County Public Schools

Baltimore County's list of requests for this year's General Assembly is focused on education and public safety, County Executive James T. Smith Jr. told state legislators at a meeting yesterday in Towson. Despite reduced state revenue projections and the impact of the national economic collapse, he urged lawmakers to continue to support the legislature's $325 million commitment to a statewide public-school construction program for fiscal year 2010. County public schools have requested $84.5 million in state funds for construction and renovations, he said, including projects at Parkville High School, Catonsville High and Milford Mill Academy that would account for $20.4 million.

A Harford County middle school teacher was arrested yesterday, accused of using the Internet to solicit sex from a 15-year-old boy, state police said. Officers from the state police computer crimes unit charged Jonathan S. Dick, 43, of Bel Air, a physical education teacher at Fallston Middle School, with two counts of solicitation of a minor. Police said they began an investigation of Dick, who is also a boys lacrosse coach at Fallston High School, in February after receiving complaints from the parents of a Prince George's County boy. The parents discovered "disturbing sexual text messages" between the boy and Dick, according to a police statement.

The Carroll County Board of Education will meet at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow at the board offices, 125 N. Court St., Westminster, to interview 22 candidates for a board seat left vacant by the resignation of Thomas G. Hiltz. The candidates are: Diana L. Bennett, Valerie Murphy Hickey, Maureen Norton, Xiomara Pierre, Finksburg; John Carr, Linwood; Michele Kraus Carroll, Debra L. Cromwell, Marriottsville; Stephanie Dahlquist, Tom Rhoads, Manchester; Barbara A. Gunther, David H. Roush, Timothy Schlauch, Jeff Sheehan, Debra J. Tervala, Westminster; Virginia Harrison, Michele Hughes, Sykesville; Lee Ann Leshko-Lindsay, Mount Airy; George E. Maloney, New Windsor; Jeffrey L. Morse, Taneytown; George Potter, Union Bridge; Stanley Prouser, Eldersburg; C. Scott Stone, Hampstead.

Our Anne Arundel County fiscal 2008 budget, a collaborative effort between my administration and a unanimous County Council, makes a historic commitment to the education of our children. Half of the tax money that will be spent will go toward our schools, a level unmatched in the history of charter government. We have focused our resources on the classroom, funded the Advancement Via Individual Determination program, expanded the International Baccalaureate program and promoted a safer, more secure learning environment with additional security provided by our Police Department.

Poster contest awards are Tuesday The Carroll County Youth Intervention Officer Program and Carroll County public schools will hold their third annual "Safety Is Only a Click Away -- Buckle Up" fourth grade Poster Contest Awards Night at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Winters Mill High School on Gorsuch Road. Law enforcement officers from the Carroll County Sheriff's Office, Maryland State Police and Westminster Police Department work together with the schools to provide safety and substance abuse prevention programs to students.

SOMETIMES prosperity's a bummer. The new technology produces jobs everywhere, and the old professions become yesterday's business. The schools, for example: Who wants to teach science at scrub wages when private industry's calling with money to make the eyes go round?Consider a few numbers: In all of Maryland colleges last year, a total of one student graduated with the intention to teach high school physics. In 2002, the state will need 11,000 new teachers to fill the expected void left by baby-boom retirees and increasing enrollment.

Four students from Francis Scott Key High were rushed to Carroll County General Hospital yesterday after ingesting a prescription drug that one of the teen-agers took to school, police and school officials said.None of the students was believed to have a life-threatening condition, said Lt. Terry Katz, state police barracks commander in Westminster. The students, all juveniles, were not identified because of privacy laws. Their ages were not available last night.One student was admitted to Carroll County General in Westminster for treatment, one was treated and released, and two were being evaluated last night, a hospital spokeswoman said.

THE LEVELING OFF of Carroll scores on the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program tests did not come without warning. Brian L. Lockard, then-county superintendent, admitted last February "we've lost ground already." He was referring to scores on the SAT test, taken by college-bound Carroll seniors, which had dipped below the previous year.The MSPAP composite score of Carroll third- , fifth- and eighth-grade pupils taking the statewide tests last spring actually rose -- by less than 2 percent.

They come from across the country, some with years of teaching experience and many fresh out of college, but all 700 with one thing in common: They are teachers new to the Baltimore County public schools. Yesterday, many of them met for the first time.The new instructors gathered at Chesapeake High School in Essex for the first of a four-day, optional orientation program that introduces them to the system, familiarizes them with requirements, tests and expectations -- and helps ease first-day-of-class fears.

Dick and Sherry Wright remember when they thought Jim Rouse's dream for his planned community of Columbia had finally taken hold.Dick Wright was teaching at Columbia's Wilde Lake High School 1980 and was in charge of picking a student to be the senior graduation speaker."

