Sayers, Margery From: Melissa Kistler Sent: Friday, September 20, 2019 9:48 AM To: CouncilMail; boe@hcpss.org Subject: CR112-2019 [Note: This email originated from outside of the organization. Please only click on links or attachments if you know the sender.] HelloI am writing in opposition to CR112. I believe very strongly in ensuring students have an equitable education in the county. I also believe strongly in our elected officials doing their jobs and not overstepping boundaries. The Board of Education is responsible for drawing boundary lines and adhering to their policies to keep schools balanced. The county council is responsible for making legislation and to look at zoning to ensure balance. Both have failed, as Howard County does have SES imbalance in its schools. Here's the thing- it is not the County Council's job to dictate the BOE fixes this. It is the county council's job to legislate. Look at ensuring there are varied housing types zoned in different areas as the zoning board. Ensure development of homes that only those of higher SES are not built in the same areas. That is the job of the county council. The BOE can better redistrict if the council helps with fixing the infrastructure that has exacerbated the disparity seen. This is not something that will be fixed with a broad, generic resolution that really looks like a political move vs. a move to actually help the problem. Actions speak louder than words and CR112 is just words. If true balance is to be made as well, the BOE needs to go all in- not just switch 7,000 students- erase the lines and redo ALL of it. Then, all are in the same boat and don't feel like they are the unlucky ones that have to move. All are affected and can work together since they're in the same boat. In short, cut the politically correct rhetoric. Look at zoning and legislate to fix the underlying issues. The BOE is in charge of drawing lines and planning to balance within their scope. Allowing for unchecked development of the wrong types to allow for balance makes that job hard- and that is where you can help. Not by making resolutions that actually do nothing. -Melissa Kistler Sayers, Margery From: Nick Nichols Sent: Friday, September 20, 2019 7:20 AM To: Sayers, Margery Subject: Re: CR112-2019 Continuation - Thursday, September 26 at 3:30pm [Note: This email originated from outside of the organization. Please only click on links or attachments if you know the sender.] PASS A BILL THAT MAKES IT PERMANENT POLICY... KIDS MUST ALWAYS FINISH THE SCHOOL THEY ARE IN !!!! BALL.MUSTGON! Sent from my Virgin Mobile Phone. Original message From: "Sayers, Margery" Date: 9/19/19 3:17 PM (GMT-05:00) To: Subject: CR112-2019 Continuation - Thursday, September 26 at 3:30pm IMPORTANT LEGISLATIVE HEARINGS NOTICE Wednesday night's hearing recessed as testimony was being taken on Council Resolution 112-2019. Speakers on CR1122019 who signed u p to testify by 7PM on Monday, September 16th and who did not present their testimony on Wednesday evening, may present testimony on Thursday, September 26 at 3:30 PM in the Banneker Room. The hearing on September 26 is only for the continuation of receiving testimony on Council Resolution 112-2019 from those who timely signed up to testify. Written testimony may continue to be submitted. Margei^y sayers 5/.e&M.tLve AssLstfliA.t h+owarot c.Du.v^m c-oi^t^&LL 4^0-313-02'32 Sayers, Margery From: Melissa Metz Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2019 10:41 PM To: CouncilMail Subject: CR112 Testimony [Note: This email originated from outside of the organization. Please only click on links or attachments if you know the sender.] Dear Members of the County Council, I grew up in Howard County and love the diversity that I experienced here, which shaped my outlook on life and society. I believe that diversity makes our community and lives better. I am also concerned with the data shown in the draft Council Resolution 112 on lower educational achievement by students in the Free and Reduced Meals program and African-American and Hispanic students. Those outcomes should be addressed. However, I do not think that redistricting schools as a way to achieve socioeconomic diversity will actually improve educational achievement among these populations. I am afraid this course of action would have negative consequences, and I also think that redistricting is not the best tool to address the roots of the problem. Potential negative consequences Parts of the current redistricting plan proposed by the Superintendent involves students leaving their neighborhood schools and taking longer bus routes to other schools - and in some cases, students who are currently walkers would take the bus. This removes children from their communities. Having a strong community is an important determinant of children's experiences and outcomes as they grow up. The current plan reduces community cohesion in areas. Participating in extra-curricular activities also is a positive determinant of children's experiences and outcomes. Attending a school that is farther away will make it more difficult for children to participate in these activities. Other ways to address the problem To more adequately address the achievement gap, we need to know what factors contribute most to lower graduation rates and other reduced educational achievement among certain populations. Why are graduation rates lower among lower-income (FARMS) households and minority households? As an economist, I know that analysis using standard econometric techniques can give us the answer. Possible drivers include: amount of time parents spend working on homework with their children, level of parents' monetary contributions to schools, whether or not the student has to work (relevant for older children), and many others. Once the drivers are better understood, they can be addressed. For instance, if it is time working on homework with an adult, schools could provide or expand after-school programs that provide homework help. A policy solution can be found to almost any driver. The problem is that we don't know what those drivers are. We also need to look at how we have gotten into a situation where lower-income and minority students are concentrated in some areas of the county. This goes back to development, which I addressed in my recent email with testimony on CB42. Many developers have paid fees in lieu of providing affordable housing. Housing developments have been able to move forward in areas that do not have available capacity in schools if they have waited long enough. And other loopholes in development regulations have contributed to what CR112 says: "development patterns... have lacked a diversity of housing types, compounding socioeconomic iniquities." Please look beyond the superficial action of moving students around, and work to address the drivers of underachievement and unbalanced development. Thank you for your consideration. Best, Melissa iVletz Woodstock, MD District 5 Sayers, Margery From: Nancy Shih Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2019 10:26 PM To: CouncilMail Subject: Oppose CR112 [Note: This email originated from outside of the organization. Please only click on links or attachments if you know the sender.] Dear County Council, Why do you pursue equity and integration as your top priority without even calculating the huge cost of busing around and considering the damage CR112 does to the majority middle-class? What makes you think that students with negative attitude, behavior and habit and low motivation in learning will turn around simply because they move to certain schools? Didn't Dr. Jones say that all Howard County schools are the same and all are #1? It takes about 10 to 30 years to build a successful school