Sweeping overhaul OK'd for schools: City board votes to close 7, give Towson University control of 4, restructure 3 failing high schools.

Byline: Brent Jones

Feb. 28--In sweeping changes for public education in Baltimore, the city school board voted last night to close seven schools, reconfigure or move others and place four schools under the control of Towson University.

The changes -- which also include the restructuring of three failing high schools -- address issues that include deteriorating buildings, under-enrollment, poor student achievement and state pressure to operate more efficiently. They will take place over a two-year period. Over the objections of some parents and community leaders, the changes included moving Augusta Fells Savage Institute for the Visual Arts into the same building with Talent Development High School, a highly acclaimed innovation school managed by the Johns Hopkins University.

Moving Augusta Fells Savage to the Harlem Park complex in West Baltimore was the most contentious issue. The complex also houses Harlem Park Elementary/Middle and Harlem Park Middle, which will close this summer or next. Jeffrey Robinson, the principal of Talent Development, originally threatened to quit if the board approved the move. Robinson maintained that Augusta Fells Savage students will fight with the Talent Development students. He said friction would be inevitable because Augusta Fells Savage students would resent being in the…