State of our public schools: Wicomico Co. Supt. gives update
Where do our schools stand?
WICOMICO COUNTY, Md. – Wicomico County’s annual State of the Schools Luncheon was held Wednesday, May 8th, at the Wicomico Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland.
The luncheon was an opportunity to hear from the Superintendent, Micah Stauffer of Wicomico County Public Schools, and discuss achievements, areas needing improvement throughout the county, and plans for future success. “One thing that we want to do is make sure we have the resources that we need here on the Lower Shore, to be able to work with all types of students as we move forward, and those resources are really lacking… I think the things as we move forward that are of most importance certainly would be school climate and student discipline… When you have a 4-, 5-, or 6-year-old that really is struggling behaviorally, that’s a challenge…”
Stauffer also shared some of the suggested solutions. “First, making sure that the accountability of students is where it needs to be with our Code of Conduct. I think the second, thing is the programs that we need within the school system to be able to expand… We’re seeing the numbers of staff assaults, especially in those earliest grade levels, pre-k through 2nd grade, decrease as a result of the work that we’re doing in those areas… When you have a 4-, 5-, or 6-year-old that really is struggling behaviorally, that’s a challenge. ”
According to the County, At-risk students are any students who either come from families of poverty, that are learning English as a second language, or that are students with disabilities. In Wicomico County, about 65% of the total population has at least one or more of those needs. Stauffer says that legislation like the Maryland Blueprint is enough for the district and they truly need more help. “So, a goal for Blueprint is to try to increase those salaries for teachers moving forward, so that we can recruit and retain the very best here for our school system.”
Bill Chambers of the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce believes more help is needed, and he’s been involved with these efforts from the beginning. “Wicomico County has been woefully inadequate in investing in public school education since 2006… Look we started this event 7 years ago, as a way to get the school systems message out to the business community and more importantly, to elected leaders. I think, what is happening- slowly and organically, is we’re educating decision makers about the economic impact that a strong public school system brings to a jurisdiction. I think that was not something they were connecting the dots with years ago.”
Chambers insists that these efforts to improve the school will help the County and public schools overall. “We continue by this event to push for a strong, invested, public county school system. Our goal is to make Wicomico County Schools top ten in the state of Maryland. Whether you have kids or not, a strong, successful, high achieving, high preforming public school systems benefits your entire community. It keeps your taxes low, people want to be in a location that has strong public schools, the diversity of the population and the business community increases, and it’s a place where people want to play, work, and grow old.”
Stauffer says the county is glad they’ve brought activities for the students. “Something that we are very proud of is the fact that we have brought middle school sports back. We’re seeing that our students are responding well to us putting more resources and funding towards extracurricular activities, and it has really helped with discipline referrals.”
The Wicomico County Public Schools continue to fight for funding and push for better resources to help the children of the community.
