Assistant Superintendent

A man who has been deeply involved in revising and honing Carroll County school curriculum will become assistant superintendent for instruction.At the recommendation of Superintendent Brian Lockard, the school board yesterday promoted Dr. Gary E. Dunkleberger, who has worked in administration in the system for more than half his 25-year career."

The two high-ranking school employees who signed contracts with former Baltimore County Superintendent Joe A. Hairston before he retired have both left the system. The contracts would have paid the employees nearly a half-million dollars if new Superintendent Dallas Dance had fired them when bringing in his own leadership team. Dance had reassigned Donald Peccia, the assistant superintendent of human resources, and Phyllis Reese, the chief communications officer, when he took over on July 1. On Tuesday night, the school board approved Peccia's retirement and Reese's resignation, both effective Aug. 1, as part of personnel moves.

The revelation that former Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Joe Hairston supposedly protected two administrative employees who recently have been transferred to other positions raises several huge red flags ("Hairston gave employment contracts to two top aides before retiring," July 13). These alleged "contracts" ignore the fact that all school personnel, including the superintendent, are employed by the Board of Education, not by an individual. Donald Peccia was appointed assistant superintendent of human resources in 2004; Phyllis Reese was hired as chief of communications in 2009.

Phyllis Teather-Burke, a longtime Baltimore County public school educator whose specialty was early-childhood education, died Wednesday of cancer at her Glen Arm home. She was 77. "She was an outstanding educator who had a deep commitment to children," said former state Superintendent Nancy L. Grasmick, who retired in 2011. "She was a highly respected and an amazing educator. " The daughter of a businessman and an educator, the former Phyllis Burke was born in Valhalla, N.Y., and settled with her family in Reisterstown in 1942.

Harford County Public Schools has named Roger L. Plunkett, 51, a 31-year veteran of the Howard County public schools, as the new assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. He was appointed by the Board of Education at its business meeting Monday to succeed Gerald E. Scarborough, who is retiring tomorrow after 37 years with HCPS. Plunkett, a former teacher and department chair at Howard High School, has also been assistant principal at Hammond High and principal at Atholton and Wilde Lake high schools.

Walter N. Chitwood III, who built a career burning the midnight oil as an Anne Arundel County administrator, is quitting his new job as an assistant superintendent with the county schools to spend time raising his younger son.With his older children grown, "I've got one more opportunity to make it right," he said, referring to Ryan, 12. "I want to have a relationship with him."Mr. Chitwood said he realized he was "out of touch with my family" during the four-week vacation he took between jobs as Anne Arundel County's chief administrative officer and the schools system's assistant superintendent for administrationAfter weeks with his family that weren't interrupted by phone calls from work, he realized that the long hours in high-level county posts over two decades had taken a toll.

Dr. Mary Rockwell Hovet, a former assistant superintendent of schools in Howard County, died in her sleep Wednesday at Brighton Gardens assisted-living community in Columbia. She was 85 and lived in Clarksville. When she retired in 1981, Dr. Hovet had become one of the few women to rise to the superintendent level in Howard County, which led to her induction into the county's Women's Hall of Fame in 1997. "She was far ahead of her time," said Reva Bryant, a retired Howard County administrator who worked with Dr. Hovet in the 1970s.

Gregory V. Nourse, an assistant superintendent for the Anne Arundel County school system, said yesterday that he plans to run for county executive next year. Nourse, 56, joins state Del. John R. Leopold and former state Del. Phillip D. Bissett as Republicans expected to run for the seat now held by Democrat Janet S. Owens, who cannot run for a third term because of term limits. At least three Democrats are also considering bids. Nourse said he will file as a candidate with the state next week.

An Alexandria, Va., schools administrator has been named the chief business officer for Howard County schools, a position recently created by Superintendent John R. O'Rourke. Bruce Venter is the assistant superintendent for financial/administrative services in the suburban Washington school system. He has been involved in the business side of schools operations since 1971, when he held the position of assistant to the federal aid coordinator for Albany, N.Y., schools. Venter has been with the Alexandria school system since 1997.

