Like many North County residents, Jill Lawrence blamed tropical storm Lee as she cleaned up an inch and a half of water in her Parkton basement last month.

But Lawrence had another entity to blame for her water woes — Baltimore County public schools.

She and her husband, David, have been complaining for five years that a stone-and-concrete retaining wall between Seventh District Elementary School and their property has deteriorated so much that it now channels water straight to their house.

Water flowing from the school property onto her yard on Windtree Valley Road is supposed to follow a grassy swale to an underground pipe that leads to a culvert that goes under the road.

But the flow of water has filled the swale with silt and debris and cut an adjacent deep trench that has left tree roots exposed.

The Lawrences now keep a supply of sandbags for big storms and continually bring in dirt to fill up areas on their property that have been washed away.

Their basement has flooded three times since 2005.

"Mrs. Brooks, the principal, was always been very helpful giving me names to people to call, but it's been going on for years and the wall and flooding keep getting worse," Jill Lawrence said. "We respect that the school was here first, but by not fixing the situation, they're damaging our property."

She said several people from the school system's physical facilities department have examined the wall over the years and told her it would be fixed.

But the combination a tight budget and plenty of projects has delayed work indefinitely, said Charles Herndon, school system spokesman.

"There are hundreds if not thousands of projects that demand attention, and we have limited resources," he said. "It has been on our radar screen, but not high up on the list. Given that it may be impacting the neighbors, we'll move it up on the list."

The Lawrence family moved to Parkton in 2005 and was told by the previous owners that the wall was scheduled to be repaired that fall.

She said the only action has been the installation of orange plastic fencing along the wall years ago. That net fencing eventually fell down. Lawrence said a new fence went up hours before a photographer from North County News took photos of the wall.

"If they ever decide the do something, all we ask is that we be informed about their plans. We'll even join their efforts," Lawrence said. "We're tired of spending money and time on our property because of their problem."