The panel commissioned by County Executive Ken Ulman to review the structure of the Board of Education will have its first meeting Wednesday, Aug. 10, at 7 p.m. in the George Howard Building inEllicott City.

The public will have the opportunity "to hear from the commission," according to a county news release announcing the meeting, but members of the public will have to wait for an as-yet-unscheduled hearing to voice their opinions.

The panel, headed by former State Superintendent of Schools Nancy Grasmick, was formed by Ulman after a public forum in which several members of the public questioned a lack of diversity on the school board.

The commission has been tasked with reviewing the structure of the board, evaluating how the board is selected and determining if geographic, ethnic and other elements of diversity could be strengthened by changing how the board is formed.

Besides Grasmick, the commission members are Bianca Chang, principal of the Chinese Language School of Columbia; Patricia Dodson, a retired Howard County teacher; Kevin Doyle, trustee of Howard Community College; Debbie Drown, former principal of Gorman Crossing Elementary School; Lou Hutt, business owner and former trustee of Howard Community College; and Paul Lemle, president of the Howard County Education Association.