Notes from Board Work Session, 1/22/07

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes. Please follow-up for official minutes upon approval. For copies of printed reports presented visit BoardDocs.

Public Forum

• Bill Fisher - EACC supports the Superintendent’s Budget Proposal

Budget

• Balides - Total Budget = $280M. Total Wages and Benefits = $221M (Wages = 65.2%; Benefits = 13.8%). Total Fixed and Semi Fixed Costs = $47M (16.8%). Total Variable Costs = $12M (4.3%).
• Richmond - Concerned with what is happening in Annapolis and possible reductions in funding by the state or county.

*Consensus - Wade requested the boards consensus on the accepting the budget as a action item at the February meeting.
Unanimous

Board of Education Meeting Time

• Wise - pros vs. cons of moving the time. Residents working out-of-town cannot make a 1:00 meeting but staff is tasked greater by late meetings. Referred to Howard County as a possible sample.
• Carrington - Likes the sample of Howard County which moves public forum and recognition to after 6:00pm.
• Abell - Action items would also need to be moved until after public forum to allow the public to comment on the action items prior to a Board vote.
• Cook - Would like to poll the public.
• Carrington - agreed with Cook
• Abell - Requested staff input on effectiveness and possibility of a survey.
• O’Malley-Simpson - Electronic survey could easily be implemented via the web-page and email messaging. In addition, we could post in the newspaper and use the new telephone messaging.
• Cunningham - Parent Advisory Committee meeting is soon. Poll the members.
• Carrington - Could people vote more than once; reliability.
• O’Malley-Simpson - Yes, they could.

* Vote - Abell motioned and seconded by Cook to perform electronic surveys, implement telephone messaging, post in the paper, and poll the committee in regards to changing the meeting time and results reviewed at the next work session.
Unanimous
PASSED

Board Agenda Items

• Wade - requested Board members to review the current agenda and determine if any can be deleted.
• Wise - questions why Board Member Updates and Correspondence is on the agenda.
• Abell - Not all board members can attend all events and this is the agenda item where that discussion can take place. In addition, members can report on the various committees such as MABE.
• Overall board discussion and consensus to leave it on.
• Wade - suggests placing a limit on the number of future agenda items to be brought up by a Board member
• Pedersen - how many can one meeting handle?
• Bailey - 2-3 is reasonable but it depends on the topic matter. Wants to encourage fellow members to talk to each other and garner support prior to bringing the item up in public meeting.
• Wise - Thinks it is poor judgment to add a future agenda item up that was just discussed at public forum.
• Carrington - Before bringing up future agenda items, members should ask what they will do with the information and if it is for the betterment of the students. Agrees you should know an item is going to pass prior to bringin it up in public.
• Wade - suggests we have Kitty Blumsack from MABE come in and do a have day training and help us prioritize our future agenda items.

Additional Board time

• Wade - suggests the Board use additional time on meeting days for tours of schools.
  Overall Board discussion on lengthiness of the day, disturbing the learning environment by such a large group showing up, need to see the activities in the schools, possibility of Board “field trips“ in the future.
• Carrington - requested the Independent reporter place more positive events in the paper
• Wise - Requests principals forward dates and times of events
• Wade - Thinks we should table his suggestion and come back to it at a later date.

Board Emails

• Wade - Board members should not be responding to emails. Ms. Stubblefield will respond to emails and forward to appropriate staff.
• Cunningham - discussed staff procedures for dealing with concerns. Try to get it back in the chain of command; teacher, principal, etc.
• Wade - Individual board members or not to respond to complaints.
• Cook - requested clarification on procedure.

Board Member Requests

• Richmond - individual board member requests of staff goes through Mr. Richmond/Mr. Wade first. Members are not to email staff directly for information, they are his employees.

Miscellaneous

• Schwartz - Has a copy of the MD School Law Desk book in his office. A member had requested a copy. Does everyone want one? $50 - $60 each
• Abell - advised she was the member that requested a copy of the book back in October. She received correspondence from MABE stating all members should have one. Due to the cost she would rather review the copy Schwartz has prior to purchasing another copy.
• Richmond - First meeting of new high school committee will meet tomorrow from 12:00 - 2:00 for lunch and BOE members are invited to attend. Has already met with people regarding technology and performing arts.
• Richmond - Meeting with CISCO on Thursday. Dinner in the evening at Casey Jones. BOE members are invited to attend.
• Wade - Joint CCBOE and Commissioners Retreat tentatively scheduled for March 20th and 21st.
• Wade - Minutes are not to be verbatim but a summary of what was said.
  School Contract
• Wineland - presented report on the bids received for the construction of the Mary Burgess Neal Elementary School. Gave Superintendents recommendations.

*Vote - Bailey made a motion seconded by Abell to accept the Superintendent’s recommendation and award the contract to Hess, the lowest bidder.
Unanimous
PASSED

Thieves of Baghdad - Book Signing & Talk

The College of Southern Maryland and the Southern Maryland Womens League are co-hosting a book talk and signing for Col. Matthew Bogdanos author of Thieves of Baghdad. The book is the Col.'s account of his team's investigation into the 2003 looting of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad and the subsequent recovery of over 3,000 of the world's oldest and most precious artifacts.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1

7:00 PM

CSM, LaPlata

Center for Business & Industry, BI113

Col. Bogdanos has generously offered to waive his speaking fee which is why we are able to offer this talk FREE of admission. The copies of the book will be available for purchase with all proceeds going directly to the Iraq Museum; Col. Bogdanos does not receive any royalties.

This is a wonderful opportunity for high school students taking AP History and Art History courses.

Separate But Superior?

This report, found in the December issue of Queue, Inc, reviews the issues and data on single-sex education. The findings...according to the report, there is no evidence to support girls-only and boys-only schools and classes as a means to remedy a variety of educational problems. Have opposing information? Please share and let me here what you think.

The report is available here: Separate But Superior?

U.S. Students & Adults vs. Other Countries

How do we compare? In an article in Queue, Inc. they tackle that very question.

Excerpt:
-----------------
Based on the results of recent international assessments, measures of students’ and adults’ skills and abilities in reading, mathematics, and science present a mixed picture. U.S. students perform relatively well in reading literacy compared with their peers around the world, including those in highly industrialized countries.

In addition, U.S. students perform relatively well in mathematics at the lower grades compared to their peers in other countries—though the data suggest that their performance may not be keeping pace with that of their peers—and are showing improvement in the middle school years.

However, when older U.S. students are asked to apply what they have learned in mathematics, they demonstrate less ability than most of their peers in other highly industrialized countries.

Data on the literacy and numeracy skills of U.S. adults in comparison with their peers from other countries are fairly limited, but suggest that the skills of U.S. adults do not compare favorably (based on ALL data).

The full report is here: Untied States vs. Other Countries

School Choice - Good or Bad

According to a report by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), the percentage of students enrolled in their assigned public school decreased from 80 percent to 74 percent between 1993 and 2003, while this decrease was nearly offset by an increase in chosen public school enrollment from 11 to 15 percent between 1993 and 2003.

During this same time period, enrollment in church-related private schools remained stable at 8 percent and enrollment in non church-related private schools increased from 1.6 to 2.4 percent.

To view the report: NCES

Chess Grants for Schools

Yes! Grants are available from the Maryland State Department of Education to support existing or new chess programs Maryland schools. Grants of up to $10,000 a year per program may be awarded! Proposals are due by February 15th!

For more information about the Chess in Maryland Schools program or to apply for one of the grants, call 410-767-0034 or go to MSDE.

REMINDER - Board Meeting on Monday, January 22

On Monday January 22nd there will be a Public Hearing on the Superintendent's FY08 Proposed Budget and a Board Work Session from 6-8 pm in the Board room at the Starkey Building. The agenda includes:

• Budget
• Board Procedures
• Approval of Mary Burgess Neal Elementary School Bid

Private School vs. Public School

In the December issue Queue, Inc an article takes on this topic and even challenges the National Center for Education Statistics disputing their study and stating it is flawed.

EXCERPT
-----------------
On July 14, 2006, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released a study that compared the performance in reading and math of 4th and 8th graders attending private and public schools. The study had been undertaken at the request of the NCES by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Using information from a national sample of public and private school students collected in 2003 as part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), ETS compared the test scores of public school students with those of students in all private schools, taken together. Separately, it compared student performance in public schools with that in Catholic, Lutheran, and evangelical Protestant schools.
But, in fact, the NCES study’s measures of student characteristics are flawed…

Read the complete report at: NCES Private-Public School Study

March of Dimes WalkAmerica

The March of Dimes WalkAmerica for Charles County will take place in LaPlata on Sunday, April 29, 2007.

The Kick-off for this event is open to the public and will be Thursday, January 25 at the Holiday Inn in Waldorf. Drop by anytime between 6:30 and 9:00 pm to learn more about the March of Dimes and how you can get involved to help save premature babies right here in Southern Maryland.

Already know about the March of Dimes? Register your team at www.walkamerica.org and come out to pick-up your team supplies.

Reading this from Calvert County? The Calvert County WalkAmerica will take place on Solomon’s Island, Sunday, May 6, 2007.

The Kick-off for this event is open to the public and will be Tuesday, February 6 at the Holiday Inn in Solomon’s. Drop by anytime between 6:30 and 9:00 pm to learn more about the March of Dimes and how you can get involved to help save premature babies right here in Southern Maryland.

The March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For more information, visit www.marchofdimes.com or www.nacersano.org for Spanish or call your local March of Dimes at 301-934-2235.

