Is money available in Harford County to pay for teacher raises in Harford County Public Schools? A presentation by the teachers’ union is expected to address that question at a May 21 business meeting of the Harford County Board of Education.
Also on the school board’s meeting agenda for Monday is a presentation outlining the expansion of science, technology, engineering and math education programs; a decision on the 2013-14 school calendar; approval of appointments and promotions; and approval of a contract to resurface the parking lot and bus loop at Magnolia Middle School.
A financial assessment of Harford County will be introduced by Randy Cerveny, president of the union representing teachers in Harford County Public Schools. Cerveny has called for union members to attend the May 21st presentation on the availability of county funds, which is expected to be given by the union’s outside financial expert, R.J. Pellicoro. For the current school year, the union had negotiated with the school board a 3% cost of living raise and other salary increases, but the raises weren’t funded by county government and the financial portion of the current contract remains in dispute. For fiscal year 2013, salary negotiations have taken place. However, no agreement has been announced and county funding has not yet been finalized.
Also at the May 21st school board meeting, school officials will make a presentation on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in Harford County Public Schools. Citing expanding career opportunities in the region and a growing focus on STEM, the presentation includes the following announcements:
• “Engineering is Elementary” is now fully implemented in all elementary schools in grades one through five. This blended STEM curriculum reaches every student, every year during science instruction. Over 650 elementary teachers have received professional development to support the implementation of this curriculum
• “Project Lead the Way: Gateway to Technology (PLTW)” was introduced at Southampton and Havre de Grace Middle Schools in 2011/2012
• Edgewood Middle school will offer PLTW in 2012/2013
• C. Milton Wright and Aberdeen High Schools will offer “Project Lead the Way: Pathway to Engineering” in 2012/2013
• The Bio-Medical Science Program, currently at Bel Air High School, is expanding to Havre de Grace in 2013/2014
• A cybersecurity program will launch in 2013/2014 at Harford Technical High School
• A STEM Teacher Academy was created in 2010 providing college level training in the core sciences for thirty two teachers, grades 3 through 8. Partners include Frostburg State University, Morgan State University, Towson University and UMBC
• A National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) partnership with Boeing and Department of Defense will be implemented for the next three years at Aberdeen High School and Havre de Grace High School
• Partnerships with community organizations will result in events such as STEM Nights and teacher professional development
Also on the agenda for May 21st, Superintendent Robert Tomback is expected to announce promotions and appointments that will be considered for approval by the board at the meeting.
In other business, school board members will be asked to approve a previously proposed school calendar for the 2013-14 school year.
On the consent agenda, school board members will approve a contract award in the amount of $173,116.65 to Frank J. Goettner Construction of Kingsville for resurfacing the parking lot and bus loop area at Magnolia Middle School. The contract is to be 95% funded by the State of Maryland, Aging Schools Program, with the balance to be funded from the HCPS Facilities Management capital improvement budget.
Also on the consent agenda is a monthly report on personnel who have left the school system; have been placed on leaves of absence; or are newly employed. Members of the Citizen Advisory Committees for next year will also be approved. Board sponsored citizen advisory committees provide community feedback on family life education; career and technology education; gifted and talented education; special education, and safety and security in HCPS.
A number of staff and student recognitions are planned:
• Following 40 years of service, Terry La Porte will be inducted into the Harford County Public Schools Educator Hall of Fame.
• Havre de Grace High School senior Anthony Cofrancesco will be recognized for his service as the student representative on the school board.
• Students who served on Superintendent’s 2012 Student Advisory Council will be recognized for their service. Students on the council meet with Superintendent Tomback four times during the school year to discuss how decisions affect students throughout Harford County Public Schools.
• Five students from Harford County Public Schools will be recognized as winners from the 2012 State Leadership Conference of the Maryland State Future Business Leaders of America. The five state winners are: Bel Air High School tenth grade student Michael Koscinski, who placed first in Introduction to Business; seniors Daniel Arguero and Nick Julian who placed first in Marketing; senior Michael Adams who placed second in e-Business; and senior Brandon Tesar, who placed second in Sports Marketing.
• Four students from Bel Air High School will be recognized as state winners and national qualifiers from the 2012 Maryland State DECA Career Development Conference. DECA is an international association of students and teachers of marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality, marketing, sales and service. The state winners and national qualifiers were seniors: Daniel Arguero, who finished first in Principles of Marketing; Nicholas Gardner, who finished first in Personal Selling; and the team of Jefferson Daeschner and Trevor DeMarco, who finished second in Business Law and Ethics.
