Instructional Assistants

Many Howard County elementary schools will be forced to move instructional assistants out of their classrooms and into cafeterias and playgrounds for up to three hours a day this fall, an indirect result of the school system's latest contract with the teachers' union.The contract freed elementary teachers from lunch and recess duties to give them more time to plan instruction.But with no money set aside in the school system's budget to hire lunch and recess aides, instructional assistants are the only alternative for most schools -- and many educators worry about the effect on the classroom.

Kindergarten registration Registration for kindergarten for the 2007-2008 school year will be held tomorrow through Friday at the elementary school in your attendance area. Kindergarten enrollment is mandatory for children who will be 5 years old on or before Sept. 1. Parents must present the following information at registration: A copy of their child's birth certificate or other legal document to verify their child's legal name and birth date. Verification of residence. Specific addresses from which the child will be transported to and after school.

The Baltimore County school board is exploring offering kindergarten teachers more help in the classroom. Instructional assistants are assigned to kindergarten classes that include special-education children, and some elementary school principals spend part of their school budgets to hire paid helpers, usually parents, for kindergarten. But at a recent hearing on next year's proposed operating budget, parents and teachers testified that all county kindergarten teachers should have assistants, given safety concerns and the increasingly academic nature of early-childhood education.

The Carroll County Board of Education approved a $317 million operating budget last night after a final hearing on the spending plan. Revised to account for negotiations with collective bargaining units that represent teachers, administrators and others, the budget request for the 2008 fiscal year includes a 7 percent salary increase for contract employees. With those increases and some other additions, the proposed budget is about $30 million more than the approved funding of $287 million for this school year.

Jeremie Rose hated to read when he started second grade at Halls Cross Roads Elementary School in Aberdeen, and his mother, Sybil L. Robertson, didn't know how to help him.But after immersion in REACH, a daily, one-on-one instructional program, Jeremie, 7, enjoys reading -- and success stories such as his have school officials envisioning its expansion throughout Harford County."

After 27 years of working as an elementary school instructional assistant, Sharon Fischer just got word that she is qualified to do her job. But she had to take a test to prove it. "It's a slap in the face," said Fischer, who helps in kindergarten classes at William Winchester Elementary in Westminster. "For nearly 30 years I've been doing this and getting wonderful evaluations and presenting at workshops and colleges here in town," she said. "And now, all of a sudden, I'm thought of as not being able to do the job that I love."

Howard County's elementary school principals are scrambling to figure out who will supervise children during lunchtime and recess periods next school year -- leaving many with the unpleasant prospect of reducing the time instructional assistants work with pupils.While county principals are quick to emphasize students still will be supervised during what typically are the most chaotic periods of the day, many say they just don't know who will replace Howard teachers in the cafeteria and on the playground.

The teachers who put in long hours and the parent volunteers ready to help in the classroom deserve credit. But when asked to explain Runnymede Elementary School's success in improving its scores over two years on the state's annual student performance tests, Principal Barbara Walker points to the school's commitment to early reading instruction."

The school board and the Carroll Association of School Employees came to an impasse in their contract talks yesterday, after several mostly contentious meetings since last month."

The proposed operating budget discussed last night by the Howard County school board would fund at least eight additional teachers and 10 new computers to strengthen reading programs.jTC The reading programs were among 10 critical areas highlighted in school Superintendent Michael E. Hickey's spending plan for the 1998-1999 academic year that was released last month.Other critical areas include reforming middle schools and programs for an evening school for disruptive students.The changes would cost about $3 million and would include intensive remedial reading pilot programs in three middle schools and three high schools.

Some fifth-graders at Havre de Grace Elementary School lacked equipment for a four-day overnight school trip, such as sleeping bags, hiking boots and rain gear. When Mary Sampson heard about pupils' problem, she approached local businesses and persuaded them to donate the needed items. Sampson, an instructional assistant at the school, has started two book clubs and a mentoring program for pupils. She also is the family liaison, a role in which she works to get parents involved with their children's education.

The Baltimore County school board is exploring offering kindergarten teachers more help in the classroom. Instructional assistants are assigned to kindergarten classes that include special-education children, and some elementary school principals spend part of their school budgets to hire paid helpers, usually parents, for kindergarten. But at a recent hearing on next year's proposed operating budget, parents and teachers testified that all county kindergarten teachers should have assistants, given safety concerns and the increasingly academic nature of early-childhood education.

After 27 years of working as an elementary school instructional assistant, Sharon Fischer just got word that she is qualified to do her job. But she had to take a test to prove it. "It's a slap in the face," said Fischer, who helps in kindergarten classes at William Winchester Elementary in Westminster. "For nearly 30 years I've been doing this and getting wonderful evaluations and presenting at workshops and colleges here in town," she said. "And now, all of a sudden, I'm thought of as not being able to do the job that I love."

With Howard County's political leaders questioning how to fund a proposed $440.4 million school budget for fiscal year 2004 - a 12.7 percent increase over 2003 - more than 50 teachers, schools employees and parents turned up at a budget hearing last night to argue that the finding more money for school salaries is vitally important. The teachers and their supporters packed the room to tell school board members meeting at the Board of Education building that the system's power was in its people.

Veronica L. "Ronnie" Garrish went a little out of her way Monday afternoon to run an errand of kindness, after her day as an instructional assistant in special education at Perry Hall High School. Mrs. Garrish was delivering a poster and a videotape of good wishes that students had helped create for an ailing co-worker when her car hit the rear of a truck on Belair Road in Kingsville, and she was fatally injured. The Baldwin resident was 46. Family members, friends and colleagues said Mrs. Garrish routinely went far out of her way in many areas of her life: at work, her children's schools, church, recreation leagues and Girl Scouts.

Some instructional assistants, media specialists and secretaries in the Howard County school district are angry about a study being done by independent consultants that recommends only one group of support employees be considered for a job upgrade and a raise. Educational support employees include health and science assistants, guidance office secretaries, principals' secretaries, teachers' secretaries, media specialists and instructional assistants. Of those groups, consultants from Human Resources Systems Group Inc. have recommended that principals' secretaries be upgraded from a Grade 8 to a Grade 10 on the school district's salary scale.

The Carroll County Board of Education approved a $317 million operating budget last night after a final hearing on the spending plan. Revised to account for negotiations with collective bargaining units that represent teachers, administrators and others, the budget request for the 2008 fiscal year includes a 7 percent salary increase for contract employees. With those increases and some other additions, the proposed budget is about $30 million more than the approved funding of $287 million for this school year.

The state has officially declared an impasse in contract negotiations between the Carroll County Board of Education and the Carroll Association of School Employees.Union President Sharon Fischer said she received a letter Saturday from Nancy Grasmick, state superintendent of schools, saying Dr. Grasmick had reviewed the issues and declared negotiations to be at an impasse.Superintendent R. Edward Shilling and union leaders wrote to Dr. Grasmick last month asking her to declare the impasse.

The teachers who put in long hours and the parent volunteers ready to help in the classroom deserve credit. But when asked to explain Runnymede Elementary School's success in improving its scores over two years on the state's annual student performance tests, Principal Barbara Walker points to the school's commitment to early reading instruction."

The proposed operating budget discussed last night by the Howard County school board would fund at least eight additional teachers and 10 new computers to strengthen reading programs.jTC The reading programs were among 10 critical areas highlighted in school Superintendent Michael E. Hickey's spending plan for the 1998-1999 academic year that was released last month.Other critical areas include reforming middle schools and programs for an evening school for disruptive students.The changes would cost about $3 million and would include intensive remedial reading pilot programs in three middle schools and three high schools.