot of hard work, caring, and time toward helping our son to learn how to excel in his surroundings and overcome obstacles. How can a new school in one year, be expected to know him, know how he thinks, know what makes him be his best like his current school. In his last year before a major life changing step into middle school, this plan which takes him out of his familiar and trusting environment, would create havoc to his world.

~~8. We have had a great experience with Bollman Bridge and we do not want it to change.~~

~~Sincerely, Deanna and Shane Eastman Polygon 25~~

~~Winterbrook Neighborhood September 24, 2019~~

~~Dear Board of Education:~~

I live In polygon 16,which is proposedfor redistrictingfrom Atholton ESto Guilford ESin the most recent plan put forth by Dr. Martirano. Westrongly opposethis proposal and pleadfor you to help us keepour Dickinson community together.

Just a few short weeks ago we moved to our new home at 8801 Sandrope, a single family home, from a town home nearby. We stayed in the area because we adore Dickinson, our neighbors and our friends here. It surprised usto learnthat our new home was in another school zone. Ourson Connor was required to changeelementary schools from Hammondto Atholton as part ofthe move. Wewere awareour new home was districted for Atholton in 2019, and we were aware ofthe possibility of redistricting in 2020. Howeverwe felt comfortable movingonly becausethe published redistricting plans either had usstaying at Atholton where Connor would make friends and build relationships with the teachers and staff this year, or redistrict to Hammond, where Connor already has friends in the community, and already has strong ties with the Hammond staff from attendance there in grades K-2.

To our dismay the change in schools this year from Atholton to Hammond ES has created much more anxiety for Connor than we expected-questions such as: who will I eat with at lunch? what will the school be like? Will the teachers be kind? will I fit in? weighed on him heavily. The anxiety had not only a social andemotional impact, butalso a scholastic and behavioral decline. Sadlyour son hasnot beenperforming to the same levels as he had in prior years. It is clear to us that the stress and anxiety of the move is impacting his performance. I can only imagine how he will be affected by a move to Guilford on the heals of his move to Atholton, where he's again unfamiliar with the school, the students, and the staff.

The redistricting proposal as putforth not only has Connor movingagain from Atholton to Gulford, but in addition has him moving to a school many miles away that is completely outside of our Dickinson Neighborhood. The plan as proposed will not only pull him from thefamiliar, yet again, but pull him from his classmates, newfriends from Atholton and old from Hammond, andadult role models at both schools with whom he has built strong ties.

Connor is a 3rd graderthis year, and will be a 4th grader next year-one of the most critical times in student's career as you are all aware. There are many studies to support the importance of developing strong learning behaviors and skills during the 3rd and 4th grade time frame. Meeting the learning milestones critical for this age will be difficult to achieve within an uncertain and unstable environment, isolated from the friends and role models that he knows and trusts.

This is a case study of our son, and of how his move to a new school has been difficult for him. We anticipate a move to Guilford on the heels of our recent move to Atholton for him would be devastating. I suspect a move to a school outside our community would cause similar hardship for the other 1"-5"' grade elementary students in polygons 16, 1016 and 1014 that would be forced into a school outside our community and away from neighborhood friends. A move outside of Dickinson is disruptive, potentially damaging and completely unnecessary. Hammond ES has 95% capacity and would have the room to absorb the roughly 40 students in polygons 16, 1016, and 1014 and still not be over capacity limits.

I oppose the current redistricting of polygons 16, 1016 and 1014 to Gulford ES and would like our schools to stay accessible with our Dickinson Neighborhood. If redistricting away from Atholton is necessary, please keep our Dickinson community together and, in line with BOE policy 6010 for Community Stability redistrict ES students in polygons 16, 1016, and 1014from Atholton to Hammond Elementary. Thank you for your time and consideration.

~~Respectfully,~~

~~Jeanine Pennington 8801 Sandrope Court, Columbia MD 21046 Polygon 16 I am writing in opposition to the redistricting plan that as it is currently proposed.~~

I am very concerned about the small feed to Hammond High School from Lake Elkhom Middle that is part ofthis plan (polygons 13, 14 and 15). This school is being divided three ways for high school with larger feeds to OaklandMills and Atholton High Schools. The feed to Atholton includes polygons from McGill Commons that have historically attended Hammond and have strong ties to the Hammond community. My children were previously part ofvery small feeds out of elementary school to middle school and from middle school to high school. It was very difficult to arrive at a new school with only a few other classmates who were familiar.

I am also concerned that with all ofthe disruption to the high school boundaries, Hammond High School is not improving demonstrably in its SES status and is still overcrowded. If that's the goal ofthe pain that this plan causes, the plan does not achieve it. It is also counterproductive to cause this much dismption when we all know that redistricting is on the horizon againwhen high school 13 opens.

I also believe that the boundary area for Atholton High School looks like a gerrymander. There are polygons zoned to Atholton that are closer to both Reservoir High School and Hammond. Also, the amount ofturnover in the student body at Atholton High contemplated by this plan is not reasonable. Are we expecting the administration at Atholton to deal with over 40% new students in the Sophomore-Senior classes plus the 25% of new students that come in every year as Freshmen? That means that over 2/3 of the students will be new to the school.

~~Please go back to the drawing board and work to relieve the overcrowding, take better consideration ofthe effects ofHS 13, and reduce the impacts of small feeds to both middle school and high school.~~

~~Mary Beth Waak Polygon 14 Sept. 24, 2019~~

~~Dear Board Members,~~

~~Thank you for serving on the Board of Education. value your commitment and your support for the education of Howard County children.~~

I am a member of a family residing in Polygon 127, currently districted to Pointers Run ES (PRES), Clarksville MS (CMS) and Atholton HS (AHS). In 2017, our polygon was redistricted from Clemens Crossing ES (CCES) and Lime Kiln MS (LKMS) to PRES and CMS. Our neighborhood understood the reason behind the Board's decision to redistrict our community and overwhelmingly supported the move to PRES/CMS. The 2018-2019 school year was a challenge for our children as they adjusted to new academic environments and friend groups, but overall they have adapted well and made strong community relationships. We are still in agreement that the redistricting at that time was the right move and allows for long term stability for our neighborhood.

As the county is faced with redistricting this year, we are writing to first express our support of the stability currently being proposed at the elementary and middle school levels for Polygon 127, which is in keeping with Policy 6010 (IV. B. 2. ) that states the Board will make "every attempt to not move a student more than once at any school level or the same student more frequently than once every five years. " As the Board considers feedback and considers redistricting proposals, we implore you to keep Polygon 127 districted to PRES and CMS as they appear in the Superintendent's and AAC's current proposals. Because of our students' redistricting last year, stability is critical and moving Polygon 127 elementary and middle school children in just two years' time would not be in the best interest of the students or in keeping with county policy. Please keep Polygon 127 districted to PRES and CMS as is currently proposed.

At the high school level, we understand that county redistricting of some kind is warranted due to ovarcrowding issues at certain schools and that there is a focus on shifting capacities west to address this overcrowding. The Superintendent's proposal would move Polygon 127 from AHS to River Hill HS (RHHS). At this time, Polygon 127 is generally in support of a move to RHHS if the Board approves a comprehensive redistricting plan that includes the Superintendent's proposed moves of other polygons to and from RHHS. In the event the Board considers adjusting the Superintendent's proposed moves for polygons in or out of RHHS, our position in support of the move to RHHS may change as such additional changes could impact long-term stability and may have the effect of not addressing critical priorities identified by the Board and the Superintendent.

We also believe that rising sophomores, juniors and seniors currently in Polygon 127 should be given the option to stay at AHS, in the event they provide their own transportation to and from AHS. We are asking for this because juniors and seniors have forged academic, extracurricular and social relationships at AHS and should be allowed to complete their high school time there. For students in Polygon 127 who will be sophomores in the 2020-2021 school year, a move to RHHS will mean that this particular group of students will have attended four different schools in four years because of Polygon 127's recent redistricting. For this group of children, four moves in such a short period of time is not in their best interest. Therefore, they should also have the option to remain at AHS if they provide their own transportation to and from the school.

We understand the importance of a comprehensive redistricting plan and have always taken a reasonable approach to redistricting. We are also sensitive to any moves given our recent redistricting and we ask that before making any final decisions for our children, the Board consider our position and the impact on the children in our community. We will be paying close attention during the Board meetings and will update the Board if Polygon 127'sposition changesbased on new considerationsor Boarddiscussions. Thankyou for your considetation.