Also on the agenda is a presentation by Dr. Jonathan D. Brown, director of community engagement, equity, and cultural pro?ciency.
As always, the meeting will conclude with a presentation by Superintendent Tomback.
Below is the published May 21st meeting agenda for the Harford County Board of Education. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the boardroom at the A.A. Roberty Building in Bel Air. A public comment period is scheduled for 6:50 p.m. Please note that published agendas are subject to change.
BOARD OF EDUCATION OF HARFORD COUNTY
A.A. Roberty Building
102 S. Hickory Avenue, Bel Air, Maryland 21014
Telephone: 410-838-7300 FAX: 410-893-2478
Customer Action Line (24 hours): 410-638-0022
Web Site: http://www.hcps.orgAGENDA
May 21, 2012Board Closed Session – 5:45 P.M. – Executive Conference Room
Board Business Meeting – 6:30 P.M. – Board Room6:30 P.M. Call to Order – Dr. Leonard D. Wheeler, President
Quorum Roll Call
Adoption of Agenda
Pledge of Allegiance6:35 P.M. Recognition
• Hall of Fame – Terry LaPorte
• 2011-12 Student Representative to the Board of Education – Anthony B. Cofrancesco
• Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council Members
• Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
• Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) State Winners6:50 P.M. Public Comment
7:00 P.M. Introductions
7:05 P.M. Board Committee Reports and CommentsOld Business
Action Item(s):
7:20 P.M. A. Consent Agenda:
1) Monthly Report on Personnel (Goal 3 )
2) Minutes of Previous Meeting: May 7, 2012 (Goal 1-4)
3) Decision on Approval of Citizen Advisory Committee Memberships (Goal 3)
4) Decision on Contract Award for 2012 Aging Schools Program Resurfacing Project at Magnolia Middle School (Goal 4)
5) Proposed Resolutions: (Goal 3)
• Anthony B. CofrancescoOld Business
Action Items(s)
7:25 P.M. B. Decision on the 2013-14 Calendar, Ms. Teri Kranefeld (Goal 2)New Business
Action Item(s):
7:35 P.M. C. Decision on Appointments and Promotions, Dr. Robert M. Tomback (Goal 3)Presentations(s):
7:45 P.M. D. STEM Education in Harford County, Mr. William A. Lawrence, Mr. Andrew Renzulli (Goal 3)
8:05 P.M. E. Update on Cultural Proficiency, Dr. Jonathan D. Brown (Goal 2)
8:25 P.M. F. Financial Assessment of Harford County, Mr. Randy Cerveny, President, Harford County Education Association (HCEA)
8:45 P.M. G. Superintendent’s Report
Closing
Future Meetings Review
Adjournment
Yes.
Why don’t you publish a redlined version of the HCPS budget to show where you would find all the money required to give every teacher even a single step, much less the ones owed?
I’d love to see where you would find the money.
Kharn,
Splendid idea. I do think the money could be found but someone else while be loudly complaining because their pet area is getting less. But making the hard choices is a function of leadership so let’s see if they can lead. The first place I would look, the first place I always look when reviewing budgets, is overhead staff. It will be interesting to see if HCEA has specific budget areas that could be lowered to get classroom staff increases or whether this is just an evening of whining.
Executive pay and bonuses and excess administration
The first place to start is with increases education funding.
We should spend $25,000 per student a year and the we can ensure higher teacher salaries.
No we should fund schools at a level which allow the BoE to fulfil its contractual obligations and continue to develop programing for our students. That’s about $6000/student, give or take.
Ryan,
And where do you propose this money come from? HCPS can’t just create it out of thin air. Working within the confines of HCPS’s current budget, I want to see how you’d give a single step to every teacher. I want to see your hard decisions, where you would cut APs or guidance or librarians or the football program or the prom, etc.
Where’s the money? We could start with eliminating the salary (125K) for the Director of Community Engagement, Equity and Cultural Proficiency. Thought that was a joke but yes, it’s true..far more important apparently to have a person direct “culture” than math, since there isn’t a Director of Math Proficiency. Sheesh…no small wonder we’re broke.
Yes. there is a director for Math Proficiency and they are called the Math Supervisor.
