Wednesday, April 24, 2013
The Towson resident known for her school advocacy sees vulnerability in Todd Huff's land use decisions.
An education advocate from Towson is considering challenging Baltimore County Councilman Todd Huff in the 2014 election. Laurie Taylor-Mitchell said Wednesday that she has formed an exploratory group to look at a run for the 3rd District seat currently held by Huff. Taylor-Mitchell said she believes zoning made last August by Huff make the first-term Republican vulnerable to a challenge. She said she would likely make land preservation—an important issue in a district that is mostly rural—and school construction her primary focus if she decides to run. That decision is not expected to come before late spring or early summer, she said. During that time, Taylor-Mitchell will test the waters. She already had a campaign website and has created…
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The school system was considering a move to the county-owned Jefferson Building, which is also in Towson.
The people have spoken, and the Baltimore County Board of Education will continue holding its meetings at the school system's Greenwood Campus, at 6901 Charles Street in Towson. Baltimore County Public Schools invited interested parties to share feedback on a proposal to hold school board meetings at the county-owned Jefferson Building, at 105 W. Chesapeake Avenue in Towson, through an online survey. "It seemed to be a fairly substantial majority which indicated that they prefer the arrangement here at Greenwood," said Lawrence Schmidt, board president, at a Tuesday night meeting. Officials said the move would have resulted in efficiencies as some Baltimore County Public Schools offices relocate to the building, saving the system $1.5 …
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Sen. Ed Kasemeyer casts deciding vote against after supporting the bill last year.
UPDATED (1:00 p.m.)—A bill that would have created a partially-elected school board in Baltimore County was voted down by members of the county's Senate Delegation. The eight senators from the county voted 4-4 to approve the bill, one vote short of what was needed for approval. The deciding vote was Sen. Ed Kasemeyer, a Democrat who represents Catonsville and part of Howard County, who voted in favor of the bill last year. Howard County has an elected school board. Kasemeyer's dissenting vote came after he voted for amendments to change the bill to a seven elected, four appointed member board and a second amendment that staggered the elections of the seven board members. The vote disappointed supporters who believed the bill would finally …
Monday, February 18, 2013
A proposed amendment raises the number of elected school board members to seven and could jeopardize passage of the bill.
An amendment proposed by a Republican senator would increase the number of elected school board members to the Baltimore County Board of Education. The amendment requested by Sen. Joseph Getty would increase the proposed elected school board to seven members—the same number rejected by a Senate committee last year. "I think we should go back to that standard," said Getty, who represents Carroll County and portions of Baltimore County from Cockeysville north to the Pennsylvania line. Getty said he still intends to vote for an elected school board whether it includes six or seven elected members. Seven districts corresponding with the council districts would make the change easier for voters to digest, he said. "If you all of a sudden create…
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
The Baltimore County Board of Education hosted a public hearing Tuesday to allow residents to weigh in on the proposed closure of Eastwood Elementary Magnet School.
The crowd at Tuesday night's public hearing to discuss the proposed closure of Eastwood Elementary Magnet School was more quiet than those of recent meetings, but residents were no less passionate about the message they delivered to the Baltimore County Board of Education. "Keep Eastwood open" came across loud and clear from the majority of the nearly 30 speakers who signed up to address the board at the Dundalk High School gathering. With rare exception, the speakers were passionate and emotional about keeping the small, intimate, close-knit neighborhood school open, and the few people who spoke in favor of closing Eastwood and merging it with Norwood Elementary and Holabird Middle schools were school system employees. Linda Gossman, a …
Monday, February 11, 2013
Representatives from more than four dozen schools around the county vote to support changing how school board members are selected.
The organization that represents Parent Teacher Associations around the county voted Monday to support adding elected members to the Baltimore County Board of Education. The Baltimore County PTA Council voted during a Monday night meeting at Loch Raven High School to support a hybrid elected-appointed school board, according to Yara Cheikh, president of the Hampton Elementary School PTA. Jean Suda, a PTA member at Dulaney High, and Julie Sugar, president of the Loch Raven High PTA, organized the resolution. The final vote was not immediately available but Cheikh said schools from all over the county including Carney, Hampton, Hillcrest and Randallstown Elementary, Deer Park Middle, and Dulaney, Franklin, Loch Raven and Pikesville High …
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Sen. Bobby Zirkin seeks to prohibit school board members from serving if they're married to a registered lobbyist.
The vice president of the Baltimore County Board of Education says a bill sponsored by state Sen. Bobby Zirkin targets her solely because of the person she married. Valerie Roddy said Thursday there was "no reason based on my actions as a board member over the last four-and-a-half years to introduce such legislation so I can only conclude this is a personal attack designed to retaliate against anyone named Roddy." Valerie Roddy is married to Patrick Roddy, a former lobbyist for Baltimore County who know works for Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan and Silver. Zirkin said the bill is preventing possible conflicts of interest. "I think in terms of members of the school board, they should be above any appearances of impropriety," Zirkin said. …
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
The decision comes after a contentious battle between area residents concerning the construction of a 700-seat elementary school.
The Baltimore County Board of Education again voted unanimously to approve the construction of a 700-seat elementary school at Mays Chapel Park. "I feel that my interest must lie primarily with the students of Baltimore County," said board President Larry Schmidt, a Mays Chapel resident, ahead of the vote. "I frankly don't know when a gathering of little children to learn has come to be such a perceived threat to one's way of life." The school is intended to alleviate overcrowding issues at elementary schools along the York Road corridor. Opponents of the project, primarily senior residents living in a condo community close to the site, argued that the school would bring about issues including traffic and environmental concerns. The …
Parents of students at Eastwood Elementary School, which faces the closure of its building, allege that the school system is acting unlawfully.
The Baltimore County Public Schools administration is refuting allegations from Eastwood Elementary School parents that it acted improperly in an effort to consolidate three Dundalk schools. The proposed merger between Eastwood, Holabird Middle School and Norwood Elementary School would result in the closure of Eastwood. "I feel like I was left out of the process," said Dan Ricci, an Eastwood parent, at a December Board of Education meeting. "I don't know if there were laws broken...certainly something unethical and unprofessional must have happened." Superintendent Dallas Dance recommended to the board at a Jan. 22 meeting that the three schools should operate as one kindergarten through eighth STEM magnet program at the Norwood and …
Thursday, January 31, 2013
A Baltimore County Public Schools spokesman said the superintendent will need more time to study a rule which does away with priority placement for students with siblings in magnet programs.
Baltimore County families waiting on a decision about a controversial magnet school rule change will have to hold out for a good while longer. Shortly before the end of his tenure, former Superintendent Joe Hairston announced in April 2012 the end of a rule that granted kindergartners automatic admission into elementary magnet schools their siblings attend, starting in the 2015-2016 school year. Parents of affected students appealed to Superintendent Dallas Dance soon afterward to overturn the rule change. Dance said in August 2012 that he planned to make a recommendation to the Board of Education about the rule in February, but school system spokesman Mychael Dickerson said Wednesday that it will likely take another year before a decision…
Jake Mohorovic
9:13 pm on Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Laurie Taylor-Mitchell was bring forth a positive campaign. Yet, Delegate Kach will be a strong candidate with name recognition having served in the House of Delegates since 1978 more ›