Marks "Ignored" On Proposal To Build School At Former Middle River Quarry Site

BALTIMORE COUNTY - The battle over a new Loch Raven High School is taking shape in the Baltimore County Council.

Fifth District County Councilman David Marks says BCPS officials are ignoring his request to consider the former Middle River quarry site as a spot for a new school.

WYPR Spoke to Marks, who expressed frustration over the school system’s lack of interest in this proposal.

“It’s upsetting to me that they didn’t even look at that page,” Marks told WYPR. “The County Council is the funding agency for Baltimore County. We end up appropriating money, and I just don’t understand why the school system is ignoring legitimate requests from several district council members.”

The North East portion of Baltimore County has seen tremendous growth over the past decade. According to the Northeast High School System study by Samara Associates and MK Consulting, the area’s schools are overcrowded.

As part of the Northeast High School System study, engineers looked at five options for alleviating overcrowding. The study eventually recommended the construction of a new Loch Raven High School.

The middle river site Marks proposed for the school is not among the options the study recommended.

Baltimore County executive Johnny Olszewski released a statement expressing concerns over the potential costs of a new Loch Raven.

“We will carefully review the initial study in the context of minimal community involvement and amid the fiscal realities of our existing long-term, multi-billion dollar roadmap to improve every school and address overcrowding across Baltimore County,” Olszewski said.

A consultant report from 2021 included a $4.7 billion plan to renovate and replace some of Baltimore County’s aging schools. Under this plan, Loch Raven would be renovated, not replaced.

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