Towson High
Parents and community activists are hoping for a sea of Generals’ maroon tonight in support of Towson High School when the Board of Education solicits public input on the capital budget.
The group New in ’22 is advocating for a new building for Towson High that would be ready in 2022, and that means planning money would need to be secured now for the upcoming 2019 fiscal year.
Three of the group’s members spoke Tuesday night at the Board of Education meeting and decried the condition of Towson High, which was built in 1949 and partially renovated in 1996. BCPS ranked Towson the third-worst high school in the county in terms of facilities. The group is also asking the county to be more proactive about all BCPS facilities, which they say for too long have received mostly patchwork maintenance.
Towson High is also expected to be at 137 percent capacity in five years.
The heat and air conditioning must run at the same time to prevent mold at the school. The water coming out of the taps is brown. With any substantial rainfall, the main level floods — with waters rising above the electrical panels.
Recent photos shared by the New in ’22 group show a large tarp covering the school’s electrical panel, and there is also standing water.
An inspection earlier this month by the county fire department showed several violations, including “unsafe condition due to water leaking on building’s main electrical panels.” 
“I cannot comprehend how it’s even possible that people — let alone children — can be in the building on a daily basis and not have it be a huge risk to their health and safety,” Gretchen Maneval, an Anneslie resident and New in ’22 member, said in an interview.
“It’s all of our collective jobs to stand up and have our voices heard and show why we have to have a new facility,” she said. “It’s at a crisis point.”
The public hearing is at 6:30PM on May 24 at the Greenwood campus, 6901 N. Charles Street, Building E. People may sign up to speak beginning at 5:30PM. Each speaker will be allotted three minutes and may bring a written copy of any remarks or provide remarks to the Board by email at boepublichearing@bcps.org.
Just heard one of my kids friends brag about how he is going to graduate because he passed algebra in 2 days! Says his teacher gave him answers.
That is crazy! Priorities have been severely messed up in this county to let things get this way. New high schools make a community. And after Dulaney and Lansdowne High Schools, replacing Towson High should be top priority—no question. New in ’22 will mark how great this community is.
And in terms of crisis level, the water leakage and electrical panel situation must be fixed NOW.
Or this negligence could cause a tragedy on par with Flint, Mi.
Speaking of which: Brown water? Why are all of the students in Baltimore County Public Schools being told not to drink out of the water fountains. What do tests show? News reporters out there…?