The Baltimore County work session has been moved to tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m., weather permitting.

The Carroll County Board of Ed's meeting this afternoon is also canceled.  It's been rescheduled for Feb. 4 at 5 p.m., with an operating budget hearing and work session to follow.

Posted by Arin Gencer at 11:13 AM in Baltimore County, Carroll County | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

The following schools were selected as National Blue Ribbon Schools today, according to the state department of education:

• Cresaptown Elementary, Allegany County
• Broadneck Elementary, Anne Arundel County
• Cecil Elementary, Baltimore City
• Piney Ridge Elementary, Carroll County
• Hickory Elementary, Harford County
• Hickory Elementary, Washington County

The six schools were the only nominees from Maryland, and are among 320 schools nationwide that were named winners.

Posted by Arin Gencer at 1:23 PM in Anne Arundel County, Around the Region, Baltimore City, Carroll County | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

In honor of Carroll's first day back to school today, I thought it would be a good time for an update on some happenings involving the Board of Education.

Just last week, I received word that Barry Potts, one of the candidates running for school board this fall, has decided to drop out of the race.  Potts is president of the Carroll County Education Association, and was among the top four candidates to advance after the Feburary primary.

Potts is dropping out to support Virginia Harrison, the board's newest member who was appointed in April, after Jeff Morse resigned.  Harrison plans to run as a write-in candidate this fall.

"We need the perspective of our whole community on the Board of Education," Potts said in a statement, referring to the diversity that Harrison brings to the panel.  She is the board's only member of color.

Speaking of Morse, it looks like he plans on (actively) running this fall.  His name is still on the ballot, and today is the last day to withdraw.  With his earlier resignation, there had been some question of whether he would continue to pursue a permanent seat on the board.  His appearance at the last few meetings - one time with a shirt that read, "I'm not dead yet" (take that for what you will) - and the latest word from the Board of Elections indicates he remains a contender.

Posted by Arin Gencer at 12:15 PM in Carroll County | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

This just in: The finalists for 2009 Maryland Teacher of the Year:

• John Billingslea, Baltimore County
• Mary Catherine Stephens, Carroll County
• Sharon Thomas, Cecil County
• William Thomas, Prince George’s County
• Sharon Richards, Somerset County
• Julie Harp, Talbot County
• Debra Wilkins, Wicomico County
• Amy Gallagher, Worcester County

The winner will be announced Oct. 3.  Check out the official word from MSDE.

Posted by Arin Gencer at 6:05 AM in Around the Region, Baltimore County, Carroll County, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

Today, MSDE released the annual list of elementary and middle schools that did not meet adequate yearly progress, based on their Maryland School Assessment test results.  Seven school systems - including Carroll - had all of their elementary and middle schools meet AYP.

Check out the list for the entire state.  You'll notice the new labeling system that's being used this year. 

Posted by Arin Gencer at 2:16 PM in Achievement Gaps, Around the Region, Carroll County, NCLB, Testing | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

The Carroll County school board approved several changes to the system’s substance-abuse policy last night, specifically dealing with sanctions involving extracurricular activities.

Now when students are caught on school grounds or at a school-sponsored event with a “dangerous substance” – drugs, alcohol, tobacco, etc. – they will be placed on “restricted eligibility,” as opposed to being effectively banished from their extracurricular activities during that time.

That means students caught will still be permitted to associate with their clubs and other school organizations during the sanction period.  The revised policy allows them to attend practices/games/performances, travel and sit with their teams and even wear uniforms – but not actually play or perform. 

The revisions also tackled the district’s policy on “constructive possession,” which holds students responsible for non-school-related/off-campus situations and locations where controlled/illegal substances are present.

Director of student services Dana Falls said the “vast majority” of comments from the public on the matter “indicated that it’s time to let those go away.”

School officials say the revisions “reflect a desire to effect positive changes in decision making for students” – allowing them to maintain their relationships with their coaches and teammates – instead of punishing them for poor choices.  Some parents also told school officials that coaches are often some of the best people to steer kids in the right direction after such an incident, Falls said.

What do you think? Is this a positive reinforcement for bad/illegal behavior? What policies do other school systems have in such situations?