For Teachers, Being 'Highly Qualified' Is a Subjective Matter

According to an article by Michael Alison Chandler in the Washington Post on Saturday, there seems to be some loopholes in the No Child Left Behind Act when it comes to 'highly qualified teachers'.

EXCERPT:
------------------------
To overhaul public education, the No Child Left Behind law required a massive expansion of student testing. But it also called for states to ensure that all teachers in core academic subjects are "highly qualified" to help students succeed -- an unprecedented mandate that has delivered less than promised.

The law, which turned five years old this week, has held schools to increasingly higher standards for student achievement. For teachers, however, standards meant to guarantee that they know their subjects are often vague and open to broad interpretation.

For the complete article, click here.

Notes From Board Meeting, 1/09/07

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes. Please follow-up for official minutes upon approval. For copies of printed reports presented visit http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/ccpsmd/Board.nsf/Public?OpenFrameSetElection of Officers

Chair nominations – Wade received 5; Bailey received 2
Chair vote – Wade 7

Vice Chair nominations – Abell 2; Wise 5
Vice Chair Vote – Wise 7

Public Forum

• Woman spoke in support of new recommendations for the Math curriculum as reported in an article in the Washington Post recently. Need for smaller class sizes and making student moves prior early in the year, not January.
• Teacher spoke regarding the sex education legislation and the removal of it from the package. Family Life course is elective in 11th and 12th grade and has an opt-in curriculum that is reviewed by the parents. This is different from the sex education received by all students.
• Woman spoke regarding the parent visitation policy. Not welcoming. Son is disabled. Only correspondence she receives about his progress is via the quarterly report card. He cannot communicate what he has learned. Wants to be more active in his education. Currently has to pay $.15 per page for daily data on progress. Quite expensive. Current policy too restrictive.
• Substitute Teacher spoke of the It’s Academic, Math Team, and DI not receiving Letters for their competitions. Would like to see this addressed and changed.
  

Action - Approval of Minutes from 12/12/06

• Abell motioned to amend minutes as follows. Bailey seconded
• Student Board Member Update - Mr. Van Woerkom's statements regarding the Freshman Seminar class, teachers teaching effectively, and discussions with Mr. Richmond regarding implementing an IB program and comparing it to AP
• Budget Update - Mr. Balides statements regarding Food Services being monitored closely however the general funds are in good shape
• Curriculum Briefing - Ms. Young's statements commending the students for their discipline and respectfulness and her question about the implementation of a similar program (JROTC) at the middle school level. Ms. Stafford's response
• School Naming - Ms. Abell's comments about Neal having no relation to this particular school or this area of the county. Ms. Abell feels that the Board should consider not naming schools after people. Ms. Young agreed with Abell's statements with the exception that she believes schools should be named after people.

*Vote on amending the minutes
Unanimous
PASSED

*Vote to approve minutes
Unanimous
PASSED

Correspondence/Board Member Updates

• Abell – regarding her email asking fellow Board members to consider the Boards recurring agenda items

Report – EACC

• Bill Fisher – Congrats to new board members. Last month the main concern was testing. Showed visual of testing schedule. Quite lengthy. Teacher workload. Concerned about technology because a number of schools are still requiring paper as well. Double the work. Martin Luther King’s Birthday breakfast at North Point. Board invited. Discussed legislation proposals for sex education and special education removal of disruptive students from classroom. Just brings us up o speed with new IDEA regulations.
• Wise – asked if we are currently in compliance and re quested stats on surrounding states.
• Meg MacDonald - yes we are in compliance but this legislation would update and make better alignment; didn’t have current stats at this time but could will provided in three days.
• Pedersen – Teachers comments on sex education… were those his personal thoughts or those of your colleagues?
• Teacher – Hasn’t taught this class for two years but these are his reflections from when he was teaching
• Pedersen – Any parent complaints when you taught?
• Teacher – Listed different scenarios of parents requests to refrain from certain aspects of the curriculum.

Report - Student Board Member

• Andrew VanWoerkem – No CCASC Meeting in January. Preparing for MASC legislative session at North Point on 2/3. Lots of planning and training. All high schools contributing volunteers and support. Invited BOE members to training and sessions.
• Abell – Loves the icebreakers. What do you need from us?
• VanWoerkem – Support and attendance.

Report – Superintendent

• Richmond - Heidelberg Printing Press installation at North Point almost complete.
• Richmond - New announcement calling and email. System. Still working out the kinks.
• Richmond - Immunizations. Only 30 suspensions remain.
• Abell – May the Board have an update in the future regarding your meeting on ¼ to discuss Navy Projects
• Richmond – Met to discuss the enhanced Math/Science curriculum. Working with delegation, senators and Grasmick. Will give the Board a complete update in the near future

Policy Amendments

• Schwartz – presented his recommendations.
• Abell – Referred to her amendments sent to all Board members via email. Asked fellow members to consider.
• Wise – Wanted clarification on why Abell thought it necessary for Board members to receive a copy. Doesn’t see a need.
• Abell – History shows that when Board members have been unable to attend meetings and requested to review or receive a copy of the closed session minutes they were denied.
• Schwartz – Explained and clarified the current procedure. Stated that both his and Abell’s amendments were legal and there is no right or wrong with them.
• Abell – again asked the Board members to review her revisions and consider them for nest months meeting

Report - CIP

• Wineland – “Beg-A-Thon” for school funding is coming up with Public Works. Requesting planning approval for new high school and middle school
• Wineland – Wetland concern with Pinefield site
• Wineland - Davis on schedule to finish 30 May
• Wineland - Smallwood Boiler replacement on going
• Wineland - CCPS Annex 1 & 2 Renovations and Improvements
• Wineland - Westlake locker renovations
• Wineland – Eva Turner water main break
• Abell – Email from parent regarding Article 13-203 requiring all government and public school buildings display a cross bottony flagpole topper on Maryland flagpoles. Noticed the one at Starkey building is missing. Requested all new schools have the cross bottony on the MD flagpole.
• Carrington – Great job

Report - Curriculum Update – Instructional Technology

• Estep – Bringing the world to the classroom. LCD projectors. White boards. Digital library resources. Reviewed an interactive tutorial. Response pads & clickers. Can import individual responses into grade book. Data slicing charts. Virtual fireld trips. GPS research done last summer. Google Earth.
• Wise – Praise. Adequate training for teachers?
• Abell – Kudos. 50% of all classrooms. Constantly adding more. Report shows grant money but not money spent.
• Estep – Money comes from technology budget not instruction; will forward totals
• Cook – Possibility of getting this information to the parents to use at home as reinforcement.
• Willingness to speak at PTA’s
• Pedersen – Fantastic. Word is getting home. Her daughter used recently.
• Richmond – Future update on technology partners from beginning to now.
• Cook - equitable virtual field trip scheduling
• Abell – love technology and support of the board

Report – Budget

• Balides – Technology money mentioned above. In 2003 CCPS took out a loan of $8M for technology that expires in 2010. Annual technology budget is $3M plus $1M at year end if we have the resources for additional hardware.
• Balides – reviewed report for new board members
• Balides – Food Service report from weekly update. Breakfast & lunch prices due to increase by .10 beginning in February
• Abell – Does the money deficit take into account the possible additional funds we might see from the state in response to Mr. Richmond’s letter to Grasmick to re-evaluate?
• Balides – Overall reduction in free & reduced meals. Some additional funds are expected but not enough to cover the deficit. Prices will again have to be raised for the 2007-2008 school year

Action - Personnel* Vote to accept staff recommendations
Unanimous
PASSED

Unfinished Business

• Abell – Keys for Employees Program update (11/27/06)
• Abell – Request for a sample Fitness Report Card (10/10/06, 12/12/06)
• Abell – Safe Haven Posters and program (1/2005, 10/10/06)
• Abell – Possibility of broadcasting audio tapes of meetings (10/10/06,11/14/06)
• Abell – update on the committee for the new high school vision (11/14/06, 12/12/06)
• Abell – Schedule meeting with Chamber of Commerce and EDC (9/19/06, 11/14/06, 12/12/06)
• Abell - Number of violent offenders in schools (11/14/06, 12/12/06)
• Abell – Board meeting to determine goals and objectives (12/12/06)

New Business & Future Agenda Items

• Pedersen – Would like the board to have a discussion on changing the board meeting time
• Carrington – We’ll never satisfy everyone.
• Abell – supports the move and always has
• Wise – need to discuss with staff and public before moving. Future discussion at work session
• Abell – Board Retreat
• Abell – Possibility of English college classes counting as senior year of English high school credit
• Cunningham – will provide report in weekly update
• Abell – future discussion on affordable housing alternatives for teachers
• Abell – future discussion on merit pay
• Abell – Furture discussion on alternative funding methods for school construction
• Abell – consider public forum requests to review parent visitation policy
• Abell – consider public forum request regarding competition letters
• Wade – asked for direction from the Board regarding the list of items
• Bailey – two ways to look it. One the chair could decide yes or no to place the items on the agenda or two the chair could ask for a board consensus.
• Cook – would like to hold off on these issues until the board discusses its goals and mission in a work session
• Pedersen – Concur with Cook. Doesn’t want to be led by the veteran members
• Wise – Concur with Wise and Pedersen
• Wade – wants the Boar to work on goals collaboratively in work session. Everyone will put in their goals for him to combine and then we will prioritize.
• Abell – Dejavue! Doesn’t have a problem with this with one stipulation. All individual goals submitted must have the Board members name on it that is submitting the idea and the combined list cannot be titled Board Goals. :)
  

Superintendent Proposed Budget for 2008
See Report on Board Docs

Government Lesson for the Day

A new an interesting fact I learned today...

