COLUMBIA, Md. — Hundreds of students at Oakland Mills High School walked out of classes to protest long-overdue renovations at one of Howard County's oldest schools.
WATCH: Students protest delayed school renovations in Howard County
The demonstration highlighted ongoing concerns about mold, structural damage, and broken fixtures that have plagued the building for years.
The student-organized protest comes after the Board of Education approved an updated list of locally funded projects under the fiscal year 2027 capital budget last month, placing Oakland Mills renovations low on the priority list behind projects for other schools.
"It's exhausting, honestly. It was 2009 when they deemed the school was not conducive to learning, and that was the year my junior was born, so for her to think about we have been fighting this fight since she was an infant is incredibly frustrating," Lena Kennedy said.
Kennedy and other parents expressed pride in their students' activism while voicing frustration over the prolonged battle for improvements.
"Honestly, there is no better lesson for them right now than to learn how to stand up, speak truth to power, and protest inequities," Kennedy said.
Students and parents have complained about mold in the building, structural damage, and non-functioning sinks and fountains. The fight for renovations has stretched over more than a decade, with the school being deemed not conducive to learning in 2009.
"I'd love to continue being hopeful, but it has been several years, decades for people who were here before us, and it's just very frustrating that we have gotten to the last minute on money that has to be claimed now," said Jessica Mahajan.
The district says the window for re-evaluating priorities is small because the budget uses Built to Learn funds from the state. However, the board has discussed possibly reprioritizing projects when it receives the budget back from the state in January.
"Come see the school, actually communicate with the people whose children attend the school, the students themselves. More action, listening, and not just sitting right, come and take a look," Rashida George says.
A formal capital budget request, including the costs of school renovations and upgrades, will be sent to Howard County Executive Calvin Ball's office in the coming months.
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