Nine candidates, including two incumbents and a recent Carroll high school graduate, are vying for three seats on the five-member county Board of Education. The top six vote-getters in the primary next month will advance to the Nov. 3 general election.

Board President C. Scott Stone and member Gary W. Bauer are running for re-election. Carolyn L. Scott, who has served on the board for 10 years, has decided not to seek another term. The seats of Ann M. Ballard and Joseph D. Mish Jr. are not up for election.

Challengers in the nonpartisan school board race are: Colin M. Bisasky, Susan Krebs, Neil F. MacGregor, Mary D. Oldewurtel, James E. Reter, Thomas L. Shaffer and Thelma P. Smith.

The responsibilities of the board include preparing an annual school budget to be approved by the County Commissioners, adopting school boundary lines, reviewing and approving a long-range curriculum plan and hiring the schools superintendent.

The next school board will confront formidable challenges. Of primary importance is maintaining Carroll's high academic ranking in the state after a leveling of scores last year in Maryland's annual school performance tests.

County officials have projected a $16 million deficit in the school system's operating budget over the next five years. The shortfall is based on using operating budget money to repay loans to build several schools.

Gary W. Bauer

Bauer, 51, of Hampstead was elected to the board in 1994.

Along with Mish, Bauer is regarded as representing the views of conservative Christians in the county.

"I've been involved in some issues here, and I want to finish them through," said Bauer of his decision to seek another term.

He serves on two advisory committees -- at the local and state levels -- to educate the public about Maryland's new series of high school exams. The tests will be a graduation requirement, starting with the Class of 2004 -- seventh-graders this fall.

The exams are intended to force schools and teachers to improve instruction and will be far more rigorous than the Maryland Functional Tests now required for graduation.

Bauer said the biggest issue facing the board is how to deal with the projected shortfall in the school system's operating budget.

"We're trying to find ways to reduce some costs and make the school system more efficient to stay within the limits we've got set for us," he said.

Bauer is a pump operator with the Baltimore Fire Department. His 21-year-old daughter is a graduate of North Carroll High School. His 16-year-old son attends Carroll Christian Schools.

Colin M. Bisasky

At age 20, Colin M. Bisasky is the youngest of the school board candidates. The 1996 Liberty High School graduate said he could bring a much-needed youthful perspective to the board.

"I thought that since I was just recently a student in Carroll County, I would know better than other candidates things that are wrong or need to be improved with the school system," said Bisasky, a student at Carroll Community College.

He strongly supports revising the county curriculum to include more grammar courses at all grade levels.

"Students who graduate from county public schools really aren't prepared for the kind of grammar they need to know in college for writing papers," Bisasky said.

His observations are based on his experience in college, although he said he is aware of other county high school graduates who share his opinions.

Bisasky said that substance abuse is a growing problem and that school officials need to develop harsher penalties to deal with student offenders.

After earning an associate's degree from Carroll Community College, Bisasky plans to transfer to the University of Maryland, College Park to study international relations.

He is a waiter at the Pizza Hut in Mount Airy.

Susan Krebs

Susan Krebs said her decade of experience in PTA groups, her community leadership on school-related issues and her career as an accountant have prepared her for the school board.

"Basically I live at the schools," said Krebs, 38, who has three children at elementary, middle and high schools.

"The most critical issue to me is raising student achievement and to teach the basics needed to be successful," said Krebs, an Eldersburg resident for 14 years.

Krebs said she is committed to demanding more accountability from school administrators regarding key decisions in areas including class size, timely completion of school construction and parental involvement.

She said her background as a financial analyst and accountant would help her make knowledgeable decisions on budget choices. She works part time for a financial consulting firm.

Krebs has been active in pushing school officials and the County Commission to build schools in fast-growing South Carroll. She headed committees supporting the construction of Oklahoma Road Middle School, which opened last year, and the new high school in South Carroll, scheduled to open in 2001.

Krebs has served on PTA boards at Carrolltowne and Freedom elementary schools and Sykesville Middle School. She is on the PTA board at Oklahoma Road Middle School and will serve on the Liberty High School PTA board this fall.

Neil F. MacGregor

Neil F. MacGregor of Westminster is making his second bid for a school board seat after an unsuccessful run in 1990.

MacGregor, 49, describes himself as a "full-time father" to his three children who attend Westminster High and Westminster East Middle schools. He has been an account representative with the Social Security Administration and a newspaper distributor. His wife, Colleen, is a nurse at Carroll County General Hospital.

MacGregor said his decision to seek a position on the board stems from his concerns about the quality of education in county schools.