~~Sincerely, Angela Stark Polygon 127 September 24, 2019 Jiahui Wang 11637QuarterfieldDr., EIlicott City, MD 21042~~

~~Polygon 178~~

Dear Howard County Board of Education members, I mn writing to represent my strong opposition to Superintendent Martirano's proposal suggests moving morethan 7, 000students to relieve overcrowded schools and bring equity to Howard County. The improvements in both areas are negligible, especially when weighed with the thousands of students moved in drastic ways across the county. I urgethe BOBto compare Superintendent Martirano's plan againstthe standardsof Policy 6010to determine whetherthis proposal shouldeven be considered. This proposal hasmultiple conflicts to the Policy 6010. One ofthem isthe obvious fail on Policy 6010 SectionJV. B. 2. C "Community Stability. Where reasonable, school attendance areasshould promote a senseof community inboth the geographic place (e. g., neighborhoodor place in which a studentlives) andthe promotion ofa student from eachschool level through the consideration of: c. Frequency with which any onestudent is reassigned, making every attempt to notmove a student more than once at any ^-.1°V.eJ?1OT the same student more frequentlythan once every five years. " Polygons 171, 178,179, 1178, 1179^urrently atWest Friendship ES are planned to go to friadelphiaRidge ES iD the proposaL Thesesame polygonswere moved in the2018 redistricting plan from ManorWoods ES to West Friendship ES. 2018 to 2020 is far more less than five years. Thus, Superintendent Martirano's proposal fails to meet Policy 6010 standards, and therefore, the BOE should not consider the proposal during this redistricting process. The BOEmust consider whether redistricting is even necessary atthis time or if waiting 3 years is acceptable Ifredistrictmg is necessaiy as deemed by the standards of Policy 6010, the BOE must only consider options that achieve the standards set forth in Policy 6010.

~~Sincerely,~~

~~Jiahui Wang Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Rebecca Beall Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 4:06 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Redistricting input~~

~~Dear Board Members,~~

~~I am submitting my input regarding the HCPSS redistricting. I live in Longfellow, and my child is a very happy, involved, proud sftident at Wilde Lake High School.~~

Wilde Lake High School is an example of what is visionary and right in Columbia and with James Rouse's vision of Columbia. To me, the love, care, respect, diversity, and sense of community and belonging that is woven into the fabric of the entire Wilde Lake community (both the school and the greater community) is aspirationalfor our county and our country.

I am writing to ask you to remember that Wilde Lakemust be held up as the example of excellence it is. Diversity is embraced and celebrated in the context of "Ghana",Oneness, Community. Students are challenged, supported, andknown.

~~I am asking that as redistricting decisions are made, please honor the sense of community so critical to WLHS, and to all our communities.~~

~~Thank you,~~

~~Rebecca Beall Polygon 2143 Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Angela Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 3:03 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Re: Redistricting / Integration Proposal 2019~~

~~Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone~~

~~'.';'.' ";0. '.~~

The redistricting/ integration proposal submitted to the Board of Education is harmful to the majority ofresidents ofHoward County. Is there any evidencethat this major upheaval for thousands of residents will improve a single student's educational outcome? I can almost assure that it will negatively impact the emotional well being of every student andparent. If there are specific schools that need more resources, there are effective ways to get those schools and students more resources that do not involve disrupting every student, parent, and neighborhood in the county. Leaders should be able to solve problems creatively and effectively. Howard County is a diverse and caring community. Perhaps PTAs at schools with more resources could partner with the PTAs at schools that need help. Sitting at a computer and manipulating polygons to achieve an arbitrarily selected statistic is a bureaucratic, uncreative, and ineffective way to solve problems. When another statistic appears "inequitable" in five to seven years, will we shuffle and disrupt students, families and neighborhoods again? I hope that the Board of Educationcan seethat this proposal is hannful and will soundly reject it.

~~Thank you, Angela Bmnner Ellicott City~~

~~Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone Alison Dodge, Polygon 15 Redistricting Testimony - September 24, 2019~~

I live in a community where a group of kids (polygons 13, 14, 15, 57, 1057 and 2057) will be moved from Hammond Middle to LakeElkhorn Middle. I urgeyou to reconsiderthe path that these polygons are slatedto takeafter middle,to highschool. The proposed plan ripsour community apartby splitting those in KingsContrivance. Polygons 13, 14, and 15 remain at Hammond High but 57, 1057, and 2057 go to Atholton High School; while Allview polygons (56, 2056, 1056, and 3056) are moved to OMHS (which makes sense and hasalways been the case) further breakingup a span of barely over two miles into three high schools.

Thisthree wayhigh school split in ourcommunity is not a fair plan for our kids. For the cohort of children in Polygons13, 14, 15, 57, 1057, 2057, 56, 1056, 2056, and3056, the friendshipsformed in elementary and middle school will be severed asthe children are dispersed to three different high schools.

Based on the early survey, it seemed like maintaining feeds was the highest priority among stakeholders. Thispriority hasclearly not beenconsidered for KingsContrivance - specifically Dickinsonand MacGill's Common. Theseare families that currently goto elementary schooltogether, doswim team together, would be movedto LakeElkhorn Middletogether, andwould then be ripped apart for high school. This is a disservice to the community and a disservice to Hammond High School which is supported heavily by families who live MacGill's Common.

~~I urge you to reconsiderthis redistricting plan. Dear Committee Members,~~

My name is Haeli Shah. When I started to write this testimony, I thought to myself as to who am I. One thing I am not is a "a closed plane figure bounded by straight lines", that is how Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a polygon as. As you can see I am not a closed plane figure and I am not bounded by straight lines, even though my parents would like me to bounded by more than straight lines. What I am is a friend, a student, a volunteer who belongs to the Mt. View Community, and much more.

I transferred from Baltimore County to Howard County in 6th:th grade. Thatsummerof2017wasthehardestforme. I hadto leave my friends in Baltimore and now had to make new ones in 6th grade. New school, new teachers, and new friends. The relationships I have built with my friends andteachers, I cherish dearly. We are not instant message buddies or snapchat buddies. Our relationship is as real as it can be. My high school, Marriots Ridge, is across the parking lot. Most of my friends will continue to this school, while I have to start building whole new relationships and friend groups. And all this during the most critical part of my life, when lots of changes happened to kids, phycological and socially. In all these complexities, let me have control over one aspect ofmy life that I can manage and count on. My Friends!!!!

5:45am!!!! That is the time I wake up every morning. 6:20am is the time I get to the bus stop. Over 45 min is the time I spend on the bus. 5 minutes is the time it takes if I am driven to school. 1. 7 miles the distance from my home to school. The new school, Glenelg High School, 5 miles away and a 10 minute drive. I can't even imagine if 1. 7 miles takes 45 minutes right now, what would 5 miles take. This going down Rt 32 which is slated for huge construction project for next several years.

Everyone is throwing around polygon and asking what polygon are you in. I don't know what polygon I am in and frankly I don't care. What I do know is I belong to the Mt. View Community where my friends arejust a short drive. Where I can easily go over to my friend's house afterschool to goof around. Where I can randomly run into my teachers while having dinner or eating ice cream.

~~Since the committee has divided each child into a number, I am 232 that is my number. POLYGON 232 a random number with a random shape for a child that wants to live beyond boundaries and borders.~~

~~Sincerely: Haeli Shah 2026 Terrapin Creek Rd SykesvilleMd21784 Polygon 232 Page 1 of 2~~

~~Matthew Brannigan, MellowWine Way, Columbia Polygon 64~~

Opposition to the Superintendent's Plan As a parent one child at Pointer's Run ES and another to start next year, oppose the Superintendent's plan to move my polygon and the adjacent polygons of the Pointer's Run neighborhood from Pointer's Run to Swansfield. Ourfour polygons (64, 1064, 129, 1129) wish to remain as a community attending one of the community ES, Clarksville or Pointer's Run. This plan violates policy 6010 by not prioritizing keep communities together and minimize transportation costs.

Plan Maximizes Divisive Response The rollout of the surprise and hasty Superintendent's plan, in "accidental" conjunction with CR112-2019, appears to be designed to enrage the passions of the community at large. By unnecessarily provoking the outrage, anyone opposing even part of the plan will be branded as a "racist or "elitist". This plan has turned into the latest right versus left battleground. The rules for feedback opportunities (during the summer with the AAC and for BoE this fall) are clearly meant to limit the feedbackto the BoE. How can we not see this though cynical eyes, where scoring political points is more important than helping all the kids in the county?

