Extracurricular Activities

Editor's note: With the fiscal woes facing the Carroll County Board of Education, officials have had to slice about $3.5 million from this year's $107 million budget. Some have suggested cutting certain extracurricular activities and reducing the number of sports programs instead of slicing instructional expenses. We have been asking readers if they want school officials to cut some extracurricular activities and sports programs and leave academic programs intact. Here is another reply:From: Archie C. AllgireWestminsterA study, it's always a "study" of time(s)

Laura Lippman 's latest, "And When She was Good," is out this week, the latest from Baltimore's favorite mystery writer. Here's a review from Celeste Sollod, a book publishing veteran who writes about Baltimore literary life at BaltimoreBookTalk.com (You can also follow her on Twitter @BaltimoreBooks): Heloise Lane, protagonist of Laura Lippman's new stand-alone psychological thriller, "And When She Was Good", is one of the most complex characters the prolific author has created.

FOR SOME CHILDREN, obtaining good grades in school is its own reward. Others need incentives -- money, a private telephone in their room, the ability to participate in school sports or other extracurricular activities.Anne Arundel County's 2.0 grade-point requirement for participation in extra-curricular activities may seem unduly harsh some, especially after it was reported that one-third of those involved in sports and other extra pursuits had to suspend those activities due to poor grades.

A broad coalition of Baltimore youth groups is lobbying for $3 million from Mayor Sheila Dixon to create an investment fund that would hire hundreds of 10- to 24-year-olds to educate their peers through activities such as tutoring, coaching debate and playwriting. The coalition is trying to change the culture of a city where young people often turn to the drug trade for income and kids have to give up extracurricular activities - and sometimes school altogether - to support their families in dead-end jobs.

Saying that students will rise to meet expectations, the Howard County school board last night approved the toughest academic eligibility standards for high school sports and extracurricular activities in the Baltimore area.Board members also discussed the decision by Howard schools Superintendent Michael E. Hickey to replace the cover of the school system's calendar because the cover photo was deemed by many to be racially insensitive. Most members said they support the decision to remove the 43,000 covers but questioned the cost and time it will take for new ones.

Carroll school officials say they will continue to send a clear message to students: Do not use drugs or alcohol, or attend parties where others are using them, and expect to participate in extracurricular activities.Officials explained Carroll's eligibility policy for extracurricular activities during a news conference Friday at Board of Education offices in Westminster. School officials said they hoped to dispel public misunderstanding over an administrative decision in which 40 Westminster High students were deemed ineligible for extracurricular activities.

Howard County high schools are standardized in many ways - bell schedules, cafeteria lunches and county curriculums to name a few. However, the selection process for admission to the National Honor Society, as well as member expectations and service requirements, is different at all 12 high schools. The only standardization the county has for entry into the honor society is a cumulative minimum 3.4 grade-point average. Most schools use teacher recommendations, a personal essay and a list of extracurricular activities to determine a student's eligibility for entry.

The University of Baltimore has never tried to attract the typical high school student looking for four years of self-discovery on a leafy campus. Instead, UB students "are older. They are working, and lots of them are paying for their own education," says Peter Toran, a university vice president. "We are a campus for students who know what they want." UB is spending more than a half-million dollars to promote that image in a multimedia campaign that includes television spots featuring a graduate student struggling to keep her work and extracurricular activities under control and still make A's. The university, founded in 1925, was a private four-year institution until it became part of the University System of Maryland in 1975.

Howard County residents weighed in on the battle of the bulge last week when the Board of Education heard two hours of testimony about a proposed nutrition plan that would essentially ban high-sugar, high-fat snack foods in vending machines and at school functions. About 30 people testified Thursday night and shared concerns ranging from childhood obesity issues connected to a less restrictive policy to the potential revenue loss linked to the proposed plan - which has been called one of the most strict in the country.

In response to student and parent complaints about the district's drug and alcohol regulations, Carroll County school officials are making changes that more narrowly define the rules and which, they hope, will result in more consistent consequences for violators. Superintendent Charles I. Ecker said recently that he wants to clarify the definition of "constructive possession" (being in the presence of someone using illegal drugs or illegally possessing alcohol) and to relieve school administrators from investigating potential violations.

THE ISSUE: After state education officials declared contract negotiations at an impasse, the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County, which represents teachers and other school-based employees, voted last week to "work to rule" - performing all duties required by their contract during the regular workday but no longer volunteering time for tutoring or extracurricular activities for which they are not paid. Union officials requested the impasse designation because they say proposed cost-of-living increases fall far below what neighboring jurisdictions are offering.

Several Mount Hebron High School students are protesting their punishment for drinking during a school-sponsored overseas trip to Portugal and Spain - which they say occurred only after their teacher told them they could have one drink. Ten of the 16 students on the trip during spring break were disciplined for violating the school system's drug and alcohol policy - each receiving a three-day suspension and a 30-day ban from extracurricular activities, including tomorrow's prom, according to several of the students and parents involved.

Motivate students in academics, not extracurriculars The Howard County Board of Education last night (Jan. 27) removed the requirement that incoming 9th-graders meet academic eligibility requirements to participate in extracurricular activities, despite support of the majority of eighth-grade parents and middle school principals for the requirement. Until last night, incoming freshmen were required to have a 2.0 ("C") average and no failing grade in the final eighth-grade marking period.

For the past five years, Howard County middle school pupils got a clear message: Slack off in eighth-grade and lose the opportunity to play fall sports or join a club in ninth grade. That rule no longer applies. Starting next school year, rising ninth-graders, regardless of their grades, will be eligible to join a fall, after-school activity under a revised academic eligibility policy approved last week by the school board. While coaches, athletic directors and some parents welcome the change, others fear the new policy may mean lower academic achievement for middle school pupils.