According to Maryland Article 13-203 a flag staff displaying a Maryland flag must also have a cross bottony as a topper. This regulation applies to all government and public schools in the state of Maryland.
To learn more about the regulation click here.

Ten Big Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on Public Schools

This short report describes ten major effects of the No Child Left Behind Act based on CEP's four year study of the implementation of NCLB at the federal, state, and local level.

1. State and district officials report that student achievement on state tests is rising, which is a cause for optimism.
2. Schools are spending more time on reading and math, sometimes at the expense opf subjects not tested.
3. Schools are paying much more attention to the alignment of curriculum and instruction and are analyzing test score data much more closely.
4. Low-performing schools are undergoing makeovers rather than the most radical kinds of restructuring.
5. Schools and teachers have made considerable progress in demonstrating that teachers meet the law's acadmic qualifications - but many educators are skeptical this will really improve the quality of teaching.
6. Students are taking a lot more tests.
7. Schools are paying much more attention to achievement gaps and the learning needs of particular groups of students.
8. The percentage od schools on state "needs improvement" lists has been steady but is not growing.
9. The federal government is playing a bigger role in education.
10. NCLB requirements have meant that state governments and school districts also have expanded roles in school operations, but often without adequate federal funds to carry out their duties.

The complete report is available here.

Schools Seek and Find 'Gifted' Students

Montgomery pursues an agressive strategy.
The below excerpt was taken from an article by Daniel de Vise in the Washington Post.

Excerpt
-------------------------
The bumper crop of gifted children at Bannockburn is a result not of some exclusive magnet program but of Montgomery County's aggressive policy on identifying academic talent. The county screens every second-grader for extraordinary ability. In most other school systems, it's left to parents or teachers to initiate the process. Also, Montgomery's criteria for "giftedness" are unusually broad, covering not just intelligence data but also classroom performance and the impressions of teachers and parents.
--------------------------
To read the complete article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/02/AR2007010201316.html

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004

The following excerpt was taken from an article by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).
-------------------------------------------
The new Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004 regulations contain changes in several important areas, including methods to identify students with learning disabilities, early intervening services, highly qualified teachers, discipline, and meeting accessibility standards.
CEC is pleased to report that many of its recommendations are in the final regulations. CEC worked with members, Board of Directors, Representative Assembly, and others to develop recommendations that would strengthen services for children with disabilities and support special educators. Through our work, the following CEC recommendations, among others, were included in the regulations:

• Strengthened provisions to reduce disproportionate representation of students from diverse cultures in special education.
• Stronger measurable IEP goals instead of short-term objectives and benchmarks.
• Paperwork reduction.
• Reduced number of times schools must notify parents of procedural safeguards.
• Rigorous standards for alternative routes to certification.
• Multiple-year IEP pilot program.

----------------------------------------

In addition the article addresses topics such as ...

• Identifying Students with Disabilities and Response-to-Intervention (RTI)
• Early Intervening Services (EIS)
• IEPs
• Highly Qualified Teachers
• Discipline
• Accessible Instructional Materials for Children with Disabilities
• New Definitions
• Resources

Click here for the complete article, A Primer on the IDEA 2004 Regulations

Please email me with any additional resources or discussion interest for this very important topic.

Building Schools in Phases

This is a very interesting article I found in the October 2006 of the American School Board Journal.

The article details a very cost management solution to relieve overcrowding in schools. For example, building a school with the essentials (cafeteria, gym, etc.) and the first wing to accomodate the first incoming class, say we are talking about middle school so it would be the 6th grade wing. As the 6th grade is attending school, the 7th grade wing/section is being built to open the following year, etc. Thus the phase in process.

I wonder if this would work in Charles County?

Excerpt
--------------
Whether the goal is to renovate and expand existing schools or to build new ones. multi-phasing (also known as creating educational facilites in stages) is one solution. Careful planning and segment-based construction can address space issues in a timely manner even when all the money esn't available.
---------------

The article also has a few other good ideas. Check it out at http://www.asbj.com/2006/10/1006ASBJhoyle.pdf

School Choice for Maryland

This is a GREAT handbook for those interested in school choice. Please visit http://www.mdpolicy.org/books/bookID.8/book_detail.asp for the complete article, how to order or download your copy.

Excerpt
-----------------
A revolution is occurring in America’s education system. Public schools are being held accountable to higher standards and families are expecting more from their tax dollars. In many districts, discontented parents believe the only choice for their children is the local public school, which may or may not meet the needs of their children. However, alternatives are possible. Around the country, school choice reforms are giving parents the power to shape their children’s destinies by determining how and where they are educated.

This School Choice for Maryland handbook is written to inform Maryland parents and taxpayers and help give them the tools they need to benefit from the school choice revolution—a movement where, thus far, Maryland has been left behind. My hope is that this handbook will help Marylanders begin a conversation about how we too can benefit from embracing policies that give parents more options for how to educate their children. The more we know and understand about school choice opportunities that currently exist in our country, the better able we will be to call for these options in the Old Line State.

Chaotic Middle Schools

An article in the New York Times discusses delves into finding solutions for our chaotic middle schools.

EXCERPT:
Driven by newly documented slumps in learning, by crime rates and by high dropout rates in high school, educators across New York and the nation are struggling to rethink middle school and how best to teach adolescents at a transitional juncture of self-discovery and hormonal change.
The difficulty of educating this age group is felt even in many wealthy suburban school districts. But it is particularly intense in cities, where the problems that are compounded in middle school are more acute to begin with and where the search for solutions is most urgent.

To read the complete article, click here:
http://www.nytimes.com:80/2007/01/03/education/03middle.html?hp&ex=1167886800&en=3ea9833a60cb2549&ei=5094&partner=homepage

REMINDER - Board Meeting on Tuesday, January 9

Just wanted to remind everyone there is a Board Meeting Tuesday, January 9th at 1:00 pm. Come out and show your support for the new Board members! To see the full agenda please visit http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/ccpsmd/Board.nsf/Public?OpenFrameSet. A few highlights include:

1. Curriculum Update - Instructional Technology- Overview of instructional technologies and digital resources available for teaching and learning. Click here http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/ccpsmd/Board.nsf/Public?OpenFrameSetto view the full report
2. Policy Amendments - The Board can consider changes to its policies concerning adoption and maintenance of Board meeting minutes. Click here http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/ccpsmd/Board.nsf/Public?OpenFrameSetto view the suggested changes
3. Election of Board Chairman and Vice Chairman
4. Presentation of Superintendent's Porposed Operating Budget for FY 2008

Abell Wants to Rework the Rules for Parent Visits

That's the headline on today's front page of the Maryland Independent -http://www.somdnews.com/stories/010307/indytop183635_32140.shtml

Excerpt:
Charles County school board member Jennifer S. Abell wants to change the school system's parent visitation rules, which she considers "too restrictive."The current rules allow parents or guardians to visit by invitation, or they can schedule up to two 45-minute visitations during each grading period.

-----------
Not a bad article but this was hot news months ago. Hasn't been lately. Is the Indy trying to stir the pot, again? However, since it has been stirred it will be coming up and the new Board NEEDS public input on this. Not just criticism or kudos. Suggestions of actual do-able changes! Any ideas?

Merit Pay Must Be Part of Public Education Reform

An excerpt from an article today in the Baltimore Examiner
Hooray for Carroll County. The School Board wants state legislators to study the benefits of merit pay in the upcoming session starting this month.
They should study quickly and move the state system forward with a program that rewards performance in a way the private sector does and not in a way that treats the poor and mediocre performers the same way as the stellar teachers.
We are not alone in advocating merit pay. The September 2005 Governor’s Commission on Quality in Education report made creating a “new compensation system for teachers and principals” its No. 1 recommendation. A new system should “pay teachers according to their subject expertise, their demonstrated effectiveness, and the challenges of staffing particular schools,” the report said.

Read the full article at http://www.examiner.com/a-487252~Editorial__Merit_pay_must_be_part_of_public_education_reform.html

Courting the Middle Class

What can schools do to keep parents from going private, or moving to the suburbs?

An article in the American School Board Journal delves into this question.

"Fueled by optimism and driven to succeed, middle- and upper-middle-class families -- and those who aspire to join their ranks -- are cherished by public schools.
It’s easy to see why. Better educated and more affluent, middle-class families tend to send their children to school ready (and eager) to learn. And, as 45 percent of American voters, middle-class families also serve as public schools’ most ardent volunteers, advocates, and fundraisers.
Yet school districts across the country -- especially those in the nation’s largest cities -- are reporting alarming increases in middle-class flight, as more economically able families of all races opt for private and parochial schools, or schools in the farther-flung suburbs.
Reasons for the exodus vary, from soaring housing prices that make good neighborhoods with strong public schools a luxury fewer families can afford, to the well-publicized and persistent myth that most -- if not all -- public schools are failing."
Read the complete article http://www.asbj.com/specialreports/1206SpecialReports/S3.html

A New Report on Bullying

A new report (Queue, Inc. - December Issue www.queuenews.com ) has been published to mark the beginning of Anti-Bullying Week in England. It examines how bullying, or the fear of bullying, is the cause of a third of all truancies.
Snapshot of the findings:

• 20,000 kids truant everyday because of bullying
• 1 in 3 truants (36%) blame bullying
• Two in five young people (42%) who are bullied, admit to skipping school at least once
• Overall a third of all 11-17 year olds in the England admit to skipping school at least once because of the fear of bullying

The report is available here: http://www.beatbullying.org/reports/bullying-truancy-report-2006.pdf

A New Education System?

