Friday, April 19, 2013
Do you think the county should be paying expenses for students who are home schooled or go to private schools?
In an open session budget discussion Thursday, the Board of Carroll County Commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of using $400,000 to help pay for financial needs of homeschooled and private schooled children. Commissioner Richard Rothschild first suggested funding the "Education Opportunity Fund" at $900,000 but "in the spirit of trying to get unanimity of the board" later amended the amount to $400,000. The suggestion came as the commissioners were brainstorming ways to spend $10 million in one time money available in FY2014. Other suggestions for the one-time money, to be discussed further next week, include funding technology needs for schools and libraries, paying down debt service, tax relief, and a performance audit among other ideas. …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Patch highlights the arguments for and against different funding levels. Weigh in on our poll or in comments to let us know how you want to see education funded.
Funding education has been an explosive topic in Carroll County for the past several months, heating up the past few weeks as education forums and town halls have been held all over town by both the Board of Education and the Board of County Commissioners. Carroll County Public School Superintendent Stephen Guthrie presented his proposed FY14 budget in December and the Board of Education recently adopted the budget. In FY13, the county funded the school system at $164.9 million. The Board of Education is requesting $166.6 million from the county for FY14, a $1.7 million, or approximately one percent increase over FY13. During last year's budgeting session, the commissioners allotted $164 million for school funding in FY14. Then, there …
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Hundreds turned out for the Carroll County Commissioner's forum at Carroll Community College Monday night.
An overwhelming number of the several dozen people who spoke at the Commissioner's education forum Monday evening urged the Board of Carroll County Commissioners to fully fund the education budget. The Board of Education is asking the board of commissioners for a one percent increase in funding over last year, which comes out to about $1.7 million, according to School Superintendent Stephen Guthrie who presented at the forum Monday night. Commissioners Richard Rothschild and Robin Frazier presented "the other side of the coin," suggesting that it would be fiscally irresponsible to fund the education budget as requested by the Board of Education. Their presentation focused on the fact that student enrollment is declining and is projected…
Sunday, February 24, 2013
The Open Meetings Compliance Board has received four complaints about the Carroll County commissioners since 2010 and two complaints about the Carroll County Utilities Advisory Council in 2012.
Two bills which would give the Open Meetings Act more bite have passed the Government Operations Subcommittee, according to MarylandReporter.com. Several weeks ago members of the Open Meetings Compliance Board testified in Annapolis that some entities found to be in violation of the Act disregard the violation because there are no real consequences. If the proposed bills pass, violators face penalties that include making the violation public as well as potential fines. Del. Dan Morhaim, a Baltimore County Democrat and the sponsor of HB 331, said the legislation may force government entities to take the Act more seriously. It would require government bodies to publicly announce that they violated the Open Meetings Act whenever the Board …
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Commissioners Doug Howard, David Roush and Haven Shoemaker will hold officer positions for the coming year.
The Carroll County Board of Commissioners elected new officers in open session Tuesday. Commissioner Doug Howard was re-elected as board President according to a county news release. Commissioner David Roush replaces Commissioner Richard Rothschild as Vice-President and Commissioner Haven Shoemaker was elected as Secretary, replacing Commissioner David Roush. The new officers will assume their duties at the expiration of the prior terms on Thursday, Dec. 6.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
At a recent meeting, Carroll County Commissioners debated the role of government in funding local recreation and parks programs.
In a recent meeting of the Carroll County Commissioners to discuss the Master Plan, Commissioner Robin Bartlett-Frazier suggested that the county's parks and recreation program should be self-sustaining. "Part of this section [in the Master Plan] somewhere should reflect the idea that parks and recreation should be striving to be self-sufficient and especially as we go foward, it will be easy to measure what costs are and to have those costs in the user fees," Bartlett-Frazier said. Commissioners Doug Howard disagreed saying that while it is ideal when costs are covered through fees, it's not realistic to expect that the programs can be self-sufficient. "I think it should reflect that—that that is something we encourage," Howard said. "…
Monday, October 1, 2012
Readers reacted with a mix of support and opposition to a law proposing to make English the official language of Carroll County government.
This week, Patch covered the news that Carroll County Commissioners are now examining whether to make English the official language of Carroll County government. The story struck a chord with readers. Here is our highlight of some of the comments. Have your own thoughts to share on the proposed ordinance? Tell us in comments or vote in our Patch poll. “I'm all for it and if residents are given the opportunity to vote on it I have no doubt it will pass by a landslide.” Jack “This law will be an embarrassment to Carroll that will permanently mar the county’s reputation and taint the honor of every person that lives or works here.” Neil Ridgely “As a country that purportedly embraces diversity, why is it that anyone that defends the …
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Find out what your Carroll County commissioners are doing this week.
Please Note: This weekly agenda is subject to change. Please call 410-386-2043 to confirm a meeting you plan to attend. All meetings will be held at the Carroll County Office Building room 311. (Unless otherwise noted) Monday, Sept. 3 County Offices Closed in observance of Labor Day Tuesday, Sept. 4 1:30 p.m. Board of County Commissioners Open Session, County Office Building Wednesday, Sept. 5 8 a.m. Warfield Development Corporation Meeting in Sykesville, Commissioners Howard & Roush attending 1 p.m. Industry Visit with Thomas, Bennett and Hunter, Westminster, Commissioner Frazier Thursday, Sept. 6 8 a.m. Carroll County Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting at Baugher’s Restaurant, Commissioner Frazier attending 10 a.m. Board of …
Friday, August 31, 2012
Commissioners say information from the FAA made the meeting unnecessary.
The airport runway protection zone (RPZ) discussion tentatively scheduled for Sept. 13 is cancelled in light of a change in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) guidelines according to a county news release. During a meeting on Aug. 23, staff and Roy Lewis, from Delta Consultants, told the Board of Commissioners that the FAA had changed the RPZ in such a way that the ARC of Carroll County building was now within this zone. Concern for the ARC caused the Commissioners to schedule a meeting as soon as possible to resolve this issue. Subsequent to the Aug. 23 meeting, county staff and Commissioner Richard Rothschild had conversations with the FAA concerning the RPZ and the negative impact the zone had on the ARC building according to a …
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Commissioner Haven Shoemaker said people who were without power shouldn't have to pay a fee to BGE and Pepco.
Carroll County Commissioner Haven Shoemaker said he was outraged after reading a recent article on Patch about BGE and Pepco charging a fee to customers who were without power for up to a week after a recent storm. "That is outrageous, that is so absurd," Shoemaker said in a recent board of commissioners meeting. "Those people who were without power in the 100 degree heat, they’re gonna get a bill for BGE and Pepco’s lost profits." Do you think the commissioners are right to be outraged? Tell us in comments. According to a county news release, Commissioners Shoemaker and Doug Howard sent a letter to the Public Service Commission (PSC) asking that it "use extreme discretion in reviewing the billing allowed as a result of this event and not …
JoAnn Nicholls
6:42 pm on Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Typically when a recession hits parents lose jobs causing there to be a parent at home which IMO, would escalate home schooling numbers, not decrease them. I would think the better the economy, the more parents are working. more ›