VIENNA, Md. - Dorchester County is taking a hard look at the future of its public schools.
The district has created a study to comply with Maryland's blueprint for future education reform plan. As a result, the school board has publicized several possible options for school reorganization. It includes possibly relocating students to other schools county wide, closing schools, or building new ones.
Right now DCPS has listed four options for school reorganization. In all four of those, Vienna Elementary School was a consistent closure. But that doesn't mean it's a done deal. DCPS says there could be other options laid out on the table.
Parents with Vienna Elementary kids say they've seen the list of possible options where the students could be relocated to different schools. Thus, leaving Vienna Elementary closed.
Michael Hartford, a Vienna Elementary parent says if one of these options comes to fruition his first and fourth grader would be split up.
Hartford says, "My kids are glued together. I mean they're a boy and a girl so he likes to look after her and to split them up its going to be really hard on them. Especially when they're going to two different schools, they cant help each other or look out for each other."
DCPS says one of the reasons for this study is they need to implement the Maryland blueprint for education. Also, school enrollment has decreased, all elementary schools need improvements due to age, and the open-space classrooms are not safe anymore.
These are possible options and new ones could come into play. So when the board does decide, one or none of these public options could be the final choice.
Vienna Elementary parent Chris Davis says he's in favor of Vienna Elementary closing and a school change for his kids.
"Well I think it's great having many options because of certain needs that need to be given to certain kids. My kid is unfortunately one of those. So being able to go to another school is definitely going to diversify how he gets educated and how fair he's treated like the other students. I believe another option is perfect," says Davis.
DCPS says they want to hear from parents and community members. They say they want your ideas and feedback as to what the board should do or think about. A survey along with DCPS's facility study is linked below. But for now there is no deadline for any decision as they are in the early exploratory phases.
For a list of the possible options click here.