Current method called outdated by Amanda Paulson of The Christian Science Monitor.

Excerpt from the article

What if the solution to American students' stagnant performance levels and the wide achievement gap between white and minority students wasn't more money, smaller schools, or any of the reforms proposed in recent years, but rather a new education system altogether?

That's the conclusion of a bipartisan group of scholars and business leaders, school chancellors and education commissioners, and former cabinet secretaries and governors. They declare that America's public education system, designed to meet the needs of 100 years ago when the workplace revolved around an assembly line, is unsuited to today's global marketplace. Already, they warn, many Americans are in danger of falling behind and seeing their standard of living plummet.

In its place, the group proposes a series of controversial reforms:

• Offer universal pre-kindergarten programs and opportunities for continuing education for adults without high school diplomas.
• Create state board exams that students could pass at age 16 to move either on to community college or to a university-level high school curriculum.
• Improve school salaries in exchange for reducing secure pension benefits, and pay teachers more to work with at-risk kids, for longer hours, or for high performance.
• Create curriculums that emphasize creativity and abstract concepts over rote learning or mastery of facts.

Read the complete article at http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1215/p01s01-ussc.html

College Board sets standards for Advanced Placement courses

In an article by Elle Ashford on the National School Board Association web-site...

"As the college admissions process has gotten much more competitive, the number of high school students taking Advanced Placement courses has soared. At the same time, there’s been a concerted effort among policymakers and education leaders to get more minorities and students who have not been on the college track to sign up for AP and other rigorous classes.

But as high schools have greatly expanded their AP programs, some are questioning the quality of courses labeled AP. Concerns about AP courses being watered down has led the College Board, which supervises the end-of-course AP exams, to establish an audit procedure to ensure AP courses meet certain standards."

For the complete article, http://www.nsba.org/site/doc_sbn_issue.asp?TRACKID=&VID=55&CID=682&DID=39650

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

From my house to yours,

Merry Christmas!!

A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students

I've actually downloaded and read this full report a few months back (link below). It's quite lengthy but well worth the read if you have a gifted child. Please let me know what you think.

An article by Queue, Inc. - December Issue www.queuenews.com

America’s schools routinely avoid academic acceleration, the easiest and most effective way to help highly capable students. While the popular perception is that a child who skips a grade will be socially stunted, fifty years of research shows that moving bright students ahead often makes them happy.
Acceleration means moving through the traditional curriculum at rates faster than typical. The 18 forms of acceleration include grade-skipping, early-entrance to school, and Advanced Placement (AP) courses. It is appropriate educational planning. It means matching the level and complexity of the curriculum with the readiness and motivation of the student.
Students who are moved ahead tend to be more ambitious, and they earn graduate degrees at higher rates than other students. Interviewed years later, an overwhelming majority of accelerated students say that acceleration was an excellent experience for them. Accelerated students feel academically challenged and socially accepted, and they do not fall prey to the boredom that plagues many highly capable students who are forced to follow the curriculum for their age-peers.
A Nation Deceived can be downloaded here: http://www.nationdeceived.org/download.html.

Maryland High School Assessments (HSA)

This post is in response to a question regarding the new testing requirements for graduation.
------------------------------
The Maryland High School Assessments (HSA) are tests that measure school and individual student progress in four core subjects: English, government, algebra/data analysis, and biology. Students take each test whenever they complete the course. For example, some students may take algebra in seventh grade while others may not take it until tenth grade.

The tests contain multiple-choice questions and questions requiring written responses. These questions are based on the content outlined in Maryland’s Core Learning Goals. (See link below for specifics)

Beginning with the graduating class of 2009, students are required to earn a satisfactory score on the HSA, in addition to all credit, service-learning, and attendance requirements, in order to earn a Maryland High School Diploma. Students have several options in fulfilling this requirement:

• Pass all four HSA (See scores below)

OR

• Earn at least the minimum score on each HSA and earn a combined score of 1602. This combined-score option benefits students because it allows higher performance on one test to offset lower performance on another test.

OR

• Earn passing scores on state-approved substitute tests and substitute one or more of those scores for passing scores on the HSA. The state has not yet named acceptable substitute tests, but possibilities include the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests.

HSA Passing Score/Minimum Score
Algebra/Data Analysis= 412/402
Biology= 400/391
Government= 394/387
English= 396/386

Students who do not pass an assessment will receive academic assistance from the local school system. After completing an academic assistance program, students can retake the assessment during the next administration of the test.

To help with intervention and remediation, the state has created a series of online courses in HSA subject areas. Teachers may use the courses with students as an intervention strategy, and students may take the courses themselves to review tested material.

Maryand's High School Core Learning Goals http://www.mdk12.org/mspp/high_school/what_will/index.html

HSA Fact Sheet http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/NR/rdonlyres/281D7160-FD8E-4333-B4A5-D6B48C490BF3/9121/HSA_1_March2006.pdf

HSA Scores http://mdreportcard.org/

Practice Taking an HSA Online http://www.mdk12.org/mspp/high_school/look_like/index.html

HSA Technical Report http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/divisions/planningresultstest/hsa_tech_report.htm

Supreme Court Reviews School Diversity Plans

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Dec. 4 in two cases that could have a significant impact on whether school districts can use race as a factor in assigning students to schools.
NSBA had submitted an amicus brief, along with seven other education organizations, urging the Supreme Court to allow school districts to use as a factor in assigning students to schools in an effort to promote diversity.
However, the tenor of the justices’ questioning during the oral arguments indicates there is a strong possibility the court will rule against the districts.
And if that happens, districts would be left with few remedies to promote racial diversity, ultimately speeding up the resegregation of public schools that already is occurring across the nation. A potential ruling against the districts could undermine the decades of progress that have occurred since the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954.

Read the complete article http://www.nsba.org/site/doc_sbn_issue.asp?TRACKID=&VID=55&CID=682&DID=39646

Quote for the Day

Throughout my campaign I stated, "I say what I mean and mean what I say." I was sent this great quote today and wanted to share it.

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
-Dr. Seuss

Some Improvements Seen in School Safety

According to a report by the National Center for Educational Statistics, fewer students have been victims of school-related crime during the 2004-05 school year, compared to the year before.
The victimization rate of students age 12-18 at school declined from 73 per 1,000 in 2003 to 55 per 1,000 in 2004, states Indicators of School Crime and Safety issued Dec. 3.
But there was no decline in the percentages of students reporting violent crime between 2003 and 2005. The number of homicides of students ages 5 to 18 at school was higher in 2004-05 than in 2000-01 but remained below most years in the 1990s.
The complete report is available at http://nces.ed.gov .

NSBA Advocacy Needs Your Support

Increasing Funding for America's Public Schools
NSBA and our dedicated grassroots network members have been lobbying Congress to increase funding for education as a part of the "Campaign to Restore Funding for America's Schoolchildren." At this time, it is uncertain whether Congress will extend the current continuing resolution for education until the beginning of the 110th Congress. If so, current FY 2006 funding levels would likely apply to all education programs until a final FY 2007 spending bill is passed. Congress could consider an alternative by passing an omnibus appropriations bill that would include all remaining FY 07 spending bills.&nbs! p; If so, specific program allocations may not be disclosed until after final passage, leaving little or no opportunity to oppose cuts to education. Additionally, the number of earmarks for special projects could soar in an omnibus spending bill, which could affect final FY 07 spending levels for education.

NSBA opposes the pending House and Senate bills in their current forms, which would underfund Title I and IDEA by more than $18 billion. NSBA will begin lobbying for funding increases to Title I and IDEA in FY 2008 as well, in order to be proactive before the President's budget proposal is released in January and to ensure that education funding is a top budget priority of the new 110th Congress.

Pledge to America's Schoolchildren
Please join NSBA's newest campaign --the Pledge to America's Schoolchildren. You can get involved by contacting your United States Senators and Representatives, urging them to sign the Pledge to America's Schoolchildren, which includes five broad, bipartisan goals for the 110th Congress—from improving NCLB to supporting 21st century skills needed for global competitiveness. A grassroots action alert is available on the Pledge Campaign website at http://www.pledgetoamericasschoolchildren.org/grassroots.php

Currently, the Pledge has the bipartisan support of almost 50 members of Congress. NSBA is actively engaged in securing more signatures. Federation Members are also utilizing the Pledge in an effort to establish solid working relationships with newly elected members of Congress

Free Housing to Retain New Teachers

According to an article by Carol Chmelynski on the National School Board Association web-site...

"Officials at the rapidly growing Clark County, Nev., school district in Las Vegas, are having such a hard time hiring enough teachers, they are considering offering affordable housing as an incentive.
Clark County is just one of several districts throughout the nation in areas with soaring housing costs that are looking at innovative ways to attract and retain teachers.
The Clark County school board is exploring options for providing a few hundred residences in the form of houses, condominiums, and apartments and will make a final decision in January, said George Ann Rice, associate superintendent for human resources."

