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."

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A high-ranking Baltimore County school administrator who has been in his job for a decade was removed last week and reassigned to a position in human resources. Bill Lawrence, the assistant superintendent for the northwestern area of the county, confirmed that he was "reassigned," but would not comment on why the sudden move was made. "I am privileged to continue serving the children and educators of Baltimore County," said Lawrence, who started his new job Monday. The school district administration declined to comment on the move.

A new face appeared on the Baltimore County school board Tuesday night, newly appointed by Gov. Martin O'Malley. Zoe Camp, a rising senior at Catonsville High School, is the board's student representative, succeeding Annette Karanja, whose term ended in June. Also during last night's meeting, JoAnn C. Murphy was unanimously re-elected as board president, as was Vice President H. Edward Parker. The board approved the appointment of Judith E. Smith, a city school official, to the new post of executive director for liberal arts - one of several new positions in the department of curriculum and instruction.

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.

Carroll County's assistant superintendent for instruction, Dorothy "Dottie" Mangle, will retire this summer after 30 years as a teacher and administrator in county schools. Her retirement will end a five-decades-long string of first days of school for Mangle, who has been "going to school full time" since her mother signed her up for preschool at age 3. "I will have to find something to do the first day of school this year because when I see those yellow school buses on the road, I'm sure I'll be inclined to follow them somewhere, anywhere, to whatever school they're going to," the 52-year-old said in jest.