THUMBS UP: More good news about our local school system came out this week. Carroll County Public Schools maintained its high graduation rate of 95% or greater, one of only two Maryland school systems to achieve that rate. Maryland’s average rate fell slightly in 2019, so we 're pleased that CCPS appears to have avoided a similar downturn. (The state does not release the exact percentage of graduates beyond the announced rate of more than 95%.) The school system’s dropout rate was less than 3% of the class of 2019, according to the new graduation figures that the Maryland State Department of Education released Tuesday. Statewide, the new graduation figures showed 86.9% of students graduating, down from 87.1% the previous year. Some local high schools saw declines, but at such high graduation rates, even a small handful of students not graduating can present percentage decreases. We see far more reason for encouragement than concern, with the caveat that, as a CCPS official expressed to us, more still needs to be done to foster high graduation rates among all groups of students.
THUMBS UP: We were pleased to report this week that two local projects — very different from each other but important for different ways — are moving forward. The bigger of the two, a new stormwater pond in Westminster that has been years in the making, now has $2.1 million in funding lined up and is expected to be completed by the end of this year. That’s no small amount of money, but the funding was provided for in the county’s budget. The Langdon stormwater management pond, which will be located off George Street, will provide water quality treatment for a drainage area of 200 acres in Westminster, according to Tom Devilbiss, county director of land and resource management. He told us, “This project has been in the planning, design and permitting stages since 2014. It has been quite an adventure and journey for our staff. It is probably one of the largest, most complex projects we have done.” State funds are supporting the project, as they should. The pond is designed to naturally filter pollutants from stormwater before it ends up in Little Pipe Creek. Not only is the county required by the state to regulate stormwater, but it’s also the responsible thing to do with respect to the health of our environment. The county is currently appealing a case relating to stormwater management to the U.S. Supreme Court, but this project should be moving forward regardless of what happens on that front.
The other local project to take a step forward this week is a new splash pad coming to Millard Cooper Park in Sykesville. Town Council members voted unanimously Monday to approve a bid for the splash pad, which could open across from the Gate House Museum at the intersection of Cooper Drive and Warfield Road as soon as this summer. According to the town, the 2,500-square-foot concrete splash pad will include water features but no still water like a pool, and will be free to use. It’s a different kind of facility that will surely provide opportunities for outdoor fun and fitness that will be welcome to users of the park. Thanks to a $150,000 state grant and $100,000 in town funds, the project costs should be all covered, we’re told. A new playground, funded by a separate grant, is also set to be installed soon, next to the splash pad. There’s no set date for either to open, but here’s hoping these new amenities will be available for public use for much of the warmer weather headed our way.
THUMBS UP: Our environment and agriculture are essential to the Carroll County way of life. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be open to new ideas. We love the sound of one new idea that a group of McDaniel College students and their professor have come up with: a new seed library. Seed libraries are a way for gardeners to get free seeds near planting time and hopefully give back seeds from the results for their harvest for others. To get started, McDaniel environmental studies students and professor Elly Engle have paired up with the University of Maryland Extension’s Carroll County Master Gardeners program and The Keep & Till, a Carroll-based faith and farming community. They’re holding roundtable discussions to get public input on the project, and the next one is Tuesday, March 3 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Carroll County Extension office. Engle told us the library could be “a bridge between traditional historical agriculture and new ways of thinking about food.” She added that a seed library is about not only preserving genetic diversity, but also preserving and celebrating the stories that are behind those seeds. The project is still in its early stages, but we support McDaniel efforts like this to make positive impacts on the surrounding community.