For the complete article, http://www.nsba.org/site/doc_sbn_issue.asp?TRACKID=&VID=55&CID=682&DID=39652

WANTED: Student Stars

The National Affiliate program will be hosting a Evening of Student Stars at the NSBA Annual Conference. We are looking for talented students to fill out the program. Below are program guidelines. For more information about the application process go to Student Stars Info

General Guidelines:

• We are highlighting individuals and small performance groups for this event. The size of the group (including instrumentalists, singers, dancers, accompanists, etc.) may not exceed eight people.
• Each selected individual or group will be limited to one adult accompanist (i.e. - pianist or conductor) for performance.
• Applications must be received no later than January 20, 2007 and should be sent to: Alyssa Martin, 185 Prince George Street, Annapolis, Maryland 21401. Selections are made by an outside professional consultant (not by NSBA's elected leaders or staff) on the sole basis of performance quality.
• NSBA provides two nights of complimentary housing for the student(s) and for two or three accompanying adults who will be expected to assume responsibility for the safety and deportment of the group.
• Transportation and meal costs are the responsibility of the respective school boards.
• Performing soloist or groups must represent a public school or group of public schools and have school board approval to represent their district.

The deadline is January 20, 2007. For more information contact Sandy Folks at (703) 838-6787 or sfolks@nsba.org

Children At Risk

Poverty: A Common Thread

Many students come from impoverished homes with no history of financial or familial success? How can schools help "at-risk" kids beat the odds?

"Over the next several months, American School Board Journal will examine the education of children at risk. We’ll look at their lives in and out of school, the myriad problems they face, and how some schools are responding to their needs. Social scientists have identified six primary risk factors, all of which are common in low-income households: poverty itself, welfare dependence, absent parents, one-parent families, unwed mothers, and a parent without a high school diploma.While it is not necessary to be poor to be at risk—children from single-parent families are found all along the income spectrum—poverty usually is the common thread. How much can schools do to help the poor? That is a matter of considerable debate. Some argue that by becoming more efficient, focused organizations, schools alone can lift children out of poverty. Others say the problems of poor children are so multifaceted and profound that reforming schools is not enough."

For the complete article, please visit the site below.
http://www.asbj.com/current/coverstory.html

Why I Do What I Do

I've received a few comments from persons disgruntled by my posting the Superintendent's Contract on my site and I've heard second hand there are some disgruntled by me even having this site at all. This post is dedicated to clarifying Why I Do What I Do.

This blog, is run by me, Jennifer Abell, Member of the Charles County Board of Education, and involves topics and issues on education and children, two of my passions in life. ANY and ALL comments ARE MY PERSONAL comments and do not reflect the opinions of the Board of Education and ARE NOT official communications of the Charles County School Board. (We have a very capable, thorough and dedicated communication person on staff, Ms. Katie O'Malley-Simpson)

The concept of starting a blog began after attending the National School Board Conference in April of 2006. They actually encouraged board members and superintendents to have a blog-site and dialog with the community and held a seminar on the how-to's. After months of pondering the idea, and a plea from the public to be more transparent, it came to fruition with the impending election. I knew so little about blogging, I had to enlist the help of friends to set it up and get me started.

As stated, initially the blog began as part of my campaign. After the election, I received numerous requests to keep it up and running due to the Board meetings being held at an inconvenient time for the public to attend, the televising of the meetings no where in sight, and the minutes from the meetings not reaching the public for a month or more. I agreed. Since then, the blog has become a personal endeavor to try and be more open and transparent to the public, and provide as much information as possible. I encourage everyone...students, staff, teachers, parents, grandparents...to post and give me your opinions, good or bad. You can even do it anonymously if you are shy :)

As for the Superintendents contract, it was posted in response to a request from the public and is strictly for factual informational purposes. My posting of the contract in no way represents my dissatisfaction with it or the Superintendent. I voted for the contract and I support it and Mr. Richmond. In addition, the Superintendent, as well as Board members, is a public servant and therefore his contract is a public document and has been reported in various other media prior to my posting. My posting is not a complete contract and does NOT list all the numerous responsibilites, qualifications and guidelines he must adhere to (please contact Central Office to request a complete copy)

I sincerely apologize if the contract posting or this site has offended anyone or made them feel threatened, for that was not it's intention. This site is not an attempt to "grand-stand" or undermine the Board of Education or staff in anyway. As stated throughout the site, my intentions are strictly to provide the public with knowledge and transparency, answer questions, state my opinions, and hopefully with everyone's cooperation, come up with solutions and innovative ideas for our school system.

Yours in service,
Jennifer

Notes from Board Meeting, 12/12/06

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparet. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes. Please follow-up for official minutes upon approval. For copies of printed reports presented visit http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/ccpsmd/Board.nsf/Public?OpenFrameSet

Public Forum

1. Gentleman spoke in support of Margaret Young. Thanked her for her dedication and voice for the children of Charles County. Presented her with flowers. Encouraged the incoming board to televise board meetings and make attendance at board meetings more inviting to the public. Last meeting he attended he felt intimidated.

Action - Approval of Minutes from 11/14/06

• Young - requested numerous missing items and conversations to be included in the minutes. Currently could not locate her notes.
• Abell - stated missing items. Conversations regarding color-coded badges, GED rate comparison among counties, food services and nutrition budget, new high school vision committee, NAEP test results, and missing votes on the summary table of votes.

*Vote on amending the minutes
Yes=Abell, Young; No=Coggins, Crawford, Marshall, Wade; Bailey=no vote
FAILED

*Vote to approve minutes
Yes= Coggins, Crawford, Marshall, Wade; No=Young; Abstain=Abell; Bailey=no vote
PASSED

*Vote to unapproved the October Meeting minutes
Yes=Abell; Crawford; Coggins; Wade; Young; Bailey=no vote
PASSED

*Vote to correct vote count to go into Executive Session (Young actually abstained)
Yes= Abell; Bailey; Crawford; Coggins; Wade; Young;
PASSED

*Vote to approve October Meeting Minutes
Yes= Abell; Bailey; Crawford; Coggins; Wade; Young;
PASSED

Correspondence/Board Member Updates

• Wade - spoke about the It’s Academic competition. Very professional and well attended.
• Crawford - relayed his appreciation for serving on the board. Read Psalm 100.
• Abell - attended the state football game, even though McDonough lost they played a good game and we should be proud of our athletes.
• Coggins - relayed his thanks for the opportunity to serve on the board.
• Young encouraged new board to meet soon regarding vision and goals because budget will be coming before them soon.
• Young - request from last month regarding violent offenders. Staff response was that names could not be released. Young clarified that was not the request.
• Young - request from last month regarding 10-digit number. Young felt staff response did not answer her question.

Report – EACC

• Bill Fisher spoke about class sizes and encouraged board members to visit http://www.national-class-size-database.org/; over testing and teaching to the test and stress placed on teachers; CCPS is outstanding on closing achievement gap and teachers need to know about how children can learn a second language; discipline issues and guidelines and the need for administrative and board support; surveys completed by teachers regarding workload and priorities for negotiations. over testing and teaching to the test and stress placed on teachers; CCPS is outstanding on closing achievement gap and teachers need to know about how children can learn a second language; discipline issues and guidelines and the need for administrative and board support; surveys completed by teachers regarding workload and priorities for negotiations.
• Meg MacDonald spoke of the discipline issues and teachers being assaulted by students; need to have students removed and changes filed w/sheriff’s office; board policy is to remove the student and they thank us; problem is getting worse and students need to be removed immediately and additional policies needed for special education students.
• Young – in a perfect world, what would you do to correct the testing issues
• Fisher – curriculum is suffering due to preparation for numerous tests. Limits need to be set. Don’t know perfect amount. Possibly have report card grades included as part of AYP.

Report - Student Board Member

• Andrew VanWorkem – At the CCASC meeting students discussed curriculum and instruction in schools; testing is becoming the curriculum; students required to retake course if test is not passed; Mr. Kregar is fabulous for increasing scores on SAT/ACT; students suggest class or seminar is a waste of time and teachers are not effectively teaching; Richmond told Student Advisory Council he would like to implement IB courses and compare to AP.

Report – Superintendent

• Richmond –McDonough won It’s Academic; met with Dr. Richard Nadolink, Director of Energetics Technology Center and discussed plans to build an ETC in Bryans Road and ETC to give two county scholarships; Student Advisory Council Meeting; Richmond and Marshall attended state football game at Raven stadium and helped present awards.
• Young – noticed Richmond meeting with business on increasing math and technology curriculum. Has he considered and will he be meeting with professionals regarding the performing and fine arts?
• Richmond – Always; the arts are very near and dear to his heart.

Report - Deputy Superintendent

• None

Report - CIP

• Davis MS – all roof work complete; windows being installed; interior work to be completed throughout winter
• North Point – baseball field reseeding; underground sprinkler system; waiting on pump station
• Gale-Bailey – boiler replacement almost complete
• Smallwood - boiler replacement ongoing January completion
• Requested $27M from state, IAC recommendations only received $6.5M
• $161,000 transfer request from Commissioners to cover field conditions
• Young – Was this an intercategory transfer?
• Wineland – No. It combined three line items.
• Young – No notes on the CIP meeting with commissioners that took place following the legislative breakfast on 11/27/06.
• Wineland – Staff was just there to answer any questions from commissioners
• Wade – congratulated staff for their professionalism and having the best interest of the school district.

