Baltimore County Board of Education

Nearly 85% of Baltimore County educators surveyed by the teachers union this week said they are anxious or very anxious about returning to classrooms before January.

The Baltimore County teachers’ union will survey its members this week to learn what they think about returning to classrooms. This comes as the union calls on school superintendent Darryl Williams to rescind his decision to have teachers report to school buildings October 19.

All of Baltimore County’s teachers and some of its students will soon be heading back to school buildings.

That announcement Thursday caught the teachers’ union, school board members and the county executive by surprise.

The Baltimore County Public Schools’ IT help desk was overwhelmed during the days leading up to the start of school, as well as during the first several days of virtual classes.

School administrators told the county school board Tuesday night that from August 30 until September 11, there were more than 8,000 requests for technical support.

Special education students make up 12 percent of the enrollment in Maryland public schools.

With the school year just getting under way with virtual learning, advocates and parents say many of those students are already at risk of failure.

There will be no school buses on the road Tuesday, even though it’s the first day of classes for a number of school systems in Maryland, including Baltimore City, and Baltimore and Howard Counties. Every school district in the state is starting the year with virtual learning.

Weeks after Maryland’s school systems submitted to the state plans for virtual learning this fall, the state school board is looking at a proposal for a minimum level of live, online instruction time for students.

The proposal comes as school is already under way in some parts of the state and about to begin in others.

Public school students in central Maryland are starting the school year with a virtual learning model.

Thursday, three school superintendents laid out what needs to happen before those students can return to the classroom in a virtual discussion that got off to a rocky start with some technical difficulties.

Baltimore County students will be doing distance learning through at least the first semester. Tuesday night the Baltimore County School Board got into the nitty gritty of what that’s going to look like. Everything from attendance, to class schedules, to conduct, to sports got an airing out.

WYPR’s John Lee listened in on the meeting and joined Morning Edition host Nathan Sterner to talk about it.

The unions that represent teachers, administrators and other school employees in Baltimore County are calling for students to begin the school year at home, doing online learning. 

The unions said Monday at a news conference that school buildings are unsafe. 

Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Darryl Williams will look into whether hate symbols like the Confederate flag should be banned in the county schools.

The Baltimore County Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to order the inquiry and directed Williams to report back by January.

Baltimore County teachers have a lot of questions about what the reopening of schools in September might look like.

TABCO, the Teachers Association of Baltimore County, plans to meet Thursday to draw up a list of concerns for school administrators.

  A Maryland legislator is calling for a ban on confederate flags and other hate symbols in the Baltimore County Public Schools.

She was asked to submit the request for a ban by a Black Lives Matter group in a part of the county that is overwhelmingly white.

Baltimore County teachers have ratified a contract that contains a 1% pay raise, which is far less than what teachers originally expected to get.

Update to the story: 

By a 78% majority, The Baltimore County Teachers Union voted to ratify the contract which takes effect July 1.

Original post: 

Baltimore County teachers this week are voting on a new contract.

Under the proposed deal, teachers would get a raise, but not as much as they had expected.

The COVID-19 pandemic is making clear the divide between the rich and the poor students in Baltimore County schools, according to members of the school board.

Closing that divide may be made more difficult because the board itself is divided and distracted.

Baltimore County law allows developers to build homes and apartments near crowded schools. 

School advocates and some officials want to reshuffle the deck they say is stacked in favor of developers.

The fractured Baltimore County School Board’s inability to elect a chairman and vice chairman is now an issue before the Maryland General Assembly.

In December, both chair Kathleen Causey and vice chair Julie Henn seemingly lost elections to be reappointed the board’s leaders by six to five votes. However, both remain in place as de facto chair and vice chair. The reason is you need seven votes to be appointed. The vote was complicated by the death in October of board member Roger Hayden.

Now Democratic Delegate Eric Ebersole is introducing legislation that would allow future votes to be decided by a simple majority.

The Baltimore County School Board Thursday night threw in the towel and gave up trying to elect a new chairman. 

Despite that, the current chairwoman Kathleen Causey will continue on in the post for now.

A behind-the-scenes battle is being waged over the future leadership of the Baltimore County School Board, leaving it fractured.

The Baltimore County School Board is deciding whether to start school before or after Labor Day next year.

But at a public hearing Tuesday night, the board heard mostly from people who asked it to treat the major religions equally when deciding on religious holidays in the 2020-2021 school calendar. 

The General Assembly earlier this year tossed out Governor Larry Hogan’s 2016 executive order forcing school systems to wait until after Labor Day to start classes. 

School systems in Maryland now are considering taking advantage of that because they are facing a looming calendar crunch. Labor Day next year comes at its latest possible date, September 7.

Monday was Darryl Williams’ first day on the job as Baltimore County’s new school superintendent. And right out of the starting gate, he heard from students about problems with bullying and dilapidated schools. 

Baltimore County’s next school superintendent is promising a plan of action as he takes over the system July 1st. Darryl Williams was introduced to the public at a special school board meeting Tuesday night. 

It was also revealed what the next year will hold for outgoing interim superintendent Verletta White.

The Baltimore County School Board has made changes to how it disciplines students. This comes after attorneys who have been monitoring the school system said it was breaking state law.

The Baltimore County School Board Tuesday night decided again that classes will start after Labor Day this coming school year, and it heard a farewell address from interim school superintendent Verletta White. WYPR’s John Lee was there and talked it over with Morning Edition host Nathan Sterner.

Dallas Dance resigned in disgrace as Baltimore County’s school superintendent two years ago. But his legacy has remained front and center. In his wake, a fractured school board battled over finding his permanent replacement, and whether the staff Dance left behind could be trusted. 

In an interview with WYPR, Dance said he has moved on, but has learned from the mistakes he made.

Two high-ranking officials in the Baltimore County school system have filed complaints against members of the school board, alleging bullying, intimidation, and a hostile work environment.