BLOG: Would Severna Park Schools Benefit From a Partially-Elected School Board?
According to a recent story in The Capital, a number of Republican delegates want to amend existing law so that at least part of the county Board of Education would be elected instead of appointed by the Governor. It was just five years ago that we voted a on the ballot for a new process of appointing our school board. So why are we opening this bag of worms again?
Because we in Severna Park are not adequately supported by the school board.
A quick history lesson on this subject: Anne Arundel County for many years held a nominating convention when there was to be a vacancy, in order to select the people whose names would be forwarded to the Governor for appointment. The problem was this process was not supported in the Maryland Code and the only thing that was law according the the Code was the Governor makes the appointment. So after many months of planning, campaigning and working to come up with two names to submit the sitting Governor could appoint whomever he wanted. Many times that did happen. And people would be pissed.
Senator Bryan Simonaire (R-Pasadena) led a petition drive to make the process an elected school board which failed. The legislature decided it would put a referendum on the ballot changing some things. It passed and this law created a commission that interviews the candidates and then puts forward two names to the Governor for the appointment. Choosing the person is not a problem for the Governor since he already has the cards stacked in his favor - he gets to put 5 of 11 members on the commission and two more are union representatives, including the Teacher's Union.
So here's why we need to revisit this issue: Fair represention for the Severna Park stakeholders by the Board Members. The Superintendent and the board members for the most part treat Severna Park with disdain. In their opinion we who live here are rich... a thorn in their collective sides, and we do not need them (and their money ...which is really OUR money) as much as other "underpriviledged" areas. One case in point is the revitalization of Severna Park Middle School which, after all was said and done (and about a $40,000,000 price tag) did not even bring the physical classroom sizes up to the board's own adopted Education Specifications.
We are still waiting for the new high school to be built while the 50 year old school continues to fall down around the students. The plans are still on the drawing board and the Principal, Mr. Bathras, is having a meeting next Tuesday Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. to inform parents as to the status.
Board members are apppointed for a five year term and can be re-appointed once. So it's possible for a member to spend 10 years making decisions that affect every child in our schools, their education, policies, the money and how it's spent. The Board of Education is half of the county budget. They get additional funds from the Feds but all of it is from the taxpayers.
Severna Park stakeholders included.
Carrie Hilliard
12:44 pm on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
I DEFINITELY agree we need representation by people elected by us! I'm sick and tired of the political games in this county and country! :(
Laurie
12:51 pm on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
We actually do have Amalie Isenberg on the Board - she is a Severna Park resident and has kids in the schools.
Amy Leahy
8:23 pm on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
My husband and Vic Bernson are both Severna Park residents who were on the board at the same time and still couldn't get much accomplished - out numbered. My husband was not reappointed by O'Malley (he was originally appointed by Bob Ehrlich - as was Vic) and Vic didn't even bother trying for a second term after seeing what happened with my husband. I don't expect Mrs. Isenberg to be able to do much either. Sorry for the bad news.
Laurie
4:57 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Amy, I'm confused. I'm not sure how I feel about having an elected board vs an appointed one. However, you say that even with two out of eleven board members being from Severna Park not much was accomplished. How would an elected board make the situation any different? There certainly wouldn't be more than or EVEN two members from the SP district. The numbers would be by district, so I'm a little confused. Is the issue that you want an elected board, or that you wish SP were given consideration in spite of the perceived wealth of the district? And if we continue to talk about how put-upon we are here because we are "rich", I think it will serve to perpetuate that perception. Not everyone in SP is "rich."
Leslie Brown
1:31 pm on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Thank you, Amy. I have been to many School Board meetings where Eugene Peterson did not even TRY to hide his prejudice against Severna Park. The system currently in place does not work.
Maribel Ibrahim
7:24 pm on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
This is a sad truth, and yet, Severna Park parents are the biggest advocates for their children in schools. Unfortunately, the main reason that StartSchoolLater.net started a National petition to Start Schools Later is because this issue has been beaten back and forth in Anne Arundel County for over 10 years.
Now, the amount of scientific research is too much to ignore and yet there is still resistance to Start Schools Later due to subjective, emotional backlash and other reasons that puts convenience, extra-curricular activities and ill-percieved "cost savings" ahead of the needs of our children.
