My Statement on the Board’s Vote to Close Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys
- Jan 15
- 2 min read
Last night, the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners voted to close the Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys, essentially not renewing their charter to operate. While it was frustrating to find ourselves in a situation similar to three years ago, the school has made progress on several fronts. The Board of School Commissioners decided it was not enough to continue.
Our Baltimore City students deserve an excellent education and a school environment that helps foster confidence, compassion, and excellence. In my visits to the Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys, I’ve seen how the discipline and structure transformed our students. Parents passionately express to me how their young men have improved so much in school because of Baltimore Collegiate. I testified to that fact before the Board last week and continued to advocate heavily throughout the process.
There is great value in single sex education. We have three excellent schools dedicated to young girls that have graduated city leaders, compassionate residents, and highly skilled professionals in their respective fields. Those schools are Western High School, Lilly Mae Carroll Jackson School, and Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women. With the closure of Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys, we have no schools dedicated to the single focus of educating our young boys.
I am calling on the Baltimore City Public School System to immediately initiate a process to create a school solely for educating our young boys. This will take a specific initiative of experts, resources, support, and dedicated time and energy, not just from a school operator who may be successful, but deliberately from the Baltimore City Public School System. I am not an educator and acknowledge I do not have this expertise in this area, but I will commit to working with the Baltimore City Public School System to initiate this process.
