Forbes and other parents have filled school board meetings and public hearings in their efforts to force officials to solve the crowding problem.
Last fall, school officials proposed building a school in Mays Chapel, near Interstate 83 in Timonium, for the special-education students who now attend Ridge Ruxton School on North Charles Street. That move would allow Ridge Ruxton to become an elementary school.
But Mays Chapel residents, worried about increased traffic, campaigned vigorously against the plan. The idea fizzled after county officials said state education officials had told them and school leaders that they "strongly discourage" building separate special-education facilities.
Recently, county schools Superintendent Joe A. Hairston said the most viable option - though "not the best solution" - would be to build a 400-seat addition at Ridge Ruxton for regular-education students, an idea that the county executive has supported.
That plan, however, has drawn sharp criticism, especially from some Ridge Ruxton parents - two of whom have filed federal complaints and are considering a lawsuit. They said they believe that their children, who are "medically fragile," will have their educational rights compromised if they are forced to attend school with regular students.
The school board recently postponed a vote on the Ridge Ruxton expansion plan and ordered a feasibility study to look at all its options.
Parents have also tossed around ideas such as reclaiming the Bykota Senior Center, which was Towson Elementary before being closed about three decades ago, or converting Cromwell Valley Elementary Regional Magnet, which draws students countywide, to a community school with some magnet students.
Whatever the solution, families like the Radeks, who have two children, say they hope that school and county officials fix the problem sooner rather than later.
Radek, who moved to Rodgers Forge from Massachusetts, has posted "451" signs on his storm door and his car window. He said he hopes that the black and white 8 1/2 -inch-by-11-inch sheets of paper will draw the kind of attention needed to get something done.
"I want to get people thinking, `What is 451?'" he said. "And hopefully Jim Smith or his group will see this and realize there are people behind this number."
gina.davis@baltsun.com
