Randy Clark had just completed his first year as principal of Carroll County's Francis Scott Key High School in 2001 when the unthinkable happened - two young female substitute teachers were accused of having sex with male students.
For the next week, Clark and his school were under a microscope, and he was peppered with inquiries from the media, concerned parents, staff members and students. Clark said transparency and time were key to getting the school back to normal.
"I think our school system, and we, handled it the way it needs to be handled," Clark said yesterday from his Union Bridge school. "We didn't hide anything. We didn't put anything under the rug. I think our parents and community appreciated the way that we were addressing the situation."
On Monday, students, staff members and parents at Glenelg High School learned that a popular history teacher, Joseph Samuel Ellis, had been charged with several sex crimes in which he is accused of exposing himself to one student in a classroom, sending suggestive computer messages to another and persuading a third to meet him at a park with the promise of alcohol.
Ellis, a 25-year-old Elkridge resident and 1999 graduate of Oakland Mills High School, was arrested Friday night. He is charged with child abuse, two counts of fourth-degree sex offense and two counts of solicitation of a minor. If convicted of all charges, he faces a maximum of 37 years in prison and a $52,000 fine. He was released Saturday and is free on $150,000 bond. He has been placed on administrative leave by the school system.
Yesterday, Sherry Llewellyn, spokeswoman for the Howard County Police Department, said search warrants had been served Friday and Saturday morning at two locations, but she did not identify the locations or say whether if anything was seized. It is unknown when Ellis' first court appearance will occur, said T. Wayne Kirwan, spokesman for the office Howard County state's attorney's office. It also is unknown whether Ellias has retained a lawyer.
Ann DeLacy, president of the Howard County Education Association - the union representing 5,500 employees, said she could not comment on whether Ellis had contacted the organization for legal assistance.
"I can't release any of that information," DeLacy said.
DeLacy was Ellis' consumer science teacher at Owen Brown Middle School. "Joey was an excellent student," she said.
