HCPS Board Meeting Highlights
Monday, January 23, 2006
Questions regarding these Board Highlights may be directed to Don Morrison, Director of Public Information, 410-588-5203.
The following actions and discussions took place at the Board of Education of Harford County meeting held on
Monday, January 23,2006, at the Harford County Public School Administration Building, 102 S. Hickory Avenue,
Bel Air.
RECOGNITIONS
The Board officially inducted two new members into the Harford County Public School Educator Hall of Fame. Inducted
were Dale H. Neeper and Raymond R. Richardson, Jr. Mr. Neeper, currently serving as the County Executives Education
Liaison, spent 32 ½ years in the Harford County Public Schools as a Social Studies teacher at three
schools and Tech-Prep Coordinator at Harford Technical High School. Mr. Neeper is described as a meticulous
planner who presented high-quality, student-friendly lessons. As Tech-Prep Coordinator (and marketing manager)
at Harford Tech, he was one of the major influences in the transformation of the school from one known for
vocational training to a place where students receive high-tech training for jobs in the modern work world.
Mr. Neeper helped the school move from one with less than a 400 student enrollment to its present over 1,000
students. Mr. Richardson spent 34 years as a Social Studies teacher, all at Aberdeen High School. He ushered
in the teaching of Psychology in the local schools, personally writing the curriculum for a course that became
wildly popular at Aberdeen High. Mr. Richardson served as Department Chair at his school for the final 12 years
of his career in the school system, mentoring many young teachers while being part of a veteran group of ten
instructors averaging about 25 years experience. Mr. Richardson continues teaching at two colleges and serving
as coordinator of student teachers.
The Board recognized the All-State Musicians from the Harford County Public Schools selected in a highly competitive
process for 2006. Honored were
All State Junior Band Andrew Blais, Derek Recher, Andrew Eckart, Allison Munley, and Robert Bowen.
All State Junior Orchestra Rachel Lane, Kelly Paduch, and Grace Kim.
All State Senior Band James Williams and Katie Wilson
All State Orchestra (Winds and Percussion) Patrick Carter and Josh Meeder.
All State Senior Womens Chorus Courtney Brewer, Lauren Brown, Anna Collins, Lauren Herzog, Courtney Campbell,
Emily Iser, Caitlin Katrinic, and Katie LaBarre.
All State Senior Mixed Chorus Jessica Bullock, Becky Livingston, Marley Welsh, Brittany Debelius, Marcus Haynes,
Gregory Arment, Nicholas Doak, Brendan Kennedy, Adam McNutt, Jesse Morton, Andrew Erickson, Joe Close, and
Tom Dickerson.
All State Junior Chorus Christine Feinour, Catherine Jacobs, Ryan Richardson, Drew Thatcher, and Justin Ables.
The Board also honored Kimberly C. Kimmie Meissner who won the Silver Medal in the 2006 U.S. National Figure
Skating competition held in St. Louis, Mo. in mid-January, earning one of three berths on the U.S. Womens Olympic
Team to compete in the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy during February. Ms. Meissner, a junior at Fallston
High School, had won national novice and junior figure skating titles prior to winning the bronze medal in
the U.S. championships held in January, 2005 where she performed a triple axel jump that earned her national
acclaim. This year, the 16-year-old honor student who completes her required classes in the morning before
traveling to the University of Delaware for daily six-hour practice sessions, joined first place finisher Sasha
Cohen and nine-time U.S. champion Michelle Kwan (who received an exemption due to an injury) as members of
the U.S. Olympic team. Ms. Meissner was presented with a Board certificate and paperweight, a commemorative
miniature skate by Superintendent Jacqueline C. Haas, and the promise of several Harford Board of Education
logo lapel pins to be used as exchange items when she gets to the Olympics.
GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENTS
Sandy Krause of Forest Hill said she had a new proposal for the countywide redistricting now being considered
by the Board. She suggested that all Bel Air High students be moved to Patterson Mill Middle/High School due
to open prior to the 2007-08 school year.
Larry English of the Forest Lakes community disputed the advisability of the student moves being proposed by
the Superintendents Technical Advisory Committee on Balancing Enrollment, saying that 652 students would be
moved for a net seat gain of 25 students at C. Milton Wright High/Southampton Middle schools. He said he was
also concerned about the grandfathering of eleventh and twelfth graders. He noted that one of the foundations
of the Balancing Enrollment policy is to move as few students as possible, a guideline he said had not been
followed in the Committees recommendations.
Rich Pfingston of Forest Hill recommended a multi-tiered approach to balancing enrollment. He questioned whether
the effort to get capacity at all secondary schools between 90 to 95 percent is spelled out in the Balancing
Enrollment policy. He pointed out that, if the moves recommended are followed, seven of the 19 middle/high
schools will not be in the 90 to 95 percent goal.
OLD BUSINESS
ACTION ITEMS
Acting on the motion of Board Member Patrick L. Hess and the second of Board Member Thomas L. Fidler, Jr., the
Board voted unanimously to approve items on the Consent Agenda including the Monthly Report on Personnel; Award
for School Buses; Contract for Electric Supply Services; Audit Committee Membership; Proposed Resolutions on
Career and Technical Education Week and National School Counselor Week; and Minutes of the Board Work Session
on November 16th, Board Business Meeting on November 21st, and Board Work Session on November 28th.