Report – Budget

• Balides – Food Services is being monitored closely; general funds in good shape

Report - Curriculum Update - Adult Education

• Estep – JROTC started in county in 1993; Army at Stone and McDonough; Navy at LaPlata and Westlake; Air Force at North Point and Lackey; $645,000 for 12 instructors’ salaries and benefits; students and recent graduates spoke highly and fondly of the program.
• Young – Upon visiting schools the JROTC classroom students are always very respectful, disciplined and focused. Have we considered offering a similar program at Middle School
• Peggy Stafford – JROTC groups have done demonstrations for local elementary schools and recruit at middle schools
• Wade – Great job to staff and cadets

Action - Personnel

* Vote to accept staff recommendations
Yes=Abell, Coggins, Crawford, Marshall, Young, Wade; No=None; Bailey=no vote
PASSED

Action – Naming of Elementary School

• Coggins – motions for Mary Burgess Neal
• Abell – Neal is very deserving of having a school named after her but she is not related to this school or this part of the county in any way. Mary Keech Edelen was a teacher in that area before. Personal opinion is the board needs to consider not naming schools after individuals.
• Young – agreed with Abell on Neal and Keech but disareed about schools being named after individuals

*Vote to name school Mary Burgess Neal Elementary
Yes=Bailey, Coggins, Crawford, Wade; No=Marshall; Abstain=Abell, Young;
PASSED

Board Farewell

• Bailey – speech and presentation of gifts

Unfinished Business

• Young – Request for a sample Physical Education Report Card
• Young – update on the committee for the new high school vision
• Young – NAEP test results; Cunningham clarified these were sent in an update
• Young – update on the status of the Lackey Drama department

New Business

• Wineland - Pinefield Site Elementary School #3 to obtain state approval; IAC needs assurance that site approval in process; borderline wetlands issue briefed in hopes of a favorable decision by Maryland Department of Environment.

*Vote to move forward
Yes=Abell, Crawford, Coggins, Marshall, Wade, Young; Bailey=no vote
PASSED

Future Agenda Items

• Young – according to the communication goal the board is to meet with the Economic Development Commission and Chamber of Commerce
• New board should set a meeting to determine goals and objectives for the coming year
  

Superintendent's Contract

This post is in response to a request for the details of the Superintendents benefits and compensation through his contract.

The Superintendent’s contract is public information and a complete copy may be requested from Central Office. The current contract is a four-year contract as required by the State of Maryland and was signed by all Board members on 1/24/05. Listed below is the Superintendents current benefits and compensation provided by this contract.

• Base salary $245,000
• Annual comprehensive medical examination
• Lifetime paid family health insurance coverage
• Automobile and insurance coverage
• Disability income protection for the base salary contract amount for the duration of the contract
• Thirty days of annual leave per year and an additional 3 days per month. May be redeemed if not used
• Sick leave accrued at the rate of two days per month. May be redeemed if not used
• Board contributes an amount equal to 7% of base salary to a supplementary retirement plan.
• Board provides term life insurance equal to base salary plus a $40,000 supplemental policy. Benefit will continue upon retirement.
• Board will contribute 2% of base salary to the Teacher’s Pension System.
• Board will contribute to a tax-sheltered annuity the maximum amount allowed by the IRS Code.
• $5,000 annual allowance for unreimbursed medical expenses

Legislative Breakfast Notes 11/27/06

Since official Board of Education Meeting Minutes are generally not available to the public for at least one month folowing a meeting, I will be posting my notes here for the public to review. These are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the BOE meetings. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes. Please follow-up for official minutes upon approval.

For a copy of the Board of Education Legislative Issues Packet, please go to: https://www.boardocs.com/mabe/ccpsmd/Board.nsf/Public?OpenFrameSet
Go to the meeting of 10/10/06; look under New business (Stand on your head and count to 10) :)

Attendance:
Board of Education – Bailey, Abell, Cook, Pederson, Wise, Coggins Marshall, Carrington, Wade (late)
BOE Staff – Wineland, Estep, Richmond, O’Malley-Simpson, Stubblefield, Hettel, Schwartz, Cunningham, Balides (late)
Commissioners - Cooper, Patterson, Collins, Graves
C.C. Government Staff – Fink, Eicholtz, Voehl
Delegates – Jameson, Levy
Pages – Frazee, Coombs, Coggins III
Media – Rabe (MDIND)

Jameson – foresee structural deficit. Will try not to cut funding for education and school construction and renovation.

Levy – state general fund helps fund education like Thorton. Doesn’t think education or Thorton is going to be cut in 07. Maybe not in 08. Probably in 09. Risky. 1+ billion shortage. Suggests we (BOE) should look at funding sources. Mindful spending. Push forward with construction. Suggests having finance people from BOE call him and review finances.

Wineland – compounding of state overlapping payments & stretching them out causes funding problems. Build seats or renovate; can’t do both.

Levy – Housing market has dropped nationally 7%. County 21%.

Cooper – Commissioners proposed increasing the excise tax for the state formula. 3% increase. DRRA – builders having trouble paying because market has slowed down. Caution overfunding.

Abell – Is it feasible to obtain any kind of funding on on resales? Don’t have current figures here but a lot of the students entering the system are from resales not new construction.

Cunningham – 06-07 school year had a student turnover of 3,300. 217 student net gain.

Cooper – Not looking at resales now but possible in the future for school renovation cost. Not enough profit for new schools.

Patterson – Teacher housing – offer incentives to home owners to rent to teachers. Keys for Employees program. Commissioners have adopted program. BOE unaware. Hettel to prepare presentation for Board.

Cooper – Is there any one issue more important than the others?
Bailey – Teacher retirement legislation that allows them to stay in county and teach with out losing retirement benefits.

Wise – Wants Hope Scholarship reinstated.

Abell – Hope Scholarship – Didn’t Erlich replace it with an equally advantageous program?

Levy – No

Jameson – No

Hettel – No

Levy – financing a program similar to the Hope Scholarship is similar to the budgeting and financing of a pension fund.

Arts in the Schools Paint Masterpiece: Higher Scores

In an era when school arts programs often have been considered expendable as budgets were tightened, the first comprehensive study of the effects of such instruction shows a statistical rise in student achievement, especially among low-income students.
The study found that art programs have a dramatic influence on elementary and high school students’ performance—not just in painting a still life or playing the trombone but also in standardized test scores. The study looked at programs across the country, including one currently used in 30 Chicago public schools.
"The people who run our schools have been looking for some hard evidence that what happens in arts classes impacts on learning. Well, here it is," said Dick Deasy, director of the Arts Education Partnership, a sponsor of the study along with the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
James Catterall, a UCLA professor and co-author of the report, found that, "high arts participation makes a more significant difference to students from low-income backgrounds than for high-income students."
For the complete article
http://www.aep-arts.org/PDF%20Files/ChampsReport.pdf

New High School to be SPACE & SCIENCE SCHOOL???

Charles County Technology Council - November General Members Meeting
Lunch & Learn with Guest Speaker Mr. James E. Richmond, Superintendent of Schools

DATE: Tuesday, November 28
TIME: 12pm-1:30pm
LOCATION: Charles County Chamber of Commerce, 101 Centennial Avenue, Suite A., La Plata, Maryland.
COST: $10 members; $15 guests
RSVP: RSVP by Wednesday, November 22 (see below)

Please be our guest at CCTC's Annual General Members Meeting/Lunch & Learn. Our speaker for the event is Mr. James E. Richmond, Superintendent of Schools for Charles County. Mr. Richmond will talk about Charles County's next high school, which will focus on Space and Science.

Legislative Breakfast, November 27

The Board of Education (current and newly elected apply to all positions) will be meeting with delegates and commissioners on Monday, November 27 at 7:30 am at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building for their annual legislative breakfast. The breakfast is for all official participants but the media and public are invited to attend to observe and listen to the dialog.

COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST THE BOE BY A BOARD MEMBER

Ms. Margaret Young has filed an official complaint to the Open Meetings Compliance Board against the Board of Education regarding a variety of concerns including discussions amongst Board members that took place behind closed doors on August 8, 2006, the Boards failure to record executive session official minutes, and evasive "boilerplate" language on public minutes regarding executive session agenda topics.

Televising Board of Education Meetings: In the Legal Notices of the Indy??

Okay, I think everyone knows the story but just in case, here is a little history...Abell and Young are on a mission to televise Board meetings (gasp!) in an effort to be transparent and make the public fully aware of all decisions and discussions. The Superintendent, Mr. James Richmond, has recommended NOT televising the meetings and will only put his endorsement on the project after we spend thousands of dollars to "do it right". (We currently can video tape football games and other special events and air them on our station at whim.) The remaining five Board members CONTINUOUSLY VOTE AGAINST televising the meetings.

Now for the next chapter.

I open todays Indy and for some odd reason I am compelled to read the legal notices. (I have never in my life ever read these.) Call it divine intervention... Low and behold CCPS is in the legal notices. INDY. CCPS, contrary to the majority vote of the Board, is evidently requesting RFP's (bids) for a television studio and control room for staff at central office!?! You must read the above link. I am completely befuddled. And...at the bottom it says "By Order of the Board of Education of Charles County." What the heck?

Meet The Author

Robert Westfield, a former Henry E. Lackey High School student and recently published author, will be available to meet and greet the public on Sunday, November 19, 12-2 p.m., at the Brewhouse coffee shop in LaPlata. Charles County Public Schools arranged for the meet and greet, and encourage everyone to come out and show support for one of our successful former students.

