The Baltimore City School Board on Jan. 14 voted to amend Exhibit 6 of the district’s 21st Century School Buildings Plan, moving the planned surplus date of the Thurgood Marshall building to 2026 and swapping the Joseph C. Briscoe building onto the surplus list while removing the Southeast Middle building from that list. In a separate but related vote the board approved closing Edgewood Elementary and rezoning students to nearby Gwynns Falls Elementary and Windsor Hills Elementary-Middle for the 2025–26 school year.

The changes affect timing and use of physical space the district has used as swing or temporary locations during renovations. CEO Sonja Santelises told the board the shift of Thurgood Marshall’s surplus date reflects updated swing-space plans and construction schedules: “Furley is expected to move into its renovated building in summer 2025, and Vanguard will move in summer 2026,” she said, explaining the district will not need the Thurgood Marshall building for educational purposes after those moves.

Why it matters: the board must keep 26 buildings on the Exhibit 6 surplus list as part of the 21st Century School Buildings Plan; changing which buildings are listed and their surplus dates affects where students will be taught while renovations occur and which properties revert to city ownership and potential future reuse. Board staff described that Southeast Middle has become a potential site for a new school to serve growing demand in the southeast part of the city and recommended retaining it in the City Schools portfolio rather than surplus it.

Edgewood Elementary: staff recommended closing Edgewood because the school’s enrollment has been declining for years, forcing heavy supplemental funding to meet basic program requirements and limiting the school’s ability to offer programming comparable to larger schools. Staff said both Gwynns Falls and Windsor Hills have capacity to receive rezoned Edgewood students and noted that Edgewood students live within about a mile of either receiving school. Lindsey Anderson, manager in the Office of New Initiatives, reviewed enrollment, academic and program data and showed the proposed rezoning lines.

Commissioner Kenyatta Bey moved the board accept the CEO’s recommendation on the Edgewood combination and closure; the motion was seconded by Ames Messenger and approved after roll-call votes recorded on the public record. The board’s roll call included the following named votes in sequence: Ames Messenger (yes), Coit/Coy (yes), Esposito (yes), Kenyatta Bey (yes), Mohamad (no), Redding LaLanger (yes), Brooks (yes), Rooks (no), Slater Harrington (no). The motion carried and the board approved surplus of the Edgewood building to the city for summer 2025, excluding an adjacent parking lot used for the Wallbrook building and entry points serving nearby facilities.

Other procedural votes: the board also voted to amend Exhibit 6 to add Joseph C. Briscoe to the surplus list with a surplus date of summer 2026 or when the renovated Frederick Douglass–Briscoe campus is complete, and to move the Thurgood Marshall building’s surplus date from 2027 to 2026. Those CEO recommendations were moved and seconded on the record and approved by roll call.

What’s next: If approved, the district will carry out rezoning and relocation logistics over the remainder of the school year and surplus parcels to the City of Baltimore when buildings are no longer needed for educational purposes. The board’s votes also direct staff to relocate citywide programs housed at Edgewood to other schools and to continue planning for capacity in the southeast neighborhood.

Ending: Board members and district staff consistently framed the votes as difficult but necessary actions tied to long-term facility investments under the 21st Century plan, and stressed that the district intends to use partnership and capital resources to support receiving schools as they take on additional students.