Baltimore County Executive, Kevin Kamenetz, has requested that Baltimore County schools consider moving 4th and 5th grades to middle school. Kamenetz cited overcrowding and budgetary concerns as chief reasons for the switch.

Several central area Baltimore County elementary schools are overcrowded and have construction additions planned for the near future – if funding becomes available. However County Executive Kamenetz suggests that the students could be accommodated in the area’s middle schools, which are not overcrowded and even contain some vacant seats. From the Baltimore Sun article:

Kamenetz suggested that taking grades out of the elementaries would provide immediate relief and might be preferable to housing students in trailers for years while the community waited for the money to build an addition.

Kamenetz recommended school leaders do a comprehensive study of the possibility of using the excess space in county middle schools before July 1. He asked that parents, teachers, school system personnel and students be involved in the review.