Synopsis of Board Meeting, 11/14/06

Since official Board of Education Meeting Minutes are generally not available to the public for one month I will be posting my notes here for the public to review. These are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the BOE meetings. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes. Please follow-up for official minutes upon approval. For copies of printed reports presented visit http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/ccpsmd/Board.nsf/Public?OpenFrameSet

Public Forum

1. Mitchell Elementary parent concerned about large class sizes. 1st grade classes of 27+. Only three 1st grade classes. Teacher problems giving individual students attention needed at this young age.
2. Mitchell Elementary parent. Board meetings need to be moved to a more community friendly time. Concern of large class sizes. 30+ students in daughters 4th/5th grade math class. Principal promised 1 teachers aid per grade. Has not happened as of yet.
3. Mitchell Elementary parent concerned with class sizes.
4. Wants the next school named after his brother, Walter Melvin “Johnny” Johnson, Jr. Killed in action during WWII at age 19.

Action - Approval of Minutes from 10/10/06
Abell questioned why the table summary of votes was not included on the minutes. Per last months meeting it was requested to be included in the minutes in order for the Board to be in adherence to policy. Staff response was it would be forthcoming momentarily. (Did not receive by end of meeting.)
Yes=Coggins, Crawford, Marshall, Young, Wade; No=None;Abstain=Abell;Bailey=no vote

Correspondance/Board Member Updates

• Coggins relayed information on meetings he's attended as well as upcoming seminars and meetings that might be of interst to other Board members.
• Crawford emotionally spoke about his tenure and experience on the Board.
• Young relayed comments she received from teachers regarding the new elementary math program. i.e. - lack of supplies, premature introduction of abstract ideas, willingness to give the program additonal time, etc.
• Young relayed concern over increase in emails from parents feeling as though CCPS is "pushing" them out of their child's school experience.
• Marshall was adamant that he did not like Young's comments and asked for her to continue at the end of the meeting.

Later resumed

• Young requested concern over the use of social security numbers within the school system.
• Young relayed concern over the Drama department at oneof the high schools. The teacher has lost her official office space due to overcrowding issues and is now located in the boys dressing room. The boys and girls are now forced to share one dressing room.
• Young relayed concern over comments she hear at the Economic Development Summit regarding the new high school. Seems as though it is a done deal for it to be a space school.
• Young expressed concern over Board members lack of access to Executive Session notes/minutes ad they how they are not approved by the Board. She has filed a complaint with the Open Meetings Act Compliance Board.

Report - EACC
Collecting data via survey regarding teacher workload and testing. Reviewed festivities for American Education Week. Welcome and farewells to Board members.

Report - Student Board Member
CCASC Meetings. Legislative positions discussed amongst members. Pursuit of voting rights for student members. Upcoming Legislative Conference to be hosted at North Point and video played.

Report - Superintendent
Charles County is one out of five counties in the state with NO schools on state improvement list. Redistricting committee for next elementary school has begum meeting. Student Recognition will take place 11/27 at North Point. American Freedom Week festivities. School Safety flyer provided by Sheriff's Office will be provided to PTA/PTO/PTSO's. SAT/ACT/AP consultant (Kregar) has made a history CD to be provided to students and aired on the CCPS station. Additional subjects will be made as time and funds permit. Young stated she had tried to locate Kegar at Central Office and could not. Staff stated he is located in New Jersey. Young requested staff consider using different colored badges for contractors/consultants etc.

Report - Deputy Superintendent
Student enrollment numbers are up 217 students fromlast year.

• 26,623 total count
• 3,303 first time to Charles County public schools
• 1,354 first time in school
• 1,037 from other counties
• 558 from other states
• 52 from other countries
• 284 from private schools
• 218 from home schools

Report - CIP

• North Point students from construction related classes are receiving tours of Davis Middle School throughout the construction phase for on-site training.
• Soccer fields at Lackey are complete and will be available for play by fall 07
• Diggs playground is complete
• Smallwood is undergoing boiler replacement
• North Point is having an underground sprinkler system installed
• State report from IAC should be forthcoming
• Abell questioned the portable classroom report which states there are two portables at Craik. Abell doesn't recall portables at Craik. Staff confirmed the report is correct.

Report - Curriculum Update - Adult Education
FY06 there were 224 graduates. (Please see the link above for complete report). All teachers in the program have degrees. Young asked if we are restricted by NCLB guidelines in this program. Staff response was negative. Young asked our GED success rate compared to other counties and states. Staff did not have that data.

Report - Budget
(Please see link above for complete report) Item of note was the Nutrition/Food Services Department is suffering due to high cost of freight and delivery charges in direct relation with rising gas prices.

Report - School Naming Committee
New elementary school to open in August 2008 on Piney Church road. (Please see the link above for the complete report.) Suggestions by committee: Piney Church Road Elementary School· Mary Keech Edelen Elementary School· Mary Burgess Neal Elementary School. Vote to be taken in December.

Report - Suggested Changes to Bylaws
(Please see link above for suggested changes). Bailey asked the attorney (Schwartz) for his legal advice on the proposed changes to the policies and bylaws. Schwartz advised that all changes to policies and bylaws remain on hold until the new Board is in office. Young motioned, seconded by Abell to move ahead with the proposed changes.

Yes=Abell, Young; No=Coggins, Crawford, Marshall, Wade;Abstain=None;Bailey=no vote

Action - Personnel
Yes=Abell, Coggins, Crawford, Marshall, Young, Wade; No=None;Bailey=no vote

Action - Month of the Young Child Resolution
Yes=Coggins, Crawford, Marshall, Wade; No=Young;Abstain=Abell;Bailey=no vote

Action - Salute to School Food and Nutrition Service Personnel Resolution
Yes=Coggins, Crawford, Marshall, Wade; No=Young;Abstain=Abell;Bailey=no vote

Unfinished Business

• Young asked if date-stamping had been implemented on Board Doc as of yet. Staff response was they are still working on the logistics of it.
• Young asked if the committee for the vision of the new high school had met yet. Staff stated they were in the process of identifying members at this time.
• Young asked if the meeting between the Board and the Economics Development Commission had been set up as of yet. Staff response was negative.
• Abell requested an update on the possibilty of audio tapes of Board meetings being broadcast on CCPS station. Staff response was negative.

New Business/Future Agenda Items

• Abell relayed concern over the state nutrition guidelines and emails from parents concerning their enforcement during special occassions such as holiday parties. Abell requested the Board send a letter to MSDE requesting clarification on their policies and procedures and their pertinance to special occassions.

Yes=Abell, Young; No=Crawford, Marshall, Wade;Abstain=Coggins;Bailey=no vote

• Abell relayed parent and teacher concern regarding foods sold in the school cafeteria and their lack of being within the policy guidelines. Abell cited numerous nutritional values of foods currently sold in the school cafeteria. Abell requested a review of the policy and a future staff report on food items available in the school cafeteria.

Yes=Abell, Young; No=Crawford, Marshall, Wade;Abstain=Coggins;Bailey=no vote

• Abell relayed concern over the parent visitation policy and rules. The current restrictions are two 45 minute classroom observations per quarter. Abell's concern was now we are implementing block scheduling in some of our schools and the classes are longer than 45 minutes in duration. In addition, if a child is having difficulties in more than two subjects, the parents are unable to observe the other classes. Abell requested the Board review this policy. Chairman Bailey stated thatall policies are due for review on an annual basis and would defer this to the incoming Board in January.

• Young requested the Board send a letter to the State Highway Administration requesting confirmation on the new high school site.

Yes=Abell, Young; No=Coggins, Crawford, Marshall, Wade;Abstain=None;Bailey=no vote

• Young requested an update on the number of violent offenders at each school. Young relayed teachers concerns and fears regarding the number of students required to wear "ankle bracelets" by juvenile services/sheriff's department. Staff was uncertain if we have this data and will be getting back to us.

• Young requested a meeting to gather public input on the vision for the new high school.

Yes=Abell, Young; No=Coggins, Crawford, Marshall, Wade;Abstain=None;Bailey=no vote

• Young requested the counties NAEP test results. Staff is checking on this data to see if we have received as of yet.

• Young requested a report on the new initiative for a 10-digit student identifier number, who has access and what information it contains. Staff could provide in update.

Yes=Abell, Young; No=Coggins, Crawford, Marshall, Wade;Abstain=None;Bailey=no vote

Nancy Grasmick...No Plans on Leaving

O'Malley suggest that its time for Nancy Grasmick, state schools superintendent, to relinquish her office and provide Maryland schools a "fresh start". Grasmick vows to serve the last 20-months of her 4-year term. For the complete article http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.grasmick14nov14,0,1286834.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

REMINDER: Board Meeting Tuesday, 11/14/06

Just wanted to remind everyone there is a Board Meeting this Tuesday, November 14th at 1:00 pm. To see the full agenda please visit http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/ccpsmd/Board.nsf/Public?OpenFrameSet.
A few highlights include:

1. Curriculum Update - Adult Education - Did you know that approximately 20% of the adults in Charles County do not have a diploma. Based on 2000 census data the population increased 19% in the last decade, while the English as a Second Language population increased 65% during the same period. Click here http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/ccpsmd/Board.nsf/Public?OpenFrameSet to view the full report.
2. School Naming Report - Naming of the new elementary school off Piney Church Road in Sheffield Neighborhood in Waldorf. Committees suggestions are · Piney Church Road Elementary School· Mary Keech Edelen Elementary School· Mary Burgess Neal Elementary School. ( Let me know what you think)
3. Suggested changes to bylaws - Submitted by Margaret Young regarding policy's and minutes.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Thank you to all my supporters and to all the other candidates for being advocates for our children. My hope is that everyone remains very active in their commuity and their school system. Together we can make a difference!!!!

