Delegate Susan McComas’ office tells The Dagger that the Conroy scholarships, for the families of injured or fallen law enforcement officers and fire fighters as well as 9/11 victims who have fallen in the line of duty, will be fully funded.
On Monday, August 25, letters were mailed to all 40 applicants for the scholarship, who had been previously promised the financial assistance only to recently find out the state’s funding allocation for the program had run dry.
Lynne Parry, who broke the story of the underfunding of the scholarship on The Dagger earlier this month, received her letter today, Tuesday, August 26. After being told that there weren’t enough funds to provide the scholarship for her son, the child of the late Baltimore Police Detective Sergeant Mark F. Parry, Lynne was overjoyed to learn that the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) was fully funding the scholarship for her son and all the other families on the waiting list.
All 40 applicants will be reimbursed for tuition and fees for the fall 2008 semester. Based on the assumption that some applicants will cancel their applications by going out of state schools or not going to school at all, and the transfer of $130,000 from other non-need-based state scholarship funds, the money is now available to fully fund the state-mandated scholarship.
In a letter issued Tuesday, Del. J.B. Jennings described the process of procuring the scholarship funding for the Parry family and all the other families on the waiting list. He also summed up the entire situation of running out of state funding for the scholarships that were promised to the families of fallen officers as an “unfortunate and embarrassing occurrence” and “the State’s blunder.”
It’s unclear exactly who authorized the transfer of $130,000 into the Conroy Scholarhsip Fund. I have a call in to the Maryland Higher Education Commission to see if we can find out. But Delegate McComas indicated the authorization would have come directly or indirectly from the executive branch.
Del. McComas, Lynne Parry and I talked about the happy outcome on WAMD 970’s “Aberdeen Happenings” which will air Tuesday, September 2nd at 9AM. Please tune in to hear more about this story. Thanks to Mark for having us on.
Thanks also go to Delegate J.B. Jennings and Senator Andy Harris for taking on this cause and to our Dagger Readers who e-mailed the Governor urging him to keep faith with the families of our fallen heroes.
But the biggest thanks goes to Lynne Parry who wanted to make a difference and trusted The Dagger to tell her story. I saw the raw emotion she experineced each time she had to recount the events surrounding the death of her beloved husband Mark. But she endured it to advocate, not just for herself, but for all of the families who gave so much and were treated so shamefully by the State of Maryland. As Delegate Susan McComas said, this was a grass roots effort, but it all began with Lynne and her willingness to come forward and speak out.
That’s a lesson for us all.
The Dagger has just learned the Governor’s Office called the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) on Friday and told them to give priority funding to the Edward T. Conroy Scholarship Fund. This is according to the office of Delegate Susan McComas, who spoke this morning with Robert Parker, Director of the Office of Student Financial Aid, MHEC.
Great news, and great work by Cindy and Lynne!
Congrats. Lynne. Hopefully they all have been adequately embarrassed that ths will never happen again.
Lawrence R. – Larry – Sibley
Lodge4 Office Manager
Whew…what a whirlwind….Fox 45 just left here after interviewing both Danny and me for tonight’s broadcast. I tried to recognize the dagger as much as I could. So again thanks for allowing me to air this most important issue on your web site. It has reached so many more people thanks to you!!
Also thanks again to Delegate McComas, Delegate Jennings and Senator Harris for all their hard work and more importantly their passion for this issue. As I have said to so many it is not just for us, but so many others also. It is also not about us but about the public safety officers who put their lives on the line 24X7 365 days a year, let’s never forget this. I only hope our group of survivors does not grow.
I would also like to thank Fox45 for following this through. There is no question they too helped “air” this vital story.
And of course Governor O’Malley for appreciating this issue for what it is and supporting my son and the 39 other worthy applicants! I understand it only took $130,000.00 to fix this.
I will keep the dagger posted as we hopefully pursue legislation changes for the near future to avoid ever again having funding issues.
Thanks again to so many, and I apologize for overlooking anyone.
Congrats Lynne for all your efforts. I’m glad The Dagger could help you and all the others on the waiting list get the deserved funding.
Of course, just now according to Fox 45, they were the reason everything worked out. Not the efforts of Delegates McComas and Jennings, among others. Gotta love the local media!
Hats off to Lynne Parry. What a fighter! What a leader! National C.O.P.S. is so proud of her taking up the battle…not only for her child but for the 39 others. I think Maryland won’t underbudget this program ever again; because they know they’ll have to deal with Lynne Parry.
To paraphrase a recent memorable quote: “What’s the difference between Lynne Parry and a pit bull? Lipstick!
Suzie Sawyer
C.O.P.S. Executive Director
Success!!!
It is Groundhog’s day in August…yes this issue has once again reared its ugly head. We had much success this year in Annapolis passing HB710 and SB802. Earlier this year the Dagger ran this story:
http://www.daggerpress.com/2009/02/26/ending-the-sad-competition-tuition-waivers-for-children-of-fallen-heroes/#more-3559
Although these bills were passed and signed into law by Governor O’Malley, the legislation does not go into effect until October 2009. This means that once again there are eligible candidates on a waiting list. Officer Crystal Sheffield’s son just received his notice from MHEC that there are insufficient funds. His mom was a Baltimore City Officer who died in the line of duty (LOD) August 22, 2002. I have advised Crystal’s spouse to contact his elected state representatives to have them help him fight this issue much as Delegate Jennings, and McComas and Senator Harris did for my family last year.
I will keep dagger readers posted. Thanks for your support to Officer Sheffield’s family.
I received a letter today notifying me that though I’m eligible for the scholarship (I’m a disabled veteran), no funds are left. I’ll have to put off school I fear. Any advice?
Did you fill out a FAFSA
No because I was relying on this scholarship which I was told I was entitled to…