Lack of communication angers parents

Thursday, Jan. 12, 2006

Residents expressed relief Monday that a contentious school boundary change would not occur, but frustration about the county’s lack of communication in the matter and the loss of a new North County high school.

On Monday at City Hall, about 50 University Park and College Park residents and local and county officials joined members of the city’s Educational Advisory Committee to discuss these recent developments.

Most residents at Monday’s meeting were not pleased that the county informed University Park about the proposed changes less than a month before the school board planned to vote on the issue.

The addition of West Hyattsville Elementary School and Upper Marlboro’s Henry A. Wise, Jr., High School threatened boundary changes that would force local children to attend different schools next year.

The school board scrapped its plans after about 400 concerned residents flooded University Park Elementary School on Nov. 29 to discuss the boundary changes with school officials.

‘‘There should be a process involved where the community can roll up their sleeves and sit with school system officials before it all becomes a high stakes us-and-them situation,” said Heather Iliff, advisory committee chairwoman. With better communication between residents and the school board, Iliff said, ‘‘the school system won’t walk into a firing range in the community. It’s for their benefit.”

Bill Ritter, a Prince George’s Regional assistant superintendent, said he was disappointed by the initial lack of communication between University Park residents and the county, but encouraged by the community’s strong response.

‘‘Not that this was our intention, but maybe this was a wonderful thing to do because sometimes the way to unite people is to really upset them,” Ritter said.

He answered questions from residents during the meeting.

‘‘I found it to be inspiring. I think we should tap into that energy ... and keep [residents] engaged and involved,” Ritter said.

Marybeth Shea, whose daughter graduated from Northwestern High School in 2002, said she was ‘‘very upset” that the county decided against building a new high school in North County, where many schools struggle with overcrowding.

‘‘I was shocked to see [the new high school] go to Bowie,” she said, ‘‘where they already have empty seats among all the schools around them. They say it’s for their future developments, but we have [school overpopulation] right now.”

The county’s decision to build a new high school in South County, where future development is expected to provide an influx of families, is symptomatic of a shifting power structure within the county, Shea said.

‘‘The power has moved to Bowie and Mitchellville,” she said. ‘‘And everyone in the North County has got to say, ‘Stop, that’s not fair.’”

The new high school will not be built in North County, Iliff said, because the county ignored overcrowded classrooms and failed to engage the community.

‘‘What it represents to me is playing big politics behind the scenes instead of really looking as a community at the data,” Iliff said. ‘‘There was no full opportunity to the community to have input.”

E-mail Dennis Carter at dcarter@gazette.net.