Harford County consists of 47 local PTA units with over 11,000 members. It is time to take action concerning the Harford County budget. Executive Craig is now formulating the 2011 budget to be given to the Harford County Council by April 1, 2010. Now is the time for PTA members to let the county executive know that we want our children’s education fully funded. The students in Harford County are our future and we must invest in the future today. Email Executive Craig and let him know that PTA is the voice of the children in Harford County. We need the Harford County Public Schools budget fully funded. You can email the executive at CountyExecutive@harfordcountymd.gov
The Harford County Council of PTAs is gathering elected officials and leaders in education to meet with the public at a legislative forum planned for Thursday, October 15th at 7 p.m. in the Bel Air High School cafeteria.
Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from decision-makers about issues in education and to speak with them one-on-one or in small, informal discussion groups. Find out what’s happening in Harford County Public Schools and share your ideas and concerns with the people who represent you. It is not necessary to be a PTA member; all members of the community are welcome to attend. Invited guests include all appointed and elected officials, including local, state and national representatives.
According to HCCPTA President Cathi Peters, the following individuals have confirmed their attendance as of October 6:
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Tomback
Board of Education President Mark Wolkow
County Councilman Dion Guthrie (District ...Continue Reading
I just can’t understand what the hell is going on with parents in Edgewood. I just attended a PTA meeting at Deerfield Elementary and there were the same four to five parents plus the Principal and Vice Principal at the meeting. In the past few years, this PTA has been run by just a handful of parents (under ten in total) and it baffles me.
I am frustrated because we have tried everything under the sun to get parents to come to meeting and see what’s going on in the school and participate in the PTA, but out of 510 students only ten parents participate.
Tonight there was a talent show tryout for 4th & 5th graders. I kid you not, that gymnasium was full of parents along with their children to come tryout in the pouring rain. Yet, not one of those parents in that gym has attended one ...Continue Reading
Four days of interviews have been set aside by the Harford County Board of Education for representatives of local stakeholder groups to interview finalists in the search for a new superintendent for Harford County Public Schools.
Stakeholder groups, such as PTAs, are being included by invitation and for advisory purposes only; the final selection of a superintendent is the responsibility of the local school board. The interview sessions are scheduled for May 20, 21, 27, and 28. Interviewers are being asked to commit to attending all four sessions.
Bea Gordon of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE), which is assisting in the superintendent search, said the four days set aside do not mean that four candidates had already been selected. In response to an inquiry from The Dagger, Gordon said that as of May 1, the school board had not been presented with the ...Continue Reading
(Bel Air, MD – November 25, 2008) – - Harford County Executive David R. Craig has announced two School Beautification Grant Program awards. Riverside Elementary School in Joppatowne and Homestead – Wakefield Elementary School in Bel Air, each received an award from the grant program administered by the Department of Community Services.
Riverside Elementary PTA received a $10,000 grant towards the upgrade and refurbishment of the primary playground. The projected cost of improvements for the school playground is estimated at $70,000. To date, the PTA and school community have received more than $65,000 to support this project. New ADA compliant playground equipment should be installed at the school by the summer of 2009.
Homestead –Wakefield Elementary School PTA received two grants totally $9,990. One award is $5,000 towards improvements for the lobby of the school, including painting, painting of a mural and furniture assembly to ...Continue Reading
The new Patterson Mill Middle High School should be the pride of Harford County. Thanks to the decision to forward fund several schools, Patterson Mill was the first in a string of long overdue construction projects intended to launch our students into the 21st century. Patterson Mill boasts many state-of-the-art features on the inside, but on the outside at least, someone clearly dropped the ball.
With several big ticket projects in the works, namely Bel Air and Edgewood high schools, Deerfield and Youth’s Benefit elementary schools, not to mention two brand new schools in various stages of development, the Patterson Mill experience may serve as a cautionary tale to the thousands of parents and other taxpayers who want to ensure that their school facilities are planned appropriately and delivered as planned.
