School Superintendent

County school Superintendent C. Berry Carter II is prepared to have an outside investigator sort through circumstances surrounding former Northeast High social studies teacher Ronald Walter Price, who has admitted having sex with up to seven students during his 25 years at the Pasadena school.Nancy Jane Adams, a spokeswoman for the Anne Arundel County Board of Education, said Mr. Carter will ask the board Wednesday night to request that an investigator be appointed by state school Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick.

The Harford County school board approved last night boundaries for a combined high school and middle school set to open in fall 2007, leaving largely intact a version of the plan that some parents complained about when it was submitted in February. With about 200 people attending last night's meeting in Bel Air, the board approved a series of recommendations determining which students will attend the new Patterson Mill complex. School officials said about 1,100 students from Bel Air high and middle schools will be shifted to the new facility, a sticking point for many parents, who objected to the disruption of their children's academic track.

This is National School Choice Week, an occasion that always makes me think back to 1976, when as a writer for my high school paper, I interviewed retiring Baltimore County schools Superintendent Joshua Wheeler. I asked Mr. Wheeler why our schools didn't require proficiency testing for graduation. "I know we're a great school system," I said diplomatically, "but even so, some of our kids graduate without being able to read and write. " Mr. Wheeler was an honest public servant, and I'll never forget his candid response: "Your question shows that you do not understand the purpose of the public education system.

Stephen Lemnah thought he had maintained a good relationship with his students in the two years he has taught auto shop at the Howard County School of Technology.No one ever put an apple on his desk, but he never thought to worry -- until he sipped his Diet Coke Tuesday morning and learned that someone had sprayed carburetor cleaner into the can."Hopefully, it'll never happen again," said Mr. Lemnah, 37, of Frederick. "It's over with now. It hasn't changed my drive to teach."A 16-year-old Columbia youth, who was charged as a juvenile on a misdemeanor count, was being held in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Services at the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School in Baltimore County yesterday.

The second of three teen-agers officially cleared this week of raping a 15-year-old classmate at Mount Hebron High School in Howard County has been put on notice that he will - at a minimum - serve a 10-day suspension. The mother of Roderick D. Rudolph, 15, was notified yesterday of Principal Veronica Bohn's decision to impose the longest punishment she could under the school system's discipline policy for violating rules barring sexual acts on school grounds. Bohn told the mother that she will have to meet with Superintendent Sydney L. Cousin, who could increase the punishment, said Rudolph's lawyer, Lawrence B. Rosenberg.

WHEN ERIC J. Smith, Anne Arundel County school superintendent designee, arrives in Annapolis today, he will embark on a 48-hour "getting-to-know you" tour. PTA members, leaders of the teachers union, County Council members, state lawmakers, the mayor, the county executive -- they've all been invited to meet the man tapped to lead Arundel's 75,000-student district. And unless Mr. Smith, the highly touted school superintendent from Charlotte, N.C., makes a major gaffe or underwhelms the various political and educational constituencies, he'll most likely be at the helm at Riva Road.

For once, the head of county schools agrees with kids who hate school -- neither wants the academic year to last longer that it already does.At least not right now. Harford County School Superintendent Ray Keech says he opposes a proposal from the state Board of Education that would add 20 days to the school year by September 1995, bringing total school days to 200. The state suggests adding five days each over the next four years, beginning with the 1992-1993...

County school officials are surprised and puzzled by the departure of state School Superintendent Joseph L. Shilling -- the man who spearheaded school reforms they now must implement.While there was nothing but praise for the state leader, described as a good administrator who is well-respected by state legislators, county officials questioned Shilling's timing.After rushing to implement the Maryland School Performance Program -- a state plan to revise school curriculums, make test scores and school information public through annual report cards, and more comprehensive testing programs -- Shilling's decision to return as school superintendent in his native Queen Anne's County may harm the alreadynarrowly supported plan, county officials said.

William W. Purkey delivers a message that's as touchy-feely as a talk by hug guru Leo Buscaglia and as humorous as a monologue by David Letterman."Live to enjoy," "take time for each other" and "I'm a nacho chip and the world's a dip" are just a few of his refrains.But Dr. Purkey isn't the latest arrival on the book circuit or in the late-night TV wars. He's a university professor who travels around the country talking about a serious topic: children at risk of dropping out of school.Yesterday, he was at Aberdeen High School, speaking to more than 200 teachers, educators and Harford County officials about ways to encourage educational success among students.