CAMPAIGN CELEBRATION

Please join me in a night of fun, food, music and celebration.

Friday, November 3, 2006
Gilligan's Pier (Pier III)
Seafood & Chicken Buffet (mmm! crab balls and spiced shrimp)
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
$25 per person in advance
$30 at the door

Smith Tucker Band performing 7:00 - 10:00 pm

For tickets please click on the link below and specify the quantity needed along with you mailing address and telephone number.

mailto:abell4edu@verizon.net

Yours in service,
Jennifer Abell

Letter of Endorsement

The letter below was submitted to the Maryland Independent and the Washington Post. as well as copied to me for posting.
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October 23, 2006

Dear Editor,
I believe Jennifer Abell, School Board Candidate, is completely misunderstood. People who don't know Jennifer accuse her of having a hidden agenda, being a religious freak, and serving on the board to meet her own needs. Well her own needs are a high quality education for the students (she has four enrolled in county schools), committed, caring and qualified staff (this is the only way to reach goal number one), top notch facilities with state of the art technology (being fiscally smart in order to make the best use of limited funds) and an appropriate learning environment (safety first!) that will enable all students to be successful and reach their potential.

Jennifer Abell is one of the hardest working, most conscientious members of the board, and, one of the best advocates for education in Charles County. She's not just talk. She is the one member who continually listens to all sides, researches the issues, and utilizes all resources available before making decisions. She's devout in her religion, but she NEVER pushes her religious beliefs on anyone else. She knows I'm Jewish, and we've discussed the differences in our religions, but she's made it quite clear that religion is best taught at home. She would never support distributing bibles in school nor would she support the teaching of creationism. I am very sure about this, and would not support her if this were not the case.

Jennifer doesn't have a hidden agenda. The agenda she has is outlined above. She believes the Board meetings should be televised, or held at a time that is convenient for parents, teachers and staff to attend ? because there is nothing to hide. She believes in teaching abstinence, but she?s also wise enough to know that more is needed in regards to sex education. She believes in academic rigor, increases in teacher salaries, and parents involved in their child?s education. Most importantly, she wants to help the schools succeed in leaving "no child left behind" but she also wants the schools to ensure that bright children are allowed to more forward.

Don't believe me? Clear up the misunderstanding by checking out her blog site at http://abell4edu.blogspot.com/. You?ll find out where she stands on all the issues. Thanks for your understanding.

Donna Liberman
La Plata

Lacrosse

Lacrosse in Charles County? Yes it might finally happen. After numerous emails from students and parents requesting the sport to be added at the high school level, it might finally happen. Currently, the sport is played in our surrounding counties and Charles County students want to play too!
During the October Board meeting, Ms. Jan Johnson , Specialist in Athletics, gave an oral report regarding the status of lacrosse in Charles County. The good news is it looks as though there is enough support to have lacrosse in the county high schools. The bad news is it looks as though it won't be available until 2008-2009. As with everything involving government, it is a slow process. For those of you pulling for this to happen, stay diligent and you shall prevail.

Year-Round School

The subject of year-round schooling has come up on several occasions at the candidate forums. I personally have not done a lot of research on the topic but find it very intriguing. From what I have read it seems to aid students in retention of information, provides the teachers with much needed respite to regroup, and is very economical for the system. I don't see how it would benefit us as far as the overcrowding issue because it would still be the same number of students.
The ideal hypothetical scenario I was envisioning would be three months of school Sept-Oct-Nov; 1 month off Dec; three months on Jan-Feb-Mar; 1 month off Apr; three months on May-Jun-Jul; 1 month off Aug. My rationale...the students are off 7-10 days in December any way and are in need of a break and families travel for the holidays; April break because students are off 7-10 days again during this month for spring break and families travel; and then August for families to participate in a summer vacation.
Of course this schedule would reek havoc on the summer sports schedule such as the summer swim league.
Again, I would never promote or support a change of this nature without thorough research, and public input/debate.
Please weigh-in Charles County and let me know what you are thinking.

Soccer Fields vs. Police Sub-Stations

At the October 10th meeting the BOE voted to surplus land back to the county to build police sub-stations. The land is at TSHS & Jenifer Elementary . Minutes will reflect in Nov. , Young voted against the motion, & I abstained. Young tried to make an amendment to the motion to delay the Jenifer transaction until we received more information (i.e., impact on soccer community and field size). I seconded the motion but it failed. Young & I were the only two voting yes to the amendment.
As Ms. Young predicted, when we were first informed of this "opportunity," the soccer community started roaring when they found out one of their practice fields was eliminated. These are high-use fields and are in constant use. Yes, we have PLAYING fields, but the powers that be don't like teams practicing on the "good" (playing) fields because then they won't be in proper shape for games. To my knowledge, Jenifer is not used for games. Some coaches have resorted to practicing at fields in PG County. How sad it is that we can't provide sufficient practice facilities for our own youth. How utterly inconvenient for parents who furiously drive home from work only to turn around & drive back up to PG County for their childs soccer practice.
The motion to surplus the land passedbut included a stipulation to retain a soccer field at the Jenifer site. Currently, there is 1 large field & 1 very small field.

The Board was first told that the commissioners approached us & wanted us to surplus these pieces of land to them. In exchange they would renovate the Adult Ed Bldg.
IAfter speaking with a couple of the commissioners we were told the need for substations was discussed publicly but, the commissioners did not approach the BOE; the BOE came to them & "offered up" the land. This was odd. First, the BOE never discussed approaching the commissioners to do this. Second, why would we or staff do that out of the blue? We were never told they were looking for sites for substations. It just wasn?t adding up. This was very conflicting information.
The commissioners said we offered up land first & CCPS staff says the commissioners approached us first. Hmm? Mr. Bailey says Cooper met with him & Richmond near the beginning of Oct. at one of their regularly scheduled meetings. (This may start a whole new thread about transparency issues. Mr Bailey has been asked before to provide the rest of the board with notes from his meetings with Cooper & Richmond so we could all be on the same page. His response, "There are no meetings, so there are no notes.") Hmmm.....
Bailey says Cooper brought up the issue during the regularly scheduled bimonthly meeting in Oct..
Why weren?t we told about that meeting & why weren?t we given information about the issue prior to our board meeting. Bailey says we should have received the information by e-mail and fax prior to the Board meeting. Our secretary says a memo was composed & was originally intended to be distributed 5 days prior to our meeting. After further discussion between Bailey & another staff member it was decided the information would not be sent. They determined the information would be distributed (for the first time) in executive session. We still didn?t receive the written information then either.
We were told this had to be rushed because a state agency must ultimately approve the transaction, & that agency meets at the end of Oct.. If we didn?t vote on it immediately the "deal" would be delayed 3 months.

Please let me know how you feel about removing our youths soccer fields in order to build police sub-stations.

Overcrowded Schools

The biggest problem facing our school system is meeting the demands of our rapidly growing county and the resulting overcrowding of our schools. The Board of Education cannot solve this problem by itself. We (the Board of Education, the Commissioners, the delegation, and the community) need to support aggressive pursuit of maximum local and state funding for construction of new schools, and work with the IAC to pursue changes to the state funding formula. Next, the BOE needs to work with the Commissioners on changing the APFO Allocations. In addition to all of the above, the BOE needs to look to alternative ways of funding the construction of new schools. For example, in Montgomery County they have had some developers build schools and lease the building back to the county for a set number of years and then the county owns the building (rent to own). Please let me know what you think.

Letter to the Editor #3

Printed in the Maryland Independent on Wednesday October 11, 2006.
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Dear Editor,

I would like to respond to several letters to the editor that ran on October 6, 2006. Mr. Brady, on par with other EACC members, once again attempts to mislead readers and alleges a religious voting bloc of Abell, Young, Crawford, and Bailey. However, this science teacher does not provide the readers with any factual data to support his allegation. So, I've taken heed from my own advice and hit the homework books once again.

I have reviewed all minutes and public voting records from the time of my appointment in June of 2004, up to and including September, 19, 2006. I found 293 total votes over those 27 months. I will let the statistics speak for themselves, for they ring loud and clear over the din of the EACC's continual flow of misinformation.

As a board we have cast unanimous votes 117 times. This is a 40% agreement rate for a board that the EACC and the media have attempted to label and portray as divisive.

From 293 total votes, the alleged "religious voting bloc" of Bailey, Crawford, Abell, and Young voted together a whopping 16 times over the course of 27 months. Do the math, and it comes out to a 5% rate.

While doing my homework, the data also revealed two other interesting voting trends. The bloc of Crawford, Wade, Coggins, and Marshall voted together 16 times too, however that has been in the past 6 months alone. Over the same aforementioned 27-month period, Bailey, Wade, Crawford, and Marshall voted together 8 times. This information could lead one to conclude the "split" was never really along so called religious lines, but rather along gender lines.

Please feel free to contact me via e-mail at abell4edu@verizon.net and I will be happy to provide you with the hard, cold data.

In addition, I believe the public will have a difficult time choosing from among so many qualified candidates who are committed to the education of our children. I would be honored to serve with any of them. The candidates each have unique styles and opinions. So I urge you once again, to do your own homework, don't rely on "little apple ballots", or rumors and innuendos in the editorial section of the paper. Instead, choose a candidate whose style and opinions are best for you.

Jennifer Abell