A supervisor vs. a director? Hummm??? Sure seems to me one of them appears to have a superior title but we’ll let you decide. In the meantime the intent of my comment was to suggest this position is pure horse patutey in the first place and at 125k+ this position that apparently was created in 2010 is a waste of taxpayer money. The description of this job is on the internet. Seems like the intent was to provide someone to ensure federal guidelines are being met. Sort of then begs the question what are the attorneys for? We’re paying for them too you know. Layers upon layers of people, some paid (just as this one) to help insure the layers are applied or risk more layers. Insanity…
Why not privatize athletics or give it to the Parks and Rec to run? Save a lot on transportation costs, coaches costs, officials costs not to mention liability insurance. I’m sure there are enough volunteers to be coaches and sponsors. The BOE could give Harford Glen back to the county and let David Craig appoint someone to run that also. All the teachers there could be sent back to classrooms and another set of volunteers could run those programs at much less cost. There are at least four schools that could be easily consolidated – Norrisville and Darlington buildings could be sold and the students there easily merged with North Bend and Dublin resectively. Why have content area supervisors? Why have curriculum writers? We already have state and federal curricula to follow? Isn’t a local curriculum office a little redundant? The central office personnell could be assigned substitute teacher duties at least once per week which will save other costs. Dr. Grotsky had central office personnel serving as substitutes, why not bring that back?
Some interesting suggestions. Regarding curriculum provided by the state and federal governments; not entirely true. There are guidelines, but here in Maryland the LEA must build the specific curriculum to match the MSC. There are no real federal guidelines, per se; depending upon the discipline. Frequently these are suggested guidelines put together by professional organizations and simply distributed via the DOE.
To suggest that Harford Glen Environmental Education Center be cut from the school system is to announce that you clearly have no knowledge of what occurs there. The learning that is typical of the Harford Glen experience is education at its finest. Real world and hands-on stop being catch phrases and are the normal routine at Harford Glen. It is easy for every staff member at Harford Glen to absolutely love their job; no other teaching facility in the county can begin to meet the success rate for student learning that occurs at Harford Glen. The staff LOVES their jobs because every day they witness the sparkling eyes and bright smiles that is the wonderland of a child’s realization that they have a role in making the world a better place. Harford Glen is money well spent- just ask any student who has been there.
A principal and 3 assistants at schools like fallston, bel air, CMW… That’s about 425k per building per year never mind the instructional facilitator and mentor… Another 150k
Bel Air High School does not have an Instructional Facilitator or a Mentor.
Those positions are not needed at any school. Observations should be done by content supervisors as well as building administrators. They are the ones who should be experts at both instruction and content. The mentor and facilitator positions were the biggest waste of tax payer money. Make one person’s job (who’s making 6 figures) easier and create a nice cushy job (6 figures) for someone else.
If you want to hear something worse Patterson Mill has 6 vice principals for as many kids as CMW. Why 3 Vice Principals? Should there be 2 principals for middle and high school since they are very different in scope? They have a Vice Principal who is “in charge of athletics” and doesn’t even go to the games and make sure no issues. Couldn’t we just hire a security guard instead for many of these positions?
If you privatize athletics no teams from harford county could play in state championships. Also a school like bel air high has about 1600 students if you divide that by 4 that means its admin is responsible for 400 kids. The question is there a law stating so many admins for students? Remember in most cases referrals, cut slips, and other issues are handled by asst. principals so that means that 1600 is actually divided by 3. Add to the fact that tomback wants as many teacher observations done as possible.
I would begin by making Mr. Tomback pay for his own gasoline to and from Timonium AND providing his own transportation. Oh, and probably pay for his own home office. It is my understanding that the taxpayer is funding these things for him. It is a drop in the bucket, but every flood begins with a drop!
I don’t care if it’s one to every 400 admin… Schools like the ones mentioned above have so few discipline issues that admin spends 3 hours a day doing lunch duties that could be done by IH or para educators. One admin position gone cod hire 3 more new teachers…
Reggie,
Well said! I agree totally.
