Forbes, a stay-at-home mother whose youngest son, Sam, is in kindergarten at Rodgers Forge Elementary, says she and her husband moved in 2000 to Towson for its respected schools and friendly neighborhoods. Their son Louie, 13, also attended Rodgers Forge Elementary.
"I just wanted him to go to a nice neighborhood school," Forbes said. "Louie went six years to Rodgers Forge, and I couldn't have asked for more. The school just works. To let something that works fall apart was more than I could bear."
Public pressure
Soon after Towson Families United's launch, Forbes said, the group applied for a permit to stage a rally on the courthouse plaza in Towson, in view of the county executive's office. They were turning the heat on Smith, she said, because the school system depends on the bulk of its funding from the county.
Hundreds of Towson residents responded to the grass-roots campaign led by Forbes by putting up signs, contacting local officials and speaking at public hearings. Her husband, a partner with an Owings Mills advertising agency, used his creative skills to design the Web site and keep the group's blog updated.
Based on the school system's enrollment data as of last fall, four Towson elementary schools - Rodgers Forge, Stoneleigh, Riderwood and Hampton - are a total of 451 students over capacity. That number was expected to nearly double in the coming years if the school system didn't take action.
Smith favored additions at schools in the Towson area as a less costly solution than a new school in Mays Chapel, and school officials eventually talked about building a 400-seat addition for regular education students at Ridge Ruxton.
But that plan drew sharp criticism. Two Ridge Ruxton parents filed federal complaints, saying they believe that their "medically fragile" children would suffer educationally if they were forced to attend school with regular students.
Forbes said she made a point of meeting with parents last fall to assure them that Towson Families United would not do anything that would adversely affect the students at Ridge Ruxton.
"I told them we will not, on the backs of your children, get seats for our kids," Forbes said.
Getting involved
Growing up, she said, she always had a drive for righting what she perceived as a wrong.
It's that nature that prompted her to establish the Coalition for Open Government in 2000 to oppose a $75 million expansion of the county's main jail center in Towson, she said. She was upset that county officials had decided to expand the jail without seeking public input.
"I lost that one," she said. "It's harder to rally people against something. It's easier to rally people for something."
She said she doesn't go looking for causes but isn't shy about getting involved when she thinks government officials aren't being as accountable to the public as she thinks they ought to be.
A few days after the school board voted to construct the new building, she smiled about what she calls a "good government issue" in the Towson school crowding controversy.
"I don't think government is bad, but I do think you need to participate," Forbes said.
gina.davis@baltsun.com
