Educators

Larry Togans, a former eight-year member of the Jefferson County Board of Education, has been chosen to fill out the remainder of the term of former board President Peter Dougherty. The vacancy was created last month when he was appointed to succeed ousted Jefferson County Sheriff Bobby Shirley. Shirley faces up to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty in a civil-rights case involving the brutal beating of a fugitive bank robber in December 2010. His sentencing is pending in U.S. District Court in Martinsburg, W.Va.  Togans, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, will serve out Dougherty's term.

Two representatives of the Maryland Competitiveness Coalition were critical of the state's public policies that deal with issues such as private business at a breakfast meeting Wednesday. At the same time, they praised Maryland's emphasis on such areas as education during the Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce's Eggs and Issues breakfast at the Ramada Plaza. The chamber is a partnering organization of the coalition. Kathy Snyder, president and chief executive officer of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, and Tom Lynch, principal of Miles & Stockbridge in Frederick, Md., partnering organizations of the coalition, spoke about the coalition to local business leaders.

Washington County Public Schools' almost 10-year-old student dress code will get revamped thanks to student efforts led by the school board's student representative, Amanda Krehbiel. While the Board of Education didn't approve a first reading of Krehbiel's proposed dress code changes during Tuesday's meeting, it did take steps to allow the dress code to change, and perhaps be updated more often as fashion trends change. The board unanimously approved an amendment proposed by board member Wayne D. Ridenour that removes specifics about clothing from the policy and charges the superintendent or his designee to develop dress-code regulations in consultation with student representatives.

The Washington County Board of Education will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. on April 23 to hear comments about a proposal to change the school zones for Pangborn and Paramount elementary schools to provide at least temporary relief from overcrowding at Pangborn. The school board is expected to vote on the issue during its May 7 meeting, Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox said during Tuesday afternoon's board meeting. Wilcox said he supported the Facilities and Enrollment Advisory Committee's redistricting recommendation.

Recalling his first tour of the former Allegheny Energy headquarters on Downsville Pike, Washington County Board of Education member Wayne D. Ridenour said he thought of the possibility the office building could house the school system's administrative offices and possibly a school. It was around 2005 and Ridenour, who knew the building's owners at the time, took a tour of the Downsville Pike building with a Realtor and Elizabeth Morgan, who was schools superintendent at the time.

Shepherd University will partner with Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College in Moorefield, W.Va., to provide a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education, according to a Shepherd University news release. The joint program, which will begin in 2014, will serve an initial group of 20 students. The program will deliver the first four semesters of the elementary education degree, which consist of 100- and 200-level core courses, introductory professional education classes and specialty studies, at Eastern's Moorefield campus.

Washington County Public Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox said rough estimates indicate that renovating the former Allegheny Energy headquarters would be much less expensive for taxpayers than demolishing downtown Hagerstown buildings and constructing new administrative offices and a parking deck. Wilcox said estimates for renovating the former utility building on Downsville Pike are around $6 million. Combined with the $5.5 million price in the purchase agreement the Board of Education approved on Feb. 19, that puts the estimated cost of buying and renovating the building at around $11.5 million.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., received the Support Music Award Wednesday for his support of music education in West Virginia. The award was presented in a Capitol Hill ceremony attended by the Shepherdstown (W.Va.) Middle School jazz ensemble, musical artists and other advocates for music education. The West Virginia leaders were each honored by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), VH1 Save The Music Foundation and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME)

An amended version of a bill that tasked a state education council with finding out more about the resources needed to support a compulsory online course requirement in state high schools or a course that blended online learning and traditional teaching has been voted down by a senate committee. But Sen. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, said Tuesday that the bill was “just an effort to keep the discussion moving.” “I think the idea that the senate committee had was that they were going to contact the virtual learning council ... and suggest that this would be a worthwhile topic that didn't necessitate a piece of legislation,” he said.

A bill introduced by Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration during the current session of the Maryland General Assembly has the potential to bring an estimated $11.2 million more in state aid to the Washington County Board of Education over the next five fiscal years. The bill is an attempt by the state to make a more accurate calculation of local wealth, and make the distribution of state education aid more equitable, said Del. Andrew A. Serafini, R-Washington. Serafini said that many Maryland counties have complained over the years that the Sept.