What's being done to fix overcrowding in Baltimore County schools?

Some Baltimore County schools are severely overcrowded, leading parents and teachers to demand solutions. 

A committee formed two years ago to address the issue has had problems getting started and just met for the first time last month. 

The county's new superintendent told WJZ he will soon visit Overlea High School, his system's most overcrowded campus.

Overcrowded Overlea 

A small city of tan portable classrooms that rises from the grass behind Overlea High School. There are more than a dozen of them on a campus more crowded than any other in Baltimore County.

"Any time that we bring out our local leaders and they actually see that we have 18 trailers—and it looks like its own village—there is utter disbelief at how our students have to come to school each and every day," said Shafiyq Hinton, a special assistant for the Overlea High Parent Teacher Student Association.

Hinton knows the problem well from his years working with parents, teachers and administrators at the school. 

"Once those hallways get crowded, it's just like 695. It's really difficult for them to get to class," Hinton told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. "It's wall-to-wall. Every desk is filled."

He also said the overcrowding presents safety concerns. 

"It's really difficult to maintain security when you have 18 different entrances just outside the classroom," Hinton said. "Think about if there's an emergency inside of one of the trailers, how do you prepare for that?"

He said there must be change. 

"It's not fair for students to have to go and have to sit in trailers and have to walk in the rain just to go to the bathroom," Hinton told WJZ. 

A recent report by the school system shows Overlea High's state-rated capacity is 1,106 students. But it has more than 1,611, meaning it operates at almost 146% overcapacity.

No quick fix 

The problem is nothing new, with Overlea's PTSA President Crystal Mercer making her voice heard at a county budget town hall in February.

"Overlea was once approved for a replacement school. We were approved, then removed from the list due to a lack of funding," she said. 

Mercer stressed to county leaders, "Overlea is full of talented students and dedicated educators, but our growth has outpaced our building. Classrooms built for 20 to 25 students now hold 30 or more."

Hinton would like to see a new school building. 

"When you look at Eastern Baltimore County specifically, one high school can change the fortune for everyone," Hinton said. 

But a new, larger building, at least in the short term, is unlikely. 

The school system is now working to shift boundaries to ease the burden. 

"There's no quick fix, and I think that's been the issue. We continue to see band-aids and try to do boundary studies," Hinton said. "And boundary studies are great, but they don't always guarantee the intended outcome, right? For example, if you take 200 kids from our school, but some of those kids are going to be juniors and seniors, those kids, they actually have the option to stay."

At Dundalk High School, crews were hard at work on the construction for a new addition, which is almost finished and includes new classrooms.

Dundalk High is also overcapacity, by 129%, meaning more than 400 extra students. 

Committee delays 

The county formed a committee, the Advisory Meeting on Public School Capacity, that was supposed to figure out how to fix the problem, but it's been plagued by delays filling its seats and only met for the first time last month. 

One member wondered if the delays would "make the public question whether there is any lack of energy behind this committee, which I think would be a little disappointing."

At that meeting, some expressed frustration that two years after it was formed, nothing has been done and it barely has the minimum number of members to even hold a meeting.

Superintendent weighs in 

Baltimore County's new superintendent, Dr. Bill Heiser, came from Anne Arundel County, which recently underwent a combative redistricting process. 

Heiser told WJZ he is "optimistic" about the Baltimore County school system's ability to address overcrowding. 

"I'm confident that we'll not just look at the issue, but there could be a plan down the road about how we might do this. I don't necessarily want to put a timeline on that," Dr. Heiser said. "But it is important that if one school is super overcrowded, we have to do more than just take a look at it."

Heiser also said he will visit Overlea High School soon to see the problem for himself.

"We'll see it firsthand. I also look forward to visiting when students are in session. I think it's one thing to see a school that is 130% capacity or 140% capacity, and then being in it. You're going to feel and see different things, and there's no judgment there. You need to experience it," the superintendent said. 

Hinton, the PTSA's special assistant, said the area is seeing new development, and projections show overcrowding is not going to ease.

"I'm not against development, but I am against development when we don't have the infrastructure in place to really have the solutions," Hinton said. "People invest so much money into their homes, into their communities, that kids have to have a great place to learn as well."