Now we have some suggestions flowing that address where to cut. See, Kharn, there are places after all. Lots of fluff out there. But we are also starting to see the defendants of programs come to life. Where would I cut? It’s not my job to cut. There are executive management positions and that is part of their job. If it comes down, for example, to a choice between step increases and Harford Glen it would be a hard choice. But I could make it if I were in HCPS leadership. I fully expect those that are presently being paid to be leaders of HCPS to make those hard choices rather than just whine incessantly that they don’t have any money. They do have money but the have decided to spend it on the entire menu of items in the present budget and have said that the stuff being funded is more important than step increases.
Crap! I’m starting to sound like Burbey. I absolutely disagree with just about everything Burbey has to say but the HCPS budget has got enough fluff in it to fund something for teachers given the existence of a legal contract.
And now I will make everyone angry with me. A Director of Community Engagement, Equity and Cultural Proficiency at $125K plus staff and benefits? What a joke. An blatant example of something that makes the taxpayers throw up their hands and say ‘I don’t trust any of them.’ Any budget that contains that position and not a dollar for increases is a travesty.
Okay, so all of you folks who want to defend the position take your best shot. And come up with your own blatant examples of stupid items in the proposed budget.
Alex, I don’t want to break up the love fest but the HCPS budget does not have enough money to sustain the current programs without aggressive grant funding and outreach. I wish it did. Then I could just blast them. What Harford County really needs is compromise. We need all of our leaders to come together to make the situation work for kids, workers & citizens. I would encourage you to stop blasting HCEA and me. We don’t need to agree. The beauty of democracy is compromise. Everyone gets and everyone gives. I am a liberal but I am more than willing to take the middle road of mutual agreement.
Sorry, Ryan, but there is no love fest. I’m not sure if you get it or not, but as long as there are egregious examples in the budget of money being wasted – and there are plenty of them – then many, many people don’t really feel like compromising. They say, and I say with them, “First, clean up the fluff, then show me a budget that is fluff free but still has no room for teacher money. At that point we will talk seriously about compromise. But until we see that HCPS leadership is committed to an austerity budget that prioritizes classroom education of students above all else we do not trust them.”
The HCEA’s part is to make sure there are good teachers in the classroom plus vigorously assist in quickly removing the bad ones. Until that happens the HCEA has no chance of credibility. Why? Because making it difficult to get poorly performing teachers out of the classroom and out of the system makes them be seen as the enemy of our kids. No matter what else they do that might be positive. The Christmas bonus blunder just adds to the overall perception of an organization with poor leadership. And, Ryanj, please don’t tell me it was not a blunder. The vast majority of people perceive that it was and perception is reality. Leadership that can’t understand that are destined to be replaced.
Simplistic? Yes. But that is the demand of the people that the HCPS and the HCEA would like to have as supporters. Until that happens there will be no compromise.
Alex that was beautifully said and just a small sample of what COULD be done
You can’t even take a bonus without putting up a fight…. What chance is there for compromise
Last night, showed exactly why we were opposed. Craig pulled the second half.
And the sad part is, in my opinion, is that Craig is pulling the bonus for ALL county employees and using the teachers as a scapegoat for the move. As I said before, I can’t wait to hear his spin when the Aegis reports the county surplus (and no, surpluses are not bad). “No money for county employee raises, no money for bonuses, no money, no money…Dang, where did this 30 million come from?” It is about priorities and at this point, Craig is more worried about pandering to a base in preparation for his governor run than he is doing what is right. And the base he is aiming for cannot deliver the governorship in this state. The pension shift is just a convenient excuse to do what everyone knew he was going to do in the first place.
The governor, Mike Miller and Mike Busch made the decision and their cronies went along with them. Every decision made by them that adds to the expenses at the county level has fall out attached with it. The bonuses are part of the fallout. Other counties are loudly complaining as well, even counties with solid Dem/Lib executives and councils. MOM has flipped them all the bird. You sleep with dogs and you get fleas.
Suggestions have been made to get rid of the Instructional Facilitators and reduce the number of Mentors. This advice was not recognized since there are new individuals in the pools for IF and Mentor. We’ve asked the classroom teachers to take on more and more. Why not do the same of Central Office staff and administrators? I see IFs conferencing with principals, eating lunch with principals, and little else. Several of the mentors won’t even do sample lessons. Recently, I witnessed two mentors doing the same assignment for special education since the one mentor was concerned about her accuracy and interpretation of the law. If you are concerned about the law, why are you in this position? Why is the Superintendent’s ignoring the advise he seeks for suggestions? Dr. Tombach make the hard decisions now so this school system can get back on the right track.