With his employment contract set to expire in June, Superintendent Robert M. Tomback has until Feb. 1 to notify the Harford County Board of Education whether he is a candidate for reappointment to another four-year term.
With the deadline a week away, The Dagger inquired about Tomback’s plans but was instead directed through his spokesperson to file a Maryland Public Information Act request, which was submitted to HCPS late Wednesday afternoon. When requested documents are available and open to inspection, Maryland law requires a prompt response:
“Under SG §10-614(b)(2), if a record is found to be responsive to a request and is recognized to be open to inspection, it must be produced “immediately” after receipt of the written request. An additional reasonable period “not to exceed 30 days” is available only where the additional period of time is required to retrieve the records and assess their status under the [Public Information Act]. A custodian should not wait the full 30 days to allow or deny access to a record if that amount of time is not needed to respond. If access is to be granted, the record should be produced for inspection and copying promptly after the written request is evaluated.”
While the public awaits word from Tomback, the members of the school board will soon face what is arguably their most important decision yet. Most current school board members were not in office when Tomback was hired in 2009, following the sudden death of longtime superintendent Jacqueline Haas; Board Member Alysson Krchnavy is the lone exception.
Should Tomback seek reappointment in the next week, the school board must by law take final action on his reappointment no later than March 1, in a public vote. If Tomback bows out or if he is not reappointed by the board, the board must then appoint a new superintendent sometime between Feb. 1 and June 30.
According to the Education Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, the county superintendent is responsible for carrying out state and local board policies and ensuring compliance with education law. In addition, the superintendent is responsible for instructional leadership, initiating the annual budget request, and making recommendations regarding school facilities.
Less formally, the county superintendent embodies the local school system, setting the tone for employee morale and public perception, and cultivating relationships with community leaders and the government officials who make funding and other decisions affecting the public schools.
Whether there will be a callback for Tomback, or new leadership for HCPS, time will soon tell.
Below is a provision from Maryland law covering the appointment process for local school superintendents.
Please check back with The Dagger for updates to this developing story.
Time for Tomback to go! Hasn’t he caused enough damage in Harford County? The BOE needs to do the right thing and tell him to hit the road.
Tomback PLEASE GO! BOE, do the right thing!
I wouldn’t want to be the one that follows this guy at HCPS. What a mess to have to clean up.
Tomback should do the right thing and go. And please take that bully Principal from Abingdon Elementary School with you.
“the county superintendent embodies the local school system, setting the tone for employee morale and public perception, and cultivating relationships with community leaders and the government officials who make funding and other decisions affecting the public schools” — Which is EXACTLY why Tomback should leave on his own; he’s missed this goal by a loooong shot!! He never put forth any effort nor did it bother him to do his job so poorly – move on down the road Mr. Tomback, Harford County is fed up with you!
Everyone with an opinion about Mr. Tomback’s contract should contact the BOE directly. Posting here does little to make your feelings known to the BOE.
Please leave! These are Tomback’s accomplishments: He has destroyed the morale of HCPS teachers. He created high paying worthless positions and flooded them with his buddies from Baltimore County. And he has made good teachers want to move to other counties. PS. please take David Craig with you. Thanks for nothing.
From a view from Midwest America I cannot believe he would want to stay. Anybody that has made a mess of a county education system has no business in that office. How can a county let the system run this long without a teachers contract??
He never should’ve been hired in the first place, but don’t compound that big mistake by keeping him around.
Good luck to whoever has to step in and clean up the mess he’s made here.
Dr. Tombeck should have the common sense & decency to finally stop thinking of himself and do the right thing for Harford County, the students, the parents, the teachers and staff and LEAVE. I have gone to BOE meetings and publicly asked him to do the right thing and resign. He is arrogant, self serving and ineffective. He has put guidelines in place that have cost Harford County to lose many good teachers. He has humiliated and caused much hate and discontent amongst the teachers, administration and staff of the schools. He missed his opportunity last year when Baltimore County was looking for a new superintendant, he should have gone back there when maybe there was a chance. Giving the teachers a pitance of a raise this year does nothing to repair the damage he has done the past 3-4 years. He is a detrement to the Harford County School system and if the current BOE cannot see this, then they are also in the wrong job!! The BOE has an obligation to do the right thing for everyone who has to work or tolerate the Harford County School system. Dr. Tombeck is a menace to Harford County Schools and the people he brought with him & gave high paying jobs to are horrible. If you have never had to deal with any of these people, consider yourself fortunate. I have dealt with them and it was painful!! The superintendent should be about the school system & not about himself. BYE-BYE ROB!!!
