Superintendent

Morris Wolfe Rannels, the former Cecil County superintendent of schools who was later a state safety and school bus official, died in his sleep Sept. 25 at his home in Clearwater, Fla. The former Columbia resident was 92. Born in Rowenna, Pa., he earned a teaching degree from Millersville University in Lancaster County, Pa., and had a master's degree from the University of Maryland, College Park. He taught math at Annapolis High School before serving in the Navy as a lieutenant during World War II aboard the minesweeper USS Constant in the South Pacific.

ISSUE: All 193 staff members at Annapolis High School must reapply for their jobs in a drastic step announced last week by Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell. He hopes the radical move will reverse anemic student performance and head off a state takeover. Annapolis High, which has about 1,700 students, has failed to meet state and federal benchmarks under the No Child Left Behind Act four years in a row. The school has struggled with poor reading test scores among low-income students and lagging graduation rates among minorities.

Howard William Hammond, a Baltimore City Community College financial administrator who served as the school's interim president in the 1970s, died of congestive heart failure Dec. 14 at the Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Towson resident was 81. Born in Nashua, N.H., he began studies at Tufts University. But his studies were interrupted by his service in the Army. He was assigned to the Galapagos Islands during World War II and attained the rank of sergeant. After the war, he completed his undergraduate studies at Tufts and also received a master's degree in education at the New England college.

When John L. Crew, then deputy superintendent for planning, research and evaluation, stepped into the vacuum created by the firing of city schools Superintendent Roland N. Patterson in 1975, he said he planned to stay in the position only five years. "I stayed two more years than I planned," said Crew, a certified professional psychologist, in an interview from his Ashburton home the other day. "When I stepped down in 1982, I was awfully tired." During his tenure, he restored relative calm to city schools in the wake of the turmoil that marked his predecessor's years, and achieved rising student achievement test scores.

The decision by Harford County's schools superintendent and its Board of Education to remove a controversial book, The Chocolate War, from the curriculum of a ninth-grade course is regrettable, to say the least. What started out as an admirable effort to teach young people about real-life issues has become an unfortunate lesson in cowardice. To help with the often-difficult transition from middle school to high school, Harford school administrators designed a course for ninth-graders called Living in a Contemporary World.

Nancy S. Grasmick has adeptly survived several governors - both Republican and Democratic - in her 16 years as the state's education czar, but a political battle appears to be developing over whether she should be reappointed for another term. Grasmick told the State Board of Education recently that she would like to remain in her job when her contract expires June 30, and the board was set to vote today in private session on whether to reappoint her. But yesterday, legislative leaders sent a sharply worded letter urging the board to hold off until after July 1 - when a board with new members appointed by Gov. Martin O'Malley could make the decision.

The decision by the Maryland State Board of Education to reappoint state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick more than six months before her contract expires is both puzzling and galling. Even though the board has given her early contract renewals in the past, this week's action shows a curious refusal - by the board and Ms. Grasmick - to recognize that times have changed. Such a provocative step when Ms. Grasmick has lost the confidence of Gov. Martin O'Malley and when the top two Democratic leaders in the General Assembly specifically urged against it could ultimately undermine her effectiveness.

The Howard County school board will officially launch its search for a new superintendent this week.The board has hired Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates Ltd. to conduct the search to replace schools chief Michael E. Hickey, who has headed the 49,000-student district for 16 years. Hickey, 61, will retire from the school system June 30.Unlike some school systems that want to make major changes, Howard's board members are seeking someone who will maintain "continuous improvement," but not "reinvent the wheel," one member said last week.

It wasn't just Roger Plunkett's unexpected $25,000 prize that had his wife and his staff members giddy.It was also the satisfaction that, just this once, they had finally gotten something past the man who is always on top of things.Plunkett, in his third year as principal of Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, cried yesterday when state Schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick presented him with the coveted Milken National Educator Award in front of a cheering student body."Did you all know about this?"

Baltimore County Superintendent Anthony G. Marchione is expected to announce today that he will retire at the end of the coming academic year as head of the nation's 25th largest school system.The retirement of the 67-year-old veteran educator would set off a nationwide search for a replacement that could take months. Several of the county's top education administrators could compete with outside candidates for the $128,750-a-year job.School officials and others expect an announcement to come today at an annual meeting of district administrators, ending months of speculation about Marchione, who rose from a Baltimore County math teacher to top administrator.

