Board hears three redistricting scenarios for Bryant Woods and Centennial Lane areas; community concern about walkers and community splits

Howard County Public School System staff presented three draft boundary‑adjustment scenarios on July 17 designed to relieve overcrowding at Bryant Woods and Centennial Lane Elementary Schools while balancing capacity at nearby schools.

Tim Rogers, Manager of School Planning, and Dan Lubley, Executive Director of Capital Planning and Construction, described three options that range from about 267 to 427 residential reassignments. Rogers said the scenarios were developed "in response to the scope that was directed by the board on February 13" and emphasized that they are early proposals for public feedback.

Scenario highlights: - Scenario 1 would move roughly 427 students and bring Bryant Woods into the 90–110% utilization target range for most of the next 10 years while reducing Centennial Lane to about 102% over the 10‑year window; it reassigns some neighborhoods along Old Annapolis Road and Route 108 and creates a few new bus riders. - Scenario 2 uses a different set of Centennial Lane neighborhoods to reach roughly the same utilization levels, bringing Centennial Lane to about 100% and adding bus riders at Harper’s Choice Middle and Wild Lake High School. - Scenario 3 is smaller, reassigning about 267 students and bringing Centennial Lane to roughly 107% while keeping fewer families on buses; it creates a noncontiguous attendance area for Bryant Woods under the option shown.

Staff said each scenario trades off multiple policy considerations, including walkability, feeder patterns and the creation of small upper‑level feeds. Rogers noted the board’s policy consideration to avoid small feeds and said staff adjusted middle‑ and high‑school assignments to limit new small feeds created by elementary reassignments.

Public commenters urged the board to avoid moving children who currently walk to school onto buses and to respect neighborhood continuity. Cindy LaFollette, a Centennial Lane parent and public speaker, told the board the plan "defies Policy 60‑10 and the overwhelming community feedback to maintain contiguous communities" and said the scenarios would "create isolated islands and divide neighborhoods." Several speakers urged the district to consider pre‑K assignments and other creative short‑term solutions and said transportation costs and increased bus time were major concerns.

Board members asked staff to test additional options. Several members said the three presented scenarios were similar and asked staff to model alternatives that avoid converting walkers to bus riders when possible. Staff responded that the scenarios are the end of phase one and that the superintendent will compile a recommendation in September, with public hearings and a final vote currently planned for November 20, 2025.

Next steps: staff will hold additional outreach sessions and an online survey this summer, incorporate community feedback and present a superintendent recommendation this fall followed by public hearings and a November vote.