Update on 3/9/2018: The high school #13 was chosen to be at the Mission Road during 3/8/2018 board meeting.

Just announced by County Executive Allan Kittleman as following:

After working closely with Dr. Martirano and Howard County Public School System leadership, I am pleased to announce that to accelerate the construction of the High School #13 (HS#13), I will be including funding in my FY 2019 capital budget to enable HS#13 to be opened by Fall of 2022. Originally scheduled for completion in 2024, this funding would expedite the opening by two years. This was announced by Dr. Martirano to the Board of Education (BOE) at their meeting this afternoon. Dr. Martirano also indicated to the BOE that he is actively exploring an alternative site for HS#13 near Landing Road in Elkridge, in addition to the Mission Road location in Jessup. It is important to note that a final decision on the site is expected by the end of this calendar year.

I am pleased that Dr. Martirano acknowledged the impact of these changes on redistricting. As he noted in his proposed capital budget letter: “The recommended budget, in conjunction with a multi-year boundary adjustment plan, will level capacity utilization among schools while avoiding the disruption of a broad-scale boundary line adjustment.” The Attendance Area Committee’s work is underway and the next step in the process is for Dr. Martirano to provide his recommendation to the BOE on October 3. It is my hope, and I’ve shared this with Dr. Martirano, that HCPSS will now delay any immediate high school redistricting until the new high school opens in 2022.

I would like to express my appreciation for the feedback we have received from the community – it is truly invaluable. I will continue to work with Dr. Martirano and HCPSS leadership to ensure that we find creative solutions that are fiscally responsible, but also relieve overcrowding, while at the same time minimizing the impact to our communities.