Task Force Eliminates Elected School Board Option at Jim Smith's Urging

A task force reviewing how Baltimore County school board members are selected will not recommend a move to an elected or partially elected board.

Six commission members approved a series of deft motions offered by former County Executive Jim Smith. The first motion eliminated any form of elected school board from discussion.

A second, offered immediately after the first was approved, refocused the task force's attention on modifying the current system, which requires the governor to appoint members. The governor currently gets recommendations on county school board appointments from the county executive.

"We haven't had the input that justifies [an elected school board]," Smith said, adding that momentum was needed for the group to meet an Oct. 1 deadline for a report as required by the law that created the task force.

After the meeting at the Randallstown Library Friday, Smith said one possibility left on the table was altering the appointment process with the possibility of allowing the county executive to directly name school board members.

Supporters of a partial or fully elected school board expressed surprise and frustration with Smith's maneuvers.

"Jim Smith totally highjacked this process," said Julie Sugar, an education activist.

Laurie Taylor-Mitchell, another proponent of changing the appointed board to some form of elected board, called the votes "very disappointing."

Smith was joined by Sens. Delores Kelley and Kathy Klausmeier, Del. Emmett Burns, former Del. Jim Campbell and Dunbar Brooks, a Dundalk resident and former county school board president, in voting in favor of eliminating elected school boards from the possible recommendations.

Sen. Bobby Zirkin and Dels. Dana Stein and Steve Lafferty voted against.

Smith's two motions followed a protracted, sometimes heated debate over what rules the commission should follow.

Zirkin, an 11th District Democrat and proponent of a partially elected-appointed school board, also argued that any vote should be delayed until three absent members could attend. Two of those members—Sen. J.B. Jennings and Del. Wade Kach—are the only Republicans on the 12-member commission.

Jennings, in a phone interview late Friday night, said he was attending a meeting of a Senate subcommittee reviewing higher education issues.

Not all of the commission's decisions during its three-hour meeting in Randallstown were contentious.

The nine members present Friday voted to include in its report the following recommendations:

• An executive director or staff member who works directly for the board rather than the school superintendent.
• Establishing protocols for school board members so that they may regularly visit schools around the county.
• Providing information to the public about the duties, responsibilities and limitations of board members on the school system's website.
• Urging the board to keep lines of communication open with the general public.
• An auditor who works for the board.
• Establishing a board member handbook.

Members of the task force were told the last two recommendations were already in place.

Zirkin and others hoping for a recommendation for some form of an elected school board ended the meeting frustrated.

"This was farsical—far-si-cal," Zirkin said, adding that task force members were voting based on their own personal beliefs and not the testimony taken at three hearings held in July and August.

"The task force was created to find the opinions of the community," Zirkin said. "That's what got lost here. [Members] voted based on how they felt, not what the community wanted. Those arguing for the status quo are really arguing to keep their own power."

Smith said the public opinion was not clear.

The former county executive said only 36 individuals spoke at the three public hearings. Of those, four were in favor of an elected school board. Eight more were for a partially elected and appointed board. Another four testified in favor of either option.

Four testified in favor of keeping the current appointment system in which the governor names the board. Currently, those recommendations come from the county executive, though in the past a nominating convention and state senators have had input in selecting candidates.

Of the balance, eight asked the task force for more transparency on board operations. Four expressed no opinion. One asked that appointments be subject to some kind of vote, and one more asked the board to protect the diversity on the board, Smith said.

Stein, a Democrat who represents the same 11th District with Zirkin, said Smith's numbers didn't tell the whole story.

"My sense was there was a strong sense of a need for change," Stein said. "If we can't agree to what the sense of the public was, then let's put it on the ballot."

In the end, the task force did not complete enough work to finish its report, which is due on Oct. 1.

Klausmeier, co-chair of the task force, said the group would meet on Oct. 6 to finish its work.

"It's not the first time a deadline has been missed, and I'm sure it won't be the last," Klausmeier said.

Zirkin said the extra time is reason to hold out hope that a recommendation for an elected school board is still possible.

"All this junk that was just done here at this meeting will be undone at the next meeting," Zirkin said. "I'll have an [attorney general's] opinion."