Calvert Parents Prepare For Shift

Redistricting Appeal in Hands Of State Board

Although an appeal of a Calvert County school redistricting decision is still pending with the Maryland Board of Education, parents are moving forward with plans for children to shift to Calvert Elementary when school opens in August.

For the past two weekends, parents whose children are being bumped by the redistricting from Plum Point Elementary in Huntingtown to Calvert Elementary in Prince Frederick have gathered to plant flowers and clean up the Calvert Elementary grounds. They have received donations of mulch, trees and shrubs from nurseries.

"Regardless of where our children end up going to school, . . . this is our way of giving back to the children of [Calvert Elementary] and helping out a school that needs a little TLC," Lori Ferranti wrote to other parents in an e-mail seeking volunteers.

Many parents are part of Calvert Neighbors for Sensible School Redistricting, a group that formed soon after the redistricting decision by the Calvert Board of Education in March.

The redistricting plan was adopted in preparation for the opening of Barstow Elementary in Prince Frederick this fall. Under the new plan, children in the Queensberry subdivision will be transferred from nearby Plum Point Elementary, one of the county's highest performing, to Calvert Elementary in Prince Frederick, a lower-performing school in need of renovations expected to cost millions.

Earlier this month, the Maryland Board of Education agreed to hear an appeal filed by the parents group, despite the Calvert school board's argument that the motion be thrown out because it was mailed after midnight on the deadline day. The state board said the appeal was filed on time because the lawyer was at the post office while it was still open on the deadline day.

Several weeks ago, a Calvert County Circuit Court judge denied a request from the parents group to temporarily suspend the redistricting process while the appeal is continuing.

The group also has filed an ethics complaint against Superintendent Jack R. Smith, student services director Kimberly Roof, transportation coordinator Kevin Hook and board member Robert L. Gray (Huntingtown), a real estate lawyer who was board president in March.

Among other things, the complaint alleges that Gray had a conflict of interest when he advocated and voted for the redistricting plan because it could open up the middle of the county for development. Gray has denied any conflict of interest.

That complaint has not been heard because the county school board's ethics panel has been short two members. The board recently appointed two members: Arthur J. Athens of Huntingtown, director of the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership; and John F. Shay Jr. of Dunkirk, a partner in an Upper Marlboro law firm.

Calvert school officials are preparing parents and students for the first day of school Aug. 20 and have planned meetings to discuss the details. Until the Barstow school opens in November, students assigned to go there will attend classes in trailers at Calvert elementary and middle schools.

A meeting for Calvert Elementary parents is scheduled at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 4 in the multipurpose room of the school administrative center in Prince Frederick. A meeting for Barstow parents will follow at 6:30 p.m.