I feel for the non-tag students already attending Heather Hills. Perhaps the all-tag school could be phased in, with the current non-tag students staying through sixth grade, and all incoming students being tag-only.

I am an HHES parent. No, I don't want the existing community at HHES split up. However, there is a dire need for an increase in the TAG offerings. The reasons for making HHES one of the centers make sense. Ultimately, the additional offerings would be opened up in under-attended schools. The County should be working on a long-term goal of educating some staff in every community school on the needs and specifics of working with those who are TAG-identified. Every school should be equipped to provide education in a manner that meets the needs of the children in their community. Granted, no one school can do it all but do we really have to settle for segmenting so many facets of our education into "specialty" programs? This need is not new, yet there has not seemed to be any productive action taken to address the TAG issues at the community school level. Our school board needs to be committed to creating a system that is going to work long-term, not just for the length of time they are on the board. Increasing the educational offerings in the community schools would solve the transportation issues and hopefully bring down the flight rate for students heading into private schools.

I too am a HHES parent. I understand the need to have dedicated TAG schools, but in my opinion, it doesn't make sense to take a school that is so well rated in the county. Yes, its great rating is influenced by the fact that there are TAG children there already, but it seems that the county would be best served by turning an underperforming school into a TAG school.

I chose to move into the Heather Hills section of Bowie specifically for this school. Now that my children attend, I obviously would prefer some sort of "grandfathering" approach so that existing students can complete their education at the school through sixth grade. However, if this cannot happen, then my family will most likely look to move to Howard County where schools overall are very well rated.

I think we need more TAG schools in Bowie. I think that Heather Hill should become all TAG, but the current students should have a choice of other Bowie schools to attend. Or allow let the older students graduate from Heather Hills.

I am a graduate from Heather Hills Elementary. We had bussing controversy then and it was later realized to be a huge mistake. I don't understand why the lawmakers and decision-makers can't just leave HHE alone. It's a wonderful school nestled in a close-knit community. If you want a TAG school, pick one that's not such an integral part of an established neighborhood.

My tax money should not support a school that is not open to all children. If you want a TAG program for your child go to a private school and PAY FOR IT.

I am the parent of two of the children that would be bussed out of their neighborhood and though I agree that TAG is a good thing; educating some of at the expense of others is wrong. There is another way.
Kenilworth has TAG already and it is underutilized to the tune of ~100 seats. Convert those empty seats to TAG seats which would save the money that would have been spent bussing the neighborhood kids out of Heather Hills.