A Hall of Shame For the History Books – September 11, 2020

Yesterday was a truly shameful day in Howard County.

Howard County Public School System led off the first week of virtual school with important social-emotional learning lessons at all school levels. These lessons of respect, compassion, acceptance of differences, diversity, inclusion, and equity are extremely important in today’s national climate. And yet, our friends in Howard County Neighbors United were incensed at the idea that anyone would be teaching their precious darlings to respect others or that diversity, equity, and inclusion are important. This thread, whose link I tweeted out yesterday, was filled with such disgusting vitriol that when Maryland District 13 Delegate Vanessa Atterbeary saw it, she tweeted “I had to stop reading…this is so sad & disheartening… its literally too awful to read.”

The idea that these folks would see topics like respect and equity as “indoctrination” and an “agenda” that has no place in public schools is stunningly tone deaf and profoundly lacking in self-awareness. As I tweeted yesterday, this sort of thing is precisely why Howard County parents find themselves accused of racism. Because that big old clodhopper shoe fits.

Sadly, that wasn’t enough for one day. Yesterday’s Board of Education meeting began with an emotional speech by Chairwoman Mavis Ellis, where she revealed that Jacob Blake, the man shot in the back seven times by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is her cousin. She pleaded for folks to understand the reality of police brutality for Black Americans and to recognize what the Black Lives Matter movement seeks to achieve. Afterward, Student Member of the Board Zach Koung, having heard the pleas from the student community, made a motion to remove School Resource Officers from HCPSS schools, given their disproportionately negative impact on students of color. Ultimately, the motion failed, with only Chair Ellis, Mr. Koung, Jen Mallo, and Sabina Taj voting yes. However, it was a courageous and student-led moment, and no doubt the conversation is far from over.

While HCNU has long been known for its acrimony, yesterday shocked even me. There were the characterizations of Mr. Koung, a high school student elected by the student body, as a child who ought not to have voting rights at all. They implied that he is incapable of thinking for himself, that he is being manipulated by the other BOE members into being a mouthpiece who stacks the votes. One person even alluded to having him removed.

Worst of all was the venom directed at Jen Mallo, Sabina Taj, and in particular, Chair Ellis. The suggestion that she should not have voted on the SRO motion, and the callous disregard for her family’s pain, went far beyond the pale.

The cherry on top of this pile of bovine excrement was District 4 BOE candidate Sezin Palmer taking the opportunity to throw some red meat to her HCNU base, posting on Facebook that the SRO removal vote brought by Mr. Koung was “political ideology” being forced on HCPSS based purely on emotion, with no sufficient data or community input. It sounds as though the community input that has been screaming at the top of its lungs since June has escaped her notice. Perhaps she’d have heard it if it matched her right-wing notions – such as her view that stricter gun laws won’t help prevent school shootings (see below).

Funny how Sezin sees value in SROs for preventing school shootings, but not stricter gun laws.

The day would not have been complete without a total abdication of responsibility to equitable education by Board members Kirsten Coombs, Vicky Cutroneo, and Christina Delmont-Small. In considering a sole-source contract for a program to identify minority students for GT/AP placement, which would address a critical issue in HCPSS, Ms. Coombs, Ms. Cutroneo, and Ms. Delmont-Small felt it would be better to compete the contract, rather than sole-source it. This would have delayed the program until well into the school year, and possibly would have risked grant money coming for the project. Thankfully, the remaining four Board members voted in favor of the contract.

Howard County – it’s long past time to grow up and do better.