Back To School Facts

By now, the kids are mostly settled into their classroom routines and the parents have survived the annual form-filling-out rituals and Back to School night. We thought we'd pass along this summary of the new year issued by the public schools:

On Tuesday morning, August 25, 4563 teachers will arrive at 72 public schools across Howard County. Howard County will have hired approximately 200 new teachers for the 2009-2010 academic year when all positions are filled. Thirty-six were hired to fill new positions; the rest fill vacancies created by resignations or retirements. Nearly 25 percent of the new hires are HCPSS graduates who have chosen to return to Howard County to teach.

The average age of Howard County's teachers is 41. Sixty-one percent hold a master's degree or above. The average teacher has 12.4 years of teaching experience.

The school year begins for Howard County students on Monday, August 31. The school system expects an enrollment of 49,138 students for the coming year, an increase of 250 students since last August. The Howard County Public School System has an operating budget of $656,694,110 and will spend $13,320 per pupil this academic year.

During the 10-week summer break, the school system's Office of School Construction completed renovation and addition projects at Glenelg High School and Elkridge, Clemens Crossing, and Waterloo elementary schools. This summer also marked the completion of the final phase of building related to full-day kindergarten. Over the past six years the system added 57 classrooms to accommodate the program. This summer, additions were completed at Bellows Spring, Deep Run, Forest Ridge, Hollifield Station and St. John's Lane elementary schools. All the projects will be completed by the first day of school.

Work also began this summer on the final phase of renovations at Clarksville Middle School and the system's first "green" renovation and addition project at Northfield Elementary School. A major renovation and addition project at Mt. Hebron High School got off to a strong start this summer as well.

Not Enough Flu Mist

From a Clemens Crossing e-mail to parents:

We found out today that the Howard County Health Department's does not have a sufficient supply of Flu Mist vaccine to provide the spray at all elementary schools on September 22nd and 24th. Therefore, the Flu Mist program at Clemens Crossing has been delayed and permission slips will not be coming home this week.

At this point we anticipate being able to offer the Flu Mist at some point later this fall. However, I have no specific details about when this will happen. As soon as we have more concrete information about future plans, I will share them with you.

Off To College

Our dead tree version of the Flier had a nice little write-up on the college plans of HoCo high school graduates (we wished we could provide a link but it doesn't appear the story and charts were posted anywhere we could find them).

Nearly 89 percent of grads told the school system they planned to continue their education, and the top destination systemwide was HoCo Community College, followed by UMd College Park, UMd Baltimore County, Towson, and Salisbury. (In fact, 40 percent of all grads said they were staying in state).

Just 65 of the system's 3,720 graduates reported that they were headed to Ivy League schools, according to the story. Thirteen of those were from Wilde Lake; Centennial and River Hill sent 10 each.

Three schools accounted for half the Ivy Leaguers.

Of course, the state of the economy surely played a role in many college-going decisions. We know of an Ivy League-caliber student or two who passed up the chance because of finances this year. The academic standing of Maryland schools has improved in recent years, as has HCC's efforts to link its two-year program with four-year degree opportunities at other institutions. But it would be interesting to know how this year's survey compares to past years.

The only hint comes from Karen Kawahara, a resource counselor for the HoCo system, who is quoted in the story as saying: "There is a feeling that increasingly more students are choosing in-state schools."

Talks Continue On Casino At Arundel Mills

WaPo offers an update on talks to bring 4,750 slot machines to Arundel Mills Mall. Apparently, some neighbors are not too happy with the idea and told a state commission so during a hearing on whether to grant the developer a gambling license.

The commission members got a first taste of opposition as they gathered in the mall for a presentation. Philip Van der Vossen, a nearby homeowner, asked, "If there were a casino here, would you like to buy my house?"

Former HoCo Exec Steps Down In Carroll

Our good friend (and former HoCo exec) Chuck Ecker is calling it quits as school superintendent in Carroll County, according to this Carroll County Times report. He's retiring after quite a run in public service.

Ecker, 80, is in the final school year of his second term as superintendent. He became superintendent in 2002, after serving two years as interim superintendent.

Prior to running Carroll schools, Ecker worked in Prince George’s and Howard county schools. He was also county executive for Howard County for eight years. In 1998, he was defeated by Ellen Sauerbrey in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Years ago, he got his start in education as physical education teacher for Carroll County.

Town Hall Meeting On The Flu

We saw this on various listservs. The county is hosting a town meeting at 7 p. on Sept 14 in River Hill's Ten Oaks Ballroom to talk about the flu. WaPo has a piece on the latest CDC guidance on who should get antivirual drugs should symptoms appear (basically, those who might be most vulnerable; the rest of us are on our own).


ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Howard County Executive Ken Ulman and Dr. Peter Beilenson, Howard County’s Health Officer, will hold a town hall meeting to provide the public with the most up-to-date information about seasonal flu and H1N1 (commonly called “Swine Flu”). Dr. Beilenson will talk about the County’s plan to protect the public, explain the difference between the seasonal flu and H1N1, talk about who should be inoculated, and how to curb the spread of the virus. Representatives from the Howard County School System, Howard County General Hospital, Howard Community College, and the County’s Office of Emergency Management will be available following Dr. Beilenson’s presentation to answer questions.

Food Lion Is Watching Us

The Columbia Talk team loves a bargain. When we go grocery shopping, we employ every discount strategy available to us. We clip coupons. We hunt sales. We use our frequent shopper cards -- religiously.

A few weeks ago, while checking out at Food Lion, the clerk ask us if we were participating in the store's latest promotion, a chance for free cookware. Being in a hurry, and a little suspicious of promotions, we politely declined.

But then we looked into the deal. For every so many dollars spent we could earn little stickers, like the Green Stamps of old, and eventually have enough for a new frying pan.

Who doesn't like something for "free."

So we went back to the store with our receipt and asked if, ummm, we could get stamps for the past purchase.

The manager studied our receipt for a moment and then asked us to wait while she went into the back office. Several minutes later she emerged and said, well, she had checked her videotape (remember this was a good week earlier) and it was clear that we had declined the offer at the time.

"But if you want the stamps, I can give them to you."

And she did.

Which was decent of her and all, if a little creepy.