Community associations, involvement: PTA president, Kemptown Elementary School; County Council Representative, Kemptown Elementary School; Special Education Community Advisory Council, member.

Professional associations: PTA, life member

Family: Wife, mother, and parent of three FCPS students

Campaign office address and telephone: Friends of Donna Crook, P.O. Box 65, Monrovia, MD 21770; 301-865-4813

Web site: ww.myspace.com⁄
donnac4boe

Link to state Board of Elections campaign finance database

Frederick Board of Education

Donna J. Crook

What are your top three priorities for the next four years, if elected?

Making sure our schools are safe.

Fiscal responsibilities, and that includes hiring and retaining highly qualified and motivated teachers.

Addressing capacity issues and renovation needs of our buildings.

How would you rate the performance of the current school board: excellent, good, fair or poor? Why?

I would say their performance is good. When issues are brought to our attention, we try and follow through on them. We may not all agree on what to do about them, however, we do come up with a plan to address them based on majority rules. We have also focused on a continuous review of our policy’s, which previously had not been reviewed regularly.

How would you rate the job performance of Superintendent Linda Burgee, excellent, good, fair or poor? Why?

Since Dr. Burgee is a contracted employee of the school system, and the board reviews her performance yearly in closed session, I am not at liberty to discuss this topic.

Are charter schools a good idea? Why or why not?

Charter schools are an alternative public educational option for parents. I think they are a good idea because they offer an option for parents and students who may want an alternative setting.

Is the county funding for schools too much, about right or too little? If too little, where would you find additional money?

The county has forward funded a large portion of the state’s responsibility for school construction, several years in a row.

They have also done this without knowing if the state would completely reimburse the county for it. In doing so, several of our newer schools have been built and completed due to county funding. They have tried to find a dedicated revenue stream for our aging school renovation needs.

For our operating budget, the Board of Education has made several requests for ‘‘one time” money to fund programs which the county commissioners have then had to fund for several years ongoing. What makes our operating budget so challenging is that we never really know from one year to the next, exactly how much money the state will give us due to their budget shortfalls. It is a yearly ongoing challenge for us.

Do you think the current system for renovating and building schools is adequate or does it need changing?

I think that new seats and renovations are always competing against each other. For sometime, it was the board’s direction to prioritize new seats over renovations. That has changed, and the current board is trying to balance this. My feelings are that we need to have a separate list of schools that need renovations⁄modernizations to help define the priorities.

Then it is the obligation of the board to set and clearly communicate those priority’s to the local and state funding sources. These renovations should fit equally into the CIP.

What do you think about the board’s relationship with the community?

Unfortunately, I think we have lost some ground here.

In my opinion, there were several issues that the board faced, and made decisions on that didn’t necessarily have the best outcomes for the students as far as parents were concerned.

One of these, was the busing⁄transportation issue. Many parents felt like they were not heard. But the board made a decision based on the facts as we saw them and majority ruled. However, I think the board has learned that we need to have a better communication process with our parents.

Do the commissioners have too much, too little or not enough oversight of the school system?

The Board of Education in Frederick County is not subjected to direct oversight by BOCC. The oversight comes from the state Board of Education. The commissioners have funding oversight over the parameters of the FCPS budget.

What should the school system do to improve performance by minority students?

The school system needs to continue its efforts to close the achievement gap and keep parents involved. We need to keep sending the message of importance in their child’s education, and how critical it is that they take part in that. When parents take part in their child’s education, it is proven that students do better.

Do you think the school system is doing enough to meet the needs of special education students?

It is unfortunate that the law only requires us to give the minimum education required by law. Our special education students are making progress, however the reading scores for this group of students are still very low, around 10 percent. This means that approximately 10 percent are passing standardized testing at basic or proficient levels.

I would like to see this group of students experience a much higher success rate. I know the effort they are putting out is not necessarily giving them the same rate of return in success that they deserve. Many of these kids try their hardest day in and day out.

Are the schools safe for students and teachers? If not, what should be done?

I believe the schools are safe and becoming safer every day as we implement newer technology and improved safeguards. We currently have a full-time security person on staff who continuously reviews and handles any concerns or issues that would come up.

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