The Delrey School, which serves children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities, is closing its Parkville location in an effort to consolidate its facilities.

The move is intended to create a more effective learning environment for some of the region’s disabled students, according to Diane Coughlin, president and CEO of United Cerebral Palsy of Central Maryland which founded and operates the school.

The Delrey-Harford Development Center on Harford Road is one of two satellite campuses of the Catonsville-based Delrey School, which serves children and adults up to the age of 21 and enrolled 39 students during the 2007-2008 academic year.

Before the next school year starts in the fall, all three locations are closing and being replaced by a single facility in Lansdowne.

Though the consolidation resembles the kind of streamlining maneuver that is often accompanied by a loss of jobs, Coughlin says that’s not the case.

“We’re not planning any layoffs,” Coughlin said.

“For efficiency, we want to have all the students in one location,” Coughlin said.

UCP of Central Maryland is a nonprofit organization founded in 1953 to fight for the rights of children and adults with disabilities.
Therapists, nurses, social workers and others employed by the Delrey School, which is funded through the public education system, have rotated for years among the three locations depending on the day of the week.
 
“You can’t have therapists at all locations all of the time,” Coughlin said.

The school’s staff members said they viewed the change as an improvement.

“This is going to be great,” said Sara Kepler, the special educator at the Harford Road location, which served 11 students during this past academic year. The length of the school year at Delrey extends from late-August to mid-June, similar to that of the Baltimore County school system.

In Lansdowne, besides being under the same roof, the staff and students will enjoy a larger and more accommodating facility, including a wheelchair clinic, Coughlin said.
 
A wheelchair clinic is an area dedicated to fitting, selecting and repairing wheelchairs for students, she said.
Finding a place to consolidate has taken some time for the organization.

A few years ago, UCP of Central Maryland purchased land in Owings Mills with the intention of building a new facility, Coughlin said.

But that project would have cost millions of dollars, and in September the organization’s board voted to sell the land and, instead, lease an existing facility in Lansdowne, she said.

Dorothy Lemon-Thompson, a social work administrator for the school, said she’s looking forward to the new school.

She also said that while some parents will be sending their children on longer bus rides, the distance is worth it.

“Because of the program, parents don’t really mind the ride,” Thompson said.

Tony Chestnut’s 18-year-old daughter, Chanelle, has cerebral palsy and was riding the bus to the Harford Road location.

Chestnut, a Parkville resident, appreciated the location because he had to drive only a few minutes to stop and see his daughter at school.

In the fall, the drive will take more than a half-hour each way.
“It’ll be a little different,” Chestnut admitted.

But he’ll still go see her, and the new, larger facility makes up for the distance, he said.

“More options and possibilities for her — I’m all for that,” Chestnut said.

The future of the office at 7412 Harford Road remains unclear.

“It’s a great space for educational use,” said Jim Chivers, a broker for Gold and Co., the firm handling the search for a new tenant.

The landlord is interested in “attracting a school similar to the Delrey School,” Chivers said.

A few churches have called and expressed an interest, but no one has committed to the space yet, Chivers said.

The space should be ready for its next tenant in late summer or early fall, he said.

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