Parents

Marianna Inga Burt, an attorney who represented children, died of cardiovascular disease March 12 at Union Memorial Hospital. She was 80 and lived in the Tuscany-Canterbury section of North Baltimore. Born Marianna Koenig in Hoganas, Sweden, she was the daughter of a chemist, Walter Koenig, and his wife, Elisabeth. She and her family moved to Germany in 1944 and lived in Stendal. She graduated from high school in what became East Germany during the Soviet occupation. Her family eventually left East Germany and relocated to West Germany.

Lisa Schlossnagle is accustomed to giving her time to Fulton Elementary School. As a parent and volunteer, she spends time aiding teachers in her daughters' classrooms, representing the school as its PTA delegate, and attending countywide meetings report on issues facing the school system. She has taken roles at the classroom level, including as a tutor for the A-OK (Assist Our Kids) program, and at the systemwide level as a representative on the committee that worked on redistricting proposals last year.

"This kid was just as imaginative and is just as adventurous as Steve Jobs was at the age of 7," said the attorney for the boy suspended from school after he nibbled a gun-shaped Pop-Tart ("Appeal filed in 7-year-old's suspension over pastry," March 19). I really don't believe Steve Jobs ever bit a pastry into the shape of a gun and then pointed it at other students. What the boy's attorney, and more importantly, his parents should be doing is sitting down with the 7-year-old and asking him what was going through his mind when he made the shape of a gun and pointed it at his classmates as if it were a game.

The parents of a Crofton teen fatally beaten blocks from his home won what they consider a hollow victory Monday when a judge ordered one of their son's killers to pay them nearly $1.8 million. "It could have been $100 million, and it's not going to make a difference," said David Jones, the father of Christopher Jones, who died in 2009 at age 14. "It's not going to bring him back. " His parents said they doubt they'll see much, if any, of the monetary penalty levied against 20-year-old Javel George, who failed to appear for trial.

These groups meet regularly. Alzheimer's Caregiver Support Group — Third Wednesday, 5:30 p.m., at Lighthouse Senior Living at Ellicott City, 3100 N. Ridge Road, Ellicott City. 410-465-2288. Bereaved Parents, USA — Third Wednesday, 8 p.m. For parents and siblings who have lost a child or sibling of any age. First Presbyterian Church of Howard County, 9325 Presbyterian Circle, Columbia. 410-321-7053. Breast Cancer Support Group — Third Wednesday, 7-8:30 p.m. Claudia Mayer Cancer Resource Center, 10710 Charter Drive, Suite G050, Columbia.

A bill that would ban gathering of biometric data from school children in Maryland - including information culled from the palm scanners that drew protest in Carroll County last year - is slated for a hearing Wednesday in Annapolis. Senate Bill 855, proposed by State Sen. Joseph M. Getty, a Republican who represents part of Carroll and Baltimore counties, would prohibit public school boards from collecting biometric information, defined as "fingerprint, vocal and facial characteristics; and any other physical characteristics used for the purpose of electronically identifying that individual with a high degree of certainty.

Moira Mattingly had only been pregnant for about 24 weeks - still plenty of time, she thought, to pick a name for her daughter. So when she went to the hospital with some discomfort - small pains coming every seven minutes - the news that she was going into labor was alarming. The baby's lungs weren't fully formed, her skin barely so. Mattingly was also confronting sobering statistics: Babies born before 26 weeks, called micropreemies, can easily die and have a high chance of lifelong medical problems like cerebral palsy and blindness.

Towson University president Maravene Loeschke was escorted by several police officers into a meeting with the school's baseball and men's soccer teams Friday morning to tell players she had decided to cut their sports. Her speech to members of the teams - some could not make it because they'd been given less than an hour notice and were in class - lasted only a few minutes, players said. As they left, they noticed that the cars carrying Loeschke and other officials were surrounded by about 10 additional officers.

A bill introduced in Annapolis this legislative session would make it easier for parents to challenge school systems when they believe their special education students are not receiving a proper education. Senate Bill 691, introduced by Sen. Karen Montgomery, a Montgomery County democrat, seeks to shift the burden of proof to local school systems in due process hearings, which advocates say are usually burdensome for parents who are often outnumbered, overwhelmed and outspent when they go before an administrative judge to settle disputes.  Due process hearings--which mirror civil court trials--are one of the pivotal rights afforded to parents under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

Hoping to open Carroll County's first Montessori public charter school by the fall of 2014, a group of parents is now working on an application to submit to the county by April 1. Sustainable Futures hosted a public meeting at South Carroll High School on Feb. 25 to discuss its proposal for a tuition-free public school for county children in grades 1-5. The group had submitted a letter of intent to Carroll County Public Schools in December and,...