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Robert L. Kline, who served as Funkstown's mayor for 28 years and on the Washington County Board of Education, died Tuesday morning, his son, Robert L. Kline II, confirmed. Kline, 82, also was active in baseball, both as an amateur player in the mid-20th century and as a Little League administrator. “It's a tremendous loss for the community and the town,” said Barry Warrenfeltz, who often attends Funkstown Town Council meetings and is a committee chairman at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church where Kline was a lifelong member.

Public information meetings are expected to be held for the Conococheague and Winter Street elementary school communities in March as plans get closer to merge the schools into a new “West City” elementary still to be built. The ideal timeline for the process - which includes closing the two schools and continuing to include the new elementary school in future planning documents - was discussed Tuesday morning during a Washington County Board of Education Facilities Committee meeting at Conococheague Elementary.

Two of the four Washington County Board of Education members whose seats are up for election next year said they intend to run to retain their board seats, while Vice President W. Edward Forrest said he will not run for re-election. Board President Wayne Ridenour and board member Donna Brightman said they intend to file candidacy, while board member Justin Hartings said he expects to decide on a re-election bid by the new year. The Maryland primary is April 3 and the general election is Nov. 6. “One of the things I brought to the table was the fact that my kids were in the school system,” said Forrest, whose son will be a senior in high school next school year.

Some members of the Washington County Board of Education have recently expressed concerns about the school system's aging middle schools, all seven of which opened during a 13-year stretch from 1967 to 1980. Board member Donna Brightman, chairwoman of the board's Facilities Committee, said not only are the middle school buildings problematic due to their age, but because many of them are "open-space schools. " Open-space schools - built without walls surrounding classrooms so students can hear what's going on in nearby classes - were a trend during the 1970s.

Washington County School Board Vice President W. Edward Forrest said the state's High School Assessment tests are an "incredible waste of resources. " Forrest's comments came Tuesday after school system officials presented data from last year's assessment tests, including the fact that no student in the county or state failed to graduate last school year because of the High School Assessment graduation requirement alone. That, combined with the variety of ways or, as Forrest called them, "loopholes," that students can meet the HSA graduation requirement, led Forrest to declare the tests a waste of teachers' and staff's time.

The Washington County Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to allow new Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox to sign checks for various school system bank accounts. "I'd just say you're really getting the keys to the car now Dr. Wilcox," school board member Justin Hartings joked. The school system has only had two authorized check signers for the past five months - Chief Financial Officer Chris South and Deputy Schools Superintendent Boyd Michael, according to South.

School board needs to release K-2 achievement To the editor: When I asked the Washington County Board of Education (BOE) how and what they manage, they responded they do not micromanage but set the policy for their one employee, the superintendent, to implement. Let us review how well that approach has worked. This table is the BOE's state ranking during former Superintendent Betty Morgan's tenure, using MSA passing rates and comparing Washington County with 24 school districts in Maryland.

A year full of frustrations and fulfilling moments is how Steven Wang described his time as the student representative to the Washington County Board of Education. Wang, 18, said he thinks students are still left out of the loop in many regards. He said he’s confident the seven elected board members value students’ input, “but it’s difficult when you only meet with the board members two times per month and there isn’t this type of back-and-forth dialogue.” Student board members are not permitted to attend closed sessions and do not have voting rights, although Wang occasionally voiced an opinion or raised a hand during votes to signify where he stood.

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.

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