County School Board

An attorney for the family of an Anne Arundel County second-grader suspended from school for nibbling a pastry into the shape of a gun said Monday that a top school official has denied the appeal to have the boy's record expunged. Robin Ficker, attorney for Park Elementary School student Josh Welch and his family, said he will now appeal to the county school board. Josh Welch was suspended in March for two days after school officials accused him of shaping the pastry into the form of a gun and waving it around.

An attorney for the family of an Anne Arundel County second-grader suspended from school for nibbling a pastry into the shape of a gun said Monday that a top school official has denied the appeal to have the boy's record expunged. Robin Ficker, attorney for Park Elementary School student Josh Welch and his family, said he will now appeal to the county school board. Josh Welch was suspended in March for two days after school officials accused him of shaping the pastry into the form of a gun and waving it around.

A Sun article on possible uses for gambling revenue reported that the Baltimore County Public Schools estimated the cost of air conditioning its school buildings at $600 million ("Lawmakers who backed gambling look to collect for local interests,"" Nov. 20). This figure has never been verified by specific estimates for the schools that do not have it. The number seems wildly inflated, and BCPS should be required to prove its accuracy through estimates from independent contractors, not from the Department of Physical Facilities.

Thanks to Amy Carroll for her insensitive approach to denying the comforts of parks and the beauty of nature to the "grays," as she calls us senior citizens ("Mays Chapel residents sue county school board over land transaction," March 28). As for the schoolchildren, only a handful actually live in the immediate area. The majority will be bused in or driven to school by a parent. The added traffic, not to mention pollution, noise and otherwise, will only lead to the further deterioration of aging lungs.

Anne Arundel County School Board Nominating Convention has begun itswork to identify candidates for an upcoming vacancy on the county school board. This year's vacancy is to be filled by a candidate residing in Legislative District 33. The convention provides a mechanism for citizen participation in selecting and presenting qualified county candidates for appointment to the governor.Eligible organizationsare non-profit, non-partisan, have a minimum of 10 members, have duly elected officers, a set of bylaws, regular meetings, are composed primarily of adults and have functioned as an active organization in the county during the past year.

Paul G. Rudolph, the popular choice of the Anne Arundel County School Board Nominating Convention to represent the Severna Park-Crofton area, and Meade High School senior class president Steven White were named yesterday to the school board.Gov. Parris N. Glendening made the appointments, which take effect Monday. Rudolph's term is five years, and White's term lasts one year. A third appointment to the eight-member board, to replace Thomas Twombly of Pasadena, who quit last week, will be decided in the coming weeks, said a spokesman for the governor.

A cable television executive, an outspoken critic of Superintendent Stuart Berger and a retired county teacher are among 10 candidates for two vacancies on the Baltimore County school board.The candidates -- including four previous nominees -- are beginning the selection process that will end with Gov. Parris N. Glendening's appointments this spring or summer. But he is not required to choose any of them.School board candidates will talk about their qualifications and answer questions at a public forum scheduled for 8 p.m. April 5 at Ruxton Center, 6916 N. Charles St.In May, the School Board Nominating Convention of Baltimore County, a grass-roots group made up of 138 community organizations, will recommend candidates for an at-large seat and for the Councilmanic District 3 seat, which are being vacated by Rosalie Hellman and Alan M. Leberknight, respectively, June 30.Mrs.

Baltimore County school board members are considering a $68 million capital budget for the coming fiscal year that includes the first new high school in more than two decades. Also proposed are an addition to a Towson-area elementary school and a new wing for crowded Woodlawn High, a project that was promised funds before plans existed. The proposal, presented to the board last night, is half of the $137 million request approved by members last year, a fact school officials attributed to the focus during the past two fiscal years on top-to-bottom renovations at the district's elementary schools, and an expected increase in construction costs and limited county funds.

A year and a day after Winfield Elementary School Principal J. Raymond Mathias was killed in a car accident, the Carroll County school board approved last night a memorial to the beloved administrator.With no discussion, the county Board of Education voted to name a conference room and part of the school's athletic field in honor of the 52-year-old educator, who was killed in the accident May 11 last year near Route 26 and Woodbine Road, about a half-mile from the school.Before his death, Mathias had been principal of Winfield Elementary for 18 years.

Tuesday's Carroll County edition of The Sun incorrectly reported the proposed county allocation for the 1996-1997 school operating budget. The county school board is asking county government for $78.3 million toward an operating budget of $140 million.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 4/04/96

A group of residents has sued Baltimore County and the local school board over plans to build a 700-seat elementary school at the Mays Chapel Park, saying officials skirted county real estate laws. The lawsuit, filed this month in Baltimore County Circuit Court, asks a judge to declare that a County Council resolution authorizing the county and school board to exchange land for the school site was illegal. The county owned 10 acres of the site, while the school system owned the other 10 acres.

The Baltimore County school board voted Tuesday to close its smallest elementary school in order to accommodate a plan that would allow county officials to sell property for development. The unanimous vote, with two members abstaining, will close the Eastwood Center Elementary Magnet Program, where 191 students study environmental science, at the end of this school year and merge it with Norwood Elementary and Holabird Middle School. The schools will become one school on two campuses, organized as a K-8 magnet program focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)

Sixth-graders from West Middle School in Carroll County scoured the Bear Branch stream one recent morning in search of aquatic life in the dead of winter. Nathan Grella said the contents of his bucket did not appear promising. "We just got leaves and rocks," said the 12-year-old, one of 57 youngsters spending the week at Outdoor School at Hashawha Environmental Center in Westminster. Closer inspection, however, showed the leaves and rocks were indeed harboring life, information the students will use to size up the stream's health.

On Feb. 5, the Baltimore County Board of Education approved a proposal to build a 700-seat elementary school on the current site of Mays Chapel Park in Timonium. This decision is the culmination of a long process in which the board, county executive and County Council went through the motions of a fair deliberative process, with input from the residents of the surrounding community. In fact, this was a charade designed to reach a preordained conclusion. The issue of the proposed school was placed on the agenda of the regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting.

Dundalk parents are trying to stop a county plan that would displace students at Eastwood Center Elementary School, a magnet program they say provides a unique experience for young children. Under a proposal by Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, certain government properties in the county would be sold for private development.  The plan includes selling the North Point Government Center in Dundalk, a move that would make the police precinct there relocate to the building that now houses the Eastwood school.

A Sun article on possible uses for gambling revenue reported that the Baltimore County Public Schools estimated the cost of air conditioning its school buildings at $600 million ("Lawmakers who backed gambling look to collect for local interests,"" Nov. 20). This figure has never been verified by specific estimates for the schools that do not have it. The number seems wildly inflated, and BCPS should be required to prove its accuracy through estimates from independent contractors, not from the Department of Physical Facilities.

Ironically, while Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz is wisely planting needed foliage in the North Point area, he and the county school board are planning to tear down 10 beautiful wooded acres of unique, forested parkland in Mays Chapel North ("Nearly 1,000 new trees planted in Baltimore County," July 18). The contradiction is astounding. Mr. Kamenetz affirms quite correctly that "of all the strategies that make a difference in our environment, few are as effective as trees.