School Planning

THE LONG, LANGUID days of summer are coming to an end, at least for the school-age population. But fall brings its own delights. There are new clothes to buy for school and new friends to make in the coming year. And many area groups present new ventures and schedules. The Savage Boys and Girls Club offers a large roster of activities for school-age kids. While soccer registration has indeed ended, there are a few places available for the tardy. New this year is flag football, a noncontact sport for the 7- to 14-year-old set. Volunteer coaches, referees and league directors are needed.

Laurel Boys and Girls Club officials have not only decided to put off plans to open a charter high school in their Montgomery Street headquarters indefinitely, but they will not renew the lease of its current tenant, Princeton Day Academy, for next year. According to club president Levet Brown, the charter school is being delayed because club officials have not been able to raise the money needed to bring the building up to code in order to house a school in the facility. Brown said Princeton Day, a private high school with about 40 students, was using space in the annex portion of the building free of charge.

David C. Drown - who has become identified with the laborious task of redistricting for the Howard County public school system - has accepted a new role as director of pupil transportation. He replaces Glenn Johnson, who retires at the end of the month. Drown will be responsible for a transportation system that includes 400 contracted buses that carry about 37,000 students each school day. His biggest challenge, he said, will be to attract and maintain qualified contractors and school bus drivers.

An Anne Arundel County judge handed the Key School a victory Tuesday, allowing the 55-year-old Annapolis private school to go ahead with plans to turn the 70-acre Annapolis Golf Club into an outdoor campus for athletics. A request by residents of the surrounding Annapolis Roads community to block the proposed landscape of playing fields, tennis courts, parking lot and a maintenance facility was turned down by Circuit Judge Paul G. Goetzke. An appeal, however, is possible. "This is an important day for us," said Marcella Yedid, head of the school, noting that the school has been working with Anne Arundel County on the site plan.

Board of Education officials will discuss plans to open a new middle school on Mountain Road at a Nov. 30 meeting for Riviera Beach Elementary parents.Children from Riviera Beach, Fort Smallwood and Jacobsville elementary schools would attend the new school, which is on the same grounds as Chesapeake Middle and High schools.The plan aims to alleviate overcrowding at George Fox Middle School.Michael Raible, county director of school planning and construction, will meet with parents at 7:30 p.m. at Riviera Beach Elementary, 8515 Jenkins Road.

•Gifted and talented testing will be held from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. May 1 at Faulkner Ridge Center, 10598 Marble Faun Court in Columbia. Testing is for nonpublic-school students in grades 5-7 who plan to enter county middle schools in August. To register and for more information, parents should call 410-313-6800. Deadline is April 23. •The Howard County public school system is seeking members for a potential Attendance Area Adjustment Committee, to be appointed by the superintendent.

Group is honoring minority children who did well on test The Council of Elders of the Black Community of Howard County will recognize elementary school-age African-American and other minority children who attend community learning centers and scored at or above the 81st percentile on this year's CTBS/5, the national Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills. The test was given to second-, fourth- and sixth-graders in March. The event has been scheduled for 6:30 p.m. today, Friday and Nov. 12, because of the large number of children who will receive awards.

Better planning would win schools more state funds It is time for the taxpayers, parents and educators of Carroll County to know why our state has repeatedly refused to fund new school construction in this county, especially the Cranberry Station Elementary School and the new Westminster-area high school: Our county does not appear to have a comprehensive systemwide school plan at this time. Our county and school decision-makers continue to insist on building new schools in the wrong places and have different rules for different areas of the county when it comes to school planning.

Howard County could save 10 percent on school construction without hurting educational programs, two local architects say.Architects James Schulte, vice president of Security Development Corp. in Ellicott City, and Stephen W. McLaughlin, of ARIUM Inc. in Columbia, reported results of their school construction cost study Monday to school officials, PTA leaders, local business representatives and parents whohave served on school planning committees."Schools can be built less expensively without sacrificing any educational quality," said Schulte, who said he builds shopping centersfor $50 a square foot, about half the cost of school construction inHoward and neighboring counties.

