School System

Use it or lose it -- words to chill the heart of anyone who has carefully hoarded vacation time for an extended leave or squeezed a budget to come up with a surplus for extra needs.That's what the Carroll County Commissioners told the board of education last month: Spend the school system's budget surplus by the end of the fiscal year June 30 or forfeit the money back to the county government.With nearly $2 million at stake, the school board was well prepared for the edict with a shopping list of computer equipment, books and instructional aids, vehicles and maintenance tools that was promptly utilized.

The discovery that Anne Arundel school administrators have been defying the state and the county by designing bigger buildings than necessary shows what's wrong with the relationship between our educators and the government. There's no coordination.State legislators, the county executive and the County Council are supposed to decide how to use tax money wisely. But school officials ignore their decisions.The school system's insistence on constructing buildings that exceed student population projections makes an already impossible situation worse.

Although it seems like just another symptom in the nervous breakdown of a school system, the decision by Rosalie Hellman to step down as Baltimore County School Board president is a hopeful sign. It indicates the board has at last acknowledged that the controversy surrounding the system has gotten out of hand and must be quelled.It also offers what may be the last chance to salvage the new programs implemented in the past year by School Superintendent Stuart Berger -- programs even many of his critics say are needed.

The Anne Arundel County Board of Education is spending money so quickly that it could be $3 million in the hole by the end of this fiscal year, a county auditor says.Bruce Emge, an assistant county auditor, notified the County Council of the potential problem last month after he analyzed the board's spending habits over five months.In a Jan. 4 letter, Mr. Emge cited problems in three of the school system's budget categories: "other instructional costs," special education and fixed charges.

Superintendent Joe A. Hairston, superintendent of Baltimore County Schools and secretary-treasurer of the Board of Education, will begin his second four-year term next month at the head of the nation's 23rd-largest public school system, with 108,000 students. Shortly after his appointment, Hairston established the Blueprint for Progress to chart the direction and progress of Baltimore County Public Schools. It continues to drive school and student performance. Most recently, the blueprint guided the design and development of the county's educational Master Plan, which will steer BCPS efforts through 2008.

Baltimore city CEO Andres Alonso told city council leaders Tuesday that the school system is not in the financial position to inherit recreation centers that are slated for closure in the city budget, after being peppered by council members about the system's ability to bail out endangered youth programs. Following a presentation on the school system's $1.31 billion budget-- presented last week and due to be approved by the school board on May 22-- Alonso was asked by City Council President Bernard"Jack" Young to clarify the system's stance on taking over rec centers, saying that he was dubious about the option given that the system doesn't even have enough money to maintain its own school facilities.

Baltimore County school leaders are proposing to spend about half of their $17.4 million in Race to the Top money on technology and increasing the number of Teach for America teachers. In a presentation to the county school board this week, educators said they want to use the funds to pay for $5 million in data systems, including a virtual learning center at Chesapeake High School and developing a virtual high school and games. Another portion of that $5 million would go to developing data systems to track students' performance and to a site now under development that teachers can use to gather curriculum information and individual student data.

The grandmother of a 9-year-old Baltimore student is seeking $10 million in damages from city government and the school system, alleging that the child tried to hang himself at Leith Walk Elementary after his teacher ignored repeated complaints about bullying. The suit, filed this month, also alleges gross negligence on the part of the boy's teacher, who is accused of taking pictures with her camera phone before going to his aid. By then, the boy had tied his jacket vest up to the classroom door coat hanger, put his head through the sleeve and kicked a chair out from beneath him, according to the suit.

The Harford County School Board has named interim school Superintendent Jacqueline C. Haas as the permanent replacement for former Superintendent Jeffery N. Grotsky, who was forced out in March just 20 tumultuous months into his four-year contract.Haas, a former special education teacher and principal, was appointed acting superintendent after school officials paid Grotsky $271,000 to buy out the remainder of his contract, noting "irreconcilable differences" between Grotsky and the school board.