district. Parent's involvement, students' diligence and teachers' endeavor are key factors that contribute a good school. Good schools also attract like-minded families who regard education as the top priority. Housing prices, being sensitive to school qualities, reflect efforts being sowed and fruits being reaped of the communities. Not so academically successful schools were formed not because the community's socioeconomic status or income level is low. There is no statistic proof that children from poor or disadvantaged families will necessarily do poorly in school. Often times it's the opposite. Adverse conditions make people work harder. Dr. Ben Carson and many others are good example. Kids do not perform well in school is largely due to the fact that certain families & communities do not have strong values in healthy family structure, high expectation on education, or firm beliefs in raising kids with good characters such as responsibilities, perseverance and devotion. On the other hand, don't punish and hurt the families and students with good characters, beliefs and values and mess up our County by shuffling them around. That's what CR112 does! Certain communities need to wake up to recognize their root problems and make efforts to overcome them by establishing values, beliefs and culture and by IMPROVING K-12 education in school and at home. This way they can get out of poverty and welfare and the vicious generational cycle and move to any places they desire. Like all Socialist agenda, CR112 will eventually wipe out all the hard-working middle class and destroy Howard County! People are already talking about moving out of Howard County. That was what happened in Prince George's 20 years ago and Montgomery County 10 years ago. It will happen in Howard County if CR112 is passed. Believe me this will happen because HCPSS will be ruined by then. Respectfully, Shiang-suey Chen Ellicott City Sayers, Margery From: BaogeYing Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2019 10:06 PM To: CouncilMail Subject: Oppose CR112 Attachments: Oppose CR112.pdf [Note: This email originated from outside of the organization. Please only click on links or attachments if you know the sender.] Dear County Council Members, County council Chritiana Rigby's CR-112 is clearly an overreach on the part of the county council. BOE members are independently elected officials to keep our children out of politics. Your job is NOT to overpower their authorities. I urge you to reject CR112. It is a rushed and ill-conceived plan. Please focus on realigning our budget and offering REAL support to those disadvantaged students! Regards, Baoge Ying Howard County Resident Dear County Council Members: I am here to testify against the proposed CR112 resolution. County council Chritiana Rigby said that Howard County schools are segregated and called redistricting a "civil rights issue". The language used in resolution CR112 - slavery, segregation has set up anyone who is against the plan to come off as a racist. As a first generation Chinese american, I found the racial implications and insinuations of this bill insulting. My family lives in the most racially diverse community with a mix of African, Asian, Latinos and White families. According to the Maryland Equity Project of the University of Maryland in 2017, Howard County is the most integrated school district in the region and a national model for diversity and inclusion. As our superintendent said "all Howard County schools are excellent." The presence of clustered pockets of low-income housing in the county is due to poor zoning and development decisions made by our past leadership. It is not due to inequalities in our education system or lack of access to education. The solution takes more work and insight. CR112 will NOT "fix" the root problem. Studies from UT Austin, UC Davis, and the 2019 HCPSS Equity Report, itself, suggest a negative impact of redistricting by removing disadvantaged students from their neighborhood supports and increasing geographic and transportation barriers to beyond school opportunities. Instead of spending money on busing, efforts and funds should be spent on the crucial social services that low-income students and families need. As parents, we all want our children to be happy, make friends, and be joyful in their learning. The uncertainty of multi-year redistricting will erode school morale and destroying neighborhood alliances. This really terrifies me. Researchers from the University of Notre Dame has found a negative correlation between academic achievement and school switching. While students who change schools can suffer psychologically, socially and academically, the academic achievement of the "stable core" - the 30 percent of students who stay in one school - is also negatively affected by the school's mobility rate. Therefore, I really hope you know how much you may be hurting our children by implementing this bill. CR-112 is clearly an overreach on the part of the county council. BOE members are independently elected officials to keep our children out of politics. Your job is NOT to overpower their authorities. I urge you to reject CR112. It is a rushed and ill-conceived plan. Please focus on realigning our budget and offering REAL support to those disadvantaged students! Respectively, Baoge Ying Sayers, Margery From: BaogeYing Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2019 10:03 PM To: CouncilMail Subject: Oppose CR112 Attachments: Oppose CR11 Z.pdf [Note: This email originated from outside of the organization. Please only click on links or attachments if you know the sender.] Dear Council Members, County council Chritiana Rigby's CR-112 is clearly an overreach on the part of the county council. BOE members are independently elected officials to keep our children out of politics. Your job is NOT to overpower their authorities. I urge you to reject CR112. It is a rushed and ill-conceived plan. Please focus on realigning our budget and offering REAL support to those disadvantaged students! Regards, Baoge Ying Howard County Resident Dear County Council Members: I am here to testify against the proposed CR112 resolution. County council Chritiana Rigby said that Howard County schools are segregated and called redistricting a "civil rights issue". The language used in resolution CR112 - slavery, segregation has set up anyone who is against the plan to come off as a racist. As a first generation Chinese american, I found the racial implications and insinuations of this bill insulting. My family lives in the most racially diverse community with a mix of African, Asian, Latinos and White families. According to the Maryland Equity Project of the University of Maryland in 2017, Howard County is the most integrated school district in the region and a national model for diversity and inclusion. As our superintendent said "all Howard County schools are excellent." The presence of clustered pockets of low-income housing in the county is due to poor zoning and development decisions made by our past leadership. It is not due to inequalities in our education system or lack of access to education. The solution takes more work and insight. CR112 will NOT "fix" the root problem. Studies from UT Austin, UC Davis, and the 2019 HCPSS Equity Report, itself, suggest a negative impact of redistricting by removing disadvantaged students from their neighborhood supports and increasing geographic and transportation barriers to beyond school opportunities. Instead of spending money on busing, efforts and funds should be spent on the crucial social services that low-income students and families need. As parents, we all want our children to be happy, make friends, and be joyful in their learning. The uncertainty of multi-year