Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence loomed large at a public hearing about how Harford County Board of Education members are selected.
Such patriotic symbols were referenced multiple times Tuesday night as parents and PTA representatives asked their state and county representatives for some form of an elected board they can hold accountable.
Several shared firsthand accounts of how appointed boards did not acknowledge their concerns about inadequate facilities in some county schools in the past, such as barren library shelves, leaky toilets and open electrical boxes.
Those who spoke in favor of an elected board outnumbered speakers for an appointed board about 2-1.
C. Milton Wright High School junior Troy Shuman was the only student to speak. He called for an elected board.
“When parents go to the Board of Education, there is no reason [for board members] to listen, so why should they even try?” Shuman asked.
Fernando Silva, with one child in Aberdeen High and another who recently graduated, said members refused to speak with him when he complained about the condition of the school. He said only five library shelves at the schoolhave books.
A spokesman from the school system told The Examiner later that as far as he knows, all the school libraries in the county are well-equipped.
“I think it may have opened the eyes of some of the delegates. I think it was pretty productive,” Del. Barry Glassman, R-35, said Wednesday. During the last General Assembly session, he proposed a bill that would have created a “blended” board of elected and appointed members. It failed to pass.
“Why should anyone fear the ballot box? This country was built on the ballot box,” Del. Pat McDonough, R-7, said Wednesday, calling an appointed board “kind of elitist.”
