Last year when I started attending Cecil County Council meetings and following the work of the county government more closely, I frequently saw the same faces and heard the same voices decrying what they considered overspending by the county. I didn’t realize it then but these same people are active year round, not just during budget season. Here’s audio from public comment portion of the 12/2/14 county council meeting
Your Silence Gives Your Consent
Imagine you’re a member of the County Council–nearly every week you hear from a handful of people who believe spending should be reduced in all areas of government. Those same people repeatedly claim that “you promised to cut spending when you were campaigning” and that “I helped you get elected and you are letting us down.”
Anyway, every week, at every meeting, you hear those same people talk about the same concerns. If you don’t also hear from those who support spending for schools, parks and recreation, emergency services, or other programs, you could believe that these residents speak for the majority. It’s time for the rest of us to show our support for the programs we feel are necessary to make Cecil County stronger.
County Council Meetings are Held on 1st and 3rd Tuesdays
I know you’re rushing to prepare for the Christmas holiday, but would you add one thing to your to-do list? If you support public education in Cecil County, please reach out to our County Executive and County Council to let them know where you stand.
The Board of Education for Cecil County Public Schools has started developing the budget for fiscal year 2016 and, after several years of reduced funding from the county, the school system is now in a precarious position. The system has been forced to deplete its reserve fund to cover some of those shortfalls yet there are still many needs that lack funding. Click here to read more about the school budget
or “How I used Content Marketing to get a school a track”
3/18/19: And a turf field.
But more importantly, I regularly remind Cecil County government that education funding is their responsibility.
I don’t remember anything else about the movie Better Off Dead but I do remember the paperboy who kept turning up demanding his payment.
I like to think I’m the mom version of that kid.
A few weeks ago, I was asked to speak about some trouble I stirred up in the spring. I won’t lie, I was nervous, but it was an honor and a thrill to speak to a like-minded group of parents, teachers, administrators, and students all supporting the work of Cecil County Public Schools.
My comments from that night:
Before this spring, I considered myself a pretty well informed parent–I was PTA treasurer at PES, I attended parent meetings on various topics, and I voted in every election.
Boy, was I wrong–I had–and still have–a lot to learn about how school systems and government agencies interact. But I’ve seen a community working together to make great things happen. By giving people information about a topic they’re passionate about in a way that’s easy for them to digest and pointing them in the right direction, you can create a force to be reckoned with. It all started with a bare soccer field and a Facebook post. I saw a Facebook post from CCPS asking for people to attend a county council meeting on March 18 in support of the CCPS budget. I decided to attend that evening’s meeting but I had no idea what I would say. To be honest, I was more specifically angling to talk with someone about the sorry state of our soccer field.
I sent a quick email to our principal and athletic director to ask about any Perryville-specific projects that I should advocate for–and they both responded with track, fields, field house. Now, I had no idea what a field house was but I’d heard people complain about the lack of one at Perryville and I didn’t know anything about the state of the track–but I could tell you that our fields were beyond bare.
At that meeting, several parents and CCPS employees spoke about the specific needs of their schools–needs that included increased staffing and services–but most glaringly–the needs for maintenance of the facilities. I am not a public speaker and I was terrified to walk up to that microphone but, after hearing the pleas for funding, and the responses of some of the council members, I needed to do my part.
As I spoke to the council, I realized that, just as I had no idea how the county government worked, they had no idea what the facilities at PHS looked like and what our needs were. And that’s when I decided to bring Perryville High School to them–online. That Sunday afternoon I took photos of athletic facilities at Perryville–then I drove to Rising Sun and North East High Schools, thinking their facilities had to be better than ours–I was wrong again–to my uneducated eye, those schools weren’t faring any better. That evening I posted those first photos on my blog and shared them on my Facebook page. Read more
Repaving of the Perryville High School parking lot is underway! It’s a shame it had to wait for so long but it’s finally happening due to Cecil County Council bill 2014-10. Paving at Rising Sun High and North East High are also included in the bill so I’m hoping those school lots are getting some much-needed attention.
Several seats on the county council will be up for election on November 4. These positions are critical in determining the amount of funding our local schools get each year so be sure to vote–and know where the candidate you choose stands on funding public education.
When I was a teenager with a new driver’s license growing up in Havre de Grace, I reached every destination via Tydings Park. It didn’t matter if I was heading from home on Weber Street (aka “the project”) to work downtown or to the mall in Bel Air, I was going to drive through the park on my way there. By this time in the late ’80’s, teenagers weren’t permitted to loiter, er, congregate in the yacht basin so I’m not sure what my goal was but I still circled the park daily in my dad’s El Camino or, later, my AMC Concorde.
