Dr. Leonard Wheeler, Vice President of the Harford County Board of Education, said at a meeting last week that racism was behind the decision by school officials not to air an address by President Barack Obama live on September 8, 2009. The speech was recorded by HCPS instead and shown days later to more than 99% of the students in attendance, according to Superintendent Robert Tomback.
Before Vice President Wheeler leveled his charge against the school system that he oversees, the controversy was addressed by other school officials, along with a number of public speakers.
Newly appointed Superintendent Tomback explained that school staff “knew from the outset” that they would not be able to air the speech live, because “we simply do not have the technological capability to do such a live broadcast”. Tomback called the lack of capability “regrettable” and continued:
The president of the Harford County Board of Education wants the Edgewood Community Council to halt the “negative press” in their community newsletter. Will the ECC comply?
In a recent email copied to several recipients, School Board President Mark Wolkow writes to the Edgewood Community Council with some general advice on how to improve the ECC newsletter, which is typically sent to 1200-1500 area residents. Among Wolkow’s suggestions are that the newsletter should contain positive stories and “eliminate any trace of negativity”. Wolkow argues that there are plenty of other outlets for that.
The Dagger has learned that Harford County Board of Education President Patrick L. Hess will resign from the board during a regular business meeting scheduled for 7:00 p.m. tonight (Monday) in Bel Air. The abrupt departure comes prior to the expiration of Hess’ second term on the board in 2011 and less than three months into his second term as president.
Hess is expected to explain that he is resigning from the school board to focus on his business. He is the president and chief executive officer of Operations Management, Inc. /WDPB, Inc., which operates a number of Denny’s franchises in the area.
Hess is also believed to have political aspirations within the county.
No official announcement was made of Hess’ resignation prior to the Monday meeting, but the move explains why the board’s published agenda leads off with the following:
7:00 P.M. Call to Order – Robert M. Tomback, Ph.D., Superintendent of Schools ...Continue Reading
Rather than wait until Election Day to let their representatives know how they feel about them, Edgewood residents recently participated in an appraisal process measuring the relationship between their officials and the community they purportedly represent.
Looking at the results, it’s immediately clear that Edgewood loves Harford County Councilman Dion Guthrie, but feels County Council President Billy Boniface and others “often fail to fulfill expectations of the community.”
School board member Mark Wolkow has led the charge to ensure Harford County Board of Education members are appointed by the Governor, rather than elected by the voters. Now we know why.
In the following letter to The Dagger, Edgewood Community Council President Jansen Robinson shares an e-mail Wolkow sent to leaders in the Edgewood community, warning them of the dangers of elections and drumming up support for a dressed-up version of the broken-down Permanent Nominating Caucus.
Along the way, Wolkow makes plenty of strange and erroneous arguments. But one in particular stands out.
No Pass, No Play. That’s the idea behind a Harford County Board of Education policy directed at the high school students who are failing one or more classes. At some schools, they make up more than half the population; on average, it’s closer to 37%.
Officially known as the Eligibility Policy, the idea was to motivate students to pass each class, every quarter, by making students ineligible for extra-curricular activities if they failed even one class. The policy gives Freshmen a free pass for the first quarter and all students the chance to pull up their grades each quarter, so one-time ineligibility doesn’t necessarily trash the whole year.
