Schmidt: No Position On School Board Bill, Yet

When a bill creating a partially-elected school board in Baltimore County gets a hearing on Thursday, members of the county school board will not testify against it.

Lawrence Schmidt, president of the county Board of Education, said Tuesday that the board will not take a position on the Senate bill sponsored by Sen. Bobby Zirkin.

"We've not taken a position on the bill," Schmidt said.

"There's nothing to be inferred from this one way or the other as much as you might want to try," Schmidt said.

In November, the board failed to agree on a legislative agenda for the 2013 Maryland General Assembly session.

Some members of the board worried that such a package might antagonize legislators, some of whom may already dislike the school board. Others opposed stances on individual issues.

In previous years, the board has opposed bills attempting to change how members are selected.

The board received an update on issues in Annapolis at its meeting Tuesday night but was not scheduled to take a vote on a position related to the school board bill, Schmidt said.

That reduces the likelihood that anyone from the board will attend the hearing before the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee. Schmidt said he will not attend nor testify.

He cautioned that the board could take a position later in the session.

"There's still 70 or 80 days left," Schmidt said.