BAltimore County didn’t want him!
It is time for him to go. But don’t count on that man to do the “right” thing. The BOE needs to step up and say no more!!
Several teachers in the past few years have retired because of the low morale, due in large measure to Tombeck’s lack of leadership. This covers many different schools. Knowing this county, however, I wouldn’t be surprised if they renew his contract.
If the BOE cared about teacher morale, they would talk to teachers to find out how to improve morale and let this man go.
Thank you Dr. Tomback for your service to Harford County. Here’s hoping you stay right where you are!
Please tell us what you think Mr. Tomback has done that makes his worthy of another four year contract.
I didn’t think you would be able to come up with anything.
In keeping in character with his incredible arrogance, Mr. Tomback is now too important to answer a direct question from a reporter about his intentions for the next term. The reporter was required to fill out a form to get an answer to a perfectly reasonable question. She was not seeking tax records, just asking about Mr. Tomback’s intents to seek reappointment. Even the Governor or the President would have been able to give a direct answer to a question of this nature.
This is a perfect example of how teachers and administrators are treated on a daily basis under Mr. Tombacks regime. They are not permitted to ask him any questions, everything is filtered through several layers of bureaucracy before it is ignored or they are scolded. I know a teacher that was reprimanded for sending Mr. Tomback an invitation to an Earth Day Celebration. When Jackie Hass was our Superintendent you could call her or make an appointment to see her face to face and receive a direct response from her. Her intentions were to serve the students and staff of Harford County Public Schools. Not to hold them hostage to a self serving dictator who holds people in fear of losing their jobs or making any independent decisions about anything at all. No one is allowed to think or use any common sense, and if you do you are immediately reprimanded. This system can not continue to stagnate in a quagmire of ineffective and destructive policies.
The moral of Harford County Public School Employees has never been so low. I urge all HCPS employees to contact the Board of Education and express their views directly. Please provide the Board members with specific examples of the incompetence that is promoted by Mr. Tomback
What a contrast to Baltimore County’s new super, Dr. Dance. Check out his Twitter feed and just from that you can see he is the complete opposite of Dr. Tomback. Shame. Something to be said about a leader that’s about being around and listening to those he is leading.
Amen to that, could not have said it better myself, as a teacher in HCPS I can say that I’ve never worked harder and felt less appreciated, even demoralized, as I do in the aftermath of Tomback’s regime, as a parent with children in HCPS and as a teacher who cares deeply about my students, I can say that he has no one’s best interest at heart but his own, and his policies are made at their expense
Any staff member making contact about the future of their boss better do so anonymously…
A leader inspires. That being said- morale has never been lower for teachers since Dr. Tombeck began his rule.-Out of touch, not concerned, wasting money on practices that have failed in other systems. A supervisor I know who has since retired has said that even they could not get a direct appointment to speak with him. There are too many assistant to the assistant supervisors that prevent anyone below him from communicating with him. The only thing he has brought to HCPS besides the ability to waste money that could be used instead for things that may actually help improve education and terrible morale are controversial practices that place more burden on the classroom teacher and do nothing to help support students or teachers. For him- it’s all about meaningless data and how many kids are enrolled in AP- never mind if they should actually be there- never mind the diverse needs of the whole child or the reality of the classroom.
Best thing he can do for this county is to leave and take Mr Brown with him!
Which Mr. Brown are you talking about? There are two on the leadership team.
It’s time to find a leader that can see past the end of his nose. The least the board can do is give someone else a try.
We have Mark Wolkow, Pat Hess, and Robin Rich (and Alison Krchnavy, but she was just doing what wolkow and hess told her to do) to thank for this travesty of Brown, Lawrence and Tomback. They couldn’t get themselves hired by any competent overseers in a million years. So they had to come to Harford County.Where the board that couldn’t shoot straight thought they were great. Pathetic.
Their incompetence and lack of engagement is embarrassing. the current board has only one choice: to do a tombackectomy and stop being made fools of.
The only one left from that crew is Krchnavy. You will have the opportunity to correct that at the next election. She votes with Tomback more than any other BOE member.
Good point. But I WILL miss AK’s public statements. They are very comical. Pathetic, but comical. Almost like a Stepford board member.
I believe she was recruited to the board by the other rocket scientist who served: the master of misused language, king of the malaprop, the ayatollah of unintentional comedy, the duplicitous diva, the billion dollar bandit…., our own…………. TANNING BOOTH ORANGE TOM FIDLER.
