Blog Post: Is Your Voice Heard?

Howard County residents seem to either love or hate school board member Allen Dyer. Some see him as the "man of the people." Others feel is Dyer is wasting the school board's time and is taking them away from more important matters. The Howard County Board of Education is trying to remove Dyer from his position. His term is scheduled to end in 2012.

Dyer's last actions of controversy occurred last week, when after a public hearing parents were asked to hold their questions about a proposed elementary school in Elkridge until after the board meeting. The Baltimore Sun reports that Dyer got of his chair and had side conversations with the parents who had questions about the school.

It is unclear if the parents addressed school board members after the meeting would they have given them time to ask their questions. What is clear that parent involvement with the board seems very limited. Citizens are allowed to present testimony at Public Hearings and Public Forums. There is a sign-up process and citizens are limited to three minutes of testimony. It is unclear whether there is a limit to the number of citizens who can testify at these public events.

If citizens want to make a presentation to the board during a regular scheduled board of education meeting they must submit their presentation in writing to the chair of the board. It is up to the chair to determine when and if the presentation makes it to the agenda.

The policy for citizen participation also states that board members can be contacted via their home phone number. However, it says that since the call volume might be great, citizens may not receive a call back. But feel free to leave a message, the policy continues.

I welcome to hear your thoughts about Dyer and Howard County's policy about citizen involvement:

• Do you feel Dyer is a "man for the people?"
• Do you feel Dyer should be removed from the board?
• Do you think three minutes every so often at public hearings and forums is enough time for citizens give their input to the school board?
• Would you call a school board member and leave a message on their voice mail knowing you might not never get a call back?