In reviewing feedbackbefore submitting mine, I discovered the opposed position overwhelming represented. But I am concerned aboutthe lack offeedback from many polygons including those in central Columbia and FARM families (either pro or con). Has any effort been made besides inflammatory rhetoric in the pulpit to get opinions from these moving polygons? Since the purpose of these radical moves is to attempt to improve the "something", does it not follow the BoE andAAC must actively reach out and notjust hold sessionsthat are difficultfor my family to attend, let alone a single parent or someone with limited access to transportation (it's about a mile walk from the nearest bus according to Google Maps). No flyers have been sent to schools affected as was done in 2017. It appears no outreach has been done at all.

~~How could have any other response been expected?~~

Too Many Unanswered Questions Is it the intention ofthe BoE to force so-called "rich families" out ofthe school system into private schools and homeschooling (as the minutes to the AAC clearly state)? What ifthe effects are short lived? Is it the intention of the BoE to make the children of "wealthy" parents "suffer" as quoted by an AAC member to a congregant? Has the BoE reviewed the history ofthe moving students from WLHSto Centennial HS in 1995-1996 redistricting? Did it fare well (I'm assuming not since it was not continued)? Did anyone actually takethe proposed bus routes during rush hour? What about equality in before and after school programs? Before/after care? Are the Page 2 of 2

effects only temporary as manyfamilies might decideto movewest, leave the county orelect to use private schools? Whatabout services at high FARM concentration/Title 1 schools, will those^same services be spread throughout the school system? Was a survey ofavailable data on SES based busing done? From the various public forums available, the data is at best controversial andcontradictory. Whyare we abandoning the value ofcommunity when it comes to school? Is capacity for certain schools being changed to allow for more unchecked development?

Any plan that does not address these issues in detail with evidence should not be considered. I've read quite a bitof the feedback given to date and the amount ofintelligent analysis has been amazing. Imagine ifthat feedback was available earlier in theyear.

Lost Opportunity for Real Debate and Solutions Myfamily iswilling to workfor equality in education and housing, but nowwith the rollout ofthis plan, clearly designed to be rammed downthe throats ofthe children in Howard County, how can we in good faith trust the Superintendent, the BoE or the Council? The AAC, BoE and Superintendent did not prepare the community for the level of change and I fear that has nowset the cause ofequality backfor years. Those who oppose the implementation but not thesentiment ofthe are now forced to bejoined with the minoritywho do not perceive a problem^or won'tsupport anygovernment intervention into making the schools more equal. If theAA. <:. ^"tl^e co"sultants hired hadasked the question, "Wouldyou support busing your children from neighborhood schools to more distant schools in order balance FARM percentages?", the divisive environment could have been handled better. Instead ofviewing this as an opportunity to work to getthe community onboard with a diversityplan, ~itis now a "battle royale" overthe onething we value more than anything else - our children. Basedon publicfeedback, theoverwhelming majority ofaffected families areagainst this plan and miniscule numberof affected families are forthis plan. A true debateon the merits of bussingthe kids without the passions of the students singled out should be what is happening. n1 is n°lon9er witho"tthe support of the families affected by the . at. p°ssibte'- red'istricting, this plan or any like will fail. You must have the support ofthe families. Equalitycan't be met with just moving kidsaround - theremust be a biggerplan to putmore affordable housing in River Hill and further west, improving public transit'between the center of c°lumt"a and westl new and renovatecl schools, getting the PTAs working together and poolmg resources, and improving after school programs and before/after care. These things take real political will and I believe that the majority of Howard County would support them. "Don't tet'the CountyCouncil pass the buck to the BoE for this poor substitute for a plan. Don'tacceptVhe" Superintent'splan without the rest of the story. Understandthe motives of those pushing for thisplan. Avoidthe politics anddo what is best for the kids. Keep communities together'- it isthe bestthing about living in Columbia and HowardCounty. Strengthen those communities don't tear them down. Written Testimony for Dr. Martirano and the Howard County Board of Education Subject: Support for Dr. Martirano's Redistricting Plan

I support Dr. Martirano's redistricting plan. Yes, it's tme, children are not polygons. It's also tme that children are not sardines. Regardless ofwhat you think a polygon represents, no child should be in an overcrowded school and every child deserves an equitable educational opportunity. I agree that kids should come before politics and have never supported past political maneuvers intended to increase segregation in this county.

Although Dr. Martirano's plan is not perfect andredistricting will againbe needed after a 13th high school is operational, I believe the proposed redistricting plan serves to work toward eliminating overcrowding, while working toward creating a more socioeconomically integrated school district. After redistricting, Howard County Public Schools will continue to provide an excellent educational opportunity for children from affluent families, while improving the learning environment for children from less affluent families.

For those ofyou who feel that your child will not achieve academically elsewhere .... you should know that affluent children in this county, regardless of schools attended, perfonn equally well. Also realize that every family, regardless of household income, wants the best education for their child. Affluent parents can continue to enroll their students in after school extracurricular activities ..... sports and music lessons, tutoring sessions, and enrichment activities. Private SAT/ACT prep courses will still be available to middle school and high school students. Multiple administration dates for the SAT/ACT will still be available for superscoring ofresults.

For those of you who are concerned your child might have to get up earlier or might have to alter an after school schedule, consider that all families have to adapt to their child's school schedule. I can't imagine encouraging an elementary school child to testify that their daily schedule should beconsidered an important factor in redistricting. Pleasenote that students havingto spend a few more minutes on a bus or parents having to travel a few more miles to a school is not the same as desegregation busing. The longest commute for a child will be from the northwest section of the county to Glenelg HS. It's not surprising that I haven't heard parents complain about the length of that commute.

Forthose ofyou who feel your childwill beunable to make a newfriend ..... whatdo you expect your child to do when she or he leaves high school for college or trade school or employment? Surely you expectthem to make a newfriend then. Surely you will not lobby a college to accept all children on your street or in your neighborhood.

For those ofyou who are concerned about property value ..... maybe you should work to change the new MD Board ofEducation school rating system that, in my opinion, is de facto redlining which leads to de facto segregation and serves to game the educational system for the privileged. It is not an indicator ofthe educational opportunity available to students in Howard County schools. It is simply an indicator ofthe percentage of children who live in poverty at a school. Whynot also workto remove the variable in the GreatSchools ratingequation that considers the percentage of students receiving FARM at a school? My hope is that parents will commit to devoting the same time and energy provided to your child's current school to your child's new school. Maybe in the future, given the excellent education that your child receives from the HCPSS, your child will have the skills needed to review school performance statistics and recognize that the academic performance for affluent students is similar &om school to school.

I once read that every child deserves an irrationally committed adult. I agree with that ..... to a point. I would addthat advocacy for a child should not be at the expense of other children. The Howard County school system is a public school system. The superintendent and BOB should work to best utilize public school resources, while also working to improve educational outcome for all students. In my opinion, Dr. Martirano's redistricting plan does not do enough to integrate the HCPSS.

Changeis sometimes necessary. I believe all students in the HCPSSwill be fine. They'll adjust. Hopefully, parents can adjust as well. As I often remind my child, considering the educational attainment of all children is a worthwhile consideration.

I suspect many will find my tone derisive. If so, keep in mind the tone ofthose who oppose Dr. Martirano's proposal. Considerthat many parents with thriving students in schools considered "lesserperforming" have concerns about sendingtheir child or their child's less affluent friends to a school considered "better performing".

