In 2007, Carroll County could become the next battleground in the water wars, and the School Board could expand eighth-grade sex education.
“Out West, people have been dealing with water issues for years, and it?s just becoming an issue on the East Coast,” said Jesse Richardson, an expert in water-rights laws at Virginia Tech.
Carroll County invited Richardson to attend its water summit tentatively slated for Feb. 3 to address new state guidelines that require towns to secure enough water in the event of a worst-case drought.
Richardson was expected to visit Carroll the last week in December to learn more about the county?s water challenges, namely securing the state?s permission for two reservoirs in Union Mills, north of Westminster, and Gillis Falls, near Mount Airy.
In September, the Maryland Department of the Environment told Westminster to freeze building until it secured additional water
sources.
On the horizon for the school board
Deciding whether to expand the eighth-grade curriculum to teach students about birth control and STDs, modernizing South Carroll High School and sealing deals with the county?s five employee unions are among the items topping the School Board?s agenda next year.
“It could come up for a vote,” Gary Bauer, a School Board member, said about expanding the abstinence-based curriculum.
The School Board?s Family Life and Human Sexuality Committee used stories The Examiner ran in November about teenagers telling a drug counselor about sex parties they attended to bolster its push to expand the sex education curriculum to include information about contraceptive methods in addition to abstinence.
A facilities plan that outlines how the board should proceed with renovating older schools, including South Carroll High School, is expected to be completed in January or February, Bauer said.
Contract talks with the system?s teachers, secretaries, bus drivers, custodians and cafeteria workers also will be under way.
“We hope to have [a deal] wrapped up by the end of January,” said Barry Potts, head of the Carroll County Teachers Association.
