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Abdul Latif, a student at Smithsburg High School, will be the next student representative to the Washington County Board of Education, current student representative Steven Wang said Tuesday. The Washington County Association of Student Councils elected Abdul in April, said Wang, a senior at North Hagerstown High. Abdul’s term will begin in July. — Julie E. Greene

The Washington County Board of Education will have a special meeting Tuesday to formally approve Clayton M. Wilcox as the next schools superintendent, board President Wayne Ridenour said Wednesday. The meeting will be held at 4 p.m. in the board auditorium at the central office off Commonwealth Avenue. Wilcox, who has experience as a superintendent in Florida and Louisiana, most recently has been an executive for Scholastic Inc. in New York City. Ridenour said the board will vote on approval of Wilcox’s appointment and his contract.

The Washington County Board of Education's Facilities and Enrollment Advisory Committee is seeking members. The panel's responsibility is to review enrollment and facilities data to make recommendations to the Board of Education for the effective use of school facilities. County residents interested in serving should submit an application for consideration to the Board of Education. There are three positions available. Members are needed in the South Hagerstown, Smithsburg and Hancock areas.

Ten qualified candidates have expressed interest in the vacancy on the Washington County Board of Education, and the seven-member screening panel will meet March 5 to further narrow the field, panel chairperson B. Marie Byers said Friday. The panel had planned to meet early Friday, but Byers said the meeting was postponed until Wednesday because of poor weather. The application period ended Feb. 24. "We have 10 qualified applicants" for the board position, Byers said, "and we will be prioritizing them for interviews and then communicating by letter" when those interviews will be scheduled, she said.

Another four-year term on the Washington County Board of Education would give Russell F. Williams the chance to continue advocating on behalf of poor and minority students, he said. "I try to make sure that poor students are not being priced out of education," he said. Williams, 64, who lives in Hagerstown, served on the board from 2002 to 2006, but he lost in the primary election last year. His name will appear on the ballot again in 2008. He filed last week to run in the Board of Education election.

BOE hires public information officer The Washington County Board of Education voted unanimously to appoint Carol Y. Mowen its public information officer Tuesday night. Mowen, of Greencastle, Pa., works as a literacy resource teacher at Springfield Middle School. She began working as an English language arts teacher in 1996 at the same school. Her salary will be $49,825 a year, which is the pay for Step One of the scale for administrator and supervisor. The position's top salary is $65,011.

The Washington County Board of Education is considering whether to make a policy change that would require the board to approve certain construction projects that cost more than $50,000. The change was discussed Thursday during a policy committee meeting. Deputy Superintendent Boyd Michael said the change would cover projects such as the construction of pressboxes and concession stands that the school system takes on with private organizations. The board could vote on the policy change as early as next month, Michael said.

Vinnie DiCola, owner of Rocky's New York Pizza on South Potomac Street, said he is “excited” about the prospect of the Washington County Board of Education central offices moving to downtown Hagerstown. The move, he said, could bring in more “walking wallets.” “There'd be more professional people downtown and more people coming downtown to do business,” he said. “All these people are going to have to have lunch and dinner somewhere. We definitely need that.” A study released last week by a Greater Hagerstown Committee task force calls moving the BOE central offices to downtown Hagerstown as “feasible” and recommends four preferred locations after looking at 12 potential sites.

Hagerstown City Council's efforts to convince the Washington County Board of Education into relocating downtown were stepped up Tuesday morning during the State of the City address. A proposed site for the BOE's central office on West Washington Street, along with renderings of the structure, and a takeoff on “Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood” were included in the city's video presentation. With an eye toward the future of Hagerstown, including information on downtown redevelopment and a multiuse stadium as well as the BOE offices, Mayor David S. Gysberts delivered the annual address at the event, hosted by the Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce.

The manner in which a feasibility study examining potential sites for moving the Washington County Board of Education central offices to downtown Hagerstown was conducted spurred a local economic development official to speak out last week. “The most troubling part about this study is not the study, but the manner in which it was veiled from the community at large,” said Ron Bowers, vice chairman of the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission (EDC). “That's what the problem is.” The study, compiled by a Greater Hagerstown Committee (GHC)

After hearing staff recommendations for school construction priorities for the next decade, the Washington County Board of Education talked about pushing back plans for a new high school and finding more creative ways to address space and program needs. Board members Donna Brightman and Wayne Ridenour said the board's recent purchase of the former Allegheny Energy property on Downsville Pike, which includes about 44 acres and a large office building, was a “game changer” when it comes to planning future school facilities needs.

