The majority of children living in Rodgers Forge would not be forced to transfer to the new West Towson Elementary School if the school board accepts the recommendation that a redistricting committee approved Wednesday night.
About 150 people attended the open forum, waving green signs encouraging members of the boundary committee to vote for "Proposal G," which won by a 7-3 vote and was considered by many Rodgers Forge Elementary parents to be the least disruptive of four proposed options. The committee will present the preferred option at a school board meeting set for Feb. 9.
Several of the parents attending the hearing expressed relief after the vote, saying their children can continue to walk to school rather than be bused a few miles to West Towson Elementary, a new $25 million building set to open in the fall.
Dan Hochrein lives on Murdock Road and has a first-grader at Rodgers Forge.
"G keeps us in," Hochrein said. "I have nothing against the new school. It's just that we're in walking distance. And it's great to be around the corner."
Rodgers Forge is above its enrollment capacity of about 400 and would remain close to that number if projections hold true under option G. State construction funding requires boundary options that take Rodgers Forge below capacity and ensure West Towson opens below its capacity of 451.
Keli Emmons has a son in kindergarten and a daughter in third grade at Rodgers Forge. She would have had to transfer her children to West Towson in two of the four proposed scenarios.
"I can stand on my front lawn, look up Lanark [Road] and see the crossing guard, Miss Linda, who has been there for 20-something years," Emmons said.