The Washington Post, November 22, 2019 by Donna St. George
School leaders in suburban Howard County, Md., on Thursday night adopted a controversial redistricting plan that reassigns thousands of students in hopes of relieving crowding and better integrating schools on the basis of socioeconomics.
The changes approved by the Howard County Board of Education in a series of split votes marked the culmination of a heated battle that drew national attention.
The result followed several months of contentious debate in a county that has long prided itself on its diversity — highlighting questions of race, class, student achievement, neighborhood bonds and the meaning of segregation.
The plan — estimated to move 5,400 students, roughly 1 in 10, for the 2020-2021 academic year — was not as far-reaching as supporters had hoped, and not as limited as opponents wanted.
Many students will face longer bus rides — an average of three extra miles round trip — in the high-performing 58,000-student school system, located in one of the nation’s most affluent counties.
“This is a compromise,” said board member Jennifer Mallo, pointing out that less was done to ease concentrations of poverty than once envisioned but that fewer students were reassigned in the end. She said she and others worked to benefit “as many students as we could.”
It represents the largest redistricting initiative in Howard’s history, officials said.