redistricting will erode school morale and destroying neighborhood alliances. This really terrifies me. Researchers from the University of Notre Dame has found a negative correlation between academic achievement and school switching. While students who change schools can suffer psychologically, socially and academically, the academic achievement of the "stable core" - the 30 percent of students who stay in one school - is also negatively affected by the school's mobility rate. Therefore, I really hope you know how much you may be hurting our children by implementing this bill. CR-112 is clearly an overreach on the part of the county council. BOE members are independently elected officials to keep our children out of politics. Your job is NOT to overpower their authorities. I urge you to reject CR112. It is a rushed and ill-conceived plan. Please focus on realigning our budget and offering REAL support to those disadvantaged students! Respectively, Baoge Ying Sayers, Margery From: Bailey, Najee Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2019 7:29 PM To: Sayers, Margery Subject: FW: CR112 Opposition From: Bailey, Najee Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2019 2:11 PM To: Jones, Opel ; Harris, Michael Cc: Harris, Michael Subject: CR112 Opposition Good afternoon Team, We received a call from Ms. Angie Boyter. Did not give an address. She called and left a voicemail in opposition to Council Resolution 112. She said she appreciates the intent, but believes that overall it will do great harm to the county. Best, NB Najee Bailey District Aide Councilman Opel Jones, District Two Howard County Council 3430 Court House Drive, Ellicott City, MD 21043 nbailev@howardcountymd.gov (410)313-2001 ^ Sign up for our newsletter! Sayers, Margery From: Eric Bonewitz Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2019 6:08 PM To: Sayers, Margery Subject: Re: CR112-2019 Continuation - Thursday, September 26 at 3:30pm [Note: This email originated from outside of the organization. Please only click on links or attachments if you know the sender.] Hey Margery... Please pass this on... EVERYONE who wants to testify should be given that opportunity. By scheduling at 3:30 in the afternoon a lot of people will miss the opportunity because they can't get out of work. Would you please remind the Council they work for us, not the other way around. Please ask them to reschedule to evening hours... and not on 9/26 because many are signed up to speak at the BOE meeting that evening. I look forward to receiving your reply. Thank you, Eric Bonewitz Clarksville, MD Sent from my iPhone On Sep 19, 2019, at 3:17 PM, Sayers, Margery wrote: IMPORTANT LEGISLATIVE HEARINGS NOTICE Wednesday night's hearing recessed as testimony was being taken on Council Resolution 112- 2019. Speakers on CR112-2019 who signed up to testify by 7PM on Monday, September 16th and who did not present their testimony on Wednesday evening, may present testimony on Thursday, September 26 at 3:30 PM in the Banneker Room. The hearing on September 26 is only for the continuation of receiving testimony on Council Resolution 112-2019 from those who timely signed up to testify. Written testimony may continue to be submitted. Margenj sayers e^.ec.^Uve As.s.lstav^t f-f-owflrot Goi^tLj C.o^iA.c.tL 410-313-0g'32 Sayers, Margery From: Clay Cross Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2019 5:07 PM To: CouncilMail Subject: Testimony CR112-2019 [Note: This email originated from outside of the organization. Please only click on links or attachments if you know the sender.] Good day, I am a resident of District 4 and watched the proceedings last night in CR-112, as well as the other legislation that evening. Before I continue I would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire council for their dedication to Howard County. I was pleasantly surprised by the level of consideration and dedication you all displayed during the proceedings and have greater confidence in the ability of the council to come to thoughtful, reasoned decisions. I do not envy the nearly impossible decisions you must make! With that said, I wanted to express my agreement with the petitioner who stated that he felt the wording of CR112 is divisive. I too feel that the specific facts included in the WHEREAS clauses were conveyed either to elicit emotional responses, or (more likely) express the deeply held emotional beliefs of the council. I think the council has made a tactical mistake employing emotion here. Personally, I feel and evangelize the importance of diversity and inclusion, but I am also aware diversity and inclusion are not obviously "desirable characteristics" as you describe them on line 23 of the draft. Many people interpret the end result of diversity and inclusion as making other people's live "suck less" instead of interpreting it as making everyone's lives better. For those who believe diversity means "I must give up something to make someone else's life better" this resolution feels like it is taking so much and giving nothing back to them personally. I highly recommend you reconsider the WHEREAS clauses in the resolution and make the case for why EVERYONE benefits from all forms of diversity. I enthusiastically agree that diverse schools are better than homogeneous schools. However, it is not the only concern that must be considered when planning school attendance areas. Diversity at any costs is not acceptable and indeed a moral slippery slope, and make no mistake, there IS a cost to the requests made in this resolution. The resolution as currently written makes no attempt to enumerate those costs much less justify them. If the purpose of the WHEREAS clauses is to set the stage,then I ask that you add additional WHEREAS clauses to address those costs and define the limits they impose on diversity efforts. By modifying the WHEREAS clauses as described above I believe you have a chance of convincing those who currently think "You are taking from me" to change that opinion to "you are working to benefit me and my neighbors, and are considering the costs" Finally, you asked the petitioner for a single work which could replace "integrate" in BE IT RESOLVED sections. I suggest that single word be "balance". Thank you again for you steadfast leadership and efforts to improve the lives of everyone in Howard County. Clay Cross Sayers, Margery From: Eric Greenberg Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2019 4:55 PM To: CouncilMail Subject: Written Testimony CR-112 Attachments: Howard County Council.pdf [Note: This email originated from outside of the organization. Please only click on links or attachments if you know the sender.] Howard County Council: I believe that CR-112 is flawed legislation that could do more harm than it claims to fix. This legislation assumes that Howard County Schools are segregated by both race and socioeconomic status. However I believe that this assumption is false. I evaluated the extent of economic segregation by computing a dissimilarity index for the ten counties in Maryland with the highest student populations and for the state overall based on FARMs data (Reference 1). Unlike some other measures of segregation that have been floated around various blogs, the dissimilarity index is a key measure identified in the US Census report in Reference 2. As seen in Figure 1, the economic dissimilarity index of Howard County Public Schools is similar to that of neighboring counties including Montgomery, Frederick and Anne Arundel, and significantly less than Baltimore City. Howard County's dissimilarity index also about the same as the index for all of the state's public schools. Howard County is not the most economically segregated school system in Maryland. Economic DIsslmilarity Index based on 2018-2019 FARMS Data httpi://wwW.census.gDv/htief/www/ll a Ut) ng/rm »g/pd 1/a pp_b. pd I http://m*rvlandpubHt*thooIt.crE/p(oei*fni/p* e>/ichool-tommunltvnutrlilon/fretF«ductdpilccm*alitaUittct.atpK 1.00 0.90 0.80 0.70 0.60 A^A/YA/// /'/'/' /x/'/'//y -' .