~~Tracie Schmidt parent of a thriving WildeCat Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Kathy Broadbent Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 2:17 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Fwd: Stability should be the #1 Priority for our Children~~

~~Dear Howard County Board of Education Members,~~

First, I'd like to thank you for what is proving to be a very challenging task. I understand that there is no way for everyone to be happy when it comes to redistricting. I'd also like to say that I believe overarching idea of socioeconomic integration is a valuable goal. This should be achieved though the County Council's development plans and policies within the communities themselves. But apparently, the data is clear that it has not. The abrupt introduction of the Superintendent's redistricting recommendation has done real, and I worry long- term, damage to our county. A huge investment was made to provide feasibility studies with redistricting recommendations. These studies were reviewed, argued over, testified on and in many cases citizens began to resolve themselves to their eventual implementation. This latest plan, not only changes many of those recommendations, it moves polygons around in incredibly disruptive and arbitrary ways. So while I understand that several schools have severe issues with overcrowding, I strongly believe that this should be corrected with as little disruption as possible. The point of my testimony is not criticize, but to try to emphasize the importance of stability for our children in a stressful world. My recommendations are as follows: 1 No child should have to switch from one High School to another. I was shocked by a statistic provided by another testimony that there were over 2, 000 suicide interventions from K-12 in Howard County alone last year. hlow can we hear that and not have the stability of our children as our #1 priority? All school moves should be made at the natural break of the beginning of Freshman year. Do not break up neighborhoods. Currently, my neighborhood, Woodmark, is split in half in the Superintendent's and one of the feasibility studies. We are polygons 180, 181 & 1180. All of these children have been together on the same bus since kindergarten. When I'm late getting home from work, these are the people I call to grab my kids. To split them in half does not make any sense. This is our Village! We need each other. Small feeds to any schools need to be avoided. The Superintendent's plan splits the Folly Quarter graduating class into 3 high schools. That is not OK & is not necessary. Relationships formed as children grow up are important. This support system becomes so important as students become teens. Unless it is absolutely necessary, these should be preserved and the kids should be kept together. 4. Students should not be moved out of under capacity schools. Yes, some students will have to be moved The schools are overcrowded. But why force students to move unless absolutely necessary? If it is determined that the goal of HCPSSand the Board of Education is to socioeconomically integrate the schools a plan based on real data that shows comprehensive results, needs to be put in place prior to moving ANY children solely based on polygon income. This has not been studied nearly enough. The commission that was put in place by the Superintendent, while well meaning, has not shown any data that supports randomly moving students based on FARM % will provide the desired results. Studies that are being provided to support this plan are not based on busing students away from their ns ghborhood school. They are actually based on students choosing to go to other schools. Temporary relief, through creative and funded solutions, should be put in place forthose schools suffering with overcapacity issues while further studies are done. The rest of the county should stay put until MS 13 comes online I will note that this is not the most desirable option for myfamily, as my son's may end up at separate high schools, but I know it's best for Howard County. Also, priorto moving ANY child for socioeconomic reasons, far more spending data needs to be provided. What is HCPSS really spending per school? Are these numbers uneven? Are schools with greater needs really getting less? This would be terrible & is hard to believe but is being spread around as if it's a fact. Where can it be checked? What is the actual cost of moving students away from their neighborhood schools? For busing? For additional services & classes that the new school may not provide? Is this the best use of this money? I don't think it is, But that's just my opinion because nobody has any data that proves otherwise. 7 And so my recommendation... Why are we trying to reinvent the wheel? Several other counties in the state and schools in other states have been successful with bringing students of varied racial, religious & economic backgrounds together in different schools by providing Magnet programs. These are programs that are really overdue in Howard County anyway. In today's world, how can ALL High Schools be expected to offer the same level of programs to ALL students across ALL schools? Why not a Music, Theater & Arts Magnet at Wilde Lake with their amazing Rouse Theater? A STEM or Cyber security Magnet at another school? Yes, there would be additional busing costs, but so will the plans being proposed for current redistricting.

I've heard a lot of "kids are resilient" and "I survived so they will too" stories. I don't doubtthat many kids are resilient. But I don't want my kids to have to be as resilient as I had to be. It is our job as parents and educators to try to make their environment as stable and secure as possible. We're not here to test their resilience. We live in an exceptionally stressful time. And not all kids are resilient for one reason or another. Adding any more stress and less sleep for any reason that is not absolutely necessary is a tragedy. While big goals are important, our kids are not data points in a study. We're all just doing our best everyd ay.

~~Again, thank you for your service. I trust you will do what's right for our children.~~

~~Sincerely,~~

~~Kathy Broadbent 12242 Carroll Mill Road Ellicott City, MD 21042 Polygon 180 Date: September 22, 2019~~

~~To: Members of the Howard County Board of Education~~

On the first day of elementary school, Glenmont kids will have to get up much earlier than their older siblings, to wait at the bus stop with a handful of other kids that will be transferred from Thunder Hill Elementary to Talbott Springs. We are Polygons 65, 1065 and 2065. The kids from each grade will take up 2-3 seats on the bus because there are so few of them. Instead of the 15-minute walk or 5-minute carpool to Thunder Hill, it will be a 45-minute bus ride, which will feel like an eternity.

The bus drivers are not always on time nor are they always the same, because there aren't enough bus drivers now. How many more buses will you need to addto drive them across county to schools in neighborhoodsthey don't know? How much is it goingto costto buythe buses, maintain them, and pay the school drivers, assuming you can find them? Will they have experience? School buses don't have seat belts. What if there's an accident because a school bus driver didn't have enough experience or is distracted because they don't know the route very well?

75% ofthe students in Glenmont walkto Thunder Hill, and 100%of them can walk to Howard High School. The only time they are bused is to Ellicott Mills Middle School, yet the redistricting plan has them attending Talbott Springs, then Oakland Mills, 3-4 miles from my house, across route 175. There is nothing contiguous about this.

Maybe it looks like that, because the person who drew the polygons is unfamiliar with Glenmont? It's possible - we're a very small community. The polygon bordering our neighborhood to the south is Blandair Park. No kids. No neighborhood. Never will be. So that is a polygon that needsto be removed from the redistricting map.

To the south of Blandairis Route 175, and somewhere south ofthat isTalbott Springs.There are 2 elementary schools closer to me. Whywould you make this small group ofchildren goto a new school that is miles away with hundreds of kids they don't know and with whom they can't even play, without a parent taking them and picking them up?

You're not supposed to move students unless they make up 15%of the school's population, yet Glenmont students make up 2. 9%. Weteach our kidsthe importance offollowing rules. Will you be following your own rules?

Small feeds are horrible. They are not numbers. They are children - ages 5-12. How they adjust - ifthey adjust-will affectthem for the rest oftheir life, and you can askthe guidance counselors (as you should) what loneliness and isolation does to a child. I know, because our older kids-twins - were moved to Ellicott Mills Middle School a fewyears ago. There were 6 kids from their grade (including the twins), going to a school with more than 600 students. Our older son cried. His twin sister, who has mild Aspergers, spent nearly two years without friends and sat alone at the lunch table when my wife went to the school one day. My wife bawled. But at least the twins were able to make friends at EMMS who went to Howard High School with them. This won't happen if they are moved to Oakland Mills Middle.

Policy 6010 of the HCPSS Board of Education School Attendance Areas states: "Where reasonable, school areas should promote a sense of community", and additionally "Feeds that encourage keeping students together from one school to the next and avoidingfeeds of less than 15% at the receiving school".

Policy 6010 also states "Community Stability. Where reasonable, school attendance areas should promote a sense ofcommunity in both the geographic place... areasthat are made up of contiguous communities or neighborhoods". In no way does Glenmont fit either of these guidelines.

Equity is not just socioeconomic. This is not equitable for the little kids in Glenmont. Moving them makes no differenceto the outcome, because our numbers aretoo small, yet they are paying an enormous sacrifice - for nothing.

Ratherthan subjectingthem to the added stress and emotional upheaval that comes with being lonely and anxious, why not take all that money you're paying for buses and bus drivers and fix up a few schools, particularly Talbott Springs, to create an environment conducive to learning? And maybe some extra help after school. Students around Talbott Springs can walk home if they need to stay afterward. Our kids cannot. We work. So do most parents in this neighborhood. What if they need help before or after school? That's not fair to them. It's not equitable. If they miss the bus, the only waythey can get home is to walk 3-4 miles - cross Route 175, more than halfwayto Route 108and then to Glenmont. Thefirst time that happens, brace yourselffor some outraged calls, which you will deserve.

Instead, why not make Talbott Springs an example of what can happen when there is a concentrated effort to transform a school? You could take enormous pride in knowingyou changedthe lives ofthe kidsthere forever. Isn'tthat yourjob, and don'tthey deserve that?

Please keep us where we are, and where Glenmont students have gone for 40 years - as walkers to Thunder Hill Elementary (most of us) and walkers to Howard. Ifyou have kids in school, you know how hard it is to make friends, get good grades, and do enough extracurricular activities to help them get into a good college. We're counting on you to help our kids do that. Please don't redistrict. Polygons 65, 1065 and 2065.

~~Thank you~~

~~Gerry Frank Denise and Paul Giuliano~~

~~10924 Kathleen Court~~

~~Columbia, MD 21044~~

~~September 24, 2019~~

Dear Members of the Howard County Board of Education, Thank you for your service to ensure that the Howard County School System continues to be the best in the State. You have a very difficulttask aheadwith redistrictingand wethank you for your careful deliberations.

