Piney Orchard Resident Seeks School Board Seat

A Piney Orchard resident and mother of four has applied to fill the Anne Arundel County Board of Education seat for District 21.

Stacy Korbelak, who works as a professor of English at Howard County Community College, said she decided to pursue filling the seat after the urging of friends, who noted her involvement with schools in both the Odenton area and Annapolis. She is seeking to fill the seat currently occupied by Eugene Peterson, whose term is expiring.

“I just thought I should look into it, because I am an educator, and have been a parent and community volunteer for a long time,” she said.

Korbelak has two sons who graduated from the International Baccalaureate program at Annapolis High. Her other children include a 10th-grade son at and an eighth-grade daughter at .

Korbelak teaches English and also is coordinator of an honors program at Howard Community College. She previously held positions in human resources with the federal government and major companies locally and in Michigan.

“I have a very unique background that fits this very well,” she said. “I’ve been in the classroom and did all that HR [work]."

Korbelak said her position as a college professor has given her insight into how prepared students are once they leave high school. She said she has noticed an increase in students struggling with college-level English and math.

“My perspective is a little different than other board members because I work at a community college,” she said. “And what I’ve seen over the last seven years is an increasing number of people who cannot pass into college-level math or English. What I’d like to focus on is what we’re doing at our middle and high schools to be prepared if they choose to go to college.”

As a volunteer, Korbelak has served as on the community stakeholder team for Arundel High's Global Citizenship and Community Development signature program, and on the education committee for the .

Korbelak said she generally has sided with the board and Superintendent Kevin Maxwell on recent battles with the county over school funding.

“I want to make sure our schools are funded properly,” she said. “If our county doesn’t deal out money for our schools then I’m going to end up siding with the board. That’s the board’s job, to do the best for our students in our system. You have to at least fight for what you think is right.”

Korbelak also said she’d like to see more consistency in grading, particularly with regard to when students are permitted to re-do work. (The school system is currently accepting comments on proposed changes to grading procedures now through May 11.)

The deadline to apply for the board seat was Friday. The names of other candidates, if any, were not yet available. The Anne Arundel County School Board Nominating Commission will hold a public hearing with candidates on May 15 and May 23, and will submit names to Gov. Martin O'Malley, who will appoint the new board member.