Gov. Martin O'Malley appointed an education administrator and former teacher to the Anne Arundel County Board of Education on Friday. Andrew C. Pruski, a Gambrills resident and manager of Baltimore County public schools' state-mandated assessment program, was appointed to serve the remaining four years of a departed board member's term. Pruski, who worked as a high school social studies teacher in Prince George's County from 2001 to 2005, takes the seat of former board member Tricia Johnson, who was appointed to an open seat on the Anne Arundel County Council.

Here's to all the clever high school seniors in the Class of 2009 who were not disappointed in their recent college acceptance mail - because they hadn't even considered applying to Harvard, Princeton or Yale. I just realized that opening paragraph rhymes. Serendipity. After reading a recent front-page story on the academic pressures on (and subsequent crushing rejections of) high achievers in Montgomery County public schools - and having witnessed similar wrenching tales among my children's friends in Howard County public schools - I would like to say to all of you bright, motivated students: Take heart.

Schools closing for spring break Anne Arundel County public schools will be closed Thursday through April 13 for Easter/Spring break. Schools will re-open April 14. Information: 410-222-5000. AACC open house Anne Arundel Community College will hold an open house for the noncredit, continuing education program in truck driving 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Glen Burnie Town Center Arundel Center North, Room 420. Information: 410-777-2325. An "AACC Information Session" will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Center for Applied Learning and Technology, Room 107, 101 College Parkway, Arnold.

A Harford County middle school teacher was arrested yesterday, accused of using the Internet to solicit sex from a 15-year-old boy, state police said. Officers from the state police computer crimes unit charged Jonathan S. Dick, 43, of Bel Air, a physical education teacher at Fallston Middle School, with two counts of solicitation of a minor. Police said they began an investigation of Dick, who is also a boys lacrosse coach at Fallston High School, in February after receiving complaints from the parents of a Prince George's County boy. The parents discovered "disturbing sexual text messages" between the boy and Dick, according to a police statement.

Anne Arundel County public schools have announced the discontinuation of gymnastics as a high school varsity sport because of sagging participation and a lack of coaches. Four of the county's high schools had obtained gymnastics coaches just a few weeks before practice for the spring season, county officials said in a statement last week. County athletic procedures dictate that at least six of Anne Arundel's 12 comprehensive high schools must field varsity teams in a sport for the county to support it. "It is regrettable that we have had to make this decision," county schools Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell said.

Schools close early for semester exams Anne Arundel County public schools will give high school semester exams tomorrow. Schools will close two hours early for all students for teacher workdays. There will be no afternoon kindergarten or ECI. Schools will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday for students but open for in-service/workday for elementary and middle school teachers and workday for high school teachers. Information: 410-222-5000. Public budget workshop The Anne Arundel County Board of Education will hold a public workshop on fiscal 2010 operating and capital budgets.

2 hearings, workshop on school budgets The Anne Arundel County Board of Education will hold two public hearings and a public workshop on the fiscal year 2010 operating and capital budgets. Hearings will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Glen Burnie High School, and Thursday in the boardroom of the Parham Building in Annapolis. Those wishing to testify can sign up beginning at 6 p.m. Testimony is limited to three minutes per person. The workshop will be held at 6 p.m. Jan. 27 in the boardroom of the Parham Building.

Baltimore County's list of requests for this year's General Assembly is focused on education and public safety, County Executive James T. Smith Jr. told state legislators at a meeting yesterday in Towson. Despite reduced state revenue projections and the impact of the national economic collapse, he urged lawmakers to continue to support the legislature's $325 million commitment to a statewide public-school construction program for fiscal year 2010. County public schools have requested $84.5 million in state funds for construction and renovations, he said, including projects at Parkville High School, Catonsville High and Milford Mill Academy that would account for $20.4 million.

Harford County is on pace with its preparations for BRAC, the nationwide military base expansion set for a 2011 completion at Aberdeen Proving Ground, officials have said. "The planning has been excellent. It comes down to implementation," Harford County Executive David R. Craig said at a community briefing Thursday night at Havre de Grace High School. The military project will bring about 20,000 new jobs to Harford by 2011. The influx - as many as 40,000 people - Craig estimated, will require new schools, roads, housing and infrastructure.

Redistricting committees schedule public meetings Redistricting committees examining school boundary lines for the Mountain Road corridor in Pasadena and the area south of the South River have scheduled their next meetings, county school officials said. The Mountain Road corridor committee will meet at 7 p.m. Oct. 6 at Marley Elementary School, 715 Cooper Road in Glen Burnie. The committee is looking at redistricting options available in the Northeast and Chesapeake feeder systems. The committee studying redistricting in the southern part of the county will meet at 7 p.m. Oct. 7 at Davidsonville Elementary School, 962 Central Ave. West in Davidsonville.