A top Harford County school official was placed on paid leave yesterday after an August arrest by Baltimore police on a sex charge.Joseph P. Licata, 43, assistant superintendent of operations for the Harford County school system, was arrested Aug. 22 in the city's Eastern District and charged with committing a perverted practice, according to court records. A trial is scheduled Nov. 10.Under state law, perverted practice includes a variety of sex acts aside from conventional male-female intercourse.

The revelation that former Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Joe Hairston supposedly protected two administrative employees who recently have been transferred to other positions raises several huge red flags ("Hairston gave employment contracts to two top aides before retiring," July 13). These alleged "contracts" ignore the fact that all school personnel, including the superintendent, are employed by the Board of Education, not by an individual. Donald Peccia was appointed assistant superintendent of human resources in 2004; Phyllis Reese was hired as chief of communications in 2009.

Kevin Hobbs, a top administrator in the Wake County, N.C., public schools, appeared on the verge of becoming the new deputy superintendent in Baltimore County schools Tuesday night before the school board voted 6-6 against the appointment because of a certification issue. Hobbs, who is new superintendent Dallas Dance's pick for the job, is expected to get the appointment July 10 when the board next meets. But board members said they wanted to wait until Hobbs has completed a six-week course.

As a retired school teacher with 30 years in the classroom (who regularly goes back to substitute), I feel I have the experience and insight to make observations regarding the just announced appointment of S. Dallas Dance to the position of Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools. Mr. Dance, at 30 years of age, will be the youngest superintend to ever lead our school system. It is evident, through this choice, that the Board of Education is seeking a person with ambition, focus and drive who will lead the schools in a new and innovative direction.

A public wake and funeral program for retired city educators Donald and Jennye Patterson, who died at their Northwest Baltimore home in a fire Wednesday, will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Morgan State University Concert Hall, 1700 E. Cold Spring Lane. Mr. Patterson, who was in his late 70s, had been an assistant superintendent in the city school system. His 83-year-old wife was the assistant principal at Greenspring Junior High School. jacques.kelly@baltsun.com Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Berldene Standley "Dean" Pickens, former assistant superintendent in Baltimore County public schools' division of instruction, died April 15 of Parkinson's disease at his Perry Hall home. He was 77. Dr. Pickens was born in Osborne, Kan., and spent his early years there, until the early 1940s when his mother, a schoolteacher, moved with her son to Baltimore after the death of his father. Dr. Pickens attended Patterson Park High School and later graduated in 1951 from Kenwood High School.

Your reporters did a fine job in discussing Nancy Grasmick's productive career and sterling performance as state superintendent of schools ("Grasmick announces she'll retire in June," March 31). The accolades were earned and well-deserved. I do, however, wish to speak to one glaring omission, namely, Ms. Grasmick's outstanding service in the Baltimore County Public Schools. We are very proud that she served the BCPS in superb fashion as principal, area assistant superintendent, as assistant superintendent in instruction and associate superintendent of administration.

Even before the opening of Marriotts Ridge High School in August, Howard County's 12th high school has been assigned its second principal after the promotion of its first school administrator. Linda Wise, who was appointed to head the new high school last summer, will become the school system's assistant superintendent of school administration - a promotion approved by the Board of Education yesterday. In turn, Patrick Saunderson, principal of Lime Kiln Middle School for the past three years, will take over for Wise.

Dorothy D. Mangle, Carroll County schools' longtime director of elementary education, was promoted to assistant superintendent for instruction yesterday, the first time a woman has entered the top tier of school administration.The school board appointed Mangle as one of two assistant superintendents. Vernon Smith was promoted last month to assistant superintendent for administration."Dottie represents the kind of leadership style we [value] -- an aggressive and enthusiastic approach," said Superintendent William Hyde, in recommending her for the post yesterday.

Joel A. Carrington, a former Baltimore public school educator and administrator who later served as a University of Maryland regent, died March 2 of cancer at Atrium Village, an Owings Mills assisted-living facility. The Owings Mills resident was 86. The son of a postal worker and a school teacher, Dr. Carrington was born in Marshal, Texas, and raised in Houston, where he graduated from Phillis Wheatley High School in 1940. In 1943, at the beginning of his third year at Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas, a historically black university, he was drafted into the Army.