We believe a comprehensive plan is necessaryand urge you to approve a large-scale plan as opposed to what happened two years ago. Redistricting brings out the worst in our community and it wasvery upsettingto have gone through that withvery little change in the end. Two years ago, our polygon was among a small number redistricted from Harper's Choice Middle School (HCMS) to Wilde Lake Middle School (WLMS) in order to fix a small feed from Clemens Crossing ElementarySchool (CCES). Wesupported the "fix" because our oldertwo kids hadto experiencethe difficulty of being part of a very small feed (20 kids or so) going into middle school with little social safety net. Our 6th Grader is thrilled to be going to middle school with his CCESfriends. The Superintendent's plan as it iswritten hasthe unintended consequence ofre-creating a small feed for our polygons- thistime, bychanging our elementary school to SwansfieldElementary School (SES) but keeping us at WLMS. For this reason, we do not support moving us to SES. We very stronelv suooort remaininein the CCESto WLMS(to WLHS)feed. Our son is thriving at WLMSas a 6th Grader and would like to stay there. (If he would be sent back to HCMS by way of moving us to SES, he will only know a handful of neighborhood kids, as no other polygons have the same SESto WLMSfeed. Furthermore, that would be two moves for the middle school kids in our polygons in three years which is patently disruptive and unfair.)

~~Thank you for your careful consideration.~~

~~Sincerely,~~

~~Denise and Paul Giuliano~~

~~Polygon 134 Polygon 150 Current school feeds: Northfield Elementary, Dunloggin Middle, Centennial Hig'h Community: Dunlog'gin~~

Dear Board of Education Members: This testimony is submitted in support of Superintendent Martirano's plan to adjust the boundaries of Howard County Schools. Thank you for taking on the herculean task ofredistricting our county schools. We have one child currently attending an overcrowded high school and the other to start high school next year. Having been actively engaged in the process when it occurred z years ago, I have had time to leam more aboutthe condition of our schools and the need to balance capacity... especially if we can get developers to pay some reasonable rates. Likewise, I've learned a lot about why looking at inequities within our schools is a critical task of an integrated society... especially one that values public education. I support the Superintendent's efforts to modify boundaries with these and other Policy 6010 elements in mind.

I recently attended an event where former Secretary of Education John King mentioned that when we have a school with higher rates of FARM eligible kids and we faU to address that, we find that those percentages continue to rise over time. We start to create situations where poverty begets poverty. We are in a position right now... the Board of Education through redistricting (and hopefully the County Council through more equitable housing planning policies) to get ahead of this possibility in our burgeoning county. So yes, I support your efforts to redistrict both for addressing capacity, but also for working- toward balancing inequities.

I would ask that you give consideration to making the moves over time. I feel lucky this go around as my eldest will be a senior next year and the younger will be at a natural transition point. Hopefully, we can at least limit the high school moves to pth and loth graders. We have begun a wonderful trend in this county of addressing the social and emotional wellness of youth in our schools. I recognize that this may be too big of an ask, but I do hope that you will at least consider the possibility.

Lastly, I hope that you continue as scheduled without delays. Redistricting is hard. Always. Residents of Howard County have had 2 years to wrap their heads around this happening. We need a final decision so that we can accept it and move forward. Our families need to know where their children are to be going next year, so that they can start planning to accommodate any changes.

~~Thank you for all of your hard work and your dedicationto the children of Howard County. Kind regards, Karen Herren~~

~~September 24, 2019 Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Vanessa Meyerpeter Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 1:54 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Polygon 127 - Opposition~~

~~Dear Dr Martirano and Board of Ed members,~~

^^^m^^a"essa. Meyerpetel'a"d' reside-in p°!y9 °n 127. cui-'-ently districted to Pointers Run (PRES), Clarksville M^te-(CM, s)Land, At.h.°lton Highs<:hoo!.(AHS)- ln 2"018.this neighborhood was'redistricted from Clemen's"Cro's^n'g'to ^RESlndu,SenK'!".MJdd^(,LKMS\tocMS-lasklhat^ Lnk!ep'ngw' p°,"cy6010 (IV.B^2) atstates the Board will make "ever'y'attempttonotmoveastude"rt'more'thTnf'onTe anyschool level orthe same student more frequently than onceevery five yea'rs." ^tt^. ^9hs.ch°°ueYeuund_el'stancl, that c°"nty districting is warranted due to overcrowding atcertain high schools. ^Supem^emlent'sjirop^salwo^d move Polygon 127 from AHS to River Hill HS\RHHSyj '1im7^ 3.°"m°vingt°RHHS ifthe B°ard aPPr°ves a comprehensive redistrictingplanthat1nciudes''the" oposed moves of other pr poiygons to and from RHHS. However in the event the" Board adjusts the p*rop, °sed. m°vlsJ°, rpoLyg°nJJn°', outofRHHS'my^ of my family and community.

seniors Lstro"91y-l:'elleve-rLS !r1gs°pl1°m°res'Juni°l's'ancl currently in Polygon 127 should be given priority to stay as.lo"9. as.°,wntransP°rtati°n is providedto AHS. Nextyear I will haveareing 'senfor'and he;has'forged'lacad'e^ic°1"'"'' atAHS. extraujmc"lar: a"-d,s°c:ial^re'at',°nsh'p.s atAHS that_wi" be exfremely-difficultto°dupiicate-m')ust'ODe"y'e"araatRH''HS. °Ri's'mf s°ph°,m°res(f<"'2020'2021.sch001year). m P°lySOD127, amove to RHHS will be their7ourth schoolmFOUR YEARS. Th'e'?were aLLKMS',redistI'":tedtocMS'then AHS-md if'this mow haPPens thm RHHS. 'Thismove'dearlyvToIates'P'o&v 6'0"1'0>( nced above. Therefore these fe students should have the option to stay if each stodYnt~provitehistoo"wn"transportatfonTo"

!n-20.18;myda. u£lhterwas a ."sing8th. 9raderand hada very difficulttime adjusting to CMS. Her i dnramTntica]'^^dte. waLw^rT^fT£eerlrcup_^h. e. ^^ snh^nn^'^rce^Sbabuet'Lpna^s^KJ»efo^te^ Lto1neâtcMSK»bulnT^°fih^mattered.^ ^â'i^^w^Se^^'h^rtin'he':owni testim'^'toi:h^^^'1^ ê Z^Scôr myfam"y'iacc:epted. the redistrictin9 atthe time andfelt the move'allowed'for long'term'stabili'tv'for m7fa'^ I, and community. ~ "' ~ ' ' ~~~""7 "" '"/ . ". ""ji

thereceIlt t'efore f"'ai decisions. final Iaistttlat, ^Tnsldcr. redlstrlcting making.any My request is that you give current students in polygon 127 the option to stay at AHS, if that is in their besHnterest. ~ -~"~~ " ".' """. "'."". " ".- J"" 6"' .-""°-1 I kindly thank you for your time and consideration.

~~Sincerely, Vanessa Meyerpeter Polygon 127 Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Stella Averbukh Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 1:53 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Why I oppose redistricting~~

~~Dear Board of Education Members,~~

I'm a mother of two girls, one of which already graduated from River Hill High School and another one is in middle school right now. When I first heard that we were redistricted to Wilde Lake High School I was very upset becausewe were redistricted from a school ranked #245 in the nation to a school ranked #6,362. 1 was worried about the impact to the quality of education of my daughter, possible house value drop, but as time went by and I read many different opinions and talked to other people I realized that at the end of the day I'm against redistricting because ofthe total disarray it will bring into our daily lives.

~~High school start times are already ridiculously early causing sleep deprivation in our teenage children, and redistricting is only going to further increase sleep deprivation in our kids.~~

Secondly, I don't want my child to waste two hours each day on a bus instead of sleeping, spending time with her family, and investing it into after school activities that are going to advance her various skills.

In the case of missed buses, forgotten home-work and lunches, I will have to drive 20 minutes to Wilde Lake High School instead of 5 minutes to River Hill, and, as a result, negatively impacting my work schedule, as I work much farther awayfrom Wilde Lakethan from River Hill. Additionally, I have early morning meetings as I work with teams from India, Australia, England, and Israel, and, on many occasions, cannot afford to miss these meetings.

In addition to the personal reasons listed above, I would like to point out that increasingthe number ofbuses and the distance that they have to travel will increase trafGc, prolong driving times, and increase air pollution, negatively impacting the environment, and, once again, the future of all of our children.

