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Sept. 14, 2022
Dear Residents and Friends of Oakland Mills,
Bottom line up front:
Oakland Mills High School needs your help NOW to ensure much-needed renovations. Please sign up now to testify on Thursday, September 22nd at 7:00 p.m. at the Board of Education building, 10910 Clarksville Pike (Route 108), Ellicott City, MD 21042, or online. The earlier you sign up, the earlier you will be called to testify. If you cannot testify in person, please email the Board of Education without delay at boe@hcpss.org.
Details:
As many of you know, Oakland Mills High School has been in dire need of a complete renovation for many years. In fact, such a renovation has been deferred since 2009. Last year, the Board of Education placed Oakland Mills High School into the school system's Capital Improvement Program with renovations to begin in 2026. Last week, the Superintendent proposed a new prioritization that would push OMHS all the way to 2033. This cannot happen. We cannot continue to send children to a substandard school with a ventilation system that should have been renovated in the year many of the students in this year's freshman class were born.
Please, for the sake of future students who will attend OMHS and for the good of our cOMmunity, speak up NOW and keep speaking up to demand that OMHS be renovated on the schedule adopted by the Board of Education last year.
If you plan to attend the Board of Education meeting in person on the 22nd, please wear either orange or OMHS spiritwear. If you email testimony but can still come to the meeting, please sit in the audience in your OM attire to show strength in numbers.
I cannot stress how critical this is to our cOMmunity. OMHS has been neglected far too long, and the latest proposal from the Superintendent would lead to at least eleven more years of mold notifications, ceiling leaks, missed opportunities to host county showcase events due to an outdated auditorium, and quite honestly a feeling among OMHS students, teachers, and families that they aren't a priority.
Attached, you will find the Village Board's testimony to be delivered on the 22nd. Please feel free to use this as a guide to your testimony, or be original. Even something as simple as, "Stick to the plan and renovate Oakland Mills High School on time" will suffice. If you have students at OMHS, please encourage them to reach out to their SGA representatives who can help them get involved as well.
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