Mays Chapel residents say 'no' to new school
Baltimore County school officials were short on answers, and the obviously unhappy --- and at least mildly hostile --- crowd of about 250 Mays Chapel residents who packed the auditorium last night at Dulaney High School in Timonium had an ample supply of frustration.
I'm working on a story for tomorrow's paper about the residents who came to the meeting hoping to get answers to concerns they have about an idea to build a school for special-education students on a parcel of land the school system has long owned, but which is home to a park that many in the community say they don't want to lose.
In addition to losing the park space, residents said they worry about the increased traffic from school buses and staff members for the new school in an area that they say is already congested. Many seemed downright indignant that the school system --- which has owned the land since 1972 --- would suddenly want to use it.
With each response that amounted to a "we don't know" from school officials, residents grew openly irritated, and about 45 minutes into the meeting several began leaving.
"We're leaving because they're not giving us any answers," said Cynthia Brown, who lives in the Roundwood Ridge condos.
School officials acknowledged that they had few answers, in part because they have yet to do a feasibility study.
"They had this meeting way too soon, they don't know anything," complained Sid Caplan, as he walked out of the auditorium.
Many figured that the hastily planned meeting had been scheduled because school officials were learning about the mounting opposition. In recent days, petitions had been circulating throughout the community.
School officials say building a school in Mays Chapel could help them alleviate crowding at other schools, particularly in the central area of the county. Residents insist that surely the school system has other properties they haven't considered that wouldn't disrupt their community.
"We're not opposed to the school, we just don't have space for it here," was a commonly heard refrain.
These kinds of "community needs" vs. "school system needs" scenarios play out in neighborhoods across the region and the country all the time. Is there a middle ground?
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
Really? People are getting upset for the school system wanting to use land that belongs to them?
I wonder how many people were there to say "Thank you" to the BCPS admins for the 35 years the community has been able to use their land without rent or such. :-/
Posted by: steegness | October 16, 2007 1:00 PM
If there was any such folks in the crowd, none spoke up.
From many of the comments I heard, it seems many people had taken for granted that once a park, always a park.
I was out at the park this morning and it's a beautiful, tranquil setting that is smack-dab in the midst of a highly developed, densely populated community. It's no wonder folks like Peggy Fox, who was walking her dog Lulu, would miss it.
As she put it, "it's the only piece of green left around here."
But still, it IS the school system's property and has been for many, many years. And, it's noted on my ADC map as a future school site.
Posted by: Gina Davis | October 16, 2007 1:06 PM
It seems that those of us who have been trying to raise awareness around the rights of people with disabilities have made some impact. Because all of the comments made by the residents are politically correct in not engaging in anti "children with disabilities" rants. The anti-children (without disabilities) rant is apparently still permissible, though, when couched in "increased traffic" and "you're taking our park away" comments.
My take on this: BCPS is flying a test balloon. When the wealthy tax payers of the area collectively protest, BCPS will stand down. And the specter of a special education school bringing down property values will vanish.
One parting thought: doesn't it say somewhere in the Bible to love thy neighbor as thyself? So wouldn't that mean that my neighbor's child takes precedence over my dog?
Posted by: Sue Keller | October 23, 2007 8:52 AM
School system bought the land before the rest of the area was destroyed by kielty (the owner.) Apparently, despite 2,200 people standing up to it, they were still going to build on the land. Well, at least this is america, land of the free. What a democracy. those people had literally nowhere else to go. theyre senior citizens. why, in the human eye, is beauty found in the destruction of nature? what if they actually wanted to be in a natural setting in the last days of their lives? ignorant people like you steegness, will never understand
Posted by: john lockwood | January 21, 2008 7:05 PM