The following alternate redistricting plan was sent to the Harford County Board of Education. A copy was provided to The Dagger for publication:
The established community of “Fountain Green Heights” has approximately 22 elementary students who currently attend Fountain Green Elementary School (FGES). The January 14th update to the redistricting plan shifts the Fountain Green Heights children from FGES to Prospect Mill Elementary School (PMES). We have reviewed the proposed Superintendent’s Technical Advisory Committee’s (STAC) redistricting plan in detail and have determined that the proposal to move the “Fountain Green Heights” subdivision from the FGES District to the PMES District is unnecessary based the current and projected capacities at Fountain Green Elementary School and is inconsistent with almost every parameter to be considered by STAC.
For the purpose of this discussion we will refer to community at hand as “Fountain Green Heights” as it is commonly known. However, to describe this development in detail, it must be explained that the community has three separate subdivision names based on the time period the sections were developed. The first section is recorded as” Lands of Umbarger” which was originally developed in the mid1950s, and is located along Fountain Green Road and Hillside Drive. The second section is recorded as “Fountain Green Heights” was originally developed in the early to mid 1960s and is located along Lakeside Drive, Umbarger Drive, Cherokee Place and part of Cherokee Lane. The third recorded section, “Green Valley Manor”, was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s and is located on Hillside Drive West, Green Valley Court, and Cherokee Lane. Although the neighborhood is recorded under three separate names it is a continuous community and citizens consider themselves as one neighborhood.
Sharing the name of the school, the established community of “Fountain Green Heights” has been an integral part of the FGES school district since its commencement in 1993. Our neighbors have always played a vital role at Fountain Green Elementary School. We have teachers, volunteers, and PTA members all living in “Fountain Green Heights.” To show our unity, all members of our community signed a circulated petition to ask the board of education to leave “Fountain Green Heights” in the FGES district.
Per STAC recommendations, “Fountain Green Heights” has developed an alternative redistricting plan for review.
Below we have listed the STAC parameters and the inconsistencies with the board of education’s plan. As an established community, we feel that the school board should re-evaluate its data, and base its conclusion on valid statistics, and therefore “Fountain Green Heights Neighborhood” children should remain at FGES.
RECOMMENDATION:
In conclusion, the established community of “Fountain Green Heights” is requesting that the Fountain Green School District be left alone. This request is also being suggested by the PTA of FGES in a separate proposal. If left alone, the school’s capacity will fall well within STAC’s parameters on its own. This initiative will have no adverse impact to the overall Harford County STAC redistricting plan. Nor will it affect any other community and its elementary alignment. We respectfully ask that the board reconsider its January 14, 2011 update to STAC’s redistricting plan. Please leave the “Fountain Green Heights” community at FGES.
reader says
The Aegis has an article today that says a new map will be released Thursday night by the STAC.