In February of this year I announced that I would not be seeking reelection to the Caroline County Board of Education. After 18 years of school board service I was, and remain ready to step back and allow someone else the opportunity to serve. I also want to be able to spend time in other endeavors, mainly being there more for my family, especially my growing grandchildren. But, had I known then what I know now, I might, notice I say might, have decided otherwise.

There is no denying that the Covid19 pandemic has changed our world much as the tragedy of 9/11 did. Our lives have never been the same since 9/11 and our lives will never be the same after a cure and vaccine are discovered and widely distributed.

Coronavirus forced our education systems to completely shut down in-person instruction and halt all activities both inside and outside of our buildings. As students and their families were forced to shelter in place, we, the public-school systems of our country, and especially Caroline County, had to instantly find a way to continue and ultimately complete school year 2019-2020. What was done to complete last school year was an all hands on deck effort to get our students to the finish line so we could then focus on reopening schools normally in the fall. But, along came Coronavirus.

I am not going to debate the validity of 200,000 deaths in our country attributed to Coronavirus/Covid19. Nor am I going to debate the politics of whether what has been done to mitigate its impact and potentially save more lives has been sufficient or not, hindsight is always 20/20. (No pun intended) I am going to recognize and support all the dedicated staff who have spent countless hours and days addressing all the moving parts necessary to facilitate the education of our children during these unique and trying times.

I will be the first to acknowledge that the single best way for our children to be educated is in a safe and secure environment, surrounded by their peers, guided, and supported by a staff of compassionate, committed, and caring adults whose primary concern during the school day is their health and wellbeing, while being challenged to learn new and exciting things about our world. Regardless of their ethnic, socio-economic, racial, or handicapping condition, this, I believe, is what every parent, grandparent or other family member would ask of their public educational system for their children.

But, along came Coronavirus.

As soon as it became apparent that our children would not be returning to their schools for in-person instruction, every school system in the state was charged with creating a plan of action. This plan required systems to immediately prepare for the start of a new school year with very few, if any, children in their buildings. Contrary to what has been communicated by some elected officials, a lot of blood, sweat and tears were shed during the summer months by educators all over the state to come up with a plan of action for school year 2020-2021. Caroline County came up with such a recovery plan and, with the help of a community committed to following proper guidance, we will begin moving children back into schools in early October, starting with elementary schools.

Some have said that there was little, if any consideration of the hardship families would endure by having their children access their education from home in a scheduled virtual day. The challenge to families without the luxury of a stay at home parent, grandparent or other family member would be especially difficult. In some cases, a parent or other family member has been forced to reduce working hours or even worse, stop working.

Unfortunately, those challenged with making the decision of how to open schools had to do so knowing full well it was going to hurt many families economically. No American, regardless of their socio-economic status should ever have to make the decision between the education of their children and the economic well being of their family. No American should have to suffer the economic consequences of a deadly disease that forces one to quarantine and avoid contact with others. Once again, along came Coronavirus.

Now, the school system that I have dedicated a portion of the last 18 of my 21 years to (I was not a board member for three of those years) is having to deal with a situation that has never been experienced or dealt with before. When the pandemic and accompanying shutdown began, our school system basically had to find a way to build a plane while in flight. Our system of over 800 professionals, paraprofessionals and support staff came together and figured out how to conclude instruction and successfully close school year 2019-2020.

Was it perfect in every way? No. But what plane is perfect that is constructed while in the air? Completely closing schools for a health pandemic had never happened, and I pray that after Covid19 never will again.

Five school board members, (three elected, two appointed) are charged with making decisions that impact the education of our children. Like many small rural school systems, we are the largest employer in Caroline County. We have the largest operational budget, currently spending $70 million per year, of which over $13 million comes from Caroline County, the largest amount for any county agency.

School Systems in the State of Maryland are managed by a Superintendent hired by the members of the Board of Education for a term of four years. Near the end of this 4-year term the Superintendent is either offered another 4-year contract or they notify the Board that they are not interested in serving another term. Technically, this is the only statutory responsibility the Board has under the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR).

At this time, another board member, Louise Cheek, has chosen to not run for re-election and a re-appointed member, George Abner, has announced that he will resign at the end of this year. This leaves three open seats, two elected and one appointed, of a five-member board. Public School systems will be confronted with complicated problems with few simple solutions.

Major decisions about the future of our children’s education will need to be filtered through a lens that focuses on a healthy and safe environment. It is easier to manage and plan for threats that you can see. It is threats that you cannot see, like Coronavirus, that decision-makers lose sleep over. No one wants to make a decision that will harm the health and safety of any of our neighbors, young or old.

Our current superintendent Dr. Patricia Saelens is in the last year of her 4-year contract. The new board will be responsible for either reappointing Dr. Saelens to a 4-year term or hiring a new superintendent if Dr. Saelens chooses to not seek reappointment in 2021.

There are four people running for the two open board seats, and applications are being accepted for the open appointed seat. Those running are all eminently qualified in their respective ways and are persons whom I am certain would serve admirably. But two of them have extensive management experience in the government and non-profit sectors. I believe their experience and backgrounds uniquely qualify them to deal with the immense challenges that will be confronting our school system over the next several years.

Rick Barton, running for District 2 which is most of Denton, Hillsboro and some of Greensboro, has a background of government service having spent a career at Maryland Department of Natural Resources most of which was as a manager and administrator. He served as interim Caroline County Administrator overseeing all Caroline County government operations and also served as Interim Director of Maryland Special Olympics. Currently he is Executive Director of a consulting company that works with educational systems in delivery of instruction, timely for those involved in education.

Bryan Ebling, running for District 1 which is basically Ridgely and most of Greensboro/Goldsboro/Marydel and Henderson, recently retired as Director of the Caroline County Emergency Services Department. As Director, he was responsible the all Emergency Services Operations in the county and developing and implementing a budget in collaboration with other county agencies. He currently has returned to where his career in emergency started as a paramedic working closely with Volunteer Fire Companies and enjoying time with his grandchildren.

I call attention to these gentlemen because I believe the challenges that will be confronting education in the future will look like nothing we have confronted before. There is a very real probability that our rural system, that has enjoyed a great relationship with our county commissioners and state leaders, will find revenue declining from these sources. Good relationships and knowledge of others that education leaders rely upon will foster better collaboration. It will be critical for school board members to think with an open mind and cooperatively work toward solutions with those entities while at the same time advocating for the education of our children.

Mr. Barton and Mr. Ebling will be able to hit the ground running. Their learning curves will be steep but their backgrounds and experience with Caroline County government, budgeting and working collaboratively with other government agencies gives them a solid foundation to be effective board members.

I am retiring from school board service for the second time, the first time involuntarily as an appointed member in 2009 when I reached my limit of two consecutive 5-year terms. This time I am retiring voluntarily as an elected board member of two consecutive terms. But this time is different because there will be two other new board members instead of the one that replaced me the first time I retired. The challenges facing public education in 2020 are extremely different than the challenges of 2009. Please take the time to vote in 2020. It is a critical election in so many ways.

Mr. Rowe is Vice President/Lending for Bay Capital Mortgage Corp. with offices in Easton and Annapolis. He has lived in Caroline for his entire life and supports the county by volunteering in a variety of ways. He currently lives near Greensboro with his wife Jeanne and daughter Kelsey.