The Washington County Board of Education now owns approximately 44 acres and the former headquarters of Allegheny Energy along Downsville Pike. The school board settled the $5.5 million purchase with property seller Vinayaka Missions on Monday, school system spokesman Richard Wright said. The school system plans to move its administrative offices, now at buildings on Commonwealth Avenue and Frederick Street, to the 10435 Downsville Pike property. The school system has already begun seeking bids or quotes on some of the work that needs to be done at the Downsville Pike property, said Rob Rollins, director of facilities planning and development.

The Washington County Board of Education will hold a public hearing Tuesday at 6 p.m. to give the public a chance to comment on the proposal to change the attendance zones for Pangborn and Paramount elementary schools. The proposed redistricting would shift part of the Cortland development, off Leitersburg Pike, from Pangborn's attendance zone to Paramount's, starting with the next school year. The hearing is being held at the 820 Commonwealth Ave. administrative complex. Before the hearing, at 5 p.m., the board will have a short business meeting.

Seven Washington County Public Schools - including Bester and E. Russell Hicks - are named for people or families, but at least one board member wants that practice to stop. School board member Karen Harshman raised questions about the practice during an April 2 board meeting. One of her concerns, she said, is a belief that many people, especially over time, don't have any knowledge of the person for whom a school was named. Harshman also questioned how the board can determine that one person is more deserving than others for the honor, and noted that at one time, it appears that if a group raised enough money to be the main contributor for a facility, it could get naming rights.

Due to receive about $1.5 million from a state-based disparity grant in the coming fiscal year, Washington County officials plan to give half the money to the county Board of Education for capital expenditures. Debra S. Murray, director of the county's Office of Budget and Finance, made the suggestion of splitting the money 50-50 with the school board during a Tuesday discussion with the county Board of Commissioners on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2013-14. County Administrator Gregory B. Murray said the $750,000 could be made available for some of the school system's millions of dollars worth of deferred maintenance projects, which the county has not been able to fund in recent years due to state revenue cuts and state expenditure mandates.

“Hooray to the BOE for moving their offices to the Allegheny Power building. It just makes sense.” - Fairplay “I've noticed, with taxpayers' money, of course, these new positions being formed, old positions being refilled, we're spending who knows how much money trying to help redo downtown. We're creating new positions in the city and the county government. Now, with all that money that's being spent, why hasn't somebody kept track of, say, who let the Hamilton Hotel get that terrible, the electric light plant, and that white elephant across the road from the electric light plant.

In the end, the Washington County Board of Education was able to do something the Hagerstown City Council was not: make a decision. The school board voted Tuesday to purchase the former Allegheny Energy headquarters on Downsville Pike, which will become the new home of the administration's central offices. In so doing, it left the City Council behind to watch as one more possible downtown revitalization project goes by the boards. The city had hoped to entice the board to move into the city center, but had been sketchy about the details.

Some students at Western Heights Middle School have to walk through an empty room or a classroom with students to get to their own classroom. The school's Spanish and French teacher's desk is in a narrow storage room that exits onto the hallway. Her classroom is next door. Band class is held on the school's auditorium stage, said Principal Mike Kuhaneck, explaining the layout during a Wednesday tour of the 1300 Marshall St. school's ground floor. Those conditions will improve with renovations to the West End school's ground floor, expected to be substantially complete in time for classrooms to be ready for the first day of the next school year on Aug. 21, school system officials said.

The Washington County Board of Education's Human Resources Committee decided last month not to recommend creating a nepotism policy because the board's ethics policy covers the matter, according to Board of Education member Wayne D. Ridenour, who chairs the committee. Ridenour said it didn't make sense to create an independent nepotism policy when the ethics policy already covers the issue. For months, school system officials have been reviewing policies to eliminate redundancies and make revisions where needed.

Visiting the mound in a bases-loaded, no-out situation, the late Baltimore Orioles Manager Earl Weaver - fresh out of good advice - once told his beleaguered pitcher, “If you know how to cheat, this would be the time.” In a similar vein, if the City of Hagerstown has an ace up its sleeve to lure the Washington County Board of Education downtown, Tuesday will have to be the day it's unveiled. This week, board members indicated they are leaning strongly not to downtown, but to the former Allegheny Energy headquarters on Downsville Pike as the site for their new central offices.