What I hear from others is that AK brings little if anything of substance to the table. I can figure out most of the characters you reference but could you identify them so I can test my accuracy?
Sorry, I should have been clearer. All references are to Fidler. It was pure theatre.
Thank God that we now have at least a partially elected school board. We all just have our fingers crossed that enough of the current board members do the right thing and give Tomback and his gang their walking papers. I have faith that they will.
As far as AK is concerned, she is the Neville Chamberlain of the board. I’ve never heard her utter anything but mindless agreement to the con jobs that often emanate from Brown, Lawrence and Tomback.
He also needs to take his hand-appointed bodyguard Bill Lawrence with him. The salary that Mr. Lawrence earns as Dr. Tomback’s handler could fund two experienced teacher positions or three rookie teacher positions.
Don’t expect Tomback to do the right thing and do what is in the best interest of the school system. He hasn’t done it for four years – why start now? He only does what is in the best interest of Rob Tomback. I would be shocked if he did step aside and indicate that he wasn’t interested in another contract. No doubt he was hoping to move on to bigger and better but those positions (Joe Hairston, Nancy Grasmick) have been filled and not by him. He needs to leave and take his band of BCPS rejects with him. First, there’s Bill Lawrence. Lawrence was once an area assistant superintendent for BCPS at the same time as Tomback. However, Lawrence was demoted by Hairston, for whatever reason, in early 2010. He was then banished from Hairston’s inner circle to a made up position in Human Resources. For the next school year, he sold his soul to the devil (Tomback) and moved to HCPS. Then there is Jonathan Brown, another BCPS reject on Tomback’s Leadership Team. He was hired by Hairston to be the Associate Superintendent for Curriculum and Instuction. He even re-located his family from another state (I believe it was Ohio) for this position. He resigned after only 8 months on the job in 2009. Why did he resign? He had no choice because Hairston eliminated his position and, apparently, did not feel that he was good enough to keep around. Sounds like he was fired, doesn’t it? Are these really the kind of people that the BOE wants to entrust with the education of Harford County children?
The top two operate by fear…plain and simple. That is why you see what you see. It’s just a shame that they can’t see how that style is impacting the system.
Citizen,
You hit the nail, the Superintendent is running the system by fear. Principals are fearful of him…then turn that fear on to the teachers. It’s sad when teachers hate coming to work because of their principals. They are fearful of the principal walking into their room and not seeing their objective on the board and getting put on a plan. They are fearful of the principal walking in and standing with her arms folded watching you teach for 10 minutes and then putting you on a plan because she didn’t see what she liked. They are fearful of the principals who look for the “gotcha moments” to try to get you off guard so they can put you on a plan. This is happening all over the county…Route 40….Bel Air…Forest Hill….everywhere.
I am a 25 year veteran teacher of HCPS. I just deleted a thoughtfully written response to the Tomback atrocity discussed in this story. I had included my sentiments on my love of teaching, and the admiration I feel towards my students, my colleagues, and my administration. I began trying to question the “PLANS” that Dr. Tomback has forced his administrators to place on some of the most valued and experienced teachers in the county. I wanted to ask our BOE and our teachers’ union where it states what a “PLAN” is, but it’s already been made clear that only one knows these answers. We only know that despite what our administrators are forced to tell us, Dr. Tomback is the force behind them, and only HE knows what the “plan” is. (After reading the story about Mrs. Darden, it does seem quite clear just what that is.)
I began writing about the terrible waste of money to the tax payers of Harford County, including myself, on long gone and defunct “learning” tools that Dr. Tomback has forced teachers to implement. I wanted to share that these tools have proved to be ineffective (hence their falling by the wayside in other counties and states) in helping support students or teachers in the classroom. I elaborated on the fact that teachers today are working harder than ever, are highly trained, both scholastically and in the classroom, and yet that we aren’t trusted to do our jobs despite our expertise and knowing our students better than anyone.
But instead, I will just say this. At my school, “the powers that be” that are my supervisors have made it very clear that they do not necessarily support or even understand the mandates being forced on them by Dr. Tomback. Some of these administrators have stated that they are sorry that they have to ask so much more of us KNOWING that none of it does anything to help their teachers or students in the classroom. Further, they have made it clear that despite their reservations or downright objections, they HAVE TO. THEY fear for their own positions. THEY are scared under the Reign of Tomback Terror.
