Special Education

Saying that Baltimore's schools have made great strides in the past several years toward providing better teaching to special education students, a federal judge ended 26 years of oversight of the school system and paved the way for a final settlement in two years. U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Garbis accepted an agreement from the parties in a lawsuit that began in 1984 when the Maryland Disabilities Law Center filed suit on behalf of several special education students saying they were not being offered adequate services.

On any given day, the activity in Ellen Vikestad's classroom would resemble a round of bumper cars. As Vikestad and her special-needs students at Claremont High School have made their way from one end of her cramped classroom to the other for lessons, they do so in a 15-minute navigation of instruments, desks and one another. On Tuesday, officials from the Baltimore Teachers Union and the city school system surprised Vikestad with news: Soon that would change. Vikestad, in her fifth year of teaching music therapy at Claremont — a tiny school that offers a life-skills curriculum for its 61 students who are not pursuing diplomas — won the BTU Extreme Classroom Makeover contest, held every year by the local union and its parent organization, the American Federation of Teachers.

Mary Hogan Goss, a retired Baltimore County special-education bus attendant, department store sales associate and homemaker, died of cancer Oct. 25 at her Perry Hall home. She was 81. Born Mary Teresa Hogan in Baltimore and raised on Ravenwood Avenue, she attended the Shrine of the Little Flower School and was a 1946 graduate of the Catholic High School of Baltimore. She attended what is now Towson University. During a men's league football game at Herring Run Park, she met her future husband, Francis X. Goss, an electrician and real estate broker.

Special-education advocates are calling for the state to do more to address the bullying of disabled students, saying that a recent lawsuit against the city school system highlights the long-lasting harm that harassment can do to such children. Experts want officials to strengthen Maryland's anti-bullying laws to provide more detailed rules for educators to follow in reporting incidents and more scrutiny in situations that involve sometimes-fragile students. "They have targets on their back, and with a child who already has a disability, the damage can be greater," said Ellen Callegary, an attorney and special-education advocate for more than 30 years, who is part of a coalition of advocates pressing for changes at the state level.

County school officials are looking for community residents to serveon a review committee that will spend the remainder of the 1990-1991and 1991-1992 school years evaluating the special education program.Applicants must live or work in Howard County, be available for committee meetings and be committed to objectivity through the process.Application forms are available from the Department of Education assessment office at 313-6701.The applications must be postmarkedno later than Feb. 1.Applications are to be submitted to PhyllisH.

Doris Moody said her grandson missed five months of classes last year because the Baltimore school system couldn't find a slot for the special education student who has emotional problems and dyslexia, a reading impairment.And after her grandson, Carl Jones, 13, was accepted into Herring Run Middle School last year, he had no regular teacher for two months. Instead, a teacher's aide ran the class while the teacher was out sick, said Ms. Moody.She is so frustrated with the school system that she's now looking for a private school for Carl.

LIKE MOST special educators I know, I chose the teaching profession because of a deep commitment to children, fueled by the belief that all students, regardless of socioeconomic status or disability, can benefit from an appropriate education.Consequently, the recent series in The Sun "Lost Learning" filled with an uneasy combination of thoughts and feelings. For example, I was angry that so many city students were unable to learn to read and outraged that compensation for such deficiencies took the form of electronic gadgets and cruises in the Caribbean.

The Harford County school board approved last week plans for special education and for the Title I program for disadvantaged students.The plan for Title I, a federal program designed to improve the reading and math skills of disadvantaged students, calls for the program to be maintained in 13 elementary schools. New federal eligibility requirements would have limited the program to six schools this year, but county money will keep the program in the seven remaining schools.The program, formerly known as Chapter I, provides specialized teachers, parent involvement programs, home visitors and other services.

Carroll County school officials told the Hampstead town council last night that they plan to use part of the old Hampstead Elementary School for a special education program for students with learning disabilities or serious emotional disturbances.Vernon Smith, director of school support services, said five classrooms have been prepared in the newest part of the building to house the program. The program has been renting space at Springfield Hospital Center, but has lost its lease.Dr. Harry Fogle, supervisor of special education, said 25 to 30 middle- and high-school students would participate in the Behavioral Education Support Team, or BEST, program beginning in the fall.

Once Harford's budget was ratified by the County Council in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Harford County schools had $340,000 more for special education.The council, which gave the school system $1 million more than the County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann had budgeted, unanimously approved the executive's proposed $237.3 million budget for fiscal 1995.The budget includes a $175 million operating budget -- almost 10 percent higher than fiscal 1994's $160 million -- and $62 million for the highway, water and sewer, and solid-waste budgets.

