Neighborhood Schools

The Baltimore County schools cut enrollment at special education schools almost in half through the controversial "inclusion" program begun late last year.There are 709 children with the most serious disabilities -- called "level 5" -- in the county's five special education centers this school year, according to preliminary data presented to the school board. Last year, those schools had 1,371 students.The Chatsworth School in the Reisterstown area lost about 80 percent of its students. Enrollment there went from 261 students during the 1992-1993 school year to about 50 students this year.

DENVER -- After 21 years of court-ordered school busing, the concept of neighborhood schools is on the way back in the Mile High City, but not without some concerns among Denver's minority groups.''I greet it with tempered happiness,'' says Aaron Gray, president of the city's school board, of a federal district judge's ruling barring further busing to combat racial discrimination. The judge found last month that the Denver public school system has satisfactorily eradicated ''vestiges of past discrimination . . . to the extent practicable.

Better pick up the phone, fax a letter, or rent a plane with a banner if you still want to comment on the various school redistricting proposals before a final decision is made, advises school board President Vincent O. Leggett."

TRUTH IN packaging requires that I immediately make these disclosures:* I have a daughter who enthusiastically entered the visual arts program at Sudbrook Magnet Middle School this fall.* I teach at Old Court MiddleSchool, a neighborhood school that competes with Sudbrook for students.* Given the right circumstances, I would love to teach at a magnet school.As you can see, generally I favor magnet schools. However, even a magnet school proponent like me sees the down side to the concept. Chief among them are:* Magnet schools, which are designed to facilitate voluntary racial integration, generally attract the brightest students and the "best" teachers, or at least the ones who play by the rules, from the neighborhood schools.

THIRTY STUDENTS from city high schools have been offered full-tuition scholarships to attend the Johns Hopkins University as the first group of Baltimore Scholars. The noteworthy new program aims to keep more of the city's most talented academic achievers, particularly minorities, close to home. All of the scholars were picked from citywide magnet high schools, setting a lofty goal for the neighborhood high schools that a majority of city students attend. Those neighborhood schools - increasingly outdated models of comprehensive, industrial-era high schools that offered different courses for students who were college-bound and those who were not - are in the midst of a major reform effort that is long overdue.

At tonight's meeting, the Anne Arundel County Board of Education will get an update on program that allows special education students to attend regular classes at neighborhood schools and will take a look at transfers needed to balance the budget when the books are closed June 30.Greg Nourse, financial director for the school system, said the board will vote to move $1.7 million from the fiscal 1994 surplus account into other budget categories. The board also is expected to approve the shifting of grant money.

Anne Arundel County Board of Education President Vincent O. Leggett is far from sold on the idea of community-based schools."I keep hearing that if parents have a sick child in school, then neighborhood schools would make it easier for parents to get to the school," Mr. Leggett said of a system that would send Annapolis-area children to the nearest school and abandon the idea of achieving racial balance through artificially drawn attendance boundaries."

The rumble of a trash can being pushed down the hallway by a maintenance worker momentarily distracts students studying science, math and social studies at Kenwood Senior High School in eastern Baltimore County.It's a little past 5 p.m., but these 19 students aren't staying after school. Their day started when school ended because of something they have in common -- they've all been expelled from their neighborhood schools."In Baltimore County, expulsion does not mean you're out of here for good, just until you get your act together," said Dale Rauenzahn, who runs alternative education programs for the school system.

The families and groups who sued the Baltimore County school board to stop its inclusion plan for disabled children have changed their minds about dropping their suit.Angered by the board's decision to try to recoup $50,000 it says it spent on legal fees, the group has decided to appeal the dismissal of its suit by a U.S. District Court judge.The board's punch and the plaintiffs' counterpunch mean that a fight over the transfer of handicapped youngsters to neighborhood schools, which was largely over, likely will drag on for some time.

Adams Park Elementary School will again have students and will reopen no later than 1997.In response to an outpouring of support from parents and community members, the Anne Arundel County school board voted 5-2 last night to reopen Adams Park and to reject the school superintendent's plan to redraw school boundaries in the Annapolis area.The plan approved by the board was a compromise crafted by a coalition of Citizens Advisory Committees in the Adams Park area.The superintendent's proposal was created to develop neighborhood schools so that students would attend the school closest to their home.