Preserving Rural Culture Is Goal For Anne Arundel County School Board Candidate

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Patch invited every candidate running for the Anne Arundel County Board of Education to complete a questionnaire on their campaign priorities. We are posting stories with their unedited, verbatim responses.

Get to know District 7 write-in candidate Maisie T. Howard below. Residents voting for Howard must write her full name in the blank space provided for write-in candidates.

Voters can check what district they live in at this link. Early voting runs from Oct. 24 through Oct. 31. Election Day is Nov. 5. More information on voting locations, registration, mail-in ballots and dropbox ballots is posted here.

Name: Maisie T. Howard (Newcomer)

District: 7

Hometown: Lothian

Age On General Election Day: 51

Profession: Attorney and Concerned Citizen

Campaign Website: wwww.UniteForYouth.com

Campaign Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560451563779&mibextid=LQQJ4d

1. What are your three biggest policy priorities?

Preserve rural culture and landscape in redistricting implementation.

Prioritize innovation in specialized education, co-curricular, and extracurricular programs.

Invest in shared governance models with parents and students as partners. Empower parents and students in decision making. And this last one really is a thorn right now. Parents are being ignored by administration literally and figuratively. There is no central means of report management for parent and student issues, leaving relationships fragile and strained. Who’s accountable and for what are they accountable?

2. What is the biggest educational issue in Anne Arundel County?

The feeling of a leadership vacuum as the Board transitions to the final newly formed body. Even with some already seated, it seems a different version of its former self. It has left a need for leadership at the local level to advocate on issues shared by the school system, parents and students. It feels fragmented and disjointed to have to navigate the system as a parent and student.

3. What is the biggest educational issue in your district specifically?

The Phase 2 Redistricting Implementation. The reason this will be an issue is all of the areas it touches. Aged facilities: Some of the facilities in the southern clusters are aged and need to be updated in wholistic and integrative planning scenarios. Natural light, drinking water, outdoor spaces, are all pieces of planning the implementation for redistricting to facilities in the Phase 2 zone. Climate assessments should be evaluated for how student wellbeing could be improved through engaging with artifacts, animals, and customs of the rural culture and environmental landscape. Secondly, the impact of the enrollment count could have a significant impact on budge and resource constraints if there are significantly more students being providing public education services than anticipated.

Redistricting on our rural communities impacts Issues from ingress and egress into towns to allocation of public safety and service resources during school days. crisis management across fire districts. Educational policies impact other municipal sectors. Collaboration and partnerships sometime pull the best assets to find the solution to meet needs.

4. How will you address the teacher shortage?

In a perfect world I would address it differently than I would today in 2024. I want to be practical and find a way to allow teachers to keep more money in their pockets if we can’t raise their salaries. We have to find the right balance of incentives and credits to create a pipeline for trained and licensed professionals. The organization should follow an evidence based human capital framework to adopt a measurable approach for addressing the shortage. Data should drive policies, accountability, and priorities. We should not stop policies before they can be measured without a compelling reason, such as if the data requires a 10 year cycle and we are in year 4. We may have to explore a mid-careerist pipeline to administrative and advanced degree options for satisfaction and to maintain teachers part time in circumstances where they may otherwise leave. My mother was a public school teacher my entire life. We should explore a long term care credit or trust planning service to provide a viable benefit for retirement after years in service.

5. How will you approach balancing the budget?

In a collaborative approach across the needs of all clusters. I would like an approach where the needs are balanced across the operating and capital budget categories as currently. I would like tomengage parents and students better around the budget process and requests. I think it would serve a great civic education and engagement all in one. I would like to explore innovative methods of raising revenue possibly exploring consultancy and shared governance structures.

I would want the Board to continue to adopt a shared legislative priority agenda to guide and prioritize budget activities. I also would want the opportunity for ability to fund small innovation capsules that progress is toward a National model of excellence. item appropriation and discretionary spending to fund innovative and/or pilot projects.

6. How will the end of pandemic-era funding affect your budgetary decisions?

Although I served on the CAC representing the Southern cluster for 3 years, we are no privy to any information outside of the open meetings act. So I know what every one else hears that it’s just 6.2% and not that big of a deal. I hope they kept money for closing the digital divide in our rural communities.

7. How will you approach school redistricting? If your district is part of this redistricting, what are some of your priorities?

My priorities are in alignment with everyone’s. I want to see facilities improved and able to accommodate the changes in enrollment. Sufficient resources, physical space, assets, food,, extracurricular activities. I would like limits on distance and time on the buses. I also would like to see choice be a driving factor in changing school. Z

8. If you are an incumbent, why do you deserve another term? If you are a challenger, why are you the best candidate?

I actually am on the ballot. I am the “or write-in” and HOWARD. I fought for that. It’s not a coincidence. I have fought every step of the way to be heard because I see the candidates who
Wanted to safeguard our rural interests, as well as those across the district. And neither candidate even talks about our rural interests. The words around parent advocacy fall short of an actionable plan to drive change. I’m scared of chaos ruling without a coherent platform on the issues. I had great hope in the conservative choice as I heard talk about one farming group. But there was nothing else about our rural community and heritage being preserved. our rural communities and suburbs will end up ruined with misaligned implementation standards and lagging facility planning.

9. How will you handle LGBTQ+ and racial issues brought before the school board?

According to all applicable laws, policies, guidelines and rules.

10. How will you handle book-banning issues brought before the school board?

According to all applicable laws, policies, guidelines and rules.

11. Please tell us about yourself.

I was born and raised in Missouri. For the past 20 years, we have been residents of Crofton and now, Lothian..Professionally, I’ve served as a Registered Nurse, health law attorney and policy expert. As a chief business architecture for the Affordable Care Act, i applied knowledge in leading large, complex organizations through transformational changes.

I am actively involved in the community, currently working part time at the Anne Arundel County Public Libraries. I served as the Southern cluster representative to the Anne Arundel County Public Schools Superintendent’s Parents Advisory Council and until 2024, on the Board of Education Citizen Advisory Committee, advocating for south County students, administrators, families, and communities. I also serve on the Children’s National Medical System NICU Parent-Family Advisory Board. This enables me to be a credible and informed advocate for specialized instruction services for special education.

Alongside my husband and best friend, Matthew, we ar deeply invested in the local education system, with our four children attending AACPS schools in the Southern cluster, as well as, Towson University, Anne Arundel Community College, and the University of Maryland.

12. Is there anything else we should know?

I am a creative, collaborative problem-solver with a business strategy and operations background. Memberships include: Girl Scouts (Lifetime Member), Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Decades long parent and family advocate Board member, Children’s National Medical. I am an avid knitter and gardener residing on a Small hobby farm. As a former clinician and attorney, I worked in policymaking and have experience planning and implementing transformational industry packages. I am from a family of American and Foreign War Veterans and Active Duty military. I want to strengthen the CCR and continuity of education for our students of military families.