Howard County Schools Superintendent Bill Barnes on Thursday released a widely anticipated redistricting plan that tackles overcrowding at one elementary school but stops short of addressing swelling enrollment at another.

Barnes’ plan would shift students from Bryant Woods Elementary School in Columbia, but it does not include a controversial proposal to shuffle students out of Centennial Lane Elementary in Ellicott City.

If approved, the measure would represent a victory for Ellicott City parents who strongly oppose shifting their children out of their “neighborhood schools.”

The superintendent’s recommendation significantly differs from initial options presented by school officials in July. Until Thursday, the school system was set to tackle overcrowding at both elementary schools.

However, the board of education will have the final say.

In the coming months, the school board will consider the superintendent’s proposal, the options presented in July and any offered by board members. The board is expected to vote on a final plan Nov. 20, and changes will be implemented for the 2026-27 school year.

School board members questioned elements of the proposal, including the impact on bus transportation and student poverty levels.

Barnes, who did not offer remarks during Thursday’s presentation, developed a plan that would not affect middle and high school student assignments. Instead, it targets students only at four Columbia elementary schools.

If approved, 253 elementary school students will attend a new school next fall. The moves include:

• 74 Bryant Woods students to Clemens Crossing Elementary
• 16 Bryant Woods students to Running Brook Elementary
• 125 Clemens Crossing students to Swansfield Elementary
• 38 Swansfield students to Clemens Crossing

“These changes improve the utilization balance among all schools in the area,” Barnes wrote in his recommendation.

He proposed that rising fifth graders at Bryant Woods, roughly 42 students, should stay put next school year, along with students from active-duty military families and special education students.

This proposal would bring Bryant Woods within the district’s target range of 90% to 100% capacity over the next decade.

As for overcrowding at Centennial Lane, Barnes recommended delaying action until after a capital project at Dunloggin Middle School is completed. (The renovation and addition project is expected to add 136 new seats and be completed in September 2030).

Also, seats may become available at Hollifield Station Elementary in the years to come, Barnes’ presentation states.

A few school board members questioned why there was no plan to redistrict Centennial Lane at this time.

“We understand how this looks, right?” school board member Antonia Watts said.

Some board members expressed concern that the superintendent’s plan would address crowding at a high-poverty school, Bryant Woods, but not at a more affluent one, Centennial Lane.

Barnes developed his proposal by considering analysis by school system staff and Cropper GIS, the K-12 planning consulting firm that the board hired for redistricting, and community feedback — received in person and from over 2,000 survey responses.

Parents, community members and students have rallied for months to keep Centennial Lane Elementary as is. A parents group, the Alliance for Neighborhood Schools, quickly emerged in the late spring to voice its opposition to another redistricting and put pressure on school officials to move pre-K out of Bryant Woods and Centennial Lane.

Many of the group’s members have children who attend Centennial Lane Elementary, Burleigh Manor Middle and Centennial High, all sought-after schools that earned high marks on the Maryland School Report Card.

The school board is scheduled to hold its first redistricting public hearing and work session Oct. 9. However, dates may change if additional work sessions and public hearings are needed.

Public comments can be emailed to redistricting@hcpss.org or mailed to the Howard County Board of Education, 10910 Clarksville Pike, Ellicott City, MD 21042.