Book shortage hits Bladensburg High

Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005

Parents of students attending the newly constructed Bladensburg High School said they are disappointed that their children are still without textbooks five weeks into the new academic year.

‘‘I’m very angry,” said Celeste Denson, who has a daughter in the new biomedical program at the Bladensburg school. ‘‘I just think this is unacceptable.”

Teachers have been using the limited number of new books on hand and making copies of supplemental materials for students to use in the interim. Denson said that students would inevitably fall behind despite claims by the principal, Madeline Blanding, that students were able to keep up with the curriculum without the new books.

‘‘The principal says they are able to keep up, but I find that impossible to believe,” Denson said. ‘‘My daughter is in the new biomedical program. ... They recruited these children to be a part of it. They’re supposed to be the best, but they don’t have their books.”

The biomedical program was started this school year to prepare high school students for practicing or research careers in the biomedical field. Students were picked for their superior attendance and academic achievements.

John White, a spokesman for the Prince George’s County Public Schools System, said that an unexpected increase in enrollment at the school was the cause of the late book distribution problem.

School Board Chairwoman Beatrice Tignor told Denson in an e-mail that the system regretted the delays. Tignor promised that ‘‘we are going to get this right.”

Similar problems plagued the school system in the 2003-2004 school year. At that time, rising enrollment figures also played a part in not having enough textbooks.

In 2001, the school board was forced to find an extra $500,000 to purchase textbooks because it had incorrectly calculated the necessary number and, in 2002, students again went without necessary books for months when a distributor halted shipment because of outstanding bills.

White said that no other problems with textbook delivery have been reported in county schools this year.

Bladensburg High School's principal made the decision to delay handing out new books that were available until all students could have their own copies, according to White.

‘‘Since school began, they’ve had an additional 250 students enroll. That’s a 10 percent increase from its projected enrollment,” White said. ‘‘It’s a situation of the principal doing the best she can with what she has. We didn’t want to hand out books to some students and not to others.”

Abby Crowley, school board member and chairwoman of the Instruction and Accountability Committee, which oversees the process of ordering textbooks, said she was not aware of the problem at Bladensburg High School and that neither parents nor teachers had called to complain about the situation.

‘‘I’ll look into it,” Crowley told The Gazette on Wednesday.

According to e-mails between Blanding and parents, the problem also had to do with misdirected delivery.

‘‘Unfortunately, some of our books were sent to the wrong school and were just located,” Blanding wrote to Denson. ‘‘A delivery was made on Friday, Sept. 16.”

‘‘We are processing them now, and we will distribute them this week,” stated Blanding’s e-mail, which was sent Sept. 20.

As of Sept. 23, parents said only one new book category, the biology text, had been distributed.

By Tuesday, Blanding told The Gazette, books were still on order from the warehouse, and it had not been determined when they would arrive.

‘‘We still have some we need to get in,” Blanding said, noting that some U.S. history, psychology and Spanish textbooks had not arrived. ‘‘As soon as they get here, they will give them to us.”

Blanding, in her e-mails to Denson and other parents, said that other difficulties in opening the new high school contributed to a less than stable situation.

‘‘As you compare us with other schools, please remember that we made a complete transition this summer,” Blanding said. ‘‘We were still unpacking and receiving equipment as the students arrived.

‘‘While our lockers were in the facility, we did not have access to the database of combinations because it would not penetrate the PGCPS firewall,” Blanding said, explaining that there were also locker problems with the new school's opening.

Blanding told The Gazette that late enrollment of students is continuing. The school has a capacity of 1,923 students, and enrollment now stands at 2,057, she said.

Despite the school system’s explanations for the problem, parents said a five-week delay is inexcusable.

‘‘I don’t think it should have taken five weeks,” said parent Queen Jones. ‘‘I’m outraged.”

E-mail Guy Leonard at gleonard@gazette.net.