Parents and students urge BCPS to fix Owings Mills field, renovate Nottingham; superintendent pledges advocacy

Several speakers during public comment at the Dec. 2 Baltimore County Board of Education meeting urged the district to invest in neglected facilities and support programs for students.

Owings Mills High School parents, PTSA leaders and students described a deteriorating grass stadium and repeated safety, accessibility and competitive disadvantages stemming from an uneven natural field. Erica Williams and Antoinette Barber, representing Owings Mills PTSA, said repeated maintenance requests and deferred upgrades have left the school feeling "forgotten," and students asked for a turf field to protect players, expand community use and improve program revenue for athletics. Student speakers described canceled games, injuries on uneven turf, and difficulty drawing crowds that support athletic programs.

Teachers and parents also raised concerns about Nottingham Middle School, including lost supports after redistricting. Mary Crow, a special-education teacher, said Nottingham inherited students but not the wraparound services it previously had when those students attended Golden Ring, and asked the board to designate Nottingham as a community school and request state assistance to regain resources (Title I/community school status and inclusion on the LPs list).

Superintendent Dr. Veronica Rogers (presented as Dr. Rogers during the meeting) responded that the district hears the concerns. She cited a 2021 myIPAs facilities report that identified approximately $4.7 billion in systemwide repair and renovation needs and said BCPS has the third-oldest infrastructure in Maryland; she noted that BCPS typically funds turf in new-building projects and that securing turf or major renovations for existing sites often requires advocacy and state capital funding (Built to Learn Act / state appropriations). She said system staff will continue advocating at the state level and work with lawmakers to pursue funds, and that the district is exploring options and incremental site improvements while balancing limited resources.

What to watch: the board's capital budget work session and January votes on county submissions, advocacy for state capital funding, and any follow-up reports the superintendent provides on specific facility requests and options for Owings Mills and Nottingham.