School Board Bill: No Election, but More Say for Public

Anne Arundel school board members would continue to be appointed by the governor under a bill supported by the county's Senate delegation. But the measure would give the public more control over who is selected and how long they serve.

In a 3 to 2 vote last week, the county's Senate delegation rejected an attempt to begin electing board members. Instead, the delegation approved a bill, pushed by County Executive John R. Leopold (R), that would require the governor to pick only from a list provided by an 11-member nominating commission. Members then would have to be approved by voters in the next election year to serve a second term.

House of Delegates members from the county will consider the measure next week. If they support it as well, the bill probably will be approved by the entire General Assembly and become law.

Seven out of 24 school systems in Maryland have appointed school boards. The others have elected boards.

Currently, parents, community groups and others in Anne Arundel select candidates for the board and forward the list to the governor. But the governor is not obligated to name someone from the list and often has chosen people who were not even considered during the nominating process.

County legislators have long debated how to change that situation. This year, freshman Sen. Bryan W. Simonaire (R-Pasadena) proposed electing school board members from each of the county's seven council districts. (There is also a student member.)

When the county's senators met Friday, Simonaire knew he lacked the votes for his election bill, but he said a summer task force should be appointed to hammer out a bill that would include elements from his and Leopold's versions.

Simonaire said the debate had stalled for more than 20 years, largely because many county lawmakers had been entrenched in their jobs for so long. The election in the fall produced a significant turnover in the county's legislative delegation.

"We've got almost 50 percent of the delegation new, and they really want to come up with a solution," Simonaire said. "We've waited 20 years already; let's give a new delegation at least one summer to do this right."

But that effort failed, with Leopold arguing there had been many task forces over the years. "This bill has been studied and studied, and what we have now is a pragmatic compromise," he said.

Leopold said his bill, which was introduced by Sen. John C. Astle (D-Annapolis), is the best solution to end the long-standing debate. Under the bill, nearly half of the people on the nominating commission would be named by the governor and others would be selected by community leaders, including the county executive, the county teachers union and the county Chamber of Commerce.

If the measure passes, Simonaire said he would not introduce his election bill next year. But he said he might submit a new one to give voters more input in the selection of school board members.