New Superintendent

As The Sun correctly points out ("Crowded classrooms," May 15), classroom overcrowding has developed because of decisions authorized by Baltimore County's school board, and we appreciate The Sun's investigative reporting and analysis of this problem. Unfortunately, it is unlikely the board would have ever raised this issue or brought it the public's attention. In fact, The Sun reported that "Donald Peccia, the head of human resources for county schools, said he was not aware of the number of classes with 30 or more students.

New Howard County schools Superintendent Renee Foose recently inked a four-year, $250,000 deal that includes a provision that allows her to be reimbursed for up to $25,000 in relocation costs. Foose will be moving from the neighboring Frederick County to Howard, where she must reside as superintendent. According to the state's Department of Assessments and Taxation website, she currently lives in a 1,531-square-foot, single-family home on .27 acres in New Market . The house is two stories and has a basement, according to the site.

The Annapolis Area Christian School announced on Tuesday that it has chosen a California school leader to replace its superintendent, who stepped down this year amid accusations of sexual harassment and retaliation. Rick Kempton, the superintendent at Friends Christian School in Yorba Linda, Calif., will take over in July, the AACS board of directors said Tuesday. He will fill the post vacated by George J.W. Lawrence Jr., who was accused by three employees in December of improper conduct in a suit against the school's association.

By all accounts Lillian Lowery, the Delaware educator who was named Maryland's state superintendent of schools Friday, comes to the job with an impressive resume and a reputation as a consensus builder who can work with teachers, principals and local school districts to get things done. She'll need all those skills and more to implement the kinds of reforms Maryland needs, and she'll have to hit the ground running if she is to make progress on the array of thorny issues that require her immediate attention.

As a retired school teacher with 30 years in the classroom (who regularly goes back to substitute), I feel I have the experience and insight to make observations regarding the just announced appointment of S. Dallas Dance to the position of Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools. Mr. Dance, at 30 years of age, will be the youngest superintend to ever lead our school system. It is evident, through this choice, that the Board of Education is seeking a person with ambition, focus and drive who will lead the schools in a new and innovative direction.

When S. Dallas Dance was searching for his first teaching job out of college, he was hired by a Virginia high school principal nearly twice his age. Just a decade later, after a meteoric career rise that impresses some and worries others, Dance has ended up in a similar job as his former boss, William R. Hite, now superintendent of Prince George's County schools. Dance was named Baltimore County's schools superintendent Tuesday, and he will be the youngest to hold the job in at least 50 years.

It's not often one sees two appointments to top school posts in Maryland occur at virtually the same time. Yet by a curious stroke of serendipity that is what happened this week with the appointments of Renee A. Foose and S. Dallas Dance as superintendents, respectively, of the Howard County and Baltimore County school systems. In both cases, it looks like county school board members - who, it turns out, were competing against each other for the two same candidates - made promising choices.

The Howard County school board announced Monday its two finalists for superintendent, and whoever gets the job could make county history. The candidates are S. Dallas Dance, chief middle schools officer in the Houston Independent School District, and Renee A. Foose, deputy superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools. Howard officials said they believe that if chosen, the 30-year-old Dance would be the youngest superintendent in the county's history; Foose would be the first woman.

Searching for a new school superintendent in Maryland sometimes takes the skills of a CIA agent, including clandestine meetings and flights to faraway places. Three Maryland school boards are nearing the end of searches for new superintendents, and each one has included a closed process during the last several months. In other secret searches, the names of the candidates are kept confidential and interviews with the school board are often held in airports or airport hotels so that candidates can fly in and out without being seen.

The Howard County Public School System is in the midst of hiring a new superintendent. The Board of Education began the process by wisely seeking the community's input in identifying the qualities the community would like to see in a new superintendent. With candidate interviews beginning this week, we can only hope that the search firm has had sufficient time to identify and solicit enough stellar candidates from throughout the country. Hopefully, this candidate pool will be energized and willing to tackle those areas in need of improvement, like the services provided to our IEP and 504 students, non-college bound students, plateauing achievement scores, accelerating improvement in the achievement of minority student sub-groups, and most importantly, improving the services to our many students in the middle — our on-grade level learners who don't receive the attention that our above- and below-grade level students receive.