•/'' Figure 1: Economic Dissimilarity Index for Maryland public schools Data from recent Washington Post article (Reference 3) shows that Howard County Schools are more racially integrated than many neighboring counties including Montgomery, Frederick, Anne Arundel, and Baltimore County. The legislation defines a segregated school as one "where less than 40 percent of the student population is white". However, the percentage of white students in the entire system is only 35.8% (Reference 4). It is mathematically impossible to integrate all of the schools in the county based this definition. In fact the only way to reduce the number of "segregated" schools would be to concentrate the white students together. I therefore urge the board to vote against CR-112. Sincerely, Eric Greenberg, Columbia MD. References: 1. http://marvlandpublicschopls.org/DroRrams/Paees/School-CommunityNutrition/FreeReducedPriceMealStatistics.aspx 2. https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/resseB/Ddf/apo b.pdf 3. https://www.washinRtonpost.com/graphics/2019/local/schoot-diversity-data/ 4. https://www.hcpss.Qrg/f/aboutus/profile.pdf Sayers, Margery From: cmanganillo@proclaimsystems.com Sent: To: Thursday, September 19, 2019 1:58 PM CouncilMail Subject: Integration [Note: This email originated from outside of the organization. Please only click on links or attachments if you know the sender.] Hi guys, thanks again for giving me opportunity to testify.. Just to clear up for Mrs. Rigby... When I said "multiple meanings" of Integration, i was referring to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lntegration Just looking for a more precise definition in the resolution so it is crystal clear which specific word-sense meanings we are referring to (e.g. one , some, all? )... This matters ¥^ i'y " "V } .* v WlKIPEDlA The Free Encyclopedia Main page Contents Featured content Current events Integration From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Integration may refer to: Sociology [edit] • Social integration,, in social science, a movement of refugees and underprivilegecl p( • Racia'l integration, including desegregation and other changes in social opportunity < • Desegregation, ending a separation of races, particularly in tne context of tHe Ar • Educational integration of students with disabilities Sayers, Margery From: Deborah Hefty Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2019 4:57 PM To: CouncilMail Subject: Testimony regarding CR 121-2019, CB 42-2019, and CR 112-2019 Attachments: Testimony for Howard County Council 9-18-2019.docx [Note: This email originated from outside of the organization. Please only click on links or attachments if you know the sender.] Attached is my testimony for the Legislative Public Hearing Continuation - September 18, 2019 regarding CR 121-2019, CB 42-2019, and CR 112-2019 Deborah C. Hefty 9323 Ridings Way Laurel, MD 20723 Deborah C. Hefty 9323 Ridings Way Laurel, MD 20723 September 17, 2019 To County Executive Calvin Ball and Howard County Council: lam in support of Council Resolution 121-2019-A RESOLUTION pursuant to Section 4.201 of the Howard County Code declaring that 77.10 acres to be acquired by Howard County, Maryland from Chase Land, LLC authorizing the County Executive to convey the property to the Howard County Board of Education; waiving the advertising and bidding requirements of Section 4.201 of the Howard County Code. Please expedite this transfer so the much needed High School #13 can be built! I am in support of Council Bill 42-2019 - Introduced by Christiana Mercer Rigby and Deb Jung;Cosponsored by Opel Jones and Liz Walsh - AN ACT to alter the school facilities surcharge in accordance with Chapter 744 of the Acts of the GeneralAssemblyof2019; and generally relating to the school facilities surcharge. The current surcharge is so small it barely counts as funding for the schools. I have concerns about Council Resolution 112-2019 - Introduced by Christiana Mercer Rigby, Opel Jones and Deb Jung - A RESOLUTION requesting the Howard County Public School System to draft, approve, and implement a lawful multi-year Integration Plan to ensure that Howard County Public Schools are integrated by socioeconomic factors. First, I feel that any imbalances were caused by the Howard County Council allowing development to be segregated by affordability in the first place. This bill, on top of the already difficult task of the Howard County Board of Education (BOE) to balance the space in the schools available and the lack of sufficient funds for renovations and building more schools, is an undue burden on what I see as an already integrated system. NO CHILD should endure 45-60 minute bus rides just to meet a "quota" which is what I am hearing/seeing from the articles, HCPSS attendance area adjustments proposed, and my attendance at the BOE meeting on 9/10/19. My last child in HCPSS is a 9th grader at Hammond High School and it is very diverse. We often gave rides to students whose parents worked late or did not have cars to pick them up after soccer practices with our older son. I can say, without help from a bus a 7-9 mile additional commute would have been a deal-breaker for many after school activities even with a car and I don't know how many underprivileged students could participate. No matter how good River Hill HS is rated, I would not want my child bused that far. I knew what schools were nearby where I moved into the county and only expect the same services and educational opportunities to be available to my children as others - right where they attend. I expect my son to go to the same school as his local community - not one half-way across the county. Second, I attended the regional meeting regarding redistricting after the attendance area committee developed 2 proposals for each educational level. The consensus was that we wanted to wait to make major moves until after HS#13 was built and would agree to bigger moves if done less often. One of the families at my table was economically middle class and racially a minority and they were complaining about the frequency of the redistricting because they had 2 children in different high schools already. We did not anticipate that our input would be discarded and a new plan put forth by the school superintendent at the request of the County Executive without any input from those affected. Third, I have concerns about adding more buses to achieve this perceived inequality since there was a shortage of buses already last year and there is a shortage of bus drivers nationally. It personally affected my son last year as he endured "double runs" and "double capacity" - with students having to stand in the aisles. Afriend of mine is in walking distance of their high school and half of the neighborhood is slotted to be bused far away. If moves are to be made, the cost and time of commutes need to be reasonable and walkers should never be bused. Lastly, I feel the perceived inequities are due to the county-wide nature of our school system. I grew up in NJ and our schools were mostly town-based with regional high schools. If there was really a "town" of North Laurel, the students here would not be bused to the "town" of Savage unless Savage was the closest regional high school. Students would gain new friends as they moved up, but seldom lost friends through redistricting. Taking a whole, large county with its rural areas and urban areas, dense housing and sparse housing, wealthy areas and less affluent areas and tossing them like a salad just to meet a perfect ratio using buses is not the answer. In conclusion, I am in favor of changes that are reasonable in order to move toward balance in the socioeconomic attendees of our schools. I would like to see language added that has an eye to the future and is not an irrational "quick fix" that just upsets everyone. The bill calls for a "multi-year integration plan", not an overnight solution to a problem. That said, the solution will come much more quickly if the county approves the needed funds for renovations and new schools. Don't tell me there is no money-we are the 3rd wealthiest county in the nation! HO^r.