Carroll County schools Superintendent Charles I. Ecker, who has spent 60 years in public service and education, including two terms as Howard County executive, will retire at the end of this school year. Ecker, 80, told the school board Wednesday night that he will leave the system when his second term expires June 30. "I've been at this for a long time," the Westminster High School graduate said later. "I started teaching in 1951. ... I had a wonderful life, a wonderful career." Soon after beginning his teaching career, he became Carroll County's first supervisor of transportation and was assistant superintendent.

During his annual address to hundreds of Baltimore County school administrators and teachers, Superintendent Joe A. Hairston emphasized the need to prepare students for a future that they will have a hand in shaping. "The community we serve has evolved," Hairston said at Chesapeake High School in Essex on Friday morning. "The world in which we live has transformed." Hairston described the demographic changes: County schools have gone from a fairly homogenous student body in the 1970s to one where traditional minority groups now constitute a majority.

A Harford County teacher who was fired in June has filed a $2 million lawsuit against the principal of C. Milton Wright High School in Bel Air alleging negligence, interference with contract, emotional distress and defamation related to his dismissal. John Anker, 37, who joined the school faculty in November 2006, is suing Principal Marlene Molter because, he says, he was not given tenure after three years of probation during which he received many positive evaluations, several from her. The school system and its superintendent are not named in the lawsuit.

In the two years he has headed Baltimore's schools, Chief Executive Officer Andr?s Alonso has demonstrated a remarkable sure-footedness in navigating the political landscape. But his apparent acquiescence in the appointment of Brian Morris as deputy CEO, through a closed-door process in which the school board gave its now former chairman an unadvertised position in the district's central office and a salary of at least $175,000 a year, is a major blunder. It suggests an arrogant indifference to the appearance of impropriety that fundamentally diminishes public trust in the system and undermines the significant progress Mr. Alonso has made in cleaning up a system famous for cronyism.

A longtime educator who has spent several decades teaching at and leading public schools in Baltimore County has accepted the job of superintendent of Harford County's public schools. Harford's Board of Education announced the appointment of Robert Tomback on Wednesday. The 58-year-old Timonium resident has served since 2007 as area assistant superintendent for northeastern Baltimore County, with responsibility for 34 schools and about 25,000 students. Starting July 1, he will oversee nearly 40,000 students and about 5,000 employees in 54 Harford schools.

Maryland and 45 other states have agreed to develop a common set of academic standards for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, a national shift away from local control over schools that seemed unlikely even a few years ago. The agreement signed by Gov. Martin O'Malley and state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick was led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. It would only commit Maryland and the other states to craft a common core vision for what every student should know in math and reading, but it is a step that is expected to eventually lead to the adoption of national standards and tests.

The search for a new Harford County schools superintendent has narrowed from 17 candidates to four. The Maryland Association of Boards of Education launched a nationwide search in January, soon after the death of Harford Superintendent Jacqueline C. Haas. Patricia L. Skebeck is interim superintendent. "We will be looking for a someone coming from a place similar to Harford County," said Cathi Peters, president of the Harford County Council of PTAs, who will be among those interviewing the candidates.

Many teachers wore red T-shirts. The fronts were emblazoned with the question: "What do we want?" The back of the T-shirts read: "Respect." More than 800 teachers lined a portion of Riva Road in Annapolis outside the Anne Arundel County schools headquarters on Wednesday evening to protest concerns tied to continuing contract negotiations between the teachers union and the school system. The teachers, led by Tim Mennuti, president of the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County, said they were concerned about possible class-size increases, plans to eliminate lesson-planning time during the school day and staff cuts that would increase pressures on an already overburdened work force.

The Howard County Public School System is seeking members for an Attendance Area Adjustment Committee to the Superintendent, as redistricting might be considered for the 2010-2011 school year. Prospective plans must be reviewed by a committee of 10 to 12 county residents and can include a student. Committee members are appointed by the superintendent to advise and comment during the planning phase on recommendations for the capital budget and redistricting. If redistricting is deferred, the pool of citizens who have expressed interest will be retained for the next year.

Howard superintendent to get human rights honor Howard County schools Superintendent Sydney L. Cousin will be honored by the county's Human Rights Commission as the recipient of the 2008 Human Rights Award. Cousin will be honored at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Slayton House, 10451 Twin Rivers Road in Columbia. The ceremony is open to the public. "I'm honored to receive this prestigious award," said Cousin, 63, who was appointed superintendent in July 2004. The commission also will honor the late Leola M. Dorsey, a longtime member of the NAACP and the Howard Community College board of trustees.