"I believe there should be a more complex curriculum, especially in the lower grades," he said. "I think the curriculum is catering to the slowest kids and the vast majority of children aren't being challenged."

MacGregor supports more advanced reading materials for elementary students, with works by Mark Twain and Robert Louis Stevenson.

He also cited reducing class sizes as a major concern.

A former vice president of the PTO at Robert Moton Elementary, MacGregor coordinated the school's cultural program and created a reading incentive program. He is on the Westminster East Middle School PTA board and serves on the school system's curriculum council, which reviews classroom materials.

Mary D. Oldewurtel

Raising academic standards and increasing parental involvement in schools are the main concerns of Mary D. Oldewurtel.

Oldewurtel, 46, is a lawyer, but in the past few years her work schedule has been "very part time." For five years, she was an attorney with Legal Aid in Baltimore and private law firms.

The Sykesville resident has a 10-year-old son in fifth grade at Winfield Elementary School.

Oldewurtel, who said she is most familiar with the elementary-level curriculum, believes many students are bored because they aren't being challenged academically.

"Schools need to be a little more rigorous," she said. "In elementary schools, students should be separated according to their ability."

Oldewurtel said the school board should encourage PTA groups to play a more active role in "real issues," such as substance abuse, instead of concentrating solely on fund raising.

James E. Reter

In his campaign, James E. Reter plans to emphasize more discipline in schools, a return to traditional teaching methods and greater accountability from school administrators.

Reter, 66, retired in 1993 as comptroller for the school system after 12 years in the position. He previously was the chief auditor for the State Department of Education. Reter has a private accounting practice.

The Westminster resident is calling for annual performance audits in the school system and "zero-based budgeting," which would require school officials to justify all budget items, not just requested increases.

Reter supports a greater emphasis on phonics in reading instruction and more homework for students. He said students who are expelled from school for drug use should not be eligible for home instruction.

Guidance counselors and assistant principals should work one night a week to meet with working parents, he said.

Reter's two grown children are graduates of Westminster High School.

Thomas L. Shaffer

Thomas L. Shaffer, a retired Baltimore County police officer, says the quality of education in Carroll schools is deteriorating.

"I've had four children in the school system, and I've seen what's been going on in the schools with teaching, or not teaching, and it causes me serious problems," said Shaffer, 49, of Westminster.

Shaffer is particularly critical of the state's annual measurement of school achievement through the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program. The MSPAP tests, given each year to third-, fifth- and eighth-graders, are intended to assess students' thinking skills by asking them to solve real-life problems.

"If you look at the test, you find out how inane they are in their quality," said Shaffer, who isn't impressed that Carroll schools typically rank at the top in MSPAP scores statewide.

He called for replacing the MSPAP tests with a more rigorous testing program.

He also supports cutting administrative salaries and reducing class sizes.

Shaffer, who owns an Electrolux franchise, has a son who attends Westminster High School.

Thelma P. Smith

Thelma P. Smith, a former business teacher at Francis Scott Key High School, is running for a seat on the school board that approved her dismissal from the Carroll school system.

Smith, an African-American, was fired from her teaching position last year for unreported absences and failing to prepare substitute lesson plans, according to school officials. She says her dismissal was punishment for speaking out against discriminatory treatment she endured at the school, near Uniontown.

Smith, 41, of Eldersburg said she entered the school board race to bring a minority perspective to public education.

"After spending a year in the system, I know it is a racist, hostile environment for minorities, but they [county school officials] don't want to confront it," said Smith. "As a minority, I was totally ignored, totally dismissed as an individual."

C. Scott Stone

School board President C. Scott Stone, who came on the board six years ago, is seeking another term.

If he retains his seat, said Stone, 47, of Hampstead, his primary focus would be improving student academic performance.

"While Carroll County has a lot to be proud of in terms of MSPAP achievement, if we look at the reading scores only 43 percent are doing satisfactory and we need to do better," said Stone, who supports making curriculum revisions to improve reading instruction.

Stone said he's committed to keeping the county's six-year capital improvement program for school construction on schedule. The plan to relieve school crowding, developed by the current school board and the County Commissioners, includes opening two new elementaries, two new middle schools and two new high schools by 2002.

Another priority for Stone is the redistricting of 4,000 students with the opening of the new high schools. He said the community should be included from the beginning of the process as school boundaries are adjusted.

Stone works for Lucent Technologies in software development. He is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University and has a master's degree in computer science. He graduated from North Carroll High School, where his two children are students.

Pub Date: 8/16/98