^i' ^ council All "—-; M( IN SUPREME COURT CASE OF BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCTION ,„ . „, pn'C ^•:'"' ; ;'; p;i : -I"; i^\\':' .'. .'-• ; •] ) -• "• Brown, a black man sued because his daughter was being bused to school further away from his home that had inferior conditions. It seems that board County wants to bus children further from their home and according to the School System, all schools have equal facilities (same type of heat, air, textbooks, etc.) So, it appears, the school system wants to bus children whose neighborhood school are considered a high performing school further to a school that is low performing but the building and facilities are equal to the school being bused and the only difference is the performance of the students. So, the County said that if the children are mix, the low performing children will score higher with the high performing children. That is not true. Where is the research that the Council member quoted where this happened? We have yet to find a model in this state where it worked. If the School board approved this plan this is what will happen: 1. There will still be an achievement gap, Asians will score highest next whites with blacks the lowest 2. Groups will blame the *teachers and say they are teaching the *children correctly 3. Groups will say there aren't enough black children in gifted classes 4. Gifted classes will be dumbed down *white teachers—black children History shows this type of forced redistricting does not work. Prince Georges County did the same thing and people fled to Anne Arundel and Howard county. Now Prince Georges has the lowest scores as Baltimore City which had the same issue (people left the city). But what has happened to Howard County is different than Balto City and PG County. Howard County has nonwhites, whites protesting this plan ..Other systems were whites. Parents will get disgusted and move their children to home schooled, private or out of the county altogether. Demographics will continue to change. Howard County politicians don't care. They only see power. Politicians are out for their own political gain and educators want to protect their job because the politicians like to blame the educators. Howard County will lose value in housing/real estate. People move to Howard County for their schools. People paid overpriced houses to live in a certain neighborhood to go to neighborhood schools. That was the vision of James rouse for Columbia and Howard County market its schools. The council and Howard county planning overload the apartments with section 8 and now because the COUNTY allowed those apartments that feed into the schools that are low performing wants to redistrict. It was poor planning on the county's part and people who were lured to the County by the real estate market to pay for overprice houses to attend high performing schools in the neighborhood. Doesn't the County ever learn from Prince Georges County? Prince Georges county did the exact same thing in the 1980s and people moved to neighboring counties. Now Prince Georges has some of the lowest performing schools. It's all demographics. There is a group (mainly urbanized Blacks) that take the schools down. Neighborhood down. More crime. Stats show the truth and now Blacks want to act surprised when they have destroyed school systems and neighborhoods. Now they want to destroy Howard County. Well other people are FIGHTING back The Liberal media wants to call it racism or tie it into Trump but neither is true. Enough of social experimentation. It s children s lives we are talking about. Graduating from River Hill is much prestigious than graduating from Wilde Lake. Just google fights at Wilde Lake. Parents sacrificed and paid overprice to live in River Hill so their child could attend the school. And County wants to move them to Wilde Lake? Because of an unproven study? I can show you proof that it doesn't work. See page one of this letter Behavior of Blacks is unacceptable. Black politicians refused to call out the behavior of Blacks (Check out brawl at Disneyland video in July) That's the typical behavior of the urbanized black. We make excuses for them. That's why no one wants to live near them , go to school with them. They are rude and crude. Slavery ended 400 years ago. STOP MAKING EXCUSES. The Black Community needs to take responsibility for the behavior of its people or the white man will take them back to place where they don't want to go. Why do schools have to change achievement levels just because having a majority black population. Answer that ?Baltimore City and Prince Georges County? Why does everything have to go down because it's all or mostly black? Prince Georges County Blacks have the biggest homes and beautiful neighborhoods yet they have low achieving schools. Why? Answer that and you have answer to Howard County's problem. HOW BLACKS DESTROYED COLUMBIA AND REST OF HOWARD COUN^ The Ugly Truth Village of Wilde Lake Wilde Lake Got so bad with crime had to torn down and gentrified Village of Oakland Mills Crime and unruly black teenagers caused major grocery stores and chains to leave Village of Harper's Choice Crime was so bad the enclosed mail became an open mall with a police substation. Village of Long Reach Crime and unruly black teenagers caused major grocery stores to close. Police substation and few "pop" stores Middle Class blacks have let lower class blacks set the tone for Howard County. The Columbia apartments are overwhelm loaded with urbanized blacks that are rude and crude As a result, the once top performing schools in Columbia are now lowest preforming schools. White flight has now turned Howard County into a majority minority population. Blacks in Howard County are trying to turn into a super Prince Georges County but like PG County which can't have high achieving schools, Howard County will fall in real estate value. People are buying for the schools and Howard is losing that edge. The housing market of ^ overprice houses wiiy^ry up because Howard County schools will no longer be the best. Tonihsa S. Butler Five expelled for fight at school Suspension extended for... https://www.baltimoresun.com > bs-xpm-1997-06-03-1997154053-story Jun 3, 1997 - Four Howard High School students and one Wilde Lake High School student have been expelled for their roles in a May 14 fight that preceded ... 4 more youths charged in Wilde Lake school fight before ... https://www.baltimoresun.com > bs-xpm-1997-06-01-1997152109-story Jun 1,1997 - After the fight, Wilde Lake and Howard principals suspended 12 students - nine from Howard High and three from Wilde Lake - for 10 days,... HOWARD SCHOOLS WORK TO STEM VIOLENCE - The ... https://www.washingtonpost.com > archive > local > 1997/06/12 > Howard-s... Jun 12, 1997 - While 11 students from Howard and Wilde Lake high schools have been suspended or expelled in connection with the May 14 fight, school... This happened after the last redistricting forcing Centennial students to go to Wilde Lake. Nothing has changed in 2019.... Just hidden from. The papers Moving River Hill students to Wilde lake is NOT a good idea. There will be more fights (due to jealously) AP classes will be watered down It will not work just like it did when school Board voted to move Centennial students to Wilde Lake Emily Rogers Je^i Sku^bW) M.t>..