Dance To Investigate Magnet School Rule Change

Protests against a recent controversial magnet school rule change have paid off.

At a Tuesday evening Board of Education meeting, parents of students appealed to the school board and Superintendent S. Dallas Dance to reconsider a rule change that, starting in the 2015-2016 school year, does away with priority placement for kindergartners who have siblings at Baltimore County's seven elementary magnet schools.

"The superintendent has directed staff to study the issue," said Charles Herndon, a school system spokesperson.

Herndon said Dance hasn't yet taken a stance on the matter, but the input from parents at the meeting and through other communications have encouraged him to look seriously at the rule change.

Patch that Cromwell Valley parents were concerned that the rule change would disrupt the school's active community by putting additional burden on parents who would have to send children to different schools.

County Council David Marks criticized former Superintendent Joe Hairston for instituting the rule change without much community input. However, Marks acknowledged that it promoted countywide fairness for the placements.

Bryan Stoll, supervisor of the Baltimore County Public Schools Office of Magnet Programs, told Patch that 1,975 students had applied for the 220 elementary level placements available for the 2012-2013 school year. Stoll said 190 of those placements were for the kindergarten program.

Magnet students are typically selected through random lottery.