Capital Article

Lumpkin, Laura, School board president narrowly keeps seat after members reconsider voting policy, December 10, 2018.

Snider Comment

“‘[I] will firmly and always stand by the fact that the board must follow our own policies,’ Hummer said.”

Not quite. The Board has routinely ignored its own policies and especially the regulations that elaborate on its policies, when it suits its own convenience. A vivid example was its long flouting of its policies concerning the Countywide Citizen Advisory Committee, which I extensively documented on this website and repeatedly brought to its attention until it was eventually forced to update its policies without publicly acknowledging that it ever violated them. Its own Ethic Committee policies may be the most important example of its currently flouting its own policies. 

But the biggest problem is that many of its policies are written in such a vague or self-contradictory way that they are almost irrelevant in a rule-of-law sense as opposed to an arbitrary & capricious sense to be used against the weak (parents and students) rather than hold the powerful (senior staff) accountable.

Capital Editorial

Our Say: What’s a little coup among school board friends, December 11, 2018.

Snider Comment

“The attempt failed largely because removing the president would have violated school board rules of procedure, possibly resulting in a lawsuit.”

In Anne Arundel County, as in Latin American countries with strongmen: For the powerful, law is for others; for the weak, law is for us. If there were a lawsuit every time AACPS violated a policy/regulation, the courts might not have time for conducting any other business.



Capital Editorial

Anne Arundel school board is no place for childish antics, December 12, 2018.

Snider Comment

“In a grown-up world, Eric Grannon would open Dec. 19’s Anne Arundel Board of Education meeting with an apology…. We all make mistakes. Responsible adults own up to them. Mr. Grannon should apologize.”

Has Jimmy DeButts, a Capital editor, ever acknowledged one of his mistakes–or, more generally, one of the mistakes of the Capital? If so, I am not aware of such an acknowledgment. 

“County schools have a $1.2 billion operating budget and $190.1 million capital budget for this fiscal year. The actions of school board members matter.”

Yes, I couldn’t agree more. But the reporting of the Capital, as documented extensively on this website, would suggest otherwise.