As Howard schools open today, superintendent says he’ll strive for increased community engagement

Howard County public schools opened for the new school year Monday with a new superintendent, Bill Barnes, who officially took on his new role July 1.

In an interview earlier this month, Barnes said his first 90 days on the job will be characterized by a focus on transportation, budgeting, human resources, learning, strategic vision, implementing the multibillion-dollar Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform legislation, and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Barnes said an initial 90-day plan under a new administration generates energy, focus and action.

“School systems that are effective, that are successful, are obsessed with time,” Barnes said.

Barnes served as acting superintendent for about six months, beginning Jan. 10. He replaced Superintendent Michael Martirano who announced his retirement Nov. 17 despite having almost three years left in a four-year contract.

“I’ve signaled to the team that I’ve got sixteen 90-day plans during my term,” Barnes said, “and I want the same level of energy and intensity in each of those … as I do this first 90 days.”

The new superintendent also enacted a reorganization of leadership , including the creation of six new positions to oversee significant divisions of the school system. Of the newly created positions, the chief academic officer, chief schools officer and chief operations officer will report directly to Barnes, while the chief equity and innovation officer, chief financial officer and human resources executive officer report to Deputy Superintendent Karalee Turner-Little, who reports to Barnes. Barnes is likely to realign those divisions after a year, he said in June.

“We’re halfway through this 90 days already,” Barnes said. “We’ll start to reflect on this, we’ll start to build out what the priorities will be for the next 90 days. Some will be the same, some will fall off, and different ones will come on. The expectation is we bring that level of seriousness and high velocity to each of our 90-day blocks.”

The second 90 days of Barnes’ tenure as superintendent will see the early stages of budget development . Barnes said this year’s budget cycle will focus on increasing engagement with stakeholders and community members, especially since the Blueprint is likely to require shifts in funding and resource allocation among schools.

“We’re putting together a communication plan that provides stakeholders with a monthly touchpoint on trying to educate them on the budget development process,” Barnes said.

Barnes said he hopes his tenure as superintendent leaves a strong legacy of community engagement, and that community members feel that their input was not only heard, but that they had an opportunity to affect meaningful change by providing their perspective in a constructive way.

“I intend for us to become a learning system where we are really obsessive about what we’re doing, what we’re learning from what we’re doing, and if something’s not working, pivot, let’s do something that is working,” Barnes said. “And we have to include more voices than the people that work in this building. We’ve got to listen to students, teachers, families and administrators.”

Cellphone policy

The system’s cellphone policy is likely to be a focus of a future plan, the superintendent said, as crafting the most effective policy for the school system has been a concern for members of the school board and school system staff.

“There’s an addictive nature to the design of cellphones and the marketing around [it] that’s penetrated our classrooms,” Barnes said.

The system’s current cellphone policy allows for all students to carry personal technology devices. High school students may generally use cellphones in hallways and in the lunchroom, but middle and elementary students may not. According to the policy, school administrators may allow middle school students to use devices on special occasions, and teachers may allow high school students to use cellphones in the classroom. Individuals assume full responsibility for personal technology devices.

To be effective, a policy update will require buy-in from community members, including students, Barnes said.

“We’re going to go through a process with the community, because I could make a rule today that says, ‘no more cellphones in schools’ that will fail spectacularly,” Barnes said, “because it will put our teachers and our students in a situation where they’re constantly butting heads.”

Barnes said his approach to those issues and others reflects his style of collaboratively determining what values are shared by the school system community and enacting measures to support those priorities.

“When I say we can’t be great until we’re great for every student, I feel like it’s a puzzle,” Barnes said. “It’s our job to figure out what each and every student needs. Some people say that’s not feasible, but I’m not willing to submit to that, until we make every effort to help every kid.”