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Acting Superintendent Michael Martirano is having a Town Hall event next week at Howard High School.


Since assuming his new role within the school system, Dr, Martirano has been reaching out to a variety of groups, both large and small. He met with the leadership of HCEA, with local advocates of HCPSS Community Shares, with teachers, with PTA presidents, with the parents of Grace McComas-- and these are just the meetings I know about. He made himself available for a meeting of the Board of Public Works in Annapolis, and showed up to speak at the Howard County Citizens Association meeting last night.

Dr. Martirano is putting his best foot forward as he begins his new job, and the fact that he has a fondness for crazy socks has already endeared him to many. But of course it takes more than meetings to mend broken relationships. And crazy socks, though a nice touch, aren't necessarily an adequate means of judging competence or sincerity.

What matters to me is the content of these meetings, which is why I am glad to have an opportunity to attend one of them myself. These are the things I'll be looking for:

  • Will the Acting Superintendent actually take questions from the crowd that haven't been pre-vetted and selected?
  •  Will his answers show he has truly listened to the question?
  •  Will his remarks address candidly the present state of the Howard County Schools?
  •  Will we get some specific examples of how he hopes to make Central Office more open, transparent, accountable, and responsive?
If you have your own questions, you should definitely turn up next week to ask them.  While I don't know much about Dr, Martirano--yet-- I do know that he relishes the opportunity to connect with people. In fact, I've heard he'll be making an appearance this Friday on Elevate Maryland, Howard County's newest podcast.

Do you have questions? What are some of the things you'll be looking for? Feel free to share them here:


https://www.facebook.com/VillageGreenTownSquared/?ref=bookmarks







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