Posted by Arin Gencer at 1:55 PM in Carroll County | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

Carroll public school employees have the option of a four-day work week this summer, in an effort to reduce the cost of commuting to work -- the district’s own nod to rising gas prices.

Despite individual schedule changes, all county schools and offices will be open from the usual 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., five days a week.

The pilot program, which is voluntary, started this week and runs through Aug. 8, according to a memo from Superintendent Charles I. Ecker. Employees can either opt for working extended hours Monday-Thursday or Tuesday-Friday, a schedule that also accommodates three-day weekend getaways.

Continue reading "In Carroll County, a shorter work week" »

Posted by Arin Gencer at 6:01 AM in Carroll County | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

Carroll's newest high school is on the road to being more than just the "northeast area high school."  The school's leadership team unveiled Manchester's logo yesterday, a very fierce-looking maverick, which is the school mascot.  Interestingly, said maverick belongs to New York's Mercy College, and was adopted after finalizing a licensing agreement, according to Manchester's future principal, Randy Clark.  Clark is currently principal at Francis Scott Key High School.

Clark said they felt Mercy's mav depicted "exactly what we were looking for as a logo for our school."  Some of the dozens of submissions from students and the community will also be used in an unofficial capacity, he said.

A few other tidbits:
* The school will take on the academy model that is already in place at Century (in South Carroll) and Winters Mill (in Westminster) high schools.
* Colors are navy and silver/gray
* Four possible school slogans, after narrowing down the selection:
  - Achieving Excellence Together
  - Integrity, Perseverance, Success
  - We Can, We Will
  - Motivation, Achievement, Vision, Service (MAVS)

Manchester Valley is set to open in the 2009-2010 school year.

Posted by Arin Gencer at 12:58 PM in Carroll County | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

Westminster's West Middle School has been named a Maryland Green School.

The green school awards program is sponsored by the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education.  According to its Web site, it recognizes public and private schools that:

1. Use their school site and curricular instruction to prepare students to understand and act on current and future environmental challenges facing all Marylanders.

2. Model environmental best-management practices in building and landscape design, operation and maintenance.

3. Build and maintain partnerships with the local community to enhance environmental learning and to design and implement projects and programs that result in a healthier environment.

West Middle Principal Tom Hill said the school's effort began by bringing together several environmental programs that had been running separately.  Their environmental contributions include "bluebird boxes" - birdhouses - that students (with some help from William Winchester Elementary and others) built, to be donated to the community; collecting old cell phones to be given to battered and abused women for emergency situations; and a school recycling program for electronics, paper and plastic.

The distinction comes after two years of documentation of their green efforts, said Nancy Merrill, executive director of the association.  This has been a banner year for the awards, she said, with an unprecedented 36 schools selected.  West Middle and the others will be certified as green for the next three school years.

To read more about students' efforts at West Middle, check out their green school page.

Curious about other Maryland green schools?  Check out the list on the association's Web site. 

Posted by Arin Gencer at 7:00 AM in Carroll County | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

With all of the recent posts about teacher awards, it's only fit to announce Carroll's teacher of the year: Mary Catherine "Cathy" Stephens.

Stephens teaches fifth grade at Winfield Elementary School in Westminster, and was nominated by a former student. She's been teaching 18 years, and specializes in math, science and social studies. Before working in Carroll, she operated her own preschool for a decade, and has also worked for Howard County schools.

Turns out Stephens had very early practice for her career: The fourth of 11 children, her first students were her seven younger siblings.

"I would practice my teaching skills on them daily," Stephens wrote, describing her background. "Even though times were financially and emotionally difficult, I always had a chalkboard, writing materials and a makeshift classroom."

Stephens was awarded a $1,000 check from the Carroll County Public Schools Education Foundation during a recent employee recognition ceremony.

Congrats to Cathy Stephens!

Posted by Arin Gencer at 12:05 PM in Carroll County | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

Posted by Arin Gencer at 6:01 AM in Carroll County | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

In the past year, we’ve repeatedly seen the need for racial sensitivity. Just ask Don Imus. This week, Carroll County has been grappling with its own controversy connected to a school board member, Jeffrey L. Morse, who admitted using a racial slur during a visit to a high school construction site.

