The Kent School Board of Trustees has elected three new members for multi-year terms beginning in the 2018-2019 academic year. The Board of Trustees at Kent School is comprised of parents, alumni, parents of alumni and community leaders. Joining the Board are Karl Adler, Jamie Kirkpatrick and Kurt M. Landgraf. Kent School is an independent, not-for-profit school and is governed by a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees. The Board is charged with keeping the school “in trust” and securing the school’s future. Nancy Mugele, Head of School at Kent School said, “I am deeply grateful to Karl, Jamie, and Kurt for sharing their expertise with Kent School. Each of them has significant experience specific to the governance and life of independent schools. I am confident each will bring additional thoughtful and creative leadership to our school community and I cannot wait to work with them.”

Karl Adler is an experienced educator and school administrator who currently works as the Head of the Middle School at St. Anne’s School of Annapolis and Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth summer program (currently Hong Kong, previously Chestertown). He has served as the middle school head of The Calverton School (Huntingtown) and the head of St. James Academy (Monkton). He served on the Vestry of St. James (Monkton), the Board of Directors for Scientists Cliffs Association (Port Republic) and the Board of Directors of Flag Harbor Condo Association (St. Leonard). Karl earned a BA in English from Muhlenberg College, an M.Ed in Educational Leadership from Goucher College and Post-Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership from Johns Hopkins University where Nancy had the pleasure to teach him.

Jamie Kirkpatrick graduated from The Choate School and Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and served for six years in the Peace Corps before obtaining a Master of Arts Degree in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School in Massachusetts. He was Director of International Programs at Special Olympics from 1984-1989 and served as Director of College Counseling at the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland from 1993-2015. In 2008, he spent four months on a Teaching Fellowship at St. Andrews University in Scotland. After retiring from Landon, Jamie has worked as a consultant to the college counseling offices of St. Andrews Episcopal School, Georgetown Day School, Gunston School, and Severn School. Jamie is currently a freelance writer and photographer. His articles have appeared in the Washington Post, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Baltimore Sun, and Philadelphia Inquirer; recent magazine articles have appeared in The Washington College Alumni Magazine and American Cowboy Magazine. His first book of photography, A Place to Stand, was published by The Chester River Press in 2015. Jamie writes and illustrates a weekly column called Musings for The Chestertown Spy. His second book, Musing Right Along, was published in May, 2017. A sequel—I’ll Be Right Back—was released this summer.

Kurt M. Landgraf, a former corporate executive with deep experience in financial accountability, information technology, and integrated business strategies, was named President of Washington College in July 2017. Kurt was a senior executive with DuPont and held a 13-year tenure as President and CEO of Educational Testing Service (ETS), the world’s largest private educational testing and measurement organization and a leader in educational research. He also served as vice chairman of New Jersey’s Higher Education Commission, the state’s governing board for colleges and universities, and president of the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Kurt earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration from Wagner College, and then launched his business career in the pharmaceuticals industry. He went on to earn three master’s degrees: an M.A. in economics from Pennsylvania State University, an M.Ed. in educational administration from Rutgers University, and an M.S. in sociology from Western Michigan University. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program and serves on the boards of Corning Incorporated and Louisiana-Pacific Corporation.

In addition to electing these new trustees, the Board also elected Harry ‘Stoney’ Duffey and Thomas Gale to the role of Trustee Emeritus. This designation recognizes a long serving former Trustee who has made an extraordinary contribution to the School. Mugele continued, “Both Stoney and Tom have served the school in vital ways over the School’s fifty year history. I am certain we would not be where we are today nor poised for future successes without their wisdom and dedication.”

Kent School, located on the bank of the Chester River in historic Chestertown, is an independent school serving boys and girls from Preschool through Grade Eight. For more information about Kent School visit www.kentschool.org or call 410-778-4100 ext. 110

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan signed an executive order Tuesday forming an Office of Education Accountability, an independently appointed investigator general, to look into allegations of corruption, abuse and other improprieties in the public education systems across the state.

The governor’s announcement comes on the heels of several high-profile scandals in Maryland school systems.

In Prince George’s County, school board members last year accused county school system leadership of artificially inflating graduation rates by altering students’ grades, and in March cited unapproved pay raises for some school system staff.

Hogan highlighted former Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Dallas Dance’s recent jail sentence after he pleaded guilty in March to perjury as an example of the need for more oversight. Dance failed to disclose income he received from a company that he helped to obtain a no-bid contract with the school system.

“After repeated allegations of wrongdoing, mismanagement and corruption, citizens have lost confidence in the leadership of their local school systems,” Hogan said at a State House news conference. “Our children cannot and should not have to wait until the Legislature returns in January,” the governor said. “They deserve action beginning right now.”

The newly formed office “will act as a liaison between local boards of education, the state Board of Education and Maryland’s concerned citizens,” Hogan said. “This new unit will be responsible for analyzing, coordinating and providing recommendations on matters including procurement improprieties, abuse, neglect, safety, grade fixing, graduation requirements, assessments, educational facilities and budgetary issues.”

A bill Hogan, a Republican running for re-election, spearheaded earlier this year to establish an investigative oversight office for schools failed in the Democrat-controlled Legislature.

The governor’s executive order will be followed by the introduction of the Accountability in Education Act of 2019 to the General Assembly after the legislative session begins Jan. 9, Hogan said. The act would establish the Office of State Education Investigator General, an independent part of the Maryland State Department of Education, and would be appointed by Hogan, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Prince George’s, Charles and Calvert and House Speaker Michael Busch, D-Anne Arundel.

“This new office will be charged with investigating complaints of unethical, unprofessional, improper or illegal conduct in our schools,” Hogan said, and “will be able to make inquiries, have the ability to obtain information by subpoena and hold hearings in order to get to the truth.”

John Woolums, the director of governmental relations for the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, said his office has previously opposed similar legislation to create a statewide inspector general, and their position would not change with the governor’s announcement.

“It’s not reflective of any reluctance to be subject to accountability but in fact it’s because there is ample authority residing with the state’s superintendent of schools and the state Board of Education to provide oversight and enforce state laws and regulations that they determine are not being followed or adhered to by local school systems,” Woolums said. “There have been bills in the past introduced to create an inspector general and we’ve traditionally and consistently opposed those.”

Hogan appointed Valerie Radomsky to be the director of the newly formed office. Radomsky, a former Baltimore County school teacher, is a Board of Public Works coordinator in the Maryland comptroller’s office.

The new office would be responsible for responding to complaints and referring them to the State Board of Education or other public school agencies. The complaints, and their resolutions, would be maintained in a database, Hogan said. An annual report of the findings and recommendations would be submitted to the General Assembly, he added.

Hogan’s gubernatorial opponent, Democratic candidate Ben Jealous, criticized Hogan’s announcement.

“A political investigator run out of the governor’s office won’t change the fact that our schools are underfunded by billions of dollars and our teachers are underpaid. As governor, I will fully fund our schools, not blame our hardworking teachers and support staff.”

Hogan maintains he has spent record amounts of money on education in Maryland, in excess of the Legislature’s mandated funding formulas.

Jealous announced a piece of his own education agenda Tuesday, promising the creation of a Teacher School Supply Fund. The money would come from other Marylanders choosing to donate a portion of their tax returns.

Maryland State Education Association President Cheryl Bost voiced her disappointment at Hogan’s decision to sign the executive order.

“On what should be an exciting first day (of school), to hear Gov. Hogan highlight failures when he, for the past three years has underfunded our schools…” Bost said. “The governor’s office already has agencies available to look into claims of fraud. This is a diversion of resources, and campaign rhetoric.”

By Brooks DuBose