A state House delegate from Howard County said he plans to reintroduce legislation next year giving the Howard County School Board more control over terminating its superintendent contract.
Del. Frank Turner, D-District 13, said the bill, which failed in the House Ways and Means Committee during the past legislative session, was introduced to deal “peacefully” with situations such as the one a few years ago with John O?Rourke, who was county school superintendent at the time.
Turner said O?Rourke caused a lot of “disruption” during his 3 1/2-year tenure because of his heavy-handed management style. The School Board decided in January 2004 not to renew O?Rourke?s contract after many administrators and teachers disagreed with his leadership methods.
But Turner said his bill, which the Howard County delegation and schools supported unanimously, was blocked after legislators told him that state Schools Superintendent Nancy Grasmick didn?t approve of it.
Grasmick was unavailable for comment.
School boards can hire superintendents, but the state schools superintendent must approve any contract termination so it?s not done in some “knee-jerk sort of way,” said Bill Reinhardt, a spokesman for the state Department of Education.
But Turner argued that it?s about giving the School Board the control it deserves.
Howard County Superintendent Sydney Cousin could not be reached for comment.
Reviewing the bill
» The bill, proposed by Del. Frank Turner, D-District 13, would have allowed the School Board to terminate the superintendent?s contract four months before the typical four-year deal expires and appoint an interim superintendent while paying the current superintendent his or her salary for the remaining four months.