Fellow Sun education reporter Arin Gencer reports that Morse resigned Wednesday from his position after a board meeting where several people expressed outrage with him and the decision-making of the group.

According to Arin’s article, the incident where the racial slur was used occurred a few weeks ago at the construction site of the new Manchester Valley High School. Morse was at the site to learn about problems encountered with some dark rock, according to the article. Arin reports that when a large boulder was pointed out to Morse, he mentioned a term that he said contractors in the area around Littlestown, Pa., not far from where he lives, used to describe it.

Morse, who was appointed by the governor to fill a vacant board seat last year, currently teaches biology at Littlestown High School and was running for his first full term this year.

According to the article, Morse previously offered to resign in a closed session that the board held a couple of weeks ago to address a complaint filed against him. His fellow members instead told him to apologize, according to Edmund O'Meally, the board's legal counsel.

What do you think? Should Morse have resigned immediately? Should the school board have requested his resignation instead of relying on a simple apology? Or are you tired of apologies associated with this type of behavior? Talk to me.

Posted by John-John Williams IV at 12:26 PM in Carroll County, School Diversity/Segregation | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

Word of a book ban is in the news again. This time, the Washington Post reports, the book "And Tango Makes Three" was pulled from shelves at schools in Loudoun County, Va., after a parent objected to the book because it "promotes a gay agenda" and "tolerance of alternative families."

"And Tango Makes Three," a picture book written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated by Henry cole, is based on a true story about two male penguins in New York City's Central Park Zoo that adopt a fertilized egg and raise the chick as their own. The book is geared toward children ages 4 to 8 years old, according to the publisher's Web site. (Two Lives Publishing)

Few topics bring out the passion in folks like a book ban. A couple years ago, I covered a book ban in Carroll County schools. I will long, long remember the interviews I conducted for the multiple follow-ups I did on the issue. The book that caused the stir? Gotta love it -- "The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things," by Carolyn Mackler.

While remaining professionally impartial on the issue of the book ban, I must say that Carolyn's book has an amazing message. I read "The Earth" for the articles, but I went on to read all of Carolyn's books because although she writes for an audience that is quite a few years younger than I am, I still found her writing style and her messages to be compelling.

For those of you who are interested, here's some of my coverage of the book ban in Carroll County:

Continue reading "Banning books" »

Posted by Gina Davis at 3:47 PM in Around the Nation, Around the Region, Carroll County, Parents | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

It seems like everywhere I turn I’m reading about educators connected to cheating scandals.

This story in USA Today deals with a former national Principal of the Year, who resigned in connection with a case of alleged cheating and grade-tampering.

Last March, I wrote a story about the Maryland State Department of Education’s efforts to ensure security of the Maryland State Assessments when it randomly dispatched monitors to 45 schools.

The action dovetailed with reports of cheating the year before in Carroll and Charles counties.

Surrounding states were no different.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education sent out monitors to 3,120 schools last year -- for the first time -- to observe the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests. The New Jersey Department of Education, ripe with its own cheating scandals, increased its monitors by an undisclosed number. And the District of Columbia public school system used additional monitors. 

State assessment tests have added weight because of the federal No Child Left Behind Law, which requires schools to increase assessment test scores each year.

Experts say that the added emphasis placed on assessment tests has led to some of the cheating. 

What do you think? Are the pressures caused by NCLB to blame for the improprieties?

Posted by John-John Williams IV at 6:00 AM in Around the Nation, Around the Region, Carroll County, NCLB, Testing, Trends | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

Taking a page from Sara's notebook, there are a couple interesting items that came out of last night's school board meeting in Carroll.

Two issues drew in quite a crowd, making the Board of Ed the place to be (seriously... standing room only).

1. Redistricting.  Parents from the neighborhood that feeds into Charles Carroll Elementary have persistently protested the school board's October decision to allow the redistricting of some neighborhood children - 37, to be exact - to the new elementary school currently under construction, Ebb Valley Elementary.  Several parents were seen (and heard) during the school board's last meeting, when they marched around the central office building with signs, protesting the vote.
Last evening, their efforts paid off: the board voted to reverse its decision - 3-2 like the first, with board President Gary Bauer tipping the vote this time.