With such a track record, it doesn’t seem quite so weird that I’ve been cruising through the parking lot at Perryville High School during the last few months. I’ve tried to pass through when the parking lot was empty to keep the rumors to a minimum but I have to admit yesterday morning I was surprised to have been seen by several people as I was making a drive-through on my way to work.
Since they broke ground in May, I’ve been dying to see the new track at the high school. I stopped a few times and all but pressed my nose through the fence to get a better look and checked each entrance to make sure that the track wasn’t accessible to the general public. It was even one of the reasons I attended graduation in June.
New track at Perryville High School unveiled
Tonight I had a few minutes to kill so I took another pass through the parking lot in hopes that the gates would be unlocked–and I was in luck! Four months after I took my first photos of the disintegrating track surface at Perryville High School, I was able to walk on a pristine track! Feast your eyes on these sights!
Our work as a community is far from done but for the moment, let’s enjoy the results of this group effort. As one of our parents told the Cecil County Council, our schools are our homes–and our home just got quite a makeover. Read more about our efforts to get a new track
There has been positive news this week regarding the approval of the FY 2015 CCPS budget but the final decisions and vote won’t happen until this Tuesday. We need to keep contacting the Cecil County Council and Executive over the next few days to show our continued support of our public schools.
On Wednesday, it was announced that the state has contributed $125,000 to the county for “restrooms, bleachers and scoreboards” at the Calvert Regional Park project.
As a “bleeding heart liberal” (or insert other inflammatory term), I believe if people are handing out money, we should take it but it’s tough for me to see the rationale for committing that kind of money to a new project when the athletic facilities at our schools are subpar.
Scoreboards: If we’re giving away scoreboards, I nominate Perryville
First, let’s talk about scoreboards. Here’s a photo of the one from Perryville High School. Pretty nice, huh? No need for an upgrade here. Love the patina. And it has a particularly charming feature where there are bulbs out on the “Guest” side so you can’t tell if the number is a 3,6,9,8…you get the picture. (Perryville supporters, lots of people have told me about various scenarios with the scoreboard: promises made, refusals, etc., but let’s save that for another day.)
Bleachers: North East had to beg for theirs
Next, bleachers. While the bleachers at Panther Stadium are in fine condition, North East High School had to basically beg for the funds to replace their wooden bleachers in 2012. (I think Elkton and Rising Sun are in decent shape.)
You get a restroom & you get a restroom! (Oprah-style)
The term “restroom” is a little lofty for describing the bathroom facilities at the stadium at Perryville High. I can only speak of the ladies’ room but there are only two stalls and the area is so small that I couldn’t even take a photo of it. I didn’t have a rule with me but I would bet the facility doesn’t meet ADA guidelines. While I don’t go to football games (gasp!), I’ve been told that there are considerable plumbing issues when the toilets are heavily used.
Next in line for new toilets is probably North East High School but I’ll have to take your word for it. I’ve heard enough about their facilities to steer clear.
How do other high schools measure up? Elkton High has the Taj Mahal of ladies’ rooms! Eight or more stalls, bright lights, plenty of room to move, and heat! Yes, I have photos but do I really need to post them? The facilities at Rising Sun are respectable and I’m not sure about Bo Manor.
Take care of our existing facilities first
Personally, I can’t justify building new facilities when the existing facilities that our local communities use on a daily basis are in need.
I found this handy infographic while searching the web for facts and figures to use in my blog posts supporting public education in Cecil County. Notice the maps in the lower left corner of this image. They show the percentage of college undergraduates currently pursuing degrees in science and technology. As you can see, the US lags behind both India and China.
Why is this critical to the U.S.? There are some positions within our national security and military infrastructure that require prospective employees to be U.S. citizens. With our proximity to military installations, government contractors, and similar employers, jobs requiring skills and knowledge in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are a reality for many current county residents and, most likely, for future residents as well.
Why I believe in the importance of science and technology education
Let me start by saying that I am not an educator so I’m not in a position to debate the pros and cons of STEM vs other curricula.
What I will say is that while my education is in communications, I regret not taking college level chemistry (and statistics) because I would be applying that knowledge at my day job on a regular basis. (Yes, I know that I can go back to school and take those classes at Cecil College and I’ll probably do that at some point down the road but not until the kids are out of high school.) Anyway, if I’d have known about some of the possible careers in science and technology, I might’ve taken a different path.
One of my favorite STEM programs
Our two sons are in high school, one is a freshman, the other is a junior. Our older son is in the STEM program and our younger son was just admitted to the STEM program for next year.
