School Staff

As thousands of families pour into Maryland in the next few years as a result of the military base realignment and closure (BRAC) plans, where they choose to live is likely to be heavily influenced by what local school systems have to offer. The latest wave of newcomers will include a higher proportion of civilians, who are more amenable to commuting, making their impact on specific communities much less predictable. That's why the state needs to give school districts additional flexibility in building or renovating schools, with perhaps more priority and funding given to BRAC-related school projects.

At Bollman Bridge Elementary School, Staff Appreciation Week will include massages and minifacials. At Hammond Middle School, all employees will receive custom-made bookmarks and several meals. Atholton High School is hosting a root beer float party, and Centennial Elementary School is asking students to bring in real or hand-drawn flowers. Staff Appreciation Week, the first full week in May, was started by the national PTA in 1984. Each year, the event tests the creativity and resources of Howard County parents as they find budget-conscious ways to honor their schools' teachers and other employees.

In a field where failure is the norm, the Bowling Brook Preparatory School seemed to be the rare program that worked. Judges sent young armed robbers there, and they emerged college-bound high school graduates. A rural community watched with approval as urban delinquents became young gentlemen who volunteered at town fairs and pancake breakfasts. Lawmakers in Annapolis took notice, showering the privately run reformatory with millions in construction dollars so it could house and rehabilitate more of the state's swelling population of juvenile offenders.

ANNAPOLIS HIGH SCHOOL doesn't have a teacher problem. It has a parent problem. In the past month, Anne Arundel County Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell has announced that the faculty and the staff at the school -- from the principal to the janitors -- must reapply for their jobs. The reason? A handful of students has failed assessment tests in each of the past four years, and the school is in danger of a state takeover. I think the state should take over the households those failing students come from and make the parents reapply for their jobs.

Bowling Brook Preparatory School officials said yesterday that its staff "followed all appropriate restrictive procedures" in handling Isaiah Simmons III, 17, who died after reportedly losing consciousness while being restrained by staff last week at the private residential center for juveniles. "When Isaiah became threatening, our staff responded for his safety and the safety of others," said a statement by the school yesterday, the first public comment by the Carroll County facility since Simmons' death Tuesday.

No one was spared. Cafeteria workers. Teachers. School secretaries. The principal. All 193 staff members at Annapolis High School must reapply for their jobs in a drastic step announced yesterday by Superintendent Kevin Maxwell. It is a radical move that top Anne Arundel County school officials hope will reverse anemic student performance and head off a state takeover they fear is in the future of their flagship high school.

County school officials are expanding professional development, starting "twilight" tutoring and expanding summer school after Annapolis High School moved one step closer to state intervention. Annapolis High failed to meet the state benchmarks for four years in a row on the English portion of the Maryland High School Assessments and in its graduation rate, according to test data released by the state last week. The school system is required to make changes at the school, which could include replacing its staff.

The Anne Arundel County Board of Education endorsed yesterday a spending plan for the next fiscal year that includes funds to screen parents and school visitors against national and state sex offender registries. The school board approved an operating budget of more than $801 million and a capital budget of more than $113 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The budget goes to County Executive Janet S. Owens, who can cut the budget before she adds it to her spending plan for the county, which then goes to the County Council.

This month, the chief financial officer and the general counsel left the Baltimore school system. Last month, it was the student support services officer. Over the summer, it was the chief of staff. City schools Chief Executive Officer Bonnie S. Copeland has replaced much of her senior staff in recent months, including three of her top four deputies - changes she describes as "just a normal course of events for an urban school system." "People decide they want to retire, or they decide for health reasons they want to do something a little less stressful," she said.

A record number of new teachers hired for this year by the Harford County public school system did little to increase underrepresented ranks of male and minority teachers, an issue school systems grapple with across the nation. Along with the first fully funded budget in the school system's history came 419 openings for new teachers for the 2005-2006 school year. According to figures presented to the Board of Education last week, the system filled the slots with 115 men and 33 minorities - both record highs for a single year.