A story in yesterday's Howard County edition of The Sun gave an incorrect number of school days for the 1995-1996 county school calendar. The correct number is 180.
Howard County students will have fewer early-dismissal days and their teachers will have more time for staff development under a calendar for next school year approved by the school board last night.
As a result of the board's action, students will no longer be dismissed early for a week at a time -- the current practice -- so that teachers can schedule conferences with parents. Students will get one day off, and be released three hours early on a day in the fall and another in the spring.
Also under the new calendar, teachers will get three days off for staff development, one day more than during this school year.
Giving teachers time off for staff development will address two ,, concerns. One is to give teachers enough time to attend workshops to improve their skills and the other is to reduce the use of substitutes when teachers are attending workshops.
The next school year will begin Aug. 28 and end on June 11, 1996, unless students have to make up for snow days. Unlike in past years, there are no snow days built into the calendar; students will attend school for 183 days, three days longer than required by state law. The first three snow days would be made up on June 12, 13 and 14, 1996. The fourth snow day would be scheduled on President's Day, on Feb. 19, 1996.
Spring break is scheduled for April 5-12, 1996.
Also last night, the board began the first of its three work sessions on Superintendent Michael E. Hickey's proposed $229.8 million spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Board member Karen Campbell opened the discussion by charging that residents have changed their attitudes toward education. She said that in the past, they made sure there was money budgeted to maintain a high-quality school system, but now they are more concerned with avoiding tax increases.
"There has been an overall withdrawal for enthusiastic support of education," said Dr. Campbell, a veterinarian. "That concerns me a lot."
Maybe it's time for the school board to "conduct a public relations campaign to educate the public that it's not this board [that cuts] services," she said. "It is the funding fathers who have taken their direction from the public."
Board Chairwoman Susan Cook urged the public to support the education budget. "Don't leave us out there by ourselves," she said. "You've done it before, and it wasn't fun."
The board also engaged in a lengthy discussion about special education funding, which accounts for more than 10 percent of the proposed budget. Board member Stephen Bounds requested information on the average spending on a special education student, how that compares with other counties, and the average spent on other students in the county. He also
wanted to know if the county is providing more and better services than surrounding jurisdictions.
"It's flattering people think our program is good enough to move here for it," Mr. Bounds said. "There are cost ramifications for running the entire program."
Also last night, the board:
* Approved Dr. Hickey's appointment of Michael Murphy as acting assistant principal at Glenwood Middle School. He replaces Albertha Caldwell, who was recently named principal of Wilde Lake Middle School.
* Approved Mount View Middle School as a possible site for a water tank to serve the western part of the county bounded by Route 99, Route 144 and Mount View Road. The county public works department is also considering two other sites -- one at the Alpha Ridge Landfill and the other on nearby private property.
If county officials select Mount View, the water tank will be built on an adjacent 30-acre field that is not being used.
* Heard testimony on a proposal to build an elementary and a middle school on 40 acres of land off Gorman Road, a mile west of Interstate 95. Nearby residents said Gorman Road is a windy, hilly road that is dangerous for buses. They also worried if locating schools there would change Gorman Road from a scenic route to a multi-lane road.