~~As far as diversity goes, River Hill High School is a very diverse school that includes children Asian-American, Indian-American, African-American, Jewish, and other minority background families.~~

My own family is a family of Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union. My husband and I immigrated to the United States in 1991 and 1992, respectively. Whenwe just came to the United States we did not speak English, had no money, and very little personal belongings with us. Two months after arrival we started working very low payingjobs such as dishwasher, movie theater ushers, and parking attendant while taking classes at the community college. Both ofus took loans and were admitted to the universities, graduated, found goodjobs, took more loans to buy a house in a highly ranked school district. None of that would be possible without constant support of our families who sacrificed a lot in their own life to move here and give us an opportunity for a much better life than we had in the Soviet Union.

I m telling you our family's history to make an example ofhow important the role ofparents is in promoting the value of education to their children. Unless families start to understand the value of education and encourage them to aim high, and empower them to achieve their dreams, no redisteicting will improve the lives and education of these kids. On the opposite side, longer times away from home because ofredistricting will only decrease important family and community ties needed for the support that I just described. The county should concentrate on improving current schools, work with the families and children to even more promote thevalue of education, provide mentoring programs insideand outside of the school system, andgive children the choice to go to school oftheir choice whenever it's possible.

~~Respectfully,~~

~~Stella Averbukh Kathleen V. Hanks~~

From: Avraham Azrieli Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 1:49 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Cc: Superintendent; Mavis Ellis; Kirsten Coombs; Vicky Cutroneo; Christina Delmont-Small; Jennifer Mallo; Sabina Taj; Chao Wu; Jung, Deb; ojones@howardcountymd. gov; crigby@howardcountymd. org; ewalsh@howardcountymd. gov; dyungmann@howardcountymd. gov; CalvinBall@howardcountymd. gov; Liz Bobo; Avraham Azrieli Subject: [External] Re: Redistricting Plan - Teen Drivers Deaths & Injuries (Data - CDC / !IHS)

~~Dear Friends and Howard County Leaders,~~

~~In the United States, the fatal crashrate per mile driven for 16-19 year-olds is nearly 3 times the rate for drivers ages 20 and over. Risk is highest at ages 16-17. " (IIHS)~~

With longer school-commute miles for thousands ofhigh school students under this plan, it's important to consider that manyjuniors and seniors drive to school and after-school activities (and often give rides to younger siblings and fellow students who don't have cars).

It should be easy for any statistician to figure out the exact number of additional HoCo high schoolers who will die or be seriously injured basedon the total additionalmiles driven by teen drivers to school or after-school activities under this Redistricting Plan in the first ten years.

~~The question for BOB members is simple: How many teen lives and injiiries would be a fair "cost" for the supposed social/educational benefits of the plan?~~

~~For statistical data, see:~~

~~U. S. Center for Disease Control: https://www. cdc. eov/... /teen drive... /teendrivers factsheet. html~~

~~The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) : httus://www. iihs. org/t. .. /fatalitv-statistics/detail/teenagers~~

~~Sincerely yours,~~

~~Avraham Azrieli (Polygon 1186) www.AzrieliBooks.com~~

~~On Sep 22, 2019, at 11:42 AM, Avraham Azrieli wrote:~~

~~Dear Friends and Howard County Leaders,~~

Magnet schools have proven to be a way forward in the fight to improve American schools and to foster and promote integration. " (Harvard Graduate School of Education Research - Full article below). Magnet schools should be a central component of a revised Redistricting plan. Per-student educational costs will not change meaningfully on a whole-county basis with the creation of magnet schools: the students are akeady in the system, and many are provided transportation already. There will be some up-front costs, but not as much costs and air pollution as years of busing 7, 400 students along zigzagging routes across the whole coimty (not to mention the current plan's destructive social strife, declining home prices (i. e. lower tax revenues and school budges), and years of litigation.

~~All it takes is visionary leadership and a dedication to consensus solutions that actually achieve the desired goals of improved education and successful integration.~~

~~Read the full article at: http://rides. ese.l'iarvard. edu/files/Bse-rides/files/rides drawn to success how do integrated magnet schools work. pdf~~

~~Sincerely yours,~~

~~Avraham Azrieli (Polygon 1186) www.AzrieliBooks.com~~

~~On Sep 21, 2019, at 2:54 PM, Avraham Azrieli wrote:~~

~~Dear Friends and HC Leaders,~~

It's important to remember that, while thousands ofHOCOparents object to the excessive student busing (and uprooting from their neighborhoods) at the core of the Redistricting plan, many recognize that the plan is driven by good intentions and attempts to solve real challenges.

The article belowfrom the Atlantic Magazineis essential reading. It discusses massive research and data analysis, done by leading Harvard University scientists, mappingthe areas in the U. S. where kids have no chance ofupward mobility in life. A tragic fact is shown by comparing the current map to the map Abraham Lincoln drew of slavery territories. The maps are almost identical, which should make every conscientious American weep.

Please read the article, which is fascinating. While uprooting thousands of children from their neighborhood schools would be wrong and ineffectual (in addition to massive busing costs and pollution) taking bold steps to counter this generations-oldAmerican tragedy is the right thing to do. The Redistricting Plan, therefore, needs a shift from massive busing to real solutions that have proven success in addressing lack ofopportunities and stunted upward mobility for large number of students. I recommend contacting Prof. Chetty andthe Opportunity Insightsgroup to develop the bestmethods for improving upward mobility chances to optimal levels for all childrenin HowardCounty.

~~Sincerely yours,~~

~~Avraham Azrieli (Polygon 1186) www.AzrieliBooks.com~~

~~Linkto the article: httDS://'www.theatlantic. com/magazine/archive/2019/08/rai. chettvs-american-dream/5Q3Sn4/ Kathleen V. Hanks~~

~~From: Andrea Elguera Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 1:49 PM To: Hcpss Redistricting Subject: [External] Andrea Elguera P706~~

~~Dear BOE members,~~

~~I m writing to you today in opposition to the proposed redistricting plan of Dr. Martirano.~~

Im mindful that you have received plenty of emails and testimonies with data and detailed analysis that contradicts the core ofDr. Martirano's plan. Instead oftechnical analysis I would like to offer and leave you with my own life experience as an immigrant living in Howard County for ahnost 15 years.

We moved to the area because my husband got a newjob in Baltimore, We moved from Dallas Texas where most kids attend private schools. Most ofmy husband's new coworkers lived in Baltimore City and Baltimore

. County and sent their kids to private schools. Following the lead of one ofthem that lived in HowardCounty, my husband came to check it out and like it a lot! He then found a newhousing development that was in OUT price range and well connected to his route to work! At that point our kids were pre-k age so we did not know much about the school system and did not ask thinking they will go to private school. After we settled in our new house I started to look into the schools my twins would soon attend. Again, I was only thinking ofprivate schools, that's all we knew from our personal experience. I knew one thing, I still wanted my kids to remain in our neighborhood/community if possible. So I started by going to an open house to a private catholic school that wasnext to the public elementary school that correspondedto our address. Both were walking distance from our house. My husband I liked the school, being catholics though our kids could benefit from that kind of education so we decided to enroll them. On the same day after I signed their registration contract and PAID the registration fee as I was driving to exit the private school I looked at the kids in the public school next door. They were at recess, playing. They looked so happy! It was that image that made me turn right instead of left and despite the fact that I have already registered my kids and I was happy with my decision, I needed to check that school. It was that image ofthose kids playing at recess, happy, without uniforms! As I entered the front office I was greeted with the same attention and care that I will receive every time I set foot in that school. As soon as I told them our family story Jill started speaking Spanish to me. She said she neededpractice! :) The school was spotless! The atmosphere was amazingin the classrooms, the hallway,the front office! I felt like I belongedthere!!!!! I just simply COULDNOT BELIEVETHIS WAS A PUBLIC... PUBLIC school!!! I know it may not be so relevant for people that are used to this kind of system but for somebody that grewup in a country werepublic schools arenot good for most part, wheremy parents hadto workreally hardto provide my siblings andI the educationthey wanted andfor that theyhad to pay for a private school for 12 years! (same applies to my husband)this was a dream come tme... a total DREAM!!!! I immediately calledmy husbandand told him whatI just sawand how I felt aboutthis school andurged him to visit the school... and we did... the very next day! As we walked in, Jill greeted us: Hi Mr. and Ms. Elguera!!! ! Really???? she remembered my last name??? WOW... honestly dear members ofthe board ofEDUCATION I was blown away by this whole thing!

