At a school board meeting, Tuesday night Howard County Public School Interim Superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano gave his recommendations to relieve the overcrowding problem in elementary and high schools.
Under the proposal, there will be no high school redistricting for the 2018-19 school year. Instead, the next high school redistricting will start during the 2020-21 school year to prepare for the opening of a new high school in fall 2022.
The plan also recommends an expansion to the JumpStart HCPSS program, for students at Centennial, Howard and Long Reach high schools. Doubling the amount of HCPSS students that take advantage of the program which enables high school students to earn college credits while still in high school through a partnership with Howard Community College.
In addition, the proposal includes redistricting 1,922 elementary students to fill a new elementary school and bring 37 schools at or below target utilization, providing relief to schools in Columbia and in the eastern and northern parts of the county. Redistricting at the middle school level is predicted to move about 300 students to realigned with elementary school attendance in the area.
To see the full recommendation go to the Howard County Public School website.
