Baltimore County school board investigates textbook purchases
At a meeting that was marked by unusually long public discussion, the Baltimore County school board members gave a clear message to school system staff on Tuesday night that they were not pleased with the waste of money on textbooks and rewriting of curriculum. Since the story published two weeks ago, school board members had clearly done some homework on their own to try to figure out what had caused mistakes to be made.
Board member Ramona Johnson said that she believes the curriculum revisions were meant to be limited to revisions that would include the novels that had just been purchased by the system. A review of what was being used in schools at the time indicated that students in some schools were exposed to the classics while others were not. The school system wanted to make sure there was equity, but a lack of leadership led to mistakes. Soon the teachers hired to write curriculum were setting off on a different course and doing a major rewrite, she believes.
Lawrence Schmidt, the school board president, had gone through years of board minutes and press releases from the Maryland State Department of Education to determine that the board had not been told about any curricula changes since 2008 and that statewide changes to the standards were widely known long before the county began to rewrite curricula.
In addition, it was revealed that the textbook purchases were made even before the curriculum was rewritten, a process that goes against the policies, according to the staff.
Both Johnson and Schmidt concluded that there was a failure in the chain of command and "resources were wasted." Schmidt said: "Our concern is to make sure the proceedures, protocals, processes are followed so that the taxpayers money is spent wisely."
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
Are you telling me that the 21st Century/technology superintendent approved of a purchase of out dated grammar books to the tune of two million plus....that's gotta be a big hit for his super size ego....right when he needs to keep his reputation clean to get a new job! I hope any institution looking to hire him looks at this mess first!
Posted by: Sam | November 23, 2011 5:27 PM
I hope that the board realizes that lies and tyranny have ruled the curricular offices for several years as a result of Joe Hairston permitting B. Dezmon to run amok at the county's expense. Her showing up and speaking out of turn at the board meeting clearly indicates her continued negative ties to the system. July cannot come fast enough to begin to rebuild the system that Joe and Barbara have dismantled.
Posted by: Please let things change! | November 23, 2011 6:11 PM
At the board meeting, it was said that the English Office was only told to make "minor" revisions to the curricula. This can easily be refuted by looking at two facts.
(1.) If the original mandate was for "minor" revisions, they would not need to spend $500,000 and hire over 100 curriculum writers to do the job. Obviously, this revision was never intended to be "minor."
(2.) Drs. Hairston and Desmond are admitting to instructing the English office to revise the novels and the writing portions of the secondary English curriculum. The novels and the writing are the guts of any ELA curriculum. To revise both, in and of itself, mandates a major revision.
It is clear from these two facts that Dr. Desmond never intended these revisions to be minor. Why is she back-peddling now? She and Dr. Hairston continue to cover up and look for scape-goats, but the English office could never spend that much money and hire that many writers without approval from the top. Another question that begs to be answered. Why would the English Office want to revise all this curricula on their own, especially with new Common Core coming out? The answer is simple: they wouldn't. Only an ego-maniac, ready to retire, and wanting to leave a legacy in Baltimore County would undertake such a task.
Kudos to those hardworking members of the BCPS English Office who undertook this impossible task, knowing full-well that it was wrong, but decided that if they were going to have to rewrite it, they would do it the right way for teachers and students. They managed to write some top-notch curriculum anyway, in spite of all the craziness from Dr. Desmond, only to have that curriculum covered up and sitting on shelves, along with the books that were purchased to support it!
Posted by: Looking at the Facts | November 23, 2011 6:20 PM
Liz, I would like to personally thank you for your efforts to uncover truth about the BCPS system. The dictatorial style of leadership and the threat of retribution kept many silent. Some just left the system, unable to deal with the compromises that had to be made or suffer the consequences. The waste of resources during these financially challenging times is beyond reprehensible. It has been a very difficult time for those who are educators because they care about the children entrusted to our care to watch as money and talent was squandered as the direction of an appointed leader who used the system to her own benefit. I am very grateful that you took on the challenge to get to the truth of the matter. It is especially important as the county seeks a new superintendent. We need a superintendent who will make decisions based on what is good for kids...not what makes B. Dezmon happy. Someone should inform her that she is retired and should fade away. Enough damage has been done.
Posted by: Thank You | November 23, 2011 6:38 PM
The public has no idea the sphere of influence that Dr. Hairston still allows Dr. Dezmon to hold over BCPS and the two key people, Sonja Karwacki and Ramona Johnson, who are totally her puppets and corroborate her lies. It's amazing that she has gotten away with it this long, but the truth is slowly leaking out! Thank you Liz for not letting this drop and continuing to dig for the truth. I know that this has been a long, but well-fought battle for you! Your perseverance is very much appreciated!
Posted by: Influence | November 23, 2011 10:51 PM
I am still shaking my head at the irresponsible actions taken and permitted by the leadership in BCPS. The board got it right in not offering JH another contract; however, the damage he can do and allow in several months will be devastating. And, it seems clear that he will not stop Dezmon for the sake of the system. Why can"t she and the destructive personnel and programs she inflicted on the systerm go away gracefully? Enough of Dezmon's madness!
Posted by: No way! | November 27, 2011 10:09 AM
I have received copies of the grammar book from the 1980s. My department chair told me they were FREE. Wow, two million dollars -- they are horrible. I am embarrassed for any teacher who uses them. Sorry for the waste of money, but I see no good reason to use these with the students! What a mess. I hope with the new standards coming that the curriculum offices can get their act together.
Posted by: Wasted Resources | November 27, 2011 3:00 PM
I continue to be discouraged with the lack of accountability for the BCPS leadership. Will someone please explain why Dezmon (admittedly appointed by Hairston to be in charge) is not responsible for the mess? Answer: She is...no more to be said. Get her out and those who continue to answer to her should follow her right out the door!!!!
Posted by: Discouraged | November 28, 2011 8:51 PM