Background: Mount Airy is in a unique situation in that it is the only town in the state of Maryland that is split between two counties, Carroll and Frederick. Many residents have the perception that because of this split, Mount Airy has not received the priority and attention for the educational needs of its residents that it merits. Schools attended by Mount Airy residents in both counties seem to lag behind other county schools in terms of modernization, crowding, and/or distance from the municipality that they serve. The closest high school is seven miles from the town. Many middle school children from town spend significant travel time daily going back and forth to New Market. Perhaps more importantly, schools do not serve as centers of the Mount Airy Community because they are so far away. During a joint meeting between town officials and commissioners from both Frederick and Carroll County, commissioners from both sides volunteered to work together with the town to brainstorm ways to improve this situation for the town which all acknowledged was less than desirable.
The Town of Mount Airy has very limited responsibilities for education. Funding responsibilities are vested in the Board of County Commissioners for both Carroll and Frederick County. Policy decisions are made by the respective Boards of Education for each county within state and federal constraints. Nevertheless, the town has an obligation to assist all residents in improving quality of life issues as best it can and to provide information to citizens to help them advocate for their own best interests. Further, to the extent possible, the town can provide a forum to allow citizens to better organize to advocate for their needs.
In August 2006, two Mount Airy schools task forces were formed to consider and advocate both long and short term needs for schools. These task forces provided a focus on Mount Airy needs at a variety of education-related meetings in both counties and, together with other community members who have long advocated for their children's educational needs, were highly successful in bringing planned improvements to local schools. On the Frederick County side, this included advancing the building of the new Linganore High School for a 2010 occupancy date. In addition, the town has retained a marker for a future middle school on municipal-owned land. Carroll County improvements included commitment of funds for a Fine Arts Addition to South Carroll High School. Despite improvements in these areas, much remains to be done in terms of maintaining pressure on both counties to continue planned improvements for high schools in both counties. In addition, much work needs to be done to improve Mount Airy middle school and bring a Frederick county middle school much closer to town.
The town also needs to begin a focus on long-term educational needs for students and posture ourselves to be able to assist with identifying land and water to bring schools closer to, if not within town limits. Research needs to be done to examine alternatives for achieving a better solution for the future than we presently have and this should include examination of non-traditional approaches.
Goals:
Provide a forum for residents to meet and discuss issues concerning the education of all children in the Mount Airy Community and keep the town council apprised of concerns about local schools.
Research and compile data relevant to local schools and provide that data to other commissions as appropriate and the community so that individuals may better advocate for their own needs. Information should be placed on the town web site for easy access by anyone who wants it with staff assistance as needed.
Analyze data on schools and future school needs and provide input to the Growth and Development Task Force and Planning Commission for incorporation into established long-term planning vehicles such as the town master plan.
Conduct informal liaison with county commissioners and local boards of education as needed to brainstorm ways of improving education for Mount Airy residents and thereby helping to create recommendations for town policy.
Facilitate short-term advocacy efforts and provide a forum for notification of upcoming events/milestones, and discussion of school-related topics to determine areas of common ground and consensus. In this way, advocacy efforts can be coordinated to the extent possible, recognizing that not all may agree on a given approach or solution.
Provide a plan for achieving the long term goal of bringing schools into the community as community resources that bring the town together while having minimal impact on much needed improvements planned for the nearer future.
Organization/Composition:
This is a committee of the town council and as such, the only official members are members of the council. Council members will act as facilitators and will be responsible for referring any policy decisions to the entire council for consideration and action as appropriate. All council members are also considered standing members of this committee and are invited to attend any and all sessions. In order to ensure that all provisions of the Open Meetings Act are fully complied with, all meetings will be open to the public with meeting times published in advance. Normally, meetings will occur on the second Wednesday of each month during the evening hours. In the event there is a need to hold a special meeting, all council members will be notified and a press release will be issued to announce the meeting. One councilman designated by the others will be responsible for notifying and coordinating with other council members.
Monthly meetings will also serve as a town forum for school advocacy in the community and is meant to compliment, not replace existing school advocacy groups such as PTA's or PTSO's but would be the only body with official town connection.
Volunteer advisory groups may be formed to assist in research, compiling of data related to educational needs, analyzing and displaying the data and making recommendations to the committee for any policy that the town may need to pursue. All data will be shared so individuals and groups may be better able to advocate for their children's educational needs. No policy decisions will be made by any groups assisting the committee or by the committee itself. Such decisions will be referred to the council. Individual volunteer groups may choose to meet more frequently and choose chairpersons to best suit their needs and goals. Individual groups envisioned will include both an advisory group on shorter term advocacy and an advisory group for longer term policy recommendations for the town to consider. The council committee will provide a monthly report of activities at each council meeting.
Format:
Each meeting will include segments for:
Discussion of current school issues and upcoming events of interest on schools.
Review of data collected on schools, taxes, etc.
Planning session for how to achieve longer term community goals.
Advantages over previous task force:
Provides increased focus on longer term goals/solutions.
Increases coordination between long and short term efforts, and thereby increasing awareness of potential effects of one upon the other.
Provides a looser structure and thereby encourages maximum public participation.
Does not put advocates in a position that may be interpreted as representing town policy.
Does not put the town in a position of advocating for the needs of one set of parents over those of another when needs conflict.
Emphasizes community focus on problems regardless of which county is involved in the solution.