Acting on the motion of Mr. Fidler and the seconds of Board Vice President Mark M.Wolkow and Board Member Salina
M. Williams, the Board unanimously acted to approve the Proposed Board Code of Conduct. Board Counsel Patrick
Spicer told the Board he had originally presented the proposal in December and that it had been posted on the
school system web site seeking public comment. He said no comment had been received. Board President R. Robin
Rich explained the policy is a guideline for how Board members conduct themselves. She read the complete text
of the policy into the record. The Board considered the applications of three groups to be granted approval
to operate Charter Schools as members of the Harford County Public Schools. Dr. Haas told the Board the Dr.
Ben Carson Public Charter School had experienced a change in its leadership and, as a result of input from
the new leaders, had decided to change her recommendation from a denial for the group to a delay until May
1, 2006 to allow for the new leaders to show they had met conditions which could lead to approval of the school.
Acting on the motion of Mr. Wolkow and the second of Mr. Fidler, the Board acted unanimously to extend the
window of consideration for approval, by mutual consent, until the first Board meeting following May 1, 2006.
The Eagles Wing Academy had been given previous conditional approval by the Board of Education. Dr. Haas said
there had been little contact with the leaders of the group and little or no progress had been made by its
sponsors, especially in the area of securing a facility in which to operate. Following the Superintendents
recommendation that the Board rescind its conditional approval, the Board unanimously approved the motion of
Mr. Fidler and the second of Mrs. Williams to do so.
Acting on the motion of Mr. Fidler and the seconds of Mr. Hess and Board Member Lee Merrell, the Board voted
unanimously to support the Superintendents recommendation that the Restoration Alternative Academy Public Charter
School be given until May 1, 2006 to fulfill the requirements that could lead to approval of the charter school.
The Board had previously granted conditional approval to the organization. Representatives of the group said
it had scaled back its parameters to include 30 to 40 students to be housed in about five rooms in the lower
level of the Center for Educational Opportunity in Aberdeen.
NEW BUSINESS
PRESENTATIONS
Dr. Haas provided the Board with an update on the State of the School System. The Superintendent presents the
State of the Schools in the early fall and updates progress being made at mid-year.
Dr. Haas deferred to Assistant Superintendent for Operations Joseph Licata to present the first portion of the
Superintendents Report. Mr. Licata discussed the current status of the recommendations of the Superintendents
Technical Advisory Committee on Balancing Enrollment. He said the group had made its first presentation to
the Board on November 28th and, following Board Policy, had conducted public meetings on the issue the three
held on December 21st, January 4th, and January 11th at locations in various parts of the county. He said the
Committee will make a presentation to the Board at a work session on February 21st (HCPS Administration Building,
7:00 p.m.) which will contain its final recommendations, reflecting possible changes resulting from the public
meetings and public input. He said the Board will schedule one or more public hearings in early March with
the Board due to vote on a final redistricting plan in March or April. Mr. Licata said the group has received
hundreds of contacts from the public, many of them making alternative proposals which are being considered.
Jay May, Chief of Administration for the school system, presented the Board with information about the opening
of the new Harford County Public School Administration Building. He said the building had been built from the
ground up in approximately one year and outlined the means of financing (lease/purchase). He said the move
from eight different locations to the new building over the winter holidays had gone very smoothly and the
210 occupants of the building are settling in. He mentioned the Silver Certificate Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) status of the building indicating significant savings in the areas of water efficiency,
energy use, etc.. He thanked the Board for its support and noted that those using the building are very appreciative
and are already realizing efficiencies from being together at one site.
BOARD COMMENTS
Mr. Wolkow presented a report on the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) Legislative Committee
meeting he had attended that morning. He said the group is seeking full funding of the Thornton Commission
recommendations, he noted that $281 million has been placed in the states school capital funding account, and
that a lot of work has to be done on the pension reform proposal for school employees. He noted that the state
will have a hearing on the Charter School Commission (of which he is a member) recommendations. Mr. Wolkow
also provided information about the work of the Maintenance of Effort Commission. Ms. Rich said she has been
receiving a number of e-mails about the Comprehensive Secondary School Reform Program (CSSRP), in particular
citing the belief that teachers are not ready to make the switch to the eight-period block schedule. She said
professional development has been occurring and additional training is taking place during the two-day teacher-inservice
block on January 23 and 24. She mentioned that her husband had taught in a traditional schedule for 23 years
and had recently made the switch to block scheduling without training and is doing well. She said that real
leaders make decisions not clearly knowing what the future is.
With no more business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
This document contains a summary of issues that came before the Board of Education of Harford County and actions taken by
the Board at the public business meeting at the meeting date referenced on the document. These are not official
Board-approved minutes. Board minutes are not posted on the HCPS web site because of the time lapse that occurs
between the meeting, their preparation, and ultimate approval by the Board.
For copies of approved Board minutes, please e-mail
Lynn.Sweatt@hcps.org