Crofton residents are forming a nonprofit to keep fighting redistricting, weeks after Anne Arundel’s Board of Education approved a final map.
The board approved a final redistricting map Nov. 19, voting 5-3 for a plan that will move about 750 students largely in the Crofton High School cluster.
Throughout the redistricting process, Crofton residents spoke overwhelmingly against the map largely because it split Nantucket Elementary School between two middle schools. Nantucket will be one of only two schools in the district that splits its graduating class.
Crofton residents packed into the board room in matching colors to testify, and donated their time and expertise to fact-checking and scrutinizing the school district.
A group of residents called One Crofton says it intends to operate as a nonprofit and has retained Patrick Seidel from the law firm Silverman Thompson. The group is dedicated to protecting the social welfare and unity of the Crofton community, according to a news release issued last week.
Anyone can appeal a local board decision to the Maryland Board of Education within 30 days of the vote.
The group is still determining whether it has grounds for an appeal, Seidel said. Ideally, a strong appeal would prove the board made a procedural violation, used bad data or contradicted a standing policy with its decision, according to Seidel.
“If we can identify a good-faith basis to pursue this appeal, it is our intention to pursue it. We’re not going to file something that’s a frivolous waste people’s time,” Seidel said.
The group gathered more than 500 signatures on a letter sent Dec. 1 to Superintendent Mark Bedell and Board President Robert Silkworth.
The signatories reiterate their belief that the process was not transparent, based in fact or in the best interest of students. They also say they were stunned by a letter the pair sent two days after the final vote, calling it an “admonishment.”
In Bedell’s and Silkworth’s letter, they thanked families for participating in the process, stressed they understand the emotions involved and claimed the process would result in higher quality education.
They also said the days after the vote were deeply troubling as they experienced personal attacks on board members and district staff, calling it “vitriol that is repulsive and repugnant.”
“While lingering anger and dismay among directly impacted families in this process are both understandable and expected, the actions of a small number of adults — and we emphasize a small number — are not,” they said in the letter.
District spokesperson Bob Mosier estimated it was about 12 people.
Mosier also shared an example of an email Bedell received after the vote.
“You and the rest of the fake doctors on the board are just a bunch of assh—s who only care about money… I hope when you look in the mirror you see who you truly are. A monster.”
Since Bedell’s and Silkworth’s letter, there have been no more emails like what they described, Mosier said Friday.
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