Commission Recommends Partially-Appointed School Board

The Howard County School Board may include appointed members after a vote by a commission created to study diversity, according to the Baltimore Sun. 

The commission, which was created by County Executive Ken Ulman, held five meetings to discuss what some residents had said was a lack of racial, geographic and socioeconomic diversity among board members.

In a plan that the won the majority’s support, Howard County residents would elect five school board members by Council district; two board members would be appointed, though who would appoint them was not made clear at Monday’s meeting, according to the Sun. 

Currently, all seven members of the board are elected at-large.

"It's been a very transparent process, and obviously it's going to require legislative change," Grasmick said Monday night. "There will be more vetting of it, but from our part, we got more data and we got public input. Everyone has been conscientious."

A change in how board members are chosen would require legislative approval, Howard County Education Association President Paul Lemle told the Sun.