UPDATE: At tonight’s (3/17) Board of Education meeting, board president Thomas Fidler, Jr. announced he will not seek a second term on the board. Stay tuned for details.
You might not know by looking at the agenda released by the Board of Education, but The Dagger has learned that the Harford County Council is expected to raise a series of serious questions Monday night regarding secondary school reform in the Harford County Public School system.
Prompted by public concern over the Comprehensive Secondary School Reform Plan (CSSRP), County Councilman Dick Slutzky is expected to make a presentation on behalf of the entire county council during the Board of Education meeting Monday, March 17 at 6:30 p.m. in Bel Air.
As rare an occasion as it would be to have most, if not all, of the Harford County Council in attendance for the Board of Education meeting, Slutzky’s presentation has been curiously dubbed “County Council Discussion” and buried 2/3 of the way down the agenda under General Public Comments.
What could the Board of Education be expecting from the County Council Monday for it to go as far as burying the presentation in the agenda and misleading the public into believing it will be a “County Council Discussion?” We won’t even make any assumptions as to why Slutzky and the county council presentation was scheduled for St. Patrick’s Day.
Monday’s Board of Education meeting promises to be a lively and informative one with great bearing on the future of secondary schooling in Harford County.
For those who are unable to attend the session or who prefer to participate from home, turn on your computers and tune in to The Dagger Monday night for a simultaneous presentation of the full text, graphics and comments posed by the county council to the Board of Education. Let your voice be heard, if not in person, than electronically through The Dagger.
By including Councilman Slutzky’s presentation under General Public Comments in tonight’s agenda, I would hope that the Board does not expect to limit his comments to the 5 minutes allowed for someone representing a group.
I understand Slutzky requested one-half hour. The council had Tom Fidler on their agenda several months ago. Does anyone remember how that was handled?
I think that the President of the Board of Education talked for quite some time at the County Council meeting about something that had very little to do with public education. If I remember correctly he went on about how the county needed to expand water and sewer. It was difficult to figure out whether or not he was speaking on behalf of the corporation he worked for or for the students of Harford County. I also recall that at the end of the “presentation” he denounced the parents who had questioned the progresss of CSSRP.
I attended the BOE meeting last night ONLY because I knew that Councilman Slutzsky would speak. I was so happy to see someone voicing concerns that many of us, as parents, have already tried to bring to the Board only to get the usual blank stare and no response. Mr Hess tried, last night to question Mr Slutzsky’s statistical information and Mr Slutzsky reminded him of the difference between the BOE internal types of information vs external nonbiased stats. It was wonderful.
Thank you Councilman Slutzsky
I like the way you set up that your info is the holmepage, nicely done. Thanks!