Long story short... my kids attended that school, the middle school next door until my husband got a newjob in Bethesda MD and we faced the question should we move? Our kids turned to be athletes and were very much involved in sports in the county. Thethree ofthem started withHoCo rec teams andthey hadmoved into travel sports also with clubs in the county. We needed a bigger house and to be closer to hisjob but we did not leave HowardCounty. This wasour community!! Sowe decidedto move Westthat will savehim 1/2hour each way and still be in HoCo. Althoughwe knew some familiesthrough sports butmy kidshad to adjustto newschools, makenew friends. When we moved our twins were entering 8th grade and younger 5th grade. It was not as an easytransition as I had expected. They missed their fnends and our community but, I guess one more time living in HoCo did not disappoint. My kids found their new home andthrive both academically and athletically. They will be graduating in 2020 and 2023.

I could go on andon aboutall thethings we love about living here andhow much we appreciate every liule thing that may be some people take for granted. Our relatives come and visit us often and they also can't believe how lucky we are to live in a community like Hoco. I remember their first time here when they learned buses come andpick up our kidsto transport them to public schools!!!!! (only private schools havethat service where we grewup) I'm afraidI wonthave enoughtime to write andyou wont have enoughto read all the reasons whywe appreciate theway we had the opportunity to raiseour children! here It takes a village... indeed!!! A village that is safe, diverse, multicultural, wherepeople are respectful ofone another, where we coexist. Question then... is it perfect? Ofcourse not... can be improved? ofcourse yes! We all know the system is overall a very goodeducational system, there areplenty ofdata to prove that as well as testimonies like mine so we should act responsibly andprotect it You as an entity that looks for improvements in our children education bearthe most ofthat responsibility. Wehave entrusted you with it! All we are askingtoday is to considerthe lives you are affecting with this plan and the climate you are creating as a result in the name ofnon less than EDUCATION of our CHILDREN.

I believe in this system!!!!! WhenI started thisjourney ofeducating my kids in HoCo public schools I felt special, I wasn't a number, I wasn't a polygon, I wasn't stereotyped or a percentage!! !! I still remember Jill greeting me by my lastname. I remember howI felt... I don't wantto loosethat feeling. Thatfeeling is the mainreason the system works! Notjust numbers... PEOPLE!Not just numbers, CHILDREN!!!! We should and must stay UNITED looking and finding the solutions on how to improve it. Best practices and betterways but we must unite and not divide!!! Reconsiderthe implementation ofthis plan that has only brought division to our communities onthe basis offalse stereotypes . Look for better ways! We sure arebetter thanthis! Children ofHoward County deserve it!

~~Thanks so much for reading and for the consideration,~~

~~Andrea Elguera 5011 Crape Myrtle Ct 410744-6791 Ann White, Polygon 1137~~

"Don'tworry, he'll befine, he'll be in the Gifted andTalented program" those arethe wordsthat I heara lot whenI inquire aboutthe middleand high school thatmy childis currently districted for. I'mvery confident that, thatexpression is only echoed throughout Howard County's low performing schools. What if my child doesn'tget into the Giftedand Talented program... will hestruggle academically because ofthe academic needs ofa large underprivileged student body? No, he won't becausewe areone ofthe lucky families that cansupplement his education financiallywith tutoring. Again,we are one ofthe lucky families that cando this...a majority offamilies can not afford to supplement their child's education and they rely on the school to teach their children but if the school's resources are exhausted the children will struggle academically. This should not bethe casefor anypublic school in Maryland's #1 school district.

Our county is one ofthe wealthiest counties in Maryland and no matter how much money is provided to low performing schools, it is never enough because the demand for academic support is too high due to the concentration of underprivileged students within their walls.

I seethe redistricting as a lifeline for Howard County schools that are struggling to support the majority oftheir students academically byuniting our schools and sharing our resources, we begin to support all Howard County students as a whole.

Rouse: "the onlyvalid ultimate purpose ofany civilization isto grow better people; more creative, more productive, more inspired, more loving people." Testimony Requesting to Keep Pointers Run Polygons 64, 1064, 129, 1129 Together in Neighborhood Schools

~~Brett Sander Rising Waves Columbia, MD~~

Duringthe previous redistricting process of 2017, our Neighborhoodof Pointers Run asked the board to keep us together in one of our community schools. I thank the board for listening to our concerns and keeping our neighborhood intact during the previous redistricting process.

~~I ask the board to keep our neighborhood together in one of our community schools, either Pointers Run Elementary or Clarksville Elementary.~~

Our polygons are a neighborhoodin every sense of the word. We have trails connecting the streets and cul-de-sacs. There are no major roads, stoplights, or features separating us. If you were to walk through our neighborhood, you would have no idea you just crossed from one polygon to another. Our children walk anywhere in this area along sidewalks and trails without crossing a major road.

We are fortunate to have two neighborhood schools, Pointers Run Elementary and Clarksville Elementary. We ask that you only consider these two neighborhood schools. Policy 6010 has competing objectives. The authors of Policy 6010 were wiseto stress neighborhoodcontinuity. We ask, and I believe all communities would ask, to please prioritize keeping neighborhoods together during redistricting. We respectfully ask the board to keep our 4 neighborhood polygons of 64, 1064, 129, and 1129 contiguous at Pointer Run or Clarksville.

Additionally, due to the disruption the superintendent's plan does in our communities, I strongly oppose the superintendent's redistricting plan in its entirety. Like all of us, he wants to solve the problem of educational equity. However, his plan uses a sledgehammer approach. It will do more harm than good. It is certain that the superintendent's plan will separate many ofthe strong communities needed to tackle the hardest problems in this county.

~~Kind regards, Brett Sander September 24, 2019~~

~~Dear Board of Education Members,~~

My name isValerie Jones, and I am a resident of Polygon 176. I am deeply concerned about the proposed impactof DrMartirano's Redistricting Planon all children whoare affected. I kindlyurge you to vote "NO" to his plan, to and find a more suitable alternative to alleviate overcrowding and improve achievement gaps. My own children would have a commute to school that is 3 x longer and would be moved OUTof a school and community that is UNDERcapacity withthis plan. Our neighborhood is only 2 miles from our high school. River Hill, and we would actually be forced to drive through the school zone of RHHS and its traffic in order to get to WLHSwhich is 3 x longer commute. Weare one ofthe closest neighborhoods to River Hill! I don't think any child should suffer unnecessarily. Moving a child out of a school that is under capacity and a part of its community is disruptive for no reason. I could understand the difficult decisionof moving children into thisschool to alleviate crowdingat others, I but amcomplete lossas to whyyou would move a child out oftheir community unnecessarily. Inour family with multiple children, afterschool activities would beaffected andperhaps even needto be eliminated if this plan goes through. The additional transport/time to accommodate the activities of 3 children is not feasible when the location isso much further away. Additionally, my daughter swims competitively and in highschool they actually practice BEFOREschool. Thiswill be almost impossible with an even earlier start time that would be required for an earlier bus pick up time. Sleep deprivation and mental health consequences for all students are real concerns I have from this proposed plan. For polygon 176, this plan directly opposes the #1 guiding priority for this process to "balance capacity utilization amongschools throughout HCPSS,cost effectively". I believe Dr. Martirano had good intentions with his plan but unfortunately, the facts show that undoubtedly manychildren will be harmed, and this plan will not have his desired effects. In addition. there is no proof that any students will benefitfrom simply being shuffled and swapped to other schools as there is no evidence of any additional resources being given directly to the students most in need. Instead of usingfunds to support additional bus/transportation costs, the resourcesshould be utilized in ways shown to actually benefit the very deserving "FARM" students. Please consider the facts cited below when making your decision in November. As noted in the Executive Summary on Page4, this proposal was developed with three primary goals as excerpted below: The driving prioritiesfor this process: 1. Balance capacity utilization among schools throughout HCPSS,cost effectively. 2. Advanceequity byaddressing the distribution of students participating inthe Freeand Reduced price meals program (FARMs) across schools to the extent feasible. 3. Plan ahead for the High School itl3 redistricting by minimizing double moves as much as possible.

We have also studied and respect the published policies which the Board of Education utilizes in making decisions with regard to school attendance areas, specifically Policy 6010 (httos://www. hcDSS. orR/oolicies/6000/6010-school-attendance-areas/):

Unfortunately, Dr. Martirano's Plan is not consistent with the guidelines of Policy 6010 and does not achieve the three primary goals as stated in Dr Martirano's letter. Please consider the following facts.

