Havre de Grace Residents Protest School Redistricting Plan

BEL AIR, MD — Residents of Havre de Grace who are concerned by boundary changes proposed by Harford County Public Schools protested outside the Harford County Board of Education building Monday night in Bel Air.

Bulle Rock and Scenic Manor residents have amassed hundreds of signatures on a Change.org petition protesting the possible school boundary change presented this spring.

"There is a lot of upset in Havre de Grace over this issue," Ashira Quabil told Havre de Grace Patch.

Harford County Public Schools (HCPS) is reviewing its school district boundaries because some schools are overcrowded while others are underused, according to HCPS.

Dozens of residents testified during Monday night's virtual school board meeting, stating they purchased their homes in the municipality of Havre de Grace because they wanted their families to be part of the city's school system.

Because there were so many people slated to speak at Monday night's school board meeting, officials said they allotted two hours for public comment. Each person was given two minutes to comment. Listen to the HCPS board meeting.

"We have contacted all City Council members, including the mayor, and they are behind us," Lori Beth Fawkes of Scenic Manor told Patch. “[Havre de Grace City Council] President David Glenn attended the last county council meeting with us. He as well as other council members have voiced their concerns to the board of ed, [County] Councilman [Curtis] Beulah and the superintendent."

More than 50 people had turned out for the protest in Bel Air as of 5:15 p.m.

"We had 20 speakers (out of 27) at the County Council meeting last Tuesday," Brooke Granger of Bulle Rock told Patch. "We have not heard anything from the school system regarding our concerns except that they insist this is not the final plan, just preliminary. That people are just going to be unhappy. And yet they have moved on to secondary school proposals."

Granger was among those who spoke out at the April 12 school board meeting, which was held virtually, sharing that redistricting would cause a disruption socially, did not make sense geographically and was unneeded given that enrollment projections were made before the coronavirus pandemic.

"We have asked them why they have to do this during a pandemic and their answer was that they were planning this the year before the pandemic," Granger said of HCPS. "Well, we all had plans prior to covid, and we have had to adapt. But they have not budged on this. They insist on implementing this in the 2022-2023 school year."

The demonstration was from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 26, at the Board of Education A.A. Roberty Building, 102 S Hickory Ave, Bel Air, MD 21014.

The school board met virtually at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

"We are listening. We are paying attention to what you're saying," Rachel Gauthier, vice president of the Harford County Board of Education, said at Monday night's school board meeting, addressing those concerned about the plans to balance enrollment.

"At the end of the day, we are looking for what is best for our kids and what is best for this county, in terms of growth, because we are continuing to grow. And we are continuing to build," Gauthier said. "This is a long overdue process. We're not going to make everybody happy....We will do the very best we can to make it the least disruptive that we can."

See Also:

• We Are The Grace Rally
• Bulle Rock, Scenic Manor Parents Petition HCPS Over Redistricting