West Towson hearing tomorrow
For those who are following the ongoing West Towson Elementary lawsuit - and I know you are out there - the hearing on a preliminary injunction to stop Baltimore County schools' construction plans is Thursday morning.
I received a letter this week from the president of the Ruxton Ridge Community Association - sent to various elected officials and the state superintendent - about the cancellation of a meeting that residents from that community were to have with the school board. With their permission, I share it with you.
On behalf of the Ruxton Ridge Community Association, I am writing to inform you of the very disappointing treatment that our community has received from the Baltimore County Board of Education regarding the construction of the new West Towson Elementary School. This project is taking place directly adjacent to our community, and we have multiple concerns regarding the impact this will have on our community.
We have made several requests to the school board for a meeting with our community. Dr Joe Hairston agreed to meet with the community on May 28, 2009. And although this meeting was going to take place after the construction had begun, we were pleased that we would finally be able to have a discussion. This meeting, however, has been cancelled.
Several families, located adjacent to the school site, (not in the Ruxton Ridge Community) have filed litigation against the School Board. It was shortly after this litigation was filed, that the meeting with our community was cancelled. No one from Ruxton Ridge Community is involved in the litigation nor would anyone from those who are involved, be at the meeting.
I am told that no meeting would be held until litigation was settled. This hardly seems fair. Ruxton Ridge Community has been completely shut out and have not had an opportunity to express our concerns or to be informed regarding the construction of the new school.
We are asking you, our elected officials, to urge the School Board to reconsider the cancellation of this important meeting. Ruxton Ridge Community is not requesting a meeting to discuss the merits of the construction, but merely the impact this project will have on our neighborhood.
Very Truly Yours,
Kent Reichert, President
Ruxton Ridge Community Association
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
If what the Ruxton Ridge Community Association says is true, that they just want to discuss, "the impact this project will have on our neighborhood," and not the merits of building the school or not, I don't see why the county can't oblige them. On the other hand, the timing isn't as critical, I don't see why May 28th is important, perhaps they will reschedule after the hearing tomorrow (assuming the case is tossed out).
We shall see, but yes, I think the county needs to communicate with the community regarding the impact, lawsuit or not.
p.s. Did we ever learn if the Ruxton-Riderwood-Lake Roland Area Improvement Association decided to help fund the lawsuit for the 4 families opposing the new school ?
There's a copy of the letter at - http://towsonfamiliesunited.com/blog/?p=494
The Ruxton-Riderwood-Lake Roland Area Improvement Association is at http://www.rrlraia.org
Posted by: Dave T | May 20, 2009 7:23 PM
Hey Dave,
I had seen that letter, but don't know whether the association is, in fact, helping to foot the legal bill. I'll let you know if I hear anything.
Posted by: Arin | May 20, 2009 11:05 PM
Dave,
The reason the meeting is important to have sooner than later is that fact that the BCPS has completely ignored any and all requests the Association has made throughout the year.
They(BCPS) finally gave the community an opportunity to have some questions answered and then cancelled it due to the pending litigation. The litigation should have no bearing on the meeting as the Ruxton Ridge Association is not involved in the suit. The community has questions and should have the opportunity to have them answered.
Posted by: JES | May 21, 2009 2:23 PM