^ PA. !—\;,;C^:J^pOUHCIL 0^ "l.': "(Z^L^-J-^ Dear Dr. Martirano, Howard County Board of Education, and County Executive Calvin Ball, I am writing to you to object to your redistricting plan for my neighborhood (known to me and my neighbors as Chapel Woods, known to you as polygon 1185). Although I think it is unintentional, your plan is cruel to families and children in my neighborhood. Your goal is to achieve an equity agenda in Howard County Schools. Therefore you have proposed redistricting that involves sending students from my neighborhood of Chapel Woods (polygon 1185) away from our neighborhood schools including Clarksville Middle School and River Hill High School. All of these schools are presently underutilized and could accommodate more students. Therefore, you could achieve your stated goal by sending additional students to join our community schools. In addition, you plan to move our Ctarksville Elementary grads (where we have 26 students) to Harper's Choice while their school friends and neighbors from the past 6 years of school will be attending Clarksvilte Middle. Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine physicians will tell you this is UNREASONABLE and unwise. Why invite a problem that can easily be avoided? According to your redistricting plan, a student who is beginning their junior year at River Hill HS, would spend their senior year at Wilde Lake HS. Does this seem reasonable? I think that most of us would agree that we would not want our teen to be forced into this situation. It is UNREASONABLE to split up our Clarksville community. Why would you intentionally separate friends and families? Our neighbors in Meadow Vista (polygon 185) are not being forced to leave their current schools. They are walking distance to us. It seems like an ARBITRARY decision as to who was "selected." Therefore, I respectfully request deselection for my neighborhood. It is UNREASONABLE to greatly upset, stress and anger a productive, happy, VOTING community. There has been an outpouring ofangst among my friends and neighbors. Have students or families at Wilde Lake or Harper's Choice expressed a desire to be moved to Clarksville or River Hill? Are they expressing angst about their schools? (I suspect not, as the principal at Wilde Lake has a fabulous reputation). If they are distressed about their neighborhood schools and prefer to travel from Columbia to Clarksvilte, there does seem to be room to accommodate additional students here. Since there is room at the Clarksville schools, transferring Columbia students in would not require forcing students from my neighborhood to leave. Chapel Woods is close to our currently districted schools: 0.5 miles to Clarksville Elem and River Hill; 4.1 miles to Clarksville rfflrf. ^ ^ ^ ^ '.-, tL 410.730.5700 (Tel) 410.964.3231 (Fax) 11085 Little Patuxent Pkwy, Suite 204 Columbia, MD 21044-2979 Mr As seniors, the reality is that many River Hill HS students drive to school. These inexperienced (also likely sleep deprived under your proposed redistricting plan) drivers currently travel from our neighborhood 0.5 miles on Route 108 to get to school. If they move to Wilde Lake, they will be on multiple roads, drive through multiple intersections and be placed at increased risk of being involved in a motor vehicle accident. This is an UNREASONABLE problem that you will have created as well as a potentially dangerous situation. I think that we have all seen what it's like to drive behind some of these kids, and would agree that less time during the morning rush hour is better. I respectfully request that you reconsider your current proposal and that you allow Chapel Woods students to remain in their local schools. Sincerely, C^jf^t^Jeri'Shuster MD Cc: recijslTictii;i£.@hct)ss;oi;g KaJJl!eSUU:!iLdi;s@ll<^).s;o£g vicky cytroneg@hcpss.org christina^.dmont-sinajj@hcj3ss.or Jennifer malfo@hcpss.org sabina ta j @ hcpss.org £ilao^M@!l£yss-ojI'; student_member@hcpss.org oi^.^aJ?AlwaMc^tAilivmd,.ROv c iy!}si)iiowaL^oun!^^^ d^unSIl^lO^ilowardcoyiityjji^^w s^alsh^lhowaj-dcojJjitYmcLgov crifibv@howardcountvmd.R'ov Jen Sku^b^ M.V., P.A. ]'^^o^ K ' ""Jeri Shuster, M.D., Fellow of the American College Obstfftricians and Gynecologists', ;athrui Ceivi, C.P.N.P.. Wo"]y's,Hqa th Carp Nurse Practitioner DearChristiana Mercer RigBy; Dr:0pel Jones and Deb Jung, I am writing to respond to the statements that you were credited for in the Howard County Council Aug 13, 2019 news release. These statements were offered as justification for splitting up my community, particularly my neighborhood of Chapel Woods (polygon 1185), where you plan to exchange our Clarksville Middle School students for Harpers Choice Middle School students and swap our River Hill High School Students for Wilde Lake High School Students. You are proposing a social science experiment with our children in order to achieve an equity agenda. You indicate that you believe that socioeconomic and racial segregation cause an achievement gap and reduce graduation rates for low income students and students of color. This is a correlation rather than scientifically proven cause and effect. It also fails to take into account many other potential reasons why we are seeing disparity in achievement and graduation in our Howard County Schools. To test your hypothesis, you need to alter only one variable at a time rather than two or more, and your statement is unreasonable because it is unscientifi'c and your plan is not designed logically. In an effort to achieve our goal of equity, you would need to consider a different plan than the one you have proposed. For example, you might move students from Harpers Choice Middle into Clarksville Middle or move students from Wilde Lake High School into River Hill High School. If you move students in both directions, you will be unable to determine what caused the improvement in education or why the redistricting plan did not achieve the desired improvement in graduation and achievement. I don't believe that you are trying to lower the performance of high achieving students by moving them to lower achieving schools. So if you are trying to improve the education of students from low achieving schools, it seems much more reasonable to move these students into high achieving schools if you believe that the cause of failure to graduate can be solved by increasing integration at high performing schools. You also have two variables when you lump together socioeconomics and racial segregation. Your plan does not look at the effect of moving low income Caucasian vs low income students of color. Is the disparity caused by income or by race or by neither? You have also linked together the variables of graduation and achievement. Has a "D" student who graduates achieved as much as a "B" student who drops out of high school? These are extreme examples and most of us would agree that graduation and achievement correlate, but graduation from high school alone is not proof of achievement. There are a lot of other factors that may explain why kids are underachieving rather than attributing this problem to the geographic location of the school. Perhaps the cause of poor achievement in low socioeconomic schools is caused by the fa^:h^th^s^e(l body is frequently in a state of flux, moving from home to home. I know many teacheffl^flg cfl '.tffiTas a problem. They tell me that their ^ 410.730.5700 (Tel) 410.964.3231 (Fax) 11085 Little Patuxent Pkwy, Suite 204 Columbia, MD 21044-2979 classroom student composition changes by the