HoCo Watchdogs Newsletter
Issue # 2
Welcome to the second issue of the HoCo Watchdogs newsletter! This newsletter provides a concise list of articles, videos & social media posts for you to stay well informed about important Howard County, Maryland issues such as public school policies, land use & development, and county governance.
Staying informed is a community effort! If you have content to recommend for a future HoