By Paige Whipple
Parents at Wednesday night’s community forum at the George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology gave feedback to education officials about the future of magnet schools in Baltimore County, but several participants said they still don’t feel that their voices were heard.
“This was not what we were promised,” said Jamie Papas, the PTA president of Lutherville Laboratory Elementary who fears that school officials are planning to remove the magnet status from her school and Cromwell Valley Elementary.“This was a general meeting on how to improve magnet programs, but we wanted information about our specific schools. That wasn’t our voices being heard.”
Parents, business owners, and former students came to the forum — one of four that have been scheduled this week – to discuss their magnet status with Baltimore County school representatives.
Leeann Schubert, the director of educational options for BCPS, opened the forum by saying that the Magnet Task Force that was established in 2013 to assess the county’s magnet programs is looking forward to the suggestions and thoughts from parents. The task force is scheduled to make recommendations to Superintendent Dallas Dance, who will take them to the school board by May.
“The task force cannot make recommendations in isolation,” she said. “We need to talk to stakeholders, students and parents, and that’s why we’re here. Recommendations can’t be made before talking to you.”
The forum was split into three discussion groups: the admissions process, program offerings, and marketing, outreach, and recruitment. Participants chose two of the three groups to attend, with each session lasting 40 minutes.
Facilitators from the nonprofit Magnet Schools of America hosted each group, with representatives taking notes of the discussions to record the points made by participants.
Schubert made special note of the note-takers, and said that they were there to take word for word notes on the discussions. She said that the Magnet Task Force wanted to reflect on the words and thoughts of participants before making recommendations.
In the program offerings session, former engineer and leader of the Pikesville Schools Coalition, Jeffrey Jerome, suggested that the magnet programs focus on IT, cybersecurity and digital technology. Jerome suggested that digital awareness start in early elementary school years and progress throughout middle and high school to prepare students for “careers for the future.”
Parents from Cromwell Valley discussed a lack of communication between the school systems and parents in the marketing, outreach and recruitment session. Parents said they felt like they are hearing different messages about the magnet status of their schools.
Kathryn Ulman said her family moved to a house near Cromwell Valley three years ago so that her son, now in pre-k, would be able to attend the school.
“I’ve already missed enrollment for private schools because he should be able to go to Cromwell,” Ulman said. “I just heard that it might be changing, and I’m here because I’m really concerned. We would not be living in the house we’re in now if I didn’t think my son could go to Cromwell Valley.”
Parents also agreed in the admissions process discussion that admission standards for all magnet schools in the county should be the same. They said that standards for acceptance should be consistent and objective, and that a data and metrics system should be implemented to analyze applicants and make decisions.
While the majority of participants were parents, former students also showed up to voice their opinions.
Jennifer Wong, a middle school education major at Towson University who graduated from Eastern Tech’s Teacher Academy Program in 2012, said shecame to the forums because a former teacher sent a mass Facebook message to past students and urging them to participate.
“When I heard that they might be making changes to the magnet programs, it really worried me,” she said. “I probably wouldn’t be a teacher and have the experience that I have if it weren’t for the magnet program.”
Wong said she thought it was important to show up at the forums and give another viewpoint on the issues at hand.
“There are a lot of parents here, but it’s important to have a former student’s perspective,” she said. “The students are the ones that this is going to impact the most.”
Kathleen Mooney, the strategic planner for magnet programs, will help the Magnet Task Force review the feedback from parents and form recommendations.
Mooney said that in addition to the forums, the task force has done “extensive research,” visited schools and talked with students and industry professionals. The task force will then use all of that information and will send a report to the superintendent and the board.
She said her hope is that the forums will be productive and beneficial for everyone involved.
“I hope people give thoughtful input that keeps students’ best interests in mind,” she said.
Although parents are still skeptic about Cromwell Valley and Lutherville Lab’s future magnet status, Schubert said that any changes, if changes are made, will not affect current magnet students, and would probably take place over the course of time.
“If you have a child in a magnet school, they will complete the magnet program at that school,” Schubert said. “We won’t eliminate a program and pull a student out. We might phase it out and not allow more enrollment, but your child will be able to complete the program.”
She also said that the school system is aware parents have questions about the status of each school for next year, but that they have no answers for parents at this time.
Parents also took issue with the fact that outside moderators were hosting the forums instead of BCPS employees. Dr. Donna Elam, one of the facilitators, said that the third party moderation was intentional choice by the school system.
Elam heard parents’ complaints during the discussion groups as well as after the forum, and encouraged them not to give up. She said that although they are disappointed in the outcome of the forums, parents should continue to provide feedback.
“Keep your voice heard,” Elam said.
For anyone that could not attend the meetings, an online survey will be available on the BCPS Magnet Program website until March 15. The last forum is scheduled for today from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Cockeysville Library.
Related story: Parents seek answers about possible magnet school changes