I’ve talked before about the resourcefulness of CCPS to get things done even with limited resources and I want to share an example. When our older son finished his freshman year, he and two friends took part in a STEM Day Camp organized by CCPS. Honestly, they weren’t thrilled about spending the first week of summer vacation going to camp but they didn’t have much of a choice. They spent each day visiting local employers and getting hands on examples of the types of jobs that require STEM education. Companies like WL Gore, ATK, and Terumo showed the students how their classroom learning could be applied in the workplace. I was a little jealous.
I am tickled that, despite the budget battles, CCPS will be able to offer this opportunity to this year’s incoming STEM students and our younger son has been accepted to participate. Once again, CCPS is working with area employers who understand the need to have a local workforce trained in science and technology to offer a similar program at no cost to students.
Our public schools are doing great things but they need consistent, adequate funding to continue building a bright future for Cecil County.
A sixth grader tells her dad about one of the unusual features of her school, “When it rains, the water runs down the steps.”
“The steps outside, right?” he questions.
“No, inside the building.”
True story–the school was North East Middle School and the year was 2007.
Seven years later, the roofing project is still on the Cecil County Public Schools deferred maintenance list due to lack of funding. In fact, in the CCPS budget request for FY 15 renovations at North East Middle School where included on a list of Major Additions and Renovations. CCPS proposed project planning to begin in FY 2017 and completion in FY 2020. The Cecil County Council and Executive have now pushed the start of that project to FY 2019 with completion in FY 2022. Let’s pause for a minute to do the math…planning in FY 2019…it’s 2014…that’s five years before planning can even begin!
Cecil County School Buildings in Need of Repair
This isn’t the only school in the CCPS system that needs roof maintenance. In an earlier post, I talked about the roofing issues at Conowingo Elementary. Other schools on the deferred maintenance list are Rising Sun Middle and Elementary, Thomson Estates Elementary, and North East High. This year’s renovation project at Perryville Elementary will address the roofing needs at that building and roofs at Gilpin Manor Elementary and Chesapeake City Elementary would be included in major renovation projects for those schools. Those projects are now deferred until 2017 and 2019 respectively
Our elected officials seem to congratulate themselves on their support of education yet our public schools have to beg each year for the funding necessary to operate the school system.
And, despite the brilliant suggestions for fundraising that I’ve heard in public forums, no amount of walkathons, flea markets, spaghetti dinners, or booster clubs can raise the kind of money necessary to run a public school system.
Contact our Cecil County Council and Executive and let them know you support adequate funding of education in Cecil County.
The Cecil County Council and Executive Tari Moore will be making decisions in the next week that will have serious repercussions for our schools. If you support the work of Cecil County Public Schools and want adequate funding for that work, email our elected officials today.
What projects have been deferred due to lack of funding? Here’s the list
May 13–County Budget work session
May 20–Final decision
Here’s a basic letter that you can cut and paste into an email:
I am a resident of [insert town name here] and I support adequate funding of our public schools. (If you have a child or children in school, include this line–My child/children attend [insert school(s) name(s) here])
Our schools teach and nurture the next generation of Cecil County citizens and, in order for this county to prosper and grow, our students need the proper facilities and services. Our school system has been underfunded for too long, projects have been deferred for years, and the infrastructure is crumbling.
The newly proposed strategic plan for Cecil County lists education as a strategic priority, “Cecil County will advance lifelong educational opportunities for citizens of all ages that serve as a foundation to enhance the quality of life,” however, without proper funding, the goals related to this initiative can not be achieved.
From the Cecil County Strategic Plan:
“GOAL 1: Provide advocacy to enhance the public perception of the value of education.
1.1 Community leaders and officials will promote the value of education related to return on investment in employment viability and income.
1.2 Create awareness regarding the positive impact of education on creating safe and healthy communities.”
Recent Actions & Recommendations Do Not Support Principles Stated in the Plan
The spirit of the strategic plan is not reflected in the current actions of the county. In fact, the county has already reduced the CCPS operating budget by $1.8 million and the Citizens’ Budget Advisory Committee last week recommended a further reduction of $2.8 million to maintenance of effort levels. These reductions would cause lasting damage to our schools, their employees, and our students.
A brighter future for Cecil County starts in our schools but your actions will determine their success. I ask you to support the work of CCPS by providing adequate funding for our public schools.
Heavy equipment arrived at Panther Stadium at Perryville High School this morning to demolish the old track in order to make way for a new one. Most work will be completed before graduation.
I’ve been asked by several people about the possibility of getting a turf field as part of this project in order to prevent any future construction from damaging the track. While that may be an ideal situation, it isn’t happening this time out. During Tuesday night’s county council meeting, officials cited the recent installation of a turf field after the installation of a track of Aberdeen High School as an example of the projects being completed at different times.
Does anyone know how long our track project has been on a list for consideration?