month. Transferring a student from one school to another is not likely to improve education if they continue being transient. They will always be moving into a class that is already in progress and wilt have missed the groundwork necessary to understand the current lesson. This would be the case no matter what school they are attending. Educators have told me that they have noticed a higher incidence of absenteeism among apartment dwelling students compared with other students. They point out incidents of apartment households where parents bring their children to school late or take them out of class early. If a student misses class, their academic achievement is likely to be lower than that of a student who attends class. Switching schools will not impact graduation rate or academic achievement if the student does not attend school. Do you have data about class attendance at our underachieving compared with our most successful schools and how this correlates with achievement and graduation? Have you considered health factors that could be having significant impact on achievement in some schools? Medical conditions such as fetal drug or alcohol exposure, exposure to maternal smoking in utero can all impact on ability to learn, and these factors may or may not vary from one community to another. Studies have shown that student achievement correlates with level of parental education. Can this disparity be overcome by exchanging students from one high school to another? Where is your data? Perhaps the reduced graduation rate has to do with advancing students before they are proficient in basic reading and math skills? This would not be helped by changing schools, but it is a serious problem that does need to be corrected. Have you considered how the effect of busing will impact on our students' sleep? It is likely that the increased transportation time necessary to bus students will result in less than the medically recommended hours of sleep for all students affected by your proposed redistricting. According to the Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, "less than the recommended hours of steep is associated with attention, behavior, learning and memory problems and increases the risk of accidents, injuries, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and depression, increased risk ofself-harm and suicide attempts," (I am including the consensus statement for you). By contrast, sleeping the recommended number of hours improves health and learning. Don't we all want the best possible education for our kids? Why implement a policy that is likely to cause harm? Your goals are laudable, but the logic on which you base these goals needs some realistic, organized planning. It also needs community support. At this time you have set us up for a truly cruel situation for some of our kids. A rising River Hill High School Junior this fall will spend their senior year at Wilde Lake? Is this reasonable? Is it kind? Is this what Howard County desires for its voting citizenry and their children? Sincerely yours, Jeri Shuster MD J Clin SleepJVl_ed. 2016 Jun 15; 12(6);785-786, Published online 2016 Jun 15. doi: 10.5664/icsm.5866 PMCID: PMC4877308 PMID: 27250809 Recommended Amount of Sleep for Pediatric Populations: A Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Shalini Paruthi, MD,1'* Lee J- Bt-ooks, MD,2'3 Carolyn D'Ambrosio, MD,4 Wendy A,_Hall, PhD, RN,5Syresh Kotaaal, MD.6 Robin M, Lloyd. MD,6 Beth A. Malow. MD, MS,7 Kiran Maski, MD,8 Cynthia Nichols, PhD,9 Stuart F. Quan, MD,10 Carol L, RQsen, MD,11 Mat'thew M.Troester, DO,12 and Men-ill S. Wise, MD13 Author information Article notes Copvright and License information Disclaimer This article has been cited_bv other articles in PMC. Abstract Go to: RECOMMENDATIONS • Infants* 4 months to 12 months should sleep 12 to 16 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health. • Children 1 to 2 years of age should sleep 11 to 14 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health. • Children 3 to 5 years of age should sleep 10 to 13 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health. • Children 6 to 12 years of age should sleep 9 to 12 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health. • Teenagers 13 to 18 years of age should sleep 8 to 10 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health. • Sleepmg the number of recommended hours on a regular basis is associated with better health outcomes including: improved attention, behavior, learning, memory, emotional regulation, quality of life, and mental and physical health. • Regularly sleeping fewer than the number of recommended hours is associated with attention, behavior, and learning problems. Insufficient sleep also increases the risk of accidents, injuries, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and depression. Insufficient sleep in teenagers is associated with increased risk ofself-harm, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts. • Regularly sleeping more than the recommended hours may be associated with adverse health outcomes such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and mental health problems. • Parents who are concerned that their child is sleeping too little or too much should consult their healthcare provider for evaluation of a possible sleep disorder. *Recommendations for infants younger than 4 months are not included due to the wide range of normal variation in duration and patterns of sleep, and insufficient evidence for associations with health outcomes. Go..to_: AND METHODOLOGY Healthy sleep requires adequate duration, appropriate timing, good quality, regularity, and the absence of sleep disturbances or disorders. Sleep duration is a frequently investigated sleep measure in relation to health. A panel of 13 experts in sleep medicine and research used a modified RAND Appropriateness Method' to develop recommendations regarding the sleep duration range that promotes optimal health in children aged 0-18 years. The expert panel reviewed published scientific evidence addressing the relationship between sleep duration and health using a broad set of National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms and no date restrictions, which resulted in a total of 864 scientific articles. The process was further guided by the Oxford grading system.' The panel focused on seven health categories with the best available evidence in relation to sleep duration: general health, cardiovascular health, metabolic health, mental health, immunologic function, developmental health, and human performance. Consistent with the RAND Appropriateness Method, multiple rounds of evidence review, discussion, and voting were conducted to arrive at the final recommendations. The process to develop these recommendations was conducted over a 10-month period and concluded with a meeting held February 19-21, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. Go.to:. AND FUTURE Current evidence supports the general recommendations for obtaining an adequate number of hours of sleep per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health among children aged 4 months to 18 years. Individual variability in sleep need is influenced by genetic, behavioral, medical, and environmental factors. A clearer understanding of the precise biological mechanisms underlying sleep need requires further scientific investigation. These recommendations create a foundation to raise awareness and improve understanding of sleep effects on health. The recommendations provide a basis for: • Educating children, teenagers, families, school professionals, healthcare providers/trainees, and the general public on the importance of adequate sleep duration for health. • Encouraging parents and caregivers to help