Kennedy Krieger High School student Jeremy Holmes had two dreams after graduating in 2013: visiting Hawaii and following his father's footsteps to stand alongside U.S. Marines. On Sunday, both dreams will be realized early, when Holmes boards a plane to Hawaii with four of his classmates to take part in ceremonies commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The students are part of the Central Maryland Young Marines Unit at Kennedy Krieger High School, a national youth program offered at the non-public school that serves special-education students referred from school districts across the region.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who says he has seen a broad spectrum of the nation's schools, from successful to struggling, left Wilde Lake High School this week singing not only its praises but those of the Howard County school system. During a roundtable discussion at the school, Duncan posed questions to Wilde Lake students about whether the system known for its diversity works for all of its students. Columbia's Wilde Lake, where school officials say more than 90 percent of students pass high school assessments before the 12th grade, has one of the county's most diverse student populations, with no ethnic group totaling more than 41 percent of its enrollment.

Selma Curry-Harrison joined the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship as program director for the Baltimore affiliate's 24 schools that use the curriculum. Middle and high school students learn how to start businesses through NFTE classes. The Catonsville resident previously worked for Montgomery County Public Schools. She was also a longtime special education teacher. Curry-Harrison launched the National Academy of Finance at Patterson High School before retiring as an administrator with Baltimore City Public Schools.

Margaret Ann Wotthlie Curtis, career-long Baltimore County educator of special needs children, died Aug. 11 of cancer at Dove House in Westminster. She was 71. Born in Baltimore on Oct. 20, 1939, Mrs. Curtis grew up on Rogers Avenue, and graduated from the prestigious, all-female Western High School in 1957. She married Eugene Curtis the same year, and they raised their three sons in Reisterstown. Mrs. Curtis, affectionately known to her family and friends as "Peggy," began her education career as a cafeteria volunteer at Chatsworth Elementary School in 1975, one year after the Reisterstown school opened with Nancy S. Grasmick — who would later become the state superintendent — as its principal.

Elkridge Elementary School will end this school year with a few final goodbyes to some fine folks that have been touching little lives for many years. Here are snapshots of three people that have made wonderful contributions to the education system and are now retiring, or rather evolving, into another phase of life. Sandy Lee Byerly, para educator. After a few gentle prods, Sandy shares a little bit of herself as she embarks on her new journey. "Elkridge is my real, honest-to-goodness 'hometown.' I grew up here and attended the old Elkridge Elementary School, Waterloo Junior High and Howard High.

Alice Chan received University Honors Citation from the University of Maryland. Alysha Elam and Mohamed Alhedai , both of Columbia, earned degrees from Hampton University, in Hampton, Va. The following students, all of Columbia, earned degrees from York College of Pennsylvania, in York, Pa.: Ashley Stanton earned a Bachelor of Science in elementary and special education; Lindsay Houser earned a Bachelor of...

Because of inclement weather at the end of last week, The Howard County Public School System's Special Education Job Fair, scheduled from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at Harper's Choice Middle School, has been rescheduled for Jan. 31. The times and location will not be changed. Interviews that had been scheduled will be honored during the Jan. 31 job fair. Candidates who need to adjust the time of their interviews can visit www.hcpss.org. Information: Marya Pecukonis, 410-313-5694. HCC helps with student aid forms Howard Community College's office of Financial Aid Services invites students and their parents to receive free hands-on assistance in completing the 2008-2009 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

A PLAN developed by a committee of administrators, teachers and parents to improve special education in Howard County merits praise. Budget constraints may limit how much of the three-year, $4.7 million initiative will win immediate funding, but nearly every proposal should eventually be implemented.Superintendent Michael E. Hickey is asking for $3.3 million in next year's budget to kick off the program. Most of the money would go toward hiring teachers and other professionals who can meet the needs of disabled students.

Gladys E. Davis, a retired special education teacher and caterer, died Dec. 17 from complications of an infection at Northwest Hospital Center. The longtime West Baltimore resident was 80. Gladys E. Miller was born and raised in Baltimore. She was a 1948 graduate of Frederick Douglass High School. For many years until retiring in the 1980s, Mrs. Davis worked as a special education teacher in city public schools. In the late 1970s, she also had co-owned and operated a catering business with her husband of 61 years, Edward Davis, who died in February.