Things weren’t always this way in Ha co. In fact, in my 25 years, it has only been in the past four that I have witnessed such worry, dissatisfaction, low morale, and an air of fear from just outside Dr. Tomback’s door right on down to inside my classroom door. The mass exodus of high quality teachers to the private sector or to other school systems has exponentially increased over the past four years. Sadly, the talk of more of this coming from the amazing young talented teachers in my school is an indicator of a school system that is badly broken.
To any members of the Harford County Board of Education who may be reading this, I implore of you to take all of these sincere yet frustrated comments to heart. Please do not appoint Dr. Tomback for another four years.
I would also like to add, my “boss” was told, if a board member questions you, answer as briefly as possible and do not say anything else, only directly answer the question. Last year a supervisor I heard got in big trouble, for adding their known information about a project, even though they were the one in charge of it. They were told they said too much, that is why when you watch a board meeting, those from the system answer as briefly as possible, Tomback wants the board informed minutely so he can keep control.
You are absolutely correct in stating, “Tomback wants the board informed minutely”. My family is currently in a struggle with HCPS about some major injustices my family has received and continues to receives from HCPS. In the beginning, May 2012, I would periodically send the HBOE emails to update them with our progress and situation. In November 2012 I began to uncover the true reasons for HCPS unfair treatment, and I shared the information with the HBOE. At that time I was informed by William Lawrence, HCPS Associate Superintendent that he was my only point of contact and that any and all correspondence sent to anyone other than him would be ignored and unanswered. I didn’t include my child’s teachers in any of our issues or correspondence, however my child’s teachers are not allowed to correspond directly with me about ANYTHING concerning my child.
I honestly believe their are a few good board members, however just like my child’s good teachers, they are NOT ALLOWED to do the right thing. I hope and pray the other board members have the courage to finally do the right thing!!!
I apologize for the grammatical error….I meant to write *there* not *their* in reference to the first sentence of the last paragraph.
To Amy Lindecamp and all those teachers, employees, students and parents being treated unfairly by HCPS:
I am truly sorry for all that everyone is experiencing at the hands of that tyrannical dictator, Tomback and his band of diabolical henchman. Keep fighting and keep documenting everything you do. I don’t know who died and left Bill Lawrence in charge of the BOE but you should continue to send everything directly to them as well. Maybe someone on the BOE will “grow a pair” and do something about Tomback and his thugs. Correct me if I am wrong but doesn’t Tomback work for the BOE and not the other way around? Bill Lawrence does not have the authority to speak for the BOE and he is just using his bullying tactics that he has perfected over the years. Society talks so much about anti-bullying and the schools have a zero tolerance policy against bullying. The sad reality, however, is that the biggest bullies out there are people like Tomback and Lawrence. What is even sadder is seeing them ruin HCPS.
CQ Hudson,
Mr.Lawrence and Mr.Tomback don’t only bully parents; they bully all advocates including their own teachers. I thank you for your support and encouragement.
In regards to your statement about “zero tolerance policy against bullying”, ironically I recently received an email from Mr.Lawerence stating that HCPS does not have a zero tolerance bullying policy. I know it is somewhat irrelevant with this overall subject but I thought I would share that information anyway. It is disheartening what these bullies are doing to our community and worst of all not having to answer for their unfair actions.
Ms. Lindecamp,
Please email which school.
rburbey@mseanea.org
Amy:
Bill Lawrence cannot control who you send e-mail to, nor can he dictate to BOE members that they not read your e-mails. His only authority is within HCPS where he rules through fear. Ignore his threat. Keep sending information directly to BOE members, and I would suggest sending information to the education reporters from the Baltimore television news stations (Tim Tooten on Channel 11 comes to mind). The last thing the HCPS leadership wants is bad publicity, because it would make it more difficult to con some other school board somewhere into hiring them.
Concerned Teacher:
Thank you for your encouragement and advice. My child’s teachers not only fear Mr.Lawerence, but their Principal as well. My child is fortunate to have a good team of teachers, and unfortunate to have an administration at his school that is encouraged to behave the same way as Lawrence/Tomback; as bullies. Thank you for the suggestion to contact the media, however according to the media this isn’t news worthy. I just hope something is done to stop these monsters from hurting anymore families, and our community in the manner they continue to do.
I agree those who stand up and fight for what is right in our schools gets scrutinitzed.
I was one of the parents who was on an adhoc committee when he was hired. To say I was stunned by the decision is an understatement. He was an underwhelmingly weak candidate. He was asked what his management style was and his response was “he didn’t have one.” I guess it is obvious now that was an accurate assessment. There was also great concern about how he planned to get to know the community and schools when he didn’t live here. He said he would go to sporting events, meetings etc. to get to know parents. Anyone ever see him? He also then brought in “outsiders” for top positions like Bill Lawrence and Jonathan Brown who also don’t even live here and all of that money is walking out of this county as well as the fact that they haven’t ever even made serious attempts to get to know the communities.
