Ongoing Board of Education Member Dawn Balinski was presented with a gold watch.
Prince Frederick, MD – On Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 6 three new members of the Calvert County Board of Education (BOE) will be sworn in to office. Two of the new members, Pamela Cousins and William Phalen, won election to the panel at-large in November. The third new member, James Piatt, was appointed by the previous board of Calvert County Commissioners to fill the unexpired term of First Election District board member Joseph Chenelly, who resigned in early November.
Phalen and Cousins outpolled two incumbents, Dr. Eugene Karol and Dawn Balinski, to win election to the BOE.
For Phalen, the election win means a return to a board he had been a member of for nearly 20 years. During the mid-1990s he was serving as an appointed member of the BOE. When county voters decided to switch to an elected board, Phalen was the only member of the appointed panel to seek election in 1996. He opted to run for one of two at-large seats, which were initially six-year terms for the purpose of staggering board membership. In 2002, Phalen was reelected to a four-year term and also won reelection in 2006. He was barred from seeking a fourth consecutive term. In 2010, Phalen waged an unsuccessful campaign for county commissioner.
With assurances from the Calvert Board of Elections that it was legal, Phalen opted to seek another term on the BOE in 2014.
Prior to their December meeting, the BOE and several Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) administrators saluted Karol and Balinski for their service.
Karol was appointed CCPS superintendent in 1980, retiring 13 years later. He was elected to the BOE in 2006 and reelected in 2010.
“He [Karol] has been a real mentor,” said BOE Vice President Kelly McConkey, who noted Karol hired many of CCPS’ current employees.
“My heart has always been to do the right thing by kids,” said Karol, adding that Calvert County has an excellent school system “because our focus really is on the kids.”
Of the current CCPS superintendent, Dr. Daniel Curry, Karol declared, “this is no novice. He knows how to do it.”
Balinski spoke about “the journey of becoming a board member” and how getting elected brings “a huge mountain of legislation.” She called the CCPS “a myriad of little ecosystems.” Balinski said the “disappointment” of losing the election had subsided.
“She [Balinski] has done so much heavy lifting for us,” said Board Member Tracy McGuire, adding that the BOE’s recent elementary school redistricting in the north area of Calvert “worked out well because of Dawn’s research.”
For parting gifts, Curry presented Karol a painting of a sailboat while Balinski was given a gold watch.
After finishing third in the four-candidate race for the BOE’s two at-large seats, Balinski, a Lusby resident, submitted her name to the county commissioners to consider for appointment to the Third Election District vacancy. That appointment, however, was given to Piatt, a Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant employee who was one of 15 applicants for the vacancy.
While the leadership of the Calvert Education Association (CEA) initially indicated they were OK with Piatt’s appointment, the organization, which represents CCPS’ teachers and the Calvert Association of Educational Support Staff (CAESS) filed a Public Information Act (PIA) request with the Calvert County Government seeking documents related to the selection process.
Calvert County Administrator Terry Shannon told The Bay Net the request is being handled by County Attorney John Norris.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com