Four out of the eight seats on the Howard County Board of Education are open this election cycle. Bess Altwerger, Cynthia L. Vaillancourt, Sandra H. French, and Ananta Hejeebu all plan to vacate their seats on the Board.
They are not running for reelection. Hejeebu was appointed to his seat after Janet Siddiqui left the board in favor of a run for the Howard County Council seat in District 4. Altwerger, Vaillancourt, and French were all elected to their posts.
Primary election day in the county is Tuesday, June 26, 2018. Voters will be asked to choose eight candidates out of the 13 who are running to replace the incumbents. Four of the eight winners at the primary will be chosen in the general election.
The school board elections are considered non-partisan, which prevents the candidates from running under party labels.
At a recent forum held at the Charles E. Miller Memorial Library in Ellicott City, eleven of the 13 candidates participated. Timothy Hamilton and Christopher Hilfiger were absent.
The following candidates attended the forum: Bob Glascock, Carleen Pena, Danny Mackey, Vicky Cutroneo, Jen Mallo, Saif Rehman, Chao Wu, Sabina Taj, Robert Miller, Anita Pandey, and Mavourene Robinson.
The assembly room where the forum was held was nearly filled to capacity. Approximately 130 spectators were present. The moderator requested questions from the audience.
The audience questions were read from cards. Two Howard High School students worked as time keepers. All of the candidates followed the debate rules without difficulty.
Cell Phones
On a question regarding cell phone policy, all of the candidates agreed that the issue is dicey because most of the children have personal devices now, including elementary-age
children.
Pandey said, “Removing social media is impossible. We need to teach them critical thinking skills.” Taj called for a “student-led movement on how to use devices,” while Miller suggested that “Kids should be asked to leave their devices in the locker. Perhaps there could be days when they have their devices.” Cutroneo called for a review of the current policy, while Pena said, “We have to teach our kids to be civil, starting in elementary school.” There was some agreement among candidates, but no consensus.
School Safety
On the issue of school safety and police officers in the schools, Mallo said, “Let’s arm our teachers with books, not bullets.” Robinson called for more support for disaffected children. Mackey called for the same, specifically calling for more counselors and restorative justice. Most of the candidates agreed that more was needed to help the emotional state and personal welfare needs of children. Pena pointed to an on-going facilities issue. She wants to end the practice of placing portables on school grounds as a substitute for brick and mortar structures.
Overcrowding
On the hot-button issue of over-crowding, Mallo called for redistricting to move from east to west. Cutroneo agreed, adding, “Capacity is in the west, not in the east.” Mallo wants to bring an end to children on buses sitting in traffic in the north-south Route 1 corridor. Sabina said, “Redistricting is disruptive and needs to be done smartly.” Pandey and Robinson called for expansion by building up on existing school structures. “Stop chasing development,” said Robinson. Like Mallo she is looking for a smart approach to over-capacity solutions.
Transgender
On the transgender issue, many candidates said they are willing to allow children to choose which bathroom to use, but others added some qualifiers.
“Equity is impartial,” said Robinson. She says no to bathrooms with multiple stalls, but yes, to those that are single-stall. Mackey, who calls himself the LBGTQ candidate said, “But it’s more than about bathrooms. Let’s talk about solutions.” Pena said, “We need to let our children lead us.”
School Budgets
On the issue of school budgets Wu said, “Spend money on teachers and evaluate central office spending.” Rehman said he wants to cut back on the procurement practices of the school system.
Glascock called for zero-based budgeting, which is an accounting method that calls for expenditure justifications each fiscal year. Pena wants to find more money through foundations offering grants — advocating for the hiring of more grant writers. She said, “There is money sitting out there on the table.” Mallo said that the county needs to “stop increasing class size.”
Police Officers
One audience member wanted to know if the candidates agreed with the new policy of having police officers in the schools. Most of the panel either did not agree with the decision or did not agree with the implementation. Wu took a different stand. He agreed with the policy. He called for “safety first” saying, “I spoke to the Superintendent [Michael Martirano] and the Diversity Chief [Kevin Gilbert].”
Inclusion
Regarding inclusion policies, specifically how to reach the immigrant population, Taj said, “We need to start listening to them. Some kids are afraid and feel unsafe.” Mallo said, “We need to lead by example. We need to go out to these communities and say, we value you.” Mackey answered the question first in flawless Spanish, then responding in English where he gave his support for inclusion.
Other Notes
While the event went without a hitch, Rehman had difficulty squeezing his answers into the 30-second time frame, so very often he did not complete his statements. However, he made it perfectly clear that he wants to “invest more in children” and he wants an end to haphazard policy-making.
Pena gained some prohibited applause when she distinguished herself from the others by saying, “We forget about the kids right there in the middle.” She was referring to the attention given to the high achievers and the low achievers.