Stay-at-home mother Leslie Kornreich is working to convince Howard County voters that, if elected to the school board, she will tackle concerns she believes have not been adequately addressed — overcrowded schools, calendar planning and special-education streamlining.
Kornreich, 38, who lives in the area of Hanover that is part of the Elkridge community, filed June 11 and is one of nearly a dozen candidates seeking election to the board. It will mark the first-ever election bid for the former Spanish teacher, who has two children who attend county schools. She said she decided to run after "seeing the urgent need for relief from this overcrowding situation and not seeing any urgency to purchase land for new schools in our part of the county."
She is requesting that the county acquire a site for a northeastern high school and cement plans for elementary and middle schools in the U.S. 1 corridor — as well as outline plans to prevent overcrowding.
Kornreich noted the county's recent approval of a 122-acre, mixed-use project near the Dorsey MARC station along Route 100 that includes 954 residential units as well as plans to build a 20-acre school.
"I myself am opposed to this site," Kornreich said. "It is tied to a residential development. The kids from those apartments will go to school there. This will do very little to alleviate the existing overcrowding problem." She said the proposed school would be too close to the railway tracks.
She pointed to projections that indicate enrollment at several of the county's elementary and middle schools may soon push the northeastern part of the county over the 115-percent threshold.
"This overcrowding problem is not a surprise," Kornreich said. "It very easily could have been seen coming. Development is planned long in advance, long before those apartments and townhouses and homes go up. People in the county that are on the school board know that they're coming. It's something that should have been planned for a long time ago."
Kornreich said the county is facing a scarcity of land, and she is urging that schools be built while property is available.
Kornreich and her family have lived in Howard County for 13 years. Her son, Nathan, 14, is headed to Howard High this fall, while her daughter, Ellie, 7, is at Elkridge Elementary.
"She really understands the current issues across the county, but especially in the east," said Jill Bateman, chairwoman of the Elkridge Elementary PTA's growth and planning committee. "As a fellow parent of public school children, I feel she would be a great representative for all of us in the county."
Kornreich, whose son has been diagnosed with autism, said Howard County is among the most progressive areas for a child with special needs from birth to age 5.
"They are right on top of the cutting edge of early intervention," she said.
But as children grow older, Kornreich said, "there's less of a place for them in the school. And I think we need to do everything we can to keep the individual in an individualized education plan."
Kornreich earned a bachelor's degree in Spanish at the University of Virginia and a master's degree in education at Georgia Southern. She has taught Spanish at all grade levels, including Mount Hebron High School in Ellicott City and at Anne Arundel Community College.
She said Howard County needs to amend the school calendar so that weeks of instruction are not interrupted often during the school year. She said the county must ensure that students in gifted and talented programs are given the best services the county can offer.
Kornreich said she plans to take part in candidate forums and expects her campaign signs to arrive in the mail this week.
"I am hoping to have real chance at this," she said. "I think it's the best way I can think of to try to bring about some of the changes I want to see."
The seats of four board members — Frank Aquino, Sandra French, Pat Gordon and Larry Cohen — are on the ballot this year. Among the 11 candidates are French, who is entering her 16th year on the board, and Aquino, who is seeking a second term.
A primary will be held Sept. 14; the general election is Nov. 2.