Calvert - County Times - Southern Maryland Online

Spotlight OnThe Calvert GazetteThursday, May 10, 2012 18School BudgetProposal Due TodayBy Sarah MillerStaff WriterEven while state legislators prepare for a special session to revisitthe budget, and with the threat of the pension shift still hangingin the air, Calvert Public Schools has no choice but to turn intheir budget for the year.The board of education intends to vote on the operating budgetMay 10. Superintendent Jack Smith said the proposed budget isnot much different from previous drafts, he said. Some money wasmoved around but there are “no substantial cuts.”They discussed the effect a pension shift could have on theschool funding, and the upcoming legislative special session. Itwas recently announced the special session will convene on May14.Gail Hoerauf-Bennett, county schools spokeswoman, briefedthe board on legislation that passed during the school year, includinga bill that will increase the minimum age that students have tostay in school and a bill reinstating the High School Assessment(HAS) in government, which will start again during the 2014/2015school year. Some seniors will graduate without having been requiredto take the government HAS, Bennett said.Calvert Schools only had one bill they requested, extendingthe life of busses from 12 to 15 years, which passed. St. Mary’s andCharles counties submitted similar bills.They also discussed changes to the school code of conductfor students, which include discouraging students from bringingiPads and e-readers to school, explaining such items are targetsfor theft and do not belong in the school. If a teacher is using e-readers for instruction, they will be supplied to the students in theclassroom.Calvert High ConstructionMoving to Phase TwoBy Sarah MillerStaff WriterWith the final touches being put on the new school on DaresBeach Road, teachers are getting ready to move and start nextschool year in a brand new, top-of-the-line Calvert High School.The first phase of Calvert High School is “essentially complete,”said Director of School Construction George Leah. The interiorof the building is finished, and all that is left is some sidingwork and landscaping. In August, the old school will be demolishedand phase two will begin – which includes a new auditorium,art wing and gymnasium.For the spaces that have not been completed, Leah said thereare interim locations at other schools and Calvert Career Center.Phase one is being completed ahead of schedule, Leah said.“We just didn’t have any weather to slow us down,” he said,citing the warm winter and temperate conditions.Though they can’t move the students to the new building soclose to the end of the school year, they will be released two daysearly to allow teachers time to move their classrooms over beforethey go on summer vacation.Leah said the school should be fully completed by 2014. AfterCalvert High School, he said there are various roofing projectsand other smaller jobs that need to be done throughout the county.Northern High School is slated to be the next for a replacement,but Leah said they are waiting for the results of a feasibility studyfrom the state before moving forward with that. He said the studyshould be completed in a couple of months.He said schools for replacement are chosen according to theage, “systemic wellness,” and total capacity of the school, amongother factors. In the case of Northern High School, he said it is notup to the systemic standards the county wants in their schools. Hesaid there are no serious health issues with the school “but we cando better” by making it a green school and updating it.sarahmiller@countytimes.netBy Sarah MillerStaff WriterBy Sarah MillerStaff WriterMapping Schools,Liquor Stores County WideIn the continuing effort to target and reduceunderage drinking county wide, the Underage AlcoholAbuse Reduction Team (UAART) is settingup booths at several events throughout the summerwhere alcohol will be sold.“Underage drinking is usually an emotional issuefor people,” said Maryland Strategic FrameworkMonitor Anna Black, employed through CAASA.During their second monthly meeting, reportswere given about underage drinking reports in themedia.Local Maryland Strategic Prevention Framework(MSPF) evaluator Kendall Sorenson-Clark saidthe alcohol industry is doing what the smoking industryonce did by trying to appeal to younger agegroups, through advertising and items like alcoholpops. She said there are also containers for alcoholthat look like energy drinks, nail polish bottles andlipstick tubes which make it easy to conceal possessionof alcohol. She said social norms and the availabilityof alcohol have also contributed to an increasein underage drinking.She said the members of the task force have beenworking to get surveys out to young people about anydrinking habits they have. She said some get alcoholfrom friends over 21, while others get it from theirparents or friends’ parents with the understandingthey’ll be spending the night at the house.One of the students who came to the meetingsaid there is a vendor near their school that will sellcigarettes and alcohol to minors.“Everybody on my bus has bought somethingfrom there,” said the student, who wishes to remainanonymous.Deputy First Class Andre Mitchell attended themeeting, and said in instances like the one the studentdescribed police will ask underage volunteers to goin and attempt to purchase alcohol as part of a stingoperation.Black said there is an ongoing project to mapeach of the schools, playgrounds and parks in correlationto locations that sell alcohol. In the case ofPatuxent High School alone, Black said there are 10establishments within a couple miles of the school,Local PTA Fundraising for School SignPhoto by Sarah MillerKendall Sorenson-Clark talks about combating Calvert’sunderage drinking issue during a recent meeting of theUnderage Alcohol Abuse Reduction Team (UAART), whileAnna Black listens in.easy walking distance for the students.Even though it’s illegal, Sorenson-Clark saidminors still drink alcohol because they are unawareaffects it can have on their health, which could followthem their entire lives. They also aren’t afraid ofbeing caught because they don’t believe they will bepunished.Mitchell said the sheriff’s office could issue acivil citation and contact the parents of minors whohave been drinking. For parents, he said they canserve alcohol to their own children, but can be finedup to $2,500 for every child they serve that is nottheirs.The group is open to students and adults alike.Black said anybody is welcome to attend meetings,and involvement can count toward graduation as volunteerhours for students.Black is in charge of monitoring the grant thatmade the group possible – $33,000 per fiscal periodfor five years through the Maryland Strategic PreventionFramework. This year will be the first that themoney is available, Black said.The group’s next meeting is 6:30 p.m. May 30 inthe Prince Frederick Library.sarahmiller@countytimes.netSt. Leonard Elementary School’s PTA is dedicatedto the school, and a current fundraiser will helpmake sure everyone driving by knows what schoolthey are seeing.PTA President Jocelyn Lipscomb said St. LeonardElementary is one of the only schools left in thecounty that was constructed without a marquee sign.The PTA is raising money to have one installed. Thesign itself costs $5,900, Lipscomb said, and theyare working with a mason for a quote on the brickwork.To raise money for the brickwork, Lipscombsaid they are selling bricks to be inscribed names offamilies attending the school, or other appropriateinscriptions.She said for the sign itself, the PTA has hostedan after school cooking club, sold Boo-Grams atHalloween and sold cotton candy at school festivals,among other things. Lipscomb said individual familieshave also given donations, one as much as $1,000and another for $900.Before installing the sign, Lipscomb said theyhave to get permits from the state and the county.Getting the permits is “really the only things that’sholding us up,” she said.She said the Board of Education supports theproject, in addition to the parents and the staff at theschool.“We all wanted the sign,” she said.This is the second time the PTA has made an effortto get a sign for the front of the school. Lipscombsaid the first fundraiser petered out with the economicdownturn. She said this is the largest fundraisingeffort she remembers doing with the PTA.Anybody interested in making a donation orpurchasing a brick can e-mail slesptapresident@yahoo.comor slessign@yahoo.com.sarahmiller@countytimes.net