children obtain adequate sleep duration. • Initiating discussions of social, educational, and economic benefits of adequate sleep duration, thereby informing public policy. • Promoting research on the role of sleep duration in health and well-being. Research that directly examines the effects of sleep duration on health may lead to revisions of these recommendations in the future. These recommendations have been endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Sleep Research Society and the American Association of Sleep Technologists. Go to: Funding for this project was provided by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and supported by the cooperative agreement number 1U50DP004930-03 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC. Dr. Maski has consulted for Medscape Inc. and has received research support from Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Rosen has consulted as a medical advisor for Jazz Pharmaceuticals. The other Consensus Conference Panel members have indicated no financial conflicts of interest. Go to: The AASM acknowledges the following individuals for their participation and contributions: Non-Participating Observers: Michael Twery, PhD, National Health, Lung, Blood Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD; and Joel Porquez, RST, RPSGT, CCSH, American Association of Sleep Technologists. Attendance by these individuals does not constitute endorsement of this statement by their affiliated institutions or organizations. American Academy of Sleep Medicine Staff: John Noel; Jonathan L. Heald, MA; and Sarah Hashmi, MBBS, MSc, MPH. Goioi 1. Fitch K, Bernstein S, Aguilar M, et al. Santa Monica, CA: Rand; 2001. The Rand/UCLA appropriateness method user's manual. [Google Scholar] 2. OCEBM Levels of Evidence Working Group. The Oxford 2011 Levels of Evidence, [cited March 9 2016]. Available from: httix//www^ebm^j}et/vvQ bs-xpm-1993-0 1 -07-19930071 62-story Jan 7. 1993 -... as Centennial parents argued to keep their high school children from going to Wilde Lake. SCHOOL REDISTRICTING RILES AREA PARENTS - The ... https://www.washingtonpost.com > archive > politics > 1996/08/25 > school-... August 25,1996 ... She started furiously lobbying the Howard County school board, protesting its plan to change nearly ... Centennial High School and now will go to Wilde Lake High School, which has some of the lowest scores in the county. We have yet to find a MODEL where this "research" ofnuxing people of races and incomes works. Individually (here and there yes) but as a CORE group. Wilde Lake Scores were low in 1993 and scores are low today 2019—26 years later. Back in 1993 and 1996 Students were removed from number 1 high school at the time Centennial High to Wilde Lake. Data shows THAT didn't work because Wilde Lake still has the lowest test scores. All the School Board will do if they go ahead with the current redistricting of Number 1 school River Hill will turn River Hill mto a mediocre high school like Centennial. (At least Montgomery County kept their top-rated high schools while trying to deal with the achievement gap problem) but their system didn't work either. Montgomery County fell from number 1 school system in the state to Howard County which Howard County is now losing its top spot due to demographics. River Hill will be another top-rated high school that Howard County School Board will destroy. Just Look at the data. Data only proves that Redistricting on the basis ofrace/social economic status drives out one group (mainly whites) and the other group (blacks) cannot sustain the education achievement level. ( Example: Baltimore City and Prince Georges County schools. Specific examples Meade High School (Anne Arundel County) Northern High School (Baltunore City) Southern High School (Baltimore City) Woodlawn High School (Baltimore County) Milford Mill High School (Baltimore County) Wilde Lake High School (Howard County) These schools were once top performing high schools and demographics should not have changed that. The culture of learning within the family changed the scores. Not the teachers nor the school system. --^7!^vu ^s,^ ^. i'tih Hri Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2019 8:15 AM To: CouncilMail Cc: Yungmann, David Subject: Reject CR112 [Note: This email originated from outside of the organization. Please only click on links or attachments if you know the sender.] Ladies & Gentlemen: Reject CR112. The goals are noble, but this resolution is so poorly-conceived it's almost nonsensical. The fundamental issue is one of poverty and housing policy; shipping kids around the county in an almost-aimless manner for ~180 days a year doesn't address either of those things. If you really have several million dollars burning a hole in your pocket — that's what the busing will require, of course — create a program to improve those schools you want to target, or apply it to anti-poverty measures. Ripping kids from their support networks, friends, and communities isn't a viable answer. Stop pushing your problem onto the BOE. Be the visionary leaders we need, and create a plan that will actually address the issues facing our county. Best, Pat McConnell District 5 Sayers, Margery From: lada2@verizon.net Sent: Monday, September 16, 2019 3:06 PM To: CouncilMail Subject: Support for CB42 [Note: This email originated from outside of the organization. Please only click on links or attachments if you know the sender.] Members of the Howard County Council/Zoning Board: Regarding CB 42: Please increase the School Facilities Surcharge Rate to $6.80, or better still to $8 per square foot. Please do not allow any grandfathering of projects. Neighboring counties charge developers far more than Howard County does, and the loss of revenue over the years hurts our students. The absurdly low fees in Howard County have also encouraged runaway growth that our schools and other infrastructure cannot keep up with. Our schools are overcrowded, thousands of students are facing the prospect of redistricting, HCPSS is pinching pennies, and now we learn that the county cannot provide enough funding for critical capital projects such as the expansion of Hammond High School and a rebuilt Talbott Springs Elementary. It is high time that developers pay their fair share. Our students should not be forced to carry the burden so that developers can continue to reap huge profits. Regarding CR 112: It is not the job of the school system to solve all of our community's problems. The socio-economic segregation that exists in our county is the direct result of housing decisions made by previous county councils/zoning boards, county executives, and DPZ. If this Council/Zoning Board truly wishes to reduce segregation in our county, the way to do that is to: -stop approving new housing (especially high density housing) where schools are already overcrowded -stop putting low and moderate income housing where there are already concentrations of such housing -approve low and moderate income, high density housing in areas such as River Hill/Clarksville (and no, Robinson Overlook isn't really River Hill - it's Hickory Ridge) and western parts of the county where such housing does not exist, where schools still have capacity, and where there is room to build new schools. No infrastructure in the western county? build it there. HCPSS is already faced with the overwhelming task of redistricting thousands of students because of the severe overcrowding that has resulted from poor housing decisions, as well as from a lack of adequate funding for capital projects due to low impact fees. Please do not saddle them with the responsibility for solving the problem of segregation too. Sincerely, Lada Onyshkevych 6200 Bright Plume Columbia, MD 21044