Twenty children in Dickinson are being isolated from their community. Under the new elementary school redistricting plan, all Dickinson kids will attend either Atholton or Hammond, except for the 20 living on Blue Sea Drive, Sandrope Court and Stonebrook Lane, located north of Guilford Road and west of Broken Land Parkway. These kids in Polygons 16 and 1016 will be bused east to Guilford.

To reach their closest classmate, they will travel 1.4 miles across Broken Land Parkway and along the industrial area of Guilford Road. Yet my son can look out his bedroom window and wave to the kids in the house behind us, who will attend Atholton. This plan tears a community apart, isolates a group of 20 children, creates an island, increases transportation costs, results in a small feed from Guilford to Hammond Middle, and is contrary to the goal of the current redistricting plan, which moves the population west to make room for eastern development.

I urge the Howard County Public School System to keep our children with other members of the Dickinson community and allow them to attend school with their neighbors at either Atholton or Hammond Elementary. Please reconsider your current redistricting plan.

Laurie Buonaccorsi

Kings Contrivance