Superintendent

A divided and upset school board came together at the last moment and unanimously appointed C. Berry Carter II as the school system's new superintendent yesterday."

Anne Arundel County's school superintendent has recommended the school board seek $77 million in state and county money next year to pay for about 40 construction projects, including a new Meade Area Elementary School.The recommendations for the draft construction budget were put together shortly before Superintendent C. Berry Carter II was put on paid leave pending the completion of an investigation into whether he properly reported child abuse cases during his term as deputy superintendent.

Walter G. Amprey, 46, associate superintendent for the division of staff and community relations in Baltimore County.LOCAL CONTROL: The notion is not new but represents what many principals have been doing all along."

Superintendent Michael E. Hickey's token contribution to a Howard County school board candidate has raised eyebrows among other candidates.At least one is urging former school board member Karen Campbell to return the $25 donation to Dr. Hickey and his wife, Nicole. Associate Superintendent Maurice Kalin, whose performance is reviewed annually by board members, also contributed $25 to Dr. Campbell's campaign."There are some potential conflicts of interests there," said school board candidate Jamie Kendrick, a Democrat.

As one of Howard County's highest-ranking Republicans, state Sen. Marty Madden feels compelled to be involved in the local issue that matters most to his constituents -- public education.He has virtually no direct role in the struggles to guarantee equity and fairness in county schools -- but he knows that won't matter to his constituents.His approach is both local and global. He urges his colleagues, Republican and Democrat, to honor the county's tradition of nonpartisanship in matters of education.

Even before Superintendent Michael E. Hickey's proposed operating budget for next fiscal year was officially unveiled last night, it was in trouble.The county does not have the money to finance the $229.8 million proposed school budget, County Executive Charles I. Ecker said in an interview yesterday. The proposal seeks a $12 million increase over the budget for the current fiscal year."We won't be able to fund it," Mr. Ecker said. "We can't go that high."Mr. Ecker sounded his warning after learning that the county expects to receive only $10 million more in revenue this year than last year.

The county Board of Education has scheduled a public hearing to allow residents to describe what characteristics they want in their next superintendent.The hearing will be held at 7 p.m. March 25 at theschool system's headquarters on Riva Road.The school board is about to begin its search for a superintendent to replace Larry L. Lorton, who resigned at the end of February, four months shy of the end of his four-year contract.The board has until July 1 to hire a superintendent for a four-year term.

Bonnie Ward, who has overseen curriculum, instruction and staff development as an assistant superintendent of Kent County's public schools, has been named the system's superintendent. Ward, 54, was chosen by the county Board of Education at a meeting Monday night and signed a four-year contract calling for an annual salary of $100,500, said Ann Dwyer, president of the board for Kent - whose system, with eight schools, is Maryland's smallest. She succeeds Lorraine A. Costella, who announced that she will retire at the end of the school year to spend more time with her family.

Eugene P. "Bucky" Waters, a retired Bethlehem Steel Corp. superintendent who worked at Sparrows Point for 40 years, died of heart and lung failure at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. He was 82. The 42-year Towson resident was born and raised in Germantown in Montgomery County. After graduating from Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville in 1937, he earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Johns Hopkins University in 1941. That year, he began his career at Bethlehem Steel in the management training program.

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.