Amy Leahy
8:31 pm on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Very unpopular with the schools. When my kids were in elementary school it would have been so much easier for me to get to work at a decent hour if they started school earlier. But the start time for Severna Park Elementary school was 9:00! I really thought it made more sense for the elementary school to start earlier and the high school later to help the working moms.
cynthia
8:48 am on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
With regards to Eugene Peterson, he carries the torch for the crappy schools in Anne Arundel County. I was in attendance at a meeting, and he referred to Glen Burnie High School as our beloved high school. This past June, I was in attendance at Severna Park High Schools graduation ceremony and he was a speaker and also
announced as a distingushed guest. In his speech, he opened by saying that he was
really a Mustang (Fort Meade) not a Falcon (Severna Park). It was a political speech.
He also said he was a yellow dog democrat and unlike Mr. Bernson, he believed in
big government spending. He also mentioned the current president more than once.
His speech had nothing to do with the graduating class. Others seated around me
were responding with negative comments. I wanted to walk out. I did call SPHS and complain.
Leslie Brown
8:53 am on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
What a poor choice for a speaker at SPHS. He has been rude to SP parents and advocates on so many occasions, I can't imagine why he was chosen.
John Thomas
8:25 am on Saturday, January 14, 2012
It's true that people who live in Severna Park are rich.
Chet Brewer
11:39 am on Saturday, January 14, 2012
Having grown up and lived in districts that had elected school boards it isnt any better. Typically the boards get taken over by some lunatic fringe who get motivated and are elected with 5% of the vote. Then you end up with creationism based science courses or some goofy educational philosophy that short charges kids on science and math for feel good fuzzy studies classes. It certainly isn't a panacea
In the end you have to help your kids manage their education so they are learning. As an SP parent I am pleased with the education that is available if the kids want it. I know my folks encouraged me to take as much science and math as I could despite the Dallas Independent School district being interested in not spending money and then allowing me attend college courses my senior year to get math I couldnt get in high school.
Amy Leahy
8:37 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Laurie; I would prefer an elected school board with taxing authority. I realize it makes the process political, but the reality is that it already is. A couple of years back Eric Hartley, a columnist with the Capital wrote a column about the Anne Arundel County School Board. He asked why in this conservative county, we have a school board made up of liberals. At that time we had two conservative members, and I'm sure you can guess who they were. The answer is of course that the members are all appointed by the most liberal sitting governor in the whole country (in my opinion). Look at our County Council….we have always had a pretty good mix of Republicans and Democrats. Additionally, the County Executive is not always consistently one party. However, in Maryland we've only had one Republican governor in the past almost 50 years. O'Malley has been the most partisan governor we've had.
Keep in mind that S.P. is not the only conservative area of AA County. But this school board seems to have a particular dislike for Severna Park. And yes, S.P. residents are not all rich.
Laurie
9:07 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Amy: Thanks for clarifying and now I understand what you are saying. I agree with you about the Board's attitude towards SP, but I must say I understand that attitude at times and I feel like the parents of SP have partially earned it. And as for Eric Hartley's column and the composition of the School Board, I would say OF COURSE our governor would appoint members who are politically aligned with him, just as a conservative governor would. It's politics. And having an elected board wouldn't exactly level the playing field - it's more politics on a larger scale. I think SP fared as well as it did in County Council decisions primarily due to the strong representation of Cathy Vitale. I'm not sure how I feel about the whole thing but I still get a little prickly about it. I've seen SP parents testifying at Board meetings and I've seen the response to them, and it's a two-way street. Can you understand even a little bit the Board's attitude? I can. When you have large percentages of kids on subsidized meal plans struggling to have food in their stomach when they come to school, it can make physical plant issues seem small in comparison. I'm not sure what the answer is - I see both sides. I personally want the highschool to be the top priority but am not sure an elected board would help our cause but it may make the conservatives more comfortable that they are heard.
Amy Leahy
9:55 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The School Board and the county AND the state all deal with two budgets; Operating and Capital. Schools are built out of the capital budget and meals (subsidized or not) are funded out of the operating budget. One cannot mix apples and oranges.
Cathy Vitale's presence on the County Council did help us but not by as much as you might think. Because there again, the School Board does not take direction from the county government on the operating budget. They receive half of the county's budget, but they ARE NOT obligated to spend it using the county's 'advice'. This is why there is a constant battle between the county executive and the schools. This conflict is constant no matter who the players are.
As for the school construction, Cathy was instrumental in getting the Middle School upgraded and getting the High School in the hopper for replacement. That's because the school's Capital Budget is approved project by project by the County Council. Neither of these schools was taking funding away from a more deserving school, and in the case of SPHS, it is in grave danger of losing its accreditation because of the physical plant. By the same token, the reason it got pushed down further on the list last year was because of our current county council representative's political mistakes, not because of need.