~~School Attendance Area;~~

~~School Attendance area and geographic proximity is a consideration of Policy 6010. The proposed redistricting of Polygon 176 would more than double the distance students travel to get to school.~~

Using Google Maps, Walnut Creek / Polygon 176 is 2. 1 Miles from River Hill High School (RHHS), while 5^_miles from Wilde Lake High School (WLHS). Using WAZE, the commute time from Polygon 176 to Wilde Lake High School would be 3x as long as the commute to River Hill High School. In addition, many of the students from Polygon 176 would have to drive through River Hill High School bus and car traffic, in-route to Wilde Lake High School under the August 20, 2019 proposal. This additional driving distance will be costly for the school system and potentially dangerous for children.

~~Capacity Utilization:~~

Policy 6010 identifies three key aspects to school capacity which are (1) Projections [item P], (2) Target Utilization [item S] which is defined as enrollment between 90% and 110% utilization of program capacity and (3) Utilization [item T].

~~The 2019 Feasibility Study (httRS://www. hcDSS.orE/f/schoQlplanninK/2019/2019-feasibilitv-studv. odf) notes the following findings:~~

1. River Hill High School is projected to be at 94% Projected Utilization for 2019/2020 school. This is at the lower end of the Target Utilization range. 2. Page 33 of the Feasibility Study indicates that River Hill is within Target Utilization through the 10-year projection period of the study. 3. Under Dr Martirano's proposal, River Hill would send 478 students to other schools and receive 741 students from other schools. This is extremely disruptive and unnecessary for a school that is currently operating within each of guidelines [P], [S] and [T] of Policy 6010. 4. The board should reject a plan which moves approximately 7, 400 total students including 478 students from River Hill High School which is currently operating within Board Policy guidelines regarding Projections, Target Utilization and Utilization. 5. Any re-districting proposal should instead be focused on those five High Schools that are operating above Target Utilization levels (110%). 6. I believe the Board of Education should support a plan that includes less disruption at schools that are operating within the guidelines of [P], [S] and [T]. For instance, since River Hill High School is operating well within the target utilization range, perhaps it should receive students from nearby schools such as Wilde Lake, Atholton or Howard, without sending 478 students out to other schools. Certamlyi lhe Board of Education can request afilan that achieves better capacity utilization with less than 7.396 total students being relocated.

The very first sentence of the Policy Statement of HCPSS Policy 6010 is The Board of Education of Howard County, with the advice of the Superintendent, establishes school attendance areas to provide guality. equitable educational npportunities tn all vtudents and to balance the capacity iitilization of all schools.

Furthermore, "equitable" is defined in the policy statement as: Just or fair access, opportunities, and supports needed to help students, families, and staff reach their full potential by removing barriers to success that individuals face. It does not mean equal or everyone having the same things.

The Presentation of the Attendance Area Adjustment Plan dated August 20, 2019 is not consistent with the Board of Education Policy Statement 6010, nor does it follow the BoE's definition of achieving "equitable" educational opportunities. We hereby request the Board of Education identify ways to provide additional educational resources to the students In need. Transferring students from a school with a low FARM ratio to a school with a high FARM ratio, only results in better "averages" for the schools. IT DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY INCREMENTAL EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES OR OPPORTUNITES DIRECTLYTO THE STUDENTS.

In conclusion, I recommend the Board of Education reject the Presentation of Attendance Area Adjustment Plan dated August 20, 2019 due to the numerous and serious inconsistencies regarding both Policy 6010 and the stated goals of the proposal.

The proposal would triple the commuting time of students in Polygon 176 Many affected schools including River Hill High School are operating within the Board of Education projection, utilization and capacity guidelines and would experience a total student transferof over 1, 000 children inclusive of students being sent and received. Boundary adjustments should be focused on schools operating over capacity or projected to be over capacity based on the 2019 Feasibility study. The aspect of this proposal intended to create "equity" does not provide additional resources directly to students in need. Children do not need consistent FARM ratios: they need additional education resources provided directly to their schools and classrooms.

~~Thank you,~~

~~Dr. Valerie Jones~~

~~Polygon 176 ec:~~

~~Ms Mavis Ellis mavis ellisOhcpss. ore~~

~~Ms Kirsten Coombs Kirsten [email protected]~~

Ms Vicky Cutroneo Vickv [email protected]': Ms Christina Delmont-Small Christina delmont-smallOhcpss. ore Ms Jennifer Malta Jennifer malloifflhcoss. orE Ms Sabina Taj sablna tai@lhcDss. org Mr Chao Wu chao wu@hcoss. 0i-e Robert &JennfierMcCormick Polygon 181 September 23, 2019

~~12123 Mount Albert Road~~

~~Ellicottdty, MD 21042~~

~~Polygon 181 is being split from the contiguous Woodmark neighborhoodand is slated to become a "double small feed" at the High School level under the Superintendent's redistricting proposal.~~

Our family lives in the Woodmark neighborhood, located in western Ellicott City (Polygons 180, 181, and 1180).Woodmarkconsists of approximately 232 homes that were built almost 50 years ago. We are the parents of two boys, one of whom is currently a sophomore at River Hill High School (RHHS) and the other is an 8th grader at Folly Quarter Middle School (FQMS). We wanted to let you know that we have serious concerns with the redistricting proposal that was released on August 22, 2019 by Superintendent Martirano. We have spent a great deal of time analyzingboth the FeasibilityStudy proposals that were released in June along with the proposal released by Superintendent Martirano in late August.

Although we have many concerns with the proposed redistricting as a whole, this testimony is focused solely on the serious issue facing Polygon 181. The long term consequences from this redistricting proposal will negatively impact the children of Polygon 181 when they reach high school, as they will be split from the rest of the Woodmark neighborhood. Polygon 181 would attend Wilde Lake High School (WLHS), while the rest of the neighborhoodwould be redistricted to Glenelg High School (GHS) beginning in 2020. We believe this scenario is called a "double small feed" bythe BOE asourPolygon is split from the rest of our neighborhood, and will also be part of a small overall feed (17%) from FQMSto WLHS. For our family, the Superintendent Martirano proposal would make the transition to high school much more challenging for our youngest son as he will lose at least 90% of his network of friends and classmates that he has built up over the past eight plus years of elementary and middle school. (* Jenny (his mother) is a licensed clinical social worker/psychotherapist in Columbia who sees the detriment to students who are in small feeds firsthand. It can be traumatizing and unethical in her professional opinion). As residents of Howard County, we understand that redistricting is periodically necessary as the county has grown and that several of the high schools are now well over capacity. Woodmark rests almost directly in the middle of three underutilized high schools: River Hill, Glenelg, and Marriotts Ridge. Over the years the Polygon's that make up Woodmark have been redistricted to each of these high schools at various times. However, we do not believe that the neighborhood has ever been split between high schools as it is slated to be under the current proposal. In addition, the neighborhood has never been redistricted to attend the 5th closest high school (WLHS) before. There are currently fifteen 8th graders in Woodmark. Our son, Nate, has attended school and ridden the bus with all of these boys and girls for 8+ years. However, under the Superintendent's proposal, Nate will be one of only two risingfreshmen from our neighborhood attending WLHSnext year, while the other thirteen rising freshmen from Woodmark would be attending GHS. Nate has dealt with anxiety over the years and we are incrediblyworried thatthis radical changewill lead to a disastrousstart to his highschool career. How do you expect a 13 year old to logically process the illogical reason why he cannot go to the same high school with the rest of his neighbors and classmates for the past 8+years? How would all of you explain this to your children? It would be as if we decided to move to a new town in the middle of our son's teenage years, which is something we promised that we would never do to our kids.

We can only assume that Dr. Martirano has never visited Woodmark in person, nor has he looked at a satellite map (attached) of the polygons that make up Woodmark. If he did, surely he would see that splitting Polygon 181 away from the rest of the Woodmark polygons would leave the children who live in Polygon 181on an island. Polygon 181will become an island as Polygon 181 is bordered on the south and east by the University of MD Farm and the Franciscan Friars monastery. In fact, there is not another residential development for almost two miles to the east of Polygon 181. It's crystal clear that splitting of polygon 181 from the rest of the polygons that make up Woodmark runs completely against BOEpolicy standard 6010. 1V. B. 2.b regarding not splitting contiguous communities or neighborhoods. Whatever the outcome of the current redistricting proposals, it is imperative that the Polygons that make up the Woodmark neighborhood are kept together through high school for the benefit of the children and families who reside in Woodmark. For your reference, we have attached a map of the Woodmark Polygons that includes a line drawn around the Woodmark neighborhood. We thank you for your time and consideration.

~~Robert & Jennifer McCormick . <.~~

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