Dr. Tomback has been asked to meet with parents, school leaders and others and he always refuses. It is really quite stunning. When a legislator asked him about all the issues with Drama Therapy at Havre de Grace school years ago, he told him to file a FOA request. Same snub to all the legislators. Parent from John Archer tried to talk about her concerns with issues at school and she was also completely brushed off. Is this really the type of person who should be leading the school system? With all of the economic hardships that have transpired over the years it is more important than ever for employees to feel valued and appreciated since their paychecks have gotten smaller and they get the opposite with this guy and the people he brought in.
If the BOE wants to be taken seriously and this is one of the most important jobs they have, they need to tell him immediately no contract renewal. There are plenty of people who could do so much better and they need to find someone who can try and bring back some pride and leadership that is vital to this position.
Excellent insight. Thank you. So my question is, how do we as concerned tax paying citizens get rid of Tomback and his crew that he brought with him, including some of these bullying principals? I am confident that the parents of the children that go to Abingdon Elementary would love to see a new principal at their school. I have never seen morale so low. Over 30 teachers asked for a transfer last year. In the 10 years that Ms Burr was Principal, not one teacher asked for a transfer.
The Authority and Responsibility of the Superintendent document posted on the HCPS website it states, “11. Communicating with citizenry, staff, students and other governmental entities on behalf of the Board or with respect to the administration and
operation of the school system. ” My question is, what recourse do citizenry, staff, students, and other governmental entities have when this responsibility is blatantly ignored?
We see all the reason why he should go, but it is the BOE that must make the right choice for our kids future. Here is Tomback who travels to China on our dime to check out their Education system. He takes the Principal from Patterson Mill how mismanaged school funds. He moves the Principal from John Archer to HQ after she can’t do her job. The system always covers itself and protects the inept. So is it any surprise the person who is in charge hides out at HQ like the rest. Please do something to help the students and the teachers. Do not renew.
The only request I have for the board is to make it mandatory to live within the county. That is the only true way to get to know your community.
On this point I will disagree. At my former school, many of the teachers lived in Cecil County, Baltimore County, Baltimore City, and even in Pennsylvania. This did not stop these teachers from becoming involved in the local community and getting to know the students and parents, simply because they made a deliberate effort and took the time to do so. You cannot impose residency restrictions on one member of the school system that does not apply to all members of the school system. What can be done is a better job of figuring out who is lying during the interview process. This past time, they did not do such a good job.
Unfortunately, many can’t afford to live in Harford County.
Okay, so here we are on February 4 and Mr. Tomback was supposed to notify the BOE by this past Friday February 1st of his decision. What did he decide? Or hasn’t the BOE gotten around to reading their mail yet? Perhaps the BOE isn’t inclined to share the decision with the public.
He’s leaving!! YES!!! He’s really leaving! Let’s get back to a happy, healthy school system!
fyi http://www.daggerpress.com/2013/02/04/hcps-superintendent-tomback-to-leave-office-at-the-close-of-this-school-year-i-will-go-forward-to-pursue-other-opportunities/
He was no better as a principal in Baltimore County. Bully, bully, bully and implemented all kinds of programs that failed. Many teachers, bought into one of his programs and work like dogs for several years on it, he decided something else should be implemented. He really lowers the morale of his staffs.
I’m not that much of a online reader to be honest but your sites really
nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back later. All the best
Can’t Harford County find someone well qualified, and prepared to do the job in house? Why not start there, and stop the “nationwide” search that wastes so much time and money. Dr. Haas came from Harford County, worked her way through the ranks and would more than likely still be in charge if not for her untimely death. Get it right this time HCPS and look from within.
Bill,
Please. The answer to your question “Can’t Harford County find someone well qualified in house…..?” is NO! There is no one. Let me repeat that because I know you just rolled your eyes . There is NO ONE. Sorry to burst your bubble. Anyone who would have or could have put up with 4 years of Mr. Tomback is, by definition, unqualified. The house needs to be cleaned from top to bottom. Some examples are evident at HQ. Others include the principal where Mrs. Darden taught, John Archer, little miss leopard skin shoes at Fountain Green (I assume you remember the teacher that got screwed over from there), and I could go on. And on. And on.
Well if you can go on please do.