O'Malley makes final Harford school board appointments

Gov. Martin O'Malley appointed James Thornton of Bel Air and Ronald Browning of Havre de Grace to the Harford County Board of Education Friday, bringing the board to a historic nine-member complement.

The governor's latest appointments were made just in time for Monday's afternoon's previously scheduled swearing-in ceremony for three other incoming members. Diane Burk, of the Clerk of the Circuit Court's Office, guided members through the oath during Monday's ceremony, which Superintendent Robert Tomback led.

O'Malley spokesperson Takirra Winfield said Browning and Osman were appointed to replace Donald Osman and Mark Wolkow, respectively, whose terms expired June 30. Neither had sought reappointment. Wolkow had been board president since 2009.

Thornton, owner of Thorwood Real Estate, and Browning, owner of La Cle D'or Guesthouse in Havre de Grace, were sworn in during the 3 p.m. ceremony at the A. A. Roberty Building in Bel Air.

They were joined by Joseph Hau and Nancy Reynolds, who were appointed by O'Malley a few weeks ago to fill the two additional board seats created by a 2009 state law that took the Harford school board from seven appointed members to a blend of six elected and three appointed members. The expansion to nine members became effective this July 1.

And joining those four was Cassandra Beverley, who was elected to the board last November to represent Fallston and Abingdon. She was sworn in for her term Monday, replacing Thomas Evans who did not run in the election.

Also receiving the oaths Monday for their elected full terms were board members Robert Frisch and Rick Grambo. Frisch and Grambo, who were also elected in November, had both received interim appointments in December after those two seats became vacant.

Frisch, Grambo and Beverley are the first people elected under the 2009 state law that established a nine-member school board in Harford with six elected and three appointed members.

In addition to running his guest house, Browning, who is a former teacher, is also the Havre de Grace area neighborhood columnist for The Record.

He said Monday morning, before the ceremony, that his 31-year teaching career would help him make decisions on the board, seeing as he spent some time on the other side, as a teacher. He also currently teaches Spanish at Community College of Baltimore County and geography at four different nursing homes. One of the biggest issues facing the board, he added, is the budget.

"I think there are a couple different things," he said. "I think one is having to tighten up the budget because of the lackluster economy we are in right now."

Thornton, who is also treasurer of the Board of Directors for the Baltimore Museum of Art, was appointed this spring by County Executive David Craig to a seat on the Harford County Liquor Control Board.

Friday, Winfield of the governor's office said Thornton's service on the liquor board, which like the school board is a state body, will not be a conflict.

Even so, Thornton tendered his resignation from the liquor board almost immediately after learning he was joining the school board.

After Monday's ceremony, Thornton said he resigned from his post on the liquor board Friday because it was a requirement for serving on the school board. He said he didn't mind.

"I graciously tendered my resignation because I think this is a great opportunity from a public policy standpoint," he said.

He also said his experience as a business owner and a county resident would bring a "different perspective" to the board and he wanted to make Harford County Public Schools a "world class" school system, with students on par globally.

"I'm looking forward to delving into the work of the board," he said, "and getting up to speed as quickly as possible."

Thornton and Beverley are African-Americans, as is holdover member Leonard Wheeler. When the three were seated Monday, it marked the first time in Harford's history that three African-Americans have served on the county school board simultaneously. Harford's system was one of the last in the state to fully integrate — in 1966.

According to the Maryland State Department of Education, 18 percent of Harford County Public Schools' 38,400 student enrollment for 2011 was African-American, almost 7,000 students.

With Monday's swearing in of the five newest members, the Harford school board has undergone a significant makeover in the two years since Superintendent Robert Tomback was hired in mid-2009. Only two members are left from the board that hired him, Wheeler and Alysson Krchnavy.

The newly reconstituted school board was scheduled to have a regular business session Monday evening.