Howard County Schools

Shalini Uttamsingh has watched International Night at Fulton Elementary School grow from an event that featured a handful of countries and attracted a couple of hundred people last year, to a major production spotlighting 20 countries and drawing a crowd of about 500. The growth of the event over just two years also serves as a reflection of the shift in the ethnic diversity among the county's student population. "You got an insider's view to the culture," said Uttamsingh, a parent and co-organizer of the event.

Howard County schools will get $16 million in state construction money next year, helping to pay for two new middle schools and additions and renovations to others.The money, announced yesterday by Gov. Parris N. Glendening as Howard County's share of a statewide package of $257 million, was more than the $13.4 million the county received this year.Schools Superintendent Michael E. Hickey said he was "very appreciative."State officials previously had allocated Howard $9.8 million; yesterday's announcement of an additional $6.2 million brought the total to $16 million.

The exodus of dozens of Columbia children from a diverse middle school to a mostly white one in the country has sparked questions about the school system's transfer policy and about perceived inequities in Howard County schools.Parents of 50 children from one neighborhood, Clemens Crossing, switched from Wilde Lake Middle School to the rural Lime Kiln Middle School in Fulton after lobbying the school board to allow open enrollment, The Sun reported yesterday. They and other parents paid $37,800 a year to put 63 children on private buses to the school.

A Howard County pupil will not be allowed to wear an African-style head-wrap to school any time soon: She failed to win a temporary restraining order from a U.S. District Court judge in Baltimore yesterday.The pupil, 14-year-old Shermia Isaacs, says her right to freely express her Jamaican heritage is violated by a no-hats policy at Columbia's Harper's Choice Middle School -- a policy that school officials interpreted to include her cloth head covering.But Judge J. Frederick Motz indicated that the policy is content-neutral and reasonably related to an educational purpose, according to Patti Caplan, a spokeswoman for Howard County schools.

Howard County Schools Superintendent Michael E. Hickey has proposed a $35.48 million capital budget for next year that includes construction of an alternative school for troubled students and the planning of a new high school in Fulton to open by fall of 2002.The building plan, released yesterday and presented to the school board, also proposes constructing an Ellicott City middle school by 2004 and many additions, replacements or renovations to county schools over the next decade.Officials predict that the school system will have 6,732 new students in the next 10 years, a 17 percent increase.

Responding to a series of shootings at schools nationwide, the Howard County School system has formed an "action team" on violence to reach students who are in crisis and help schools respond appropriately if violence does erupt.The initiative follows a national movement after fatal shootings in Oregon, Pennsylvania and Arkansas."In all of the cases of these shootings, somebody knew about it in advance and they didn't take it seriously or they didn't know what to do," Howard County schools Superintendent Michael E. Hickey said.

When engineer Arthur Neal Willoughby talks about ensuring that Howard County's students have successful futures, he means it in the broadest possible sense. The Jessup resident sees a direct link between well-prepared graduates and, say, the gross national product."When I go and retire, it'll make my particular quality of life that much better," the 40-year-old said. "If they're working, the county is productive. The gross national product is going to increase."Willoughby -- who ran unsuccessfully for a school board seat in 1996 -- often takes a broad view of issues.

COUNTY SCHOOL officials excelled at promoting their new technology magnet program, an ambitious effort to improve and update technical education. Eager students, often with prodding from their parents, have flocked to the program, pushing first-year enrollment to 660 freshmen, sophomores and juniors. The next freshman technology magnet class could contain 600 students if all eighth-graders who registered for the program are admitted.However, the larger number of students registering is forcing officials to consider the unpleasant alternative of instituting a lottery to determine which students to enroll.

Howard County school officials plan to expel at least three students suspended for brutally beating a senior at Columbia's Long Reach High School.The expulsions were not officially confirmed as of late yesterday because it was unclear if the students' parents had been contacted, school system spokeswoman Patti Caplan said."

Despite the Howard County schools' top record, parents are pulling their children out of public school classrooms to teach them at home in rapidly growing numbers.Mirroring the county's dramatic growth in private school enrollment, the number of home-schooled children in Howard more than tripled in the first five years of the 1990s -- from 174 students in 1990 to more than 600 in 1995.This growth rate outpaces state and national growth rates for home schooling. In the Baltimore area, only Harford County has a higher percentage of students going to school at home.

