Parole Elementary

ANNAPOLIS MERCHANTS DESERVE PATRONAGEFrom: Joseph M. Coale IIIPresidentHistoric Annapolis FoundationHistoric Annapolis would like to recognize the construction, integrity and visual quality of the State Circle resurfacing and wire-undergrounding project that is being funded and administered by the city government with state participation.The attention to detail and craftsmanship of the brick work, granite curbs, pedestrian crossings, and soon-to-be-installed period street lamps all show great sensitivity to the adjacent streetscapes and to the architectural integrity of the historic district.

Margaret Julia Thomas Bivins, a retired Anne Arundel County public school teacher, died of congestive heart failure Wednesday at Northwest Hospital Center in Randallstown. She was 99 and lived most of her life in Lothian. Born Margaret Julia Thomas in Lothian, a southern Anne Arundel County community where her family had lived for generations, she was educated at the Zion Academy in her hometown and graduated from Armstrong High School in Washington. Early on, she wanted to be a teacher, and she earned a diploma from Minor Teachers College in Washington.

Walter S. Mills, whose 1939 suit against the Anne Arundel County Board of Education resulted in equal pay for black principals and teachers, died Monday of cardiac arrest at Anne Arundel Medical Center. He was 85.At the time of his suit, white school principals received $1,800 a year compared with the $1,050 that Mr. Mills and other black principals earned."I felt that what we were doing was just as important as the white principals and that we should be paid equally for it," he told The Sun in 1984.

In 1990, word got out that Anne Arundel County school officials were considering closing Parole Elementary School, and Rhonda Pindell-Charles went to work.She banged on neighbors' doors, circulated petitions and buttonholed school board members to win support for saving the school she attended as a child and to which she was sending her two children.Her efforts paid off: In the next 31 days she collected 2,500 signatures in a petition drive to save the school, a move that helped win a commitment from the county school board to keep Parole's doors open.

In 1990, word got out that Anne Arundel County school officials were considering closing Parole Elementary School, and Rhonda Pindell-Charles went to work.She banged on neighbors' doors, circulated petitions and buttonholed school board members to win support for saving the school she attended as a child and to which she was sending her two children.Her efforts paid off: In the next 31 days she collected 2,500 signatures in a petition drive to save the school, a move that helped win a commitment from the county school board to keep Parole's doors open.

The Annapolis City Council will consider a diverse agenda tonight that includes topics such as a new courthouse, a microbrewery and the renaming of an elementary school.Alderman Carl O. Snowden, a Ward 5 Democrat, is introducing a resolution asking the Anne Arundel Board of Education to rename Parole Elementary School for its late principal, Walter S. Mills.Mr. Mills, who died July 18, was principal of Parole Elementary from 1932 to 1952. His lasting legacy came in 1939, when he sued the Anne Arundel County Board of Education and won equal pay for black teachers and principals.

Anne Arundel County has lost two people who deserve to be remembered for making this a fairer and more harmonious place.Walter S. Mills was a Parole Elementary School principal who in 1939 -- the Dark Ages of the civil rights movement -- sued the school board for equal pay with his white colleagues and won.Marion Satterthwaite was an Annapolis woman whose greatest civic accomplishment, among many, was giving her heart and soul to helping displaced African-Americans...

Walter S. Mills was a wonderful man -- a man who devoted his life to the children of Anne Arundel County's Parole community, a man whose courageous battle for equal pay for black educators marked a giant step toward fairness for thousands of people. He deserves to be honored, and renaming Parole Elementary School for him is a perfect, fitting way to do that.Mr. Mills, who died July 18 at 85, spent 46 years at that school, from 1932 until his retirement in 1978. He was the principal for most of that time.

Admirers of the late Principal Walter S. Mills are trying to have Parole Elementary School renamed for him before it reopens to students next month.A technicality may stand in the way of their tribute, however."

School board members are scheduled to vote tonight on plans to change school attendance boundaries for three Anne Arundel county high schools: Northeast, Meade and Annapolis.The Annapolis redistricting plan would affect the most students -- 865. It also is the most controversial. Five plans, including the superintendent's, are under consideration.Superintendent C. Berry Carter II's plan would relocate students into neighborhood schools as a way to encourage parents to get more involved. However, his plan would change the racial balance of some schools, leaving some schools with a higher minority population than others.

The Annapolis City Council will consider a diverse agenda tonight that includes topics such as a new courthouse, a microbrewery and the renaming of an elementary school.Alderman Carl O. Snowden, a Ward 5 Democrat, is introducing a resolution asking the Anne Arundel Board of Education to rename Parole Elementary School for its late principal, Walter S. Mills.Mr. Mills, who died July 18, was principal of Parole Elementary from 1932 to 1952. His lasting legacy came in 1939, when he sued the Anne Arundel County Board of Education and won equal pay for black teachers and principals.

Walter S. Mills was a wonderful man -- a man who devoted his life to the children of Anne Arundel County's Parole community, a man whose courageous battle for equal pay for black educators marked a giant step toward fairness for thousands of people. He deserves to be honored, and renaming Parole Elementary School for him is a perfect, fitting way to do that.Mr. Mills, who died July 18 at 85, spent 46 years at that school, from 1932 until his retirement in 1978. He was the principal for most of that time.

Admirers of the late Principal Walter S. Mills are trying to have Parole Elementary School renamed for him before it reopens to students next month.A technicality may stand in the way of their tribute, however."

Anne Arundel County has lost two people who deserve to be remembered for making this a fairer and more harmonious place.Walter S. Mills was a Parole Elementary School principal who in 1939 -- the Dark Ages of the civil rights movement -- sued the school board for equal pay with his white colleagues and won.Marion Satterthwaite was an Annapolis woman whose greatest civic accomplishment, among many, was giving her heart and soul to helping displaced African-Americans...

Walter S. Mills, whose 1939 suit against the Anne Arundel County Board of Education resulted in equal pay for black principals and teachers, died Monday of cardiac arrest at Anne Arundel Medical Center. He was 85.At the time of his suit, white school principals received $1,800 a year compared with the $1,050 that Mr. Mills and other black principals earned."I felt that what we were doing was just as important as the white principals and that we should be paid equally for it," he told The Sun in 1984.