October 23, 2018

Update: School Board Candidates Skeptical of Ombuds Plan for Frederick County Schools

This summer, the Board of Education for the public school system in Maryland has approved funding for a new Ombuds position. Nonetheless, several candidates for the school board have expressed concerns about the plans. Mostly, the issues are cost and independence. “At this time, I cannot support the ombudsman position because I do not believe an employee making $115,000 can be an impartial, neutral third party,” candidate Jay Mason said. The new Ombuds program is budgeted to cost $115,000 inclusive of benefits. (Frederick News Post.)


Related posts: Howard County Schools Hires New Ombuds and Plans New Limits on AuthorityNew Ombuds for Queen Anne Public SchoolsPrince George's County Public Schools Hiring First OmbudsFrederick Community College Weighs Ombuds ProgramFrederick County Public Schools to Appoint First Ombuds.

4 comments:

  1. This is really interesting to me as an ombuds and as a current school board member. The district has some work to do.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Scary that a decent salary alone could supposedly make an ombuds partial and biased. Of course, this is BS and the Board candidate who said it surely knows as much. But that's a worrisome critique.

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  3. Maybe the board member means that only someone making more than $115/year ($500K/year to start, perhaps?) could be an impartial, neutral third party.

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