The Unwanted Gift

We have gotten used to public objections to new housing development in Howard County. I noticed the other day that Council member Liz Walsh described the Ilchester Road area as being “consumed” by development. I must admit I find it puzzling that so many people look at new houses with revulsion, however, that is not what this post is about.

Apparently Howard County government wants to give the community a fire station but nobody wants it. Well, I suppose they aren’t opposed to fire stations in theory. They don’t want one in Cedar Lane Park East. Okay, giving up green space is hard. I get that. But it isn’t as though the County wants to put in a toxic waste dump. It’s a fire station, for heaven’s sake. The only reason to build a new one is to increase public safety.

True confession: I am not highly educated on this fire station controversy but I do feel sorry for the county for getting so much hate. I wonder how it feels when you try to give people a fire station and they don’t want one.

Now, here’s a twist: the county has requested that the Howard County School System consider using the land where Central Office is for the new fire station. Hmm. That property contains offices, Homewood School and ARL. How much of that land would a new fire station need? I’m not particularly sentimental about Central Office but Homewood and ARL are valuable parts of the school system. I’d hate to see them displaced.

So let’s imagine that Central Office must go. (All that money spent on the updated board room, ouch!) Where should it be relocated? Any ideas? Who else can we annoy or offend in this process?

This is what happens when I write a post without proper research. I’m sure it is far more nuanced than this. At face value it feels like an ongoing game of musical chairs and I have no idea how it is going to turn out.

Comments

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents. When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday. Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018. 2018 . But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest. In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

Separate and Unequal

Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not. It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog