At least six candidates are expected to run for the two seats on the Howard County school board that will be contested in this fall's elections.
One of the incumbents in the two seats, Sandra H. French, plans to enter the race. Board member Linda L. Johnston announced this month that she will not seek re-election when her six-year term ends in December.
The contests carry added weight because the five members of this school board will, for the first time in more than a decade, select a new leader.
Superintendent Michael E. Hickey plans to retire in two years.
The deadline for candidates is July 6. As of Friday, four -- French; Alfreda Gill, a Clarksville private school teacher; Jerry D. Johnston, an Ellicott City accountant; and Laura Waters, a Columbia substitute teacher -- had registered.
Two others -- Vince Pugliese, a retired high school teacher, and Arthur Neal Willoughby, a Jessup mechanical engineer, have indicated they will run. Additional candidates are expected to emerge before the filing deadline.
The top four candidates in the nonpartisan primary election Sept. 15 will advance to the Nov. 3 general election.
The seats will go to the top two in that vote.
The four who survive the primary will face each other in October at a round-table discussion sponsored by the PTA Council of Howard County, said Susan Poole, PTA president.
The school board candidates, all longtime Howard County residents, represent diverse perspectives and, in preliminary discussions, focused on a wide range of issues.
'Strength of continuity'
French, a longtime school activist and teacher, is finishing her first six-year term on the school board.
"I do have the strength of continuity," she said. "I understand our weaknesses and strengths, and I can provide continuity as well as vision. I'm excited and eager to do that.
"I can see how things interlock -- reading, class size, discipline, the middle school [reform] initiative. All those things are intertwined. One will help the other."
In recent school board discussions, French stressed the need to salvage programs to aid struggling readers and disruptive students, issues she considers crucial.
French said that if she is re-elected, her experience on the board will serve her well during the search for a superintendent when Hickey retires at the close of the school year in 2000. Members of the board have begun setting up a timetable for the search, she said.
Concern about violence
Alfreda Gill, a 21-year resident of western Howard County, has taught preschool at Montessori schools in Columbia for nearly 15 years.
Her three children -- the youngest a 10th-grader at River Hill High School -- have attended county public schools for more than a decade.
Gill said she is concerned about what she considers youths' lack of respect for their elders and that as a school board member she would stress discipline, improved after-school activities and parental involvement.
"I'm really disturbed by the violence in schools. I want to do something about it," Gill said recently in the living room of her Clarksville home. "I want to provide for children who have problems in school."
Gill, an immigrant from Pakistan, said she wants to contribute to the society that has welcomed her family.
"This country has given us so much," she said. The school board seat "is my way of saying thank you. I'd like to give something back. I want to do something to help the younger generation go the right way."
'A big gap'
Jerry D. Johnston, an Ellicott City accountant, said he loves children -- he has eight -- and that large classes exacerbate problems such as discipline and reading difficulties.
Reducing the student-teacher ratio should be a top priority, he said. Johnston said he has often heard school officials express similar sentiments but there has been too little action, particularly in regard to this year's budget.
"Between word and deed there is a big gap," he said. "Class size -- they talk about that, but there was no money [in this year's budget] for class sizes. That's an issue for me."
One of his campaign slogans will be "Back to Basics," a call to stop creating programs and focus instead on excelling at core subjects, he said.
The current school board says, " 'There's a problem, so let's start a new program to solve it.' Maybe they ought to concentrate on basic teaching," Johnston said.
Johnston, who attended many school board meetings in the past school year and unsuccessfully sought a board position six years ago, plans to be more critical than current board members of proposals by Hickey and his staff.
"I don't think anybody really understands the numbers, but I do," said Johnston, pointing to his 30-year accounting career.
In his campaign, Johnston said, he will address the issue of disruptive students and will investigate the possibility of a school tax statewide.
'Politically incorrect'
Vince Pugliese of Columbia is a retired high school social studies teacher who taught in Montgomery County for 32 years. A father of three grown children, he is a substitute teacher in Montgomery.
He said his experience as an educator in a neighboring county would prove invaluable if he is elected to the school board.
"Education has really been my whole life," he said. "I enjoy young people. I always have. I want to give something back to what people gave me."
Pugliese, who calls himself "politically incorrect," said he would like the school board to set higher standards for students, enforce discipline and foster more parent involvement.
"I'd like to bring back some sense of the kids having pride for where they go [to school], for them to have a purpose and go on to something better," he said. "I may be old-fashioned but that's the way I see it."
Pugliese ran for the school board two years ago and came in fifth out of five candidates, he said.
Hickey has done "a really good job" as superintendent, he said. A replacement ideally would have the qualities of men Pugliese called his heroes: Vince Lombardi, Martin Luther King Jr., Bill Clinton and John Wayne.
Focus on code of conduct
Laura Waters, a 27-year Columbia resident who has been a substitute teacher in Howard elementary and middle schools for seven years and is looking for work, will focus on discipline in her campaign, she said. Her two children attended Howard public schools.
Waters said she kept close tabs on a recent effort by school officials to draft a systemwide discipline code. The policy, which was approved last month, is too general and allows too much room for variation, she said.
"I don't really see this code of conduct as much different from what they have now," Waters said. "It's a little better, but there's nothing in here about cafeteria behavior. What about food in classrooms?"
The code, the result of nearly a year's work by 18 school officials, students and community leaders, aims to make more consistent the rules and punishments for 43 kinds of misbehavior that routinely occur in schools.
"The problem [with many children] is that no one has ever held them responsible for anything," Waters said. "Kids are not the equals of adults. It's our job to teach them how to act."
Waters also is concerned about class sizes, teacher salaries and students who fall through the cracks academically.
'Equity issues'
Arthur Neal Willoughby is a Department of Defense mechanical engineer who lives in Jessup and teaches engineering courses at Morgan State University. He has a son at Patuxent Valley Middle School. He wants to advocate stronger math and science programs in Howard schools.
"Technological issues are sweeping the country right now," he said. "You need someone who can relate to those issues.
"Things are being done well [on the school board]," he said. "I think I'd like to add to the discussion, enhance it."
Among other issues, he is concerned about teachers' salaries and the funds provided, under state law, to transport parochial school students. It also is important, Willoughby said, to have fair and adequate representation on the school board from throughout Howard County.
"Western Howard County is strong" on the board, he said. "You can see that reflection from some of the schools. There are probably some equity issues that need to be addressed in the whole county."
Moving on
Linda Johnston, discussing her decision not to run again, said her commitments to her family and job -- with the federal government in the Department of Health and Human Services -- made it difficult for her to attend school board functions. Service on the school board was very rewarding, she said.
"It's been very enjoyable," she said. "On the other hand, after six years, it may be beneficial for the community to have a new perspective. Change can be good."
Pub Date: 6/21/98