Baltimore County School Board Commission Named, Meeting Dates Set

A task force charged with reviewing how members of the Baltimore County school board are selected will meet three times beginning next month.

Sen. Kathy Klausmeier announced the dates and task force appointments in an email late Sunday night.

Currently, the governor appoints school board members to their five-year terms. Over the last several years those recommendations have come from the county executive.

The 12-member Task Force on the Selection Process, Accountability, and Professionalism of the Baltimore County Board of Education is expected to review that system. Also to be reviewed are systems that include a return to the school board nominating convention, as well as a hybrid or fully elected board.

The group was created earlier this year by state law after legislators took up the issue of creating a hybrid school board.

Some senators and delegates say making half the board run for election will make the independent group more responsive and accountable to lawmakers and the public. Others say it will add an element of politicization that should be kept away from school system operations.

The task force is made up of members of the state legislature as well as appointments by the County Council and executive.

Klausmeier and Del. Steve Lafferty, Democrats from Perry Hall and Towson, respectively, will lead the group.

Klausmeier is the chairwoman of the county Senate delegation and has previously opposed efforts to create a hybrid or elected school board. Lafferty, co-chairman of the county's House delegation, has been supportive of a change to a partially elected board.

Also named to the commission are Republican Sen. J.B. Jennings, Democratic Sens. Delores Kelley and Bobby Zirkin, Democratic Dels. Dana Stein and Emmett Burns and Republican Del. Wade Kach.

Council Chairman John A. Olszewski Sr., a Dundalk Democrat and father to Del. John A. Olszewski Jr., will represent the council. The younger Olszewski recused himself from the commission because he works for the Baltimore County Public Schools system.

Three other appointees have yet to be selected by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz.

The commission will meet three times in July, including:

• July 6 at the Reisterstown Library at 6:30 p.m.
• July 7 at the Essex Library at 6:30 p.m.
• July 25 at the Towson Library at 6:30 p.m. 

From these meetings, the task force is expected to deliver recommendations that could possibly include changes to how members of the county school board are selected.

In addition to taking testimony from the public at the three meetings, the task force will also take written comments.

Those comments can be mailed to:

Sen. Kathy Klausmier

Attention: Baltimore County School Board Task Force

4100 Walter Avenue

Baltimore, MD 21236

Testimony can also be e-mailed to katherine.klausmeier@senate.state.md.us.

All testimony should be submitted no later than July 25, 2011.