2. Jewish holiday closings.  A number of Jewish parents, teachers and children came asking the board to reconsider its recent vote on the 2008-2009 calendar, which does not account for Jewish holidays.
Several parents - and students - described the frustration and anxiety that surrounds missing days of school - days that aren't supposed to have scheduled tests/quizzes or new taught material, dances or field trips... but regularly have all of those things, they say.  And several said last night that the pressure/stress surrounding missed days often makes truly enjoying the holiday and its spiritual significance almost impossible.
As one ninth-grader told the board: "It ruins the holidays to have to worry about work that you're going to have to make up."
Not giving the "most holy day" of the Jewish calendar off is "wrong," a parent said.  "I ask the board to make it right."
Teachers like South Carroll High's Lisa Katz also chimed in, mentioning the personal days they have to use up in order to observe their holy days.  She noted that Jewish students aren't alone in their scheduling frustrations: In one year, she had to contend with conference days and grade due dates - among other deadlines - set on holy days.

Now for a bit of background:
Board members voted in October to approve the superintendent's proposed calendar for the 2008-2009 school year.  
This version eliminated Oct. 9, which coincided with Yom Kippur, as a school closing date.  The district's calendar committee had originally suggested closing that day to be consistent with several other school systems that close on that day - and because residents have made such recommendations.  
But at that meeting, the district's legal counsel pretty much nixed the idea of doing something just because other school systems do it.  Schools could only close if there were "an adverse impact on attendance.... You cannot close simply because it is a religious holiday," Rochelle S. Eisenberg, the district's legal counsel, said at the time.
A report on staff and student absences on selected religious holidays in 2005 indicates that Carroll schools don't fit the bill on the attendance count, either.... student absences on Yom Kippur were about the same as a randomly selected day in September.

Whew.  Obviously these kinds of issues affect school systems near and far... any thoughts on closing for Jewish (or other religious) holidays?  Or, in a completely unrelated vein, do any of you have tales of boundary-line battles - and victories - you'd like to share?

Posted by Arin Gencer at 10:40 AM in Carroll County | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

Update: Carroll County schools are no longer on lockdown.

School officials issued this statement moments ago ...

At 1:00 p.m., the Maryland State Police advised Carroll County Public Schools to reduce our security level from CODE ORANGE to CODE YELLOW.  The school system normally operates on CODE YELLOW. Accordingly, all school and after school activities will continue as scheduled.

Posted by Gina Davis at 2:05 PM in Carroll County, School Safety (Or Lack Thereof) | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
                       

I was watching a very interesting segment this morning about the Cleveland high school shootings on The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet  that I thought would interest you.

Not sure how they were able to pull this off, but the show was able to have the mayor of Cleveland,  Frank Jackson, and its CEO of schools, Eugene Sanders, appear on the show with Shirley Katz, the Oregon teacher who wants the right to be able to bring a concealed gun to school. Talk about great producers!

Anywho, the show had a brief overview of the issue of teachers being allowed to bring guns to schools. I learned that politicians from Wisconsin and Michigan are currently working on legislation that would allow school employees to bring guns to school.

Katz threw a curve ball when she said that she wanted to be armed to protect herself from her abusive ex-husband and to thwart school-related shootings. [Way to use a current situation to help your own cause….] Up until now every story that I have read about this teacher has pointed to her ex-husband as the reason for wanting to bring a gun to school.

I thought it was interesting that both Jackson and Sanders disagreed with Katz and said that teachers should not be able to bring guns to schools. Think about it. Both of them now have first hand knowledge about the effects of a school shooting and neither believe that teachers should be armed… Just a little food for thought.

Oh yeah, when asked if she has snuck a gun into the school in the past, Katz would not answer. Her silence spoke volumes to me. If I was a parent at that school my kids would be withdrawing immediately!

For more about the shootings in Cleveland click on this link for stories, and videos. Sounds like the kid was pretty disturbed. It also appears that there were a few warning signs...

Have a safe day…

UPDATE: Carroll County Schools are currently locked down after someone threatened a shooting at a county high school. Read more here. Check for updates on The Sun's homepage.

Posted by John-John Williams IV at 12:36 PM in Around the Nation, Carroll County, School Safety (Or Lack Thereof) | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)