Some Harford County parents say a School Board member has conflicts of interest in promoting a medical science program at the already crowded Bel Air High School because he is also a board member at the hospital affiliated with the program.
Plans for a replacement Bel Air High School include space for a magnet school that school officials say would likely be a medical science program, drawing support from the nearby Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. School Board Member Thomas Fidler has supported the program, but some parents say his position on the Upper Chesapeake Health Foundation?s board creates a conflict of interest.
“He shouldn?t be influencing those decisions. … We?re looking for everything to be fair and done the right way,” said Sandy Krause, the mother of students who will be transferred to Bel Air High School.
Town officials have pushed for a performing arts magnet school, which would likely require a larger auditorium, but Krause and Fidler were concerned that any program would be drawing additional students to an already overcrowded school district.
Fidler said that, as a part of the foundation, his board is responsible solely for fundraising at the hospital and that would not constitute a conflict of interest with his advocacy of the magnet program. If he felt it would create a conflict, he said he would recuse himself from any choice between the performing arts and medical science programs.
Krause said she has been contacting Gov. Robert Ehrlich?s office for guidance ? the School Board is appointed by the governor ? but had been referred to a county ethics board despite the county?s lack of jurisdiction. The Board of Education has its own ethics committee, but its members are appointed by the board itself and would likely be her “last resort,” Krause said.
Fidler offended officials from the Town of Bel Air last week by supporting plans for a smaller auditorium at the new Bel Air High School ? despite the town?s wishes for a space large enough for civic events and school graduations.
