The Howard County school board last week voted unanimously to close open enrollment at three county high schools next school year, enrollment that had allowed students in some areas to choose which school they would attend.

The board also agreed to take up a plan they unofficially dubbed the "Cohen plan" -- a plan proposed by board member Larry Cohen that phases out the open enrollment exceptions but allows younger students (also known as "trailing siblings") in some neighborhoods to attend the same high school as an older sibling, under certain circumstances.

The now-defunct Greenbridge and Woodmark Triangle exceptions affect Glenelg, River Hill and Marriotts Ridge high schools.

Up to and including this year, students living in the Greenbridge area were permitted to enroll at either River Hill High or Glenelg High. Now, all students in the area will attend Glenelg.

Students in the Woodmark Triangle area were allowed to choose between Marriotts Ridge High and River Hill High. With the closure of that exception, all students will be enrolled at River Hill High.

Board chairman Frank Aquino said the exceptions were ended because they were no longer needed. The Greenbridge exception was created while Glenelg underwent renovations, which are now complete, while the Woodmark Triangle exception was created to allow students in the area to advance from middle school to high school with a large enough group of familiar classmates to meet the school system's standards.

As part of the redistricting measures, students in the Greenbridge and Woodmark areas who are already in high school this year will be "grandfathered" to allow them to remain at their current school.

The school board also took the unusual step of allowing trailing siblings -- in specific circumstances -- to follow their siblings.

In order to qualify as a trailing sibling, the student must be in grades 6-8 at Folly Quarter Middle this year, have an older sibling who took advantage of open enrollment, and attend at least one school year with their older sibling in high school.

That exception, which many parents had pleaded for at a public hearing on redistricting, was formulated by Cohen based on his experience as a parent who had two children at separate schools because of redistricting.

"It was a very difficult situation to go through," Cohen said at the Nov. 12 public hearing. "We had to do everything twice. Two PTSA meetings, two sets of booster meetings, two sporting events -- everything. We should have at least been given a choice."

Based on Cohen's comments and public testimony, the board decided to grant flexibility to trailing siblings in this year's redistricting.

"The inclusion of trailing siblings is unique and does not set a precedent for future redistricting," Aquino said at the Nov. 19 board meeting.

Students who are grandfathered into the exceptions will continue to be given bus transportation through the end of the 2012-2013 school year. Any trailing siblings will have access to bus transportation as long as "no additional cost to HCPSS is incurred," according to Cohen.

After June 2013, any trailing siblings still attending a school other than the one assigned to their neighborhood will be required to provide their own transportation.

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