Last Day of School!

The public schools wrap up another year.

Several administrators are being assigned to new schools this fall in what has become an annual rite. According to the Sun, Nancy Thompson will go from being assistant principal at Steven Forest to principal at Talbott Springs. David Larner, assistant principal at Hammond Elementary, will become principal at Clemens Crossing Elementary. Clemens Crossing current principal, Peggy Dumler, takes over at Laurel Woods Elementary

Meanwhile, the Sun has a report on enrollment projections, which suggest no elementary or middle school should suffer excessive overcrowding until 2010. There was a brief discussion during the school board's meeting about the impact of the government's decision to consolidate thousands of jobs around the greater Washington region and move them to Fort Meade.

That shift is expected to bring to put new pressure on the housing stock, especially since there are limits in Howard on how many new units can be built in any one year. It doesn't take an economics major to know that if demand grows faster than supply there will be consequences. Housing prices could go up; good for us who already have homes; bad for people trying to buy and settle in our community.

Apparently, there's talk of running through some what-if development scenarios this summer. That could be an interesting exercise.