Candy, costumed witches and goblins, and even the word Halloween have been missing from many of the Howard County schools' celebrations this past week. The goons, goblins, witches and devils that have long been associated with Halloween celebrations are slowly becoming less commonplace. Instead, schools are following the suggestions of central office administrators and more kids are coming to school in doctor's scrubs and tool belts for career days or dressed as popular storybook characters.

Shalini Uttamsingh has watched International Night at Fulton Elementary School grow from an event that featured a handful of countries and attracted a couple of hundred people last year, to a major production spotlighting 20 countries and drawing a crowd of about 500. The growth of the event over just two years also serves as a reflection of the shift in the ethnic diversity among the county's student population. "You got an insider's view to the culture," said Uttamsingh, a parent and co-organizer of the event.

Bill Reybold departed for his freshman year at the University of Delaware last week filled with excitement and anticipation. The Howard County resident also took along lingering bitterness from his high school graduation last spring. Reybold recounted that all of the boys in the Reservoir High School Class of 2008 were hand-searched by three teachers moments before taking the stage during graduation ceremonies at Merriweather Post Pavilion. The search was prompted, the school's principal said, by rumors that students planned to dress in bras and panties and flash the audience.

Two 11-year-old Elkridge boys who lied about being shot by a man with a pellet gun on their way to Mayfield Woods Middle School this month have been disciplined at the school level, according to a Howard County schools official. "I can't tell you [the exact punishment]," said spokeswoman Patti Caplan. "Appropriate disciplinary actions have been taken related to our code of conduct as it relates to false alarms and disruptions of the school environment." The punishment for raising false alarms and causing disruptions to the school environment ranges from suspension to expulsion, according to Caplan, who said she was prevented by student confidentiality rules from divulging the punishment Principal Susan Griffith gave the pair.

Students in Howard County schools want healthier, tastier and more affordable lunches. They want better interactions with their teachers and more time during the school day to catch up on work. They also want places that are fun to go to with their friends and student governments that truly represent everyone in the school. These were some of the ideas that came out of a first Youth Summit, held at Marriotts Ridge High School on Friday. As many as 10 students from each of the 12 public high schools - as well as students from Glenelg Country School and several middle schools - participated in the summit, which tackled five issues: hang-out options, voicing concerns to adults, strengthening student government, quality of food and class schedules.

THE ISSUE: In light of two cases of alleged sexual misconduct by teachers in Howard County schools, what steps, if any, should the school system take to instruct teachers about appropriate behavior toward students? YOUR VIEW: Send e-mail responses by Thursday to howard.speakout@baltsun.com. A selection of responses will be published next Sunday. Please keep your responses short and include your name, address and telephone number. Addresses and phone numbers will not be published.

A few pupils made the difference in why three of 56 Howard County elementary and middle schools -- Murray Hill Middle, Oakland Mills Middle and Cradlerock School -- this year failed to meet "adequate yearly progress," or AYP, the yardstick under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The AYP measure is determined by factors including standardized tests scores and is used, among other things, to determine whether parents can transfer their children to...

Assessment-tests session is Tuesday The education committee of the Howard County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, in partnership with Howard County schools, will sponsor H.S.A. Night from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Mount Pisgah AME Church, 5901 Cedar Fern Court, Columbia. Parents and middle and high school students are encouraged to attend to prepare for the high school assessment tests required for graduation by the state. Information: 301-596-0936.

Parent forms can limit access to information The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (Public Law 93-380) authorizes local school systems to disclose some information from the educational records of a student that is designated as directory information. The designation includes basic biographical information only; it does not include student grades, test results or any part of academic or discipline records. The law gives parents and guardians the right to restrict the release of any category of directory information about their child.

Open houses set at Cedar Lane, Marriotts Ridge Cedar Lane School and Marriotts Ridge High School will hold open houses Aug. 28. The new Cedar Lane School, on the Lime Kiln Middle School campus in Fulton, will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and celebrate the opening of the new facility for severely disabled students. Howard County's newest high school, Marriotts Ridge, at 12100 Woodford Drive in Marriottsville, will hold its ceremony and open house from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The school will open this year for students in ninth and 10th grades, adding grades 11 and 12 in the next two years.