Candidates interested in being recommended to the governor by the newly formed Harford County Board of Education Recommendation Committee have until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24 to deliver a letter of interest and a resume addressed to County Councilman Richard C. Slutzky, chairman of the committee at 212 South Bond Street in Bel Air. Submissions must be made in hard copy only.
Applicants must be at least 21 years old, may not be current employees of Harford County Public Schools and must have lived in the county for at least two years. Interviews will be held on Monday, July 7th beginning at 6:30 p.m. Opening statements of up to five minutes will be allowed, followed by questions from committee members. The public will be able to attend the interview session, although the vote will be held in a closed session, immediately following the interviews.
Two openings are to be filled on the Harford County Board of Education in July. Board President Tom Fidler will not to seek reappointment and the seat held by Salina Williams is also open, although Williams is reportedly interested in serving a second term. Since the board is not formally established by district, the committee determined that candidates may come from anywhere in the county, although Councilman Dion Guthrie indicated that he would consider that a factor when casting his vote. The two open seats are considered to represent Bel Air and Aberdeen respectively.
Absent from today’s meeting were Senator Barry Glassman and Delegate Donna Stifler, both of whom support an elected school board. Councilman Guthrie said he felt their absence may not have been accidental. Citing a conversation with an unnamed delegate, Guthrie said he was told the council “had a lot of nerve” to move forward with the committee process. Committee members reported that Stifler was suffering from an injury and when contacted after the meeting, Glassman told The Daggerhe had sent a message to council staff that he was committed to speaking at the Darlington Elementary School commencement at the time, but looked forward to participating in the process in the future.
Chairman Slutzky stressed that the committee was not intended as a substitute for an elected school board, but since the governor’s appointment secretary indicated candidates needed support from at least one local elected official, the committee was established to help officials identify interested candidates and to add transparency to the appointment process. The governor still has the option of accepting the recommendations of the committee or he may choose another candidate entirely. The committee will meet again on June 24th at 6:30 p.m. in the council offices to review applications and prepare for interviews.
BOE candidates also may not have been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude.
I consider many of the their decisions as a whole to be lacking moral turpitude.