A proposal that would send close to 90 students from Howard High School to Long Reach High School for the 2010-2011 school year has struck a nerve with some Elkridge parents, who say they moved to the area with the understanding that their children would attend the Ellicott City school. Joel A. Gallihue, the school system's manager of school planning, said it's too early to say what will happen in 2010. "It's so far out," Gallihue said. "And because the decision has not been made yet, I hesitate to say what neighborhood [would be affected.

The recent editorial ("Teachers packing heat," April 4) has a scathing opinion of the National Rifle Association's proposal to arm teaching staff in schools. The editorial calls this an "egregious line of thinking" and suggests that if "strapping a sidearm on the school librarian" is a deterrent, everyone should be required "to carry loaded weapons around wherever they go. " The editorial also claims that polls still who strong public support for universal background checks for gun purchases and that such an arrangement is the least politicians should support.

Gun-rights advocates unveiled Tuesday a 225-page report paid for by the National Rifle Association that lays out a vision for arming teachers to prevent the kind of mass shootings that claimed 27 lives at a Connecticut elementary school last year. Drafted in response to the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary, the report calls for the creation of a 40- to 60-hour weapons training course that would prepare teachers or administrators to carry guns and confront possible shooters — ideas that drew a mixed response from Maryland officials.

For Maryland's building industry, the good times may be coming back. The construction sector, which has been in the tank for the better part of five years, is on the verge of receiving a sizable infusion of money from recent decisions in Annapolis. Much to the chagrin of many Maryland motorists, the General Assembly has approved legislation to charge hundreds of millions of dollars a year in additional gas taxes - money that will build new roads and transit systems. Also heading to Gov. Martin O'Malley's desk is a $1 billion plan to build 15 new schools in Baltimore and renovate three dozen more.

A sweeping plan to invest $1.1 billion in building and replacing Baltimore's aging public schools won preliminary approval in the House Thursday, after delegates voted overwhelmingly to reject Republican efforts to put additional strings on state funding to be provided the city. HB860 , which was unveiled by legislative leaders only Monday, is expected to come up for a final House vote Friday.  Given the lopsided nature of votes Thursday, the bill appears likely to pass easily.  The Senate has yet to act. Three GOP members tried without success to amend the bill, under which the Maryland Stadium Authority would borrow $1.1 billion for construction of 15 new city schools and renovation of dozens more.  The bonds would be repaid over 30 years with $20 million a year from state lottery revenues, $20 million from the city, and $20 million from the city school system budget.  Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has said the city's share would come from the general fund and from additional revenue expected from the city's bottle tax and casino table games.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said Tuesday that legislative leaders are working to overhaul Baltimore's proposal for a $2.4 billion plan to rebuild  its crumbling school facilities in way that he's “fairly confident” will win General Assembly approval. Miller, a Calvert County Democrat, had been one of the chief skeptics about the original plan propounded by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and city schools  chief executive Andres Alonso. That proposal, involving a block grant of at  least $32 million to the city school system each year for 30 years, has been embraced by House Speaker Michael E. Busch, an Anne Arundel County Democrat.

I recently had the privilege of speaking to an enthusiastic and hopeful crowd gathered in Annapolis to urge lawmakers to pass a bill allowing the state of Maryland to renovate or rebuild Baltimore City's school buildings over the next 10 years through an innovative financing arrangement ("Thousands rally for city schools construction plan," Feb. 26). We are not asking for additional funds but a simply a long-term commitment of funds already allocated by the state so that the city's school buildings can be brought on a par with those in the counties and with charter schools.

Members of the Baltimore County Council on Monday approved spending $3.7 million on school safety equipment, including cameras, improved electronic entry systems and a new visitor ID system. County police, county officials and school leaders proposed the package last week, and the plan was added to the capital spending bill council members voted on Monday. Under the plan, the county will expand the use of cameras in schools, and the video will stream live to police patrol cars, precincts and command staff at police headquarters.

Some Baltimore legislators, determined to win state approval for the city's ambitious plan to launch a $2.4 billion, 10-year overhaul of its aging school facilities, are considering bringing in the Maryland Stadium Authority to provide construction expertise and financial oversight. The lawmakers are concerned that some state leaders are questioning whether the city school system has the ability to manage a project of that scope. One proposal is to set up a new authority to oversee construction contracting and monitoring of projects.