Baltimore County Public Schools is the school district in charge of all public schools in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The nation's 25th largest school system as of 2005,[1] it is managed by the Board of Education, headquartered in Towson. The Superintendent is Dr. Joe A. Hairston.
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All areas in Baltimore County are unincorporated; as there are no incorporated cities in Baltimore County, all place names are neighborhoods, and have no legal jurisdiction over their areas.
In the mid-1980s, Baltimore County shifted the grades in the intermediate-level schools. Until this time, the schools were called "junior high schools" and had grades 7-9. The 9th grade was moved into the high school and the 6th grade was moved in from nearby elementary schools, creating the current "middle school" model with grades 6-8.
These schools have no attendance boundaries (except for Carver Center). Students attend these schools as full-time students, or part-time as a supplement to a student's core high school.
In 1978, due to a dip in enrollment projections the elimination of six elementary schools and the repurposing of two middle schools was proposed by the board and eventually implemented by then superintendent Robert Y. Dubel despite significant public objection . At the January 11, 1978 board meeting: Dundalk, Gray Manor, Inverness, Lutherville, Parkville, and Towson elementary schools were proposed to be closed; Eastwood and Ruxton elementary schools proposed to be repurposed as special education facilities; and Towsontown Junior to be repurposed as Central Vocational-Technical Center.[2]
Overcrowding in some elementary schools due to population growth became an issue in 2007, particularly at four elementary schools in the Towson area — Hampton, Riderwood, Rodgers Forge, and Stoneleigh — which were said to have 451 more children than their 1,665-pupil capacity.[3] In December 2007, a parents' advocacy group, Towson Families United, called for construction of a new elementary school to alleviate overcrowding, with the group threatening a demonstration near the courthouse office of Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith, Jr..[4] On May 6, 2008, the School Board announced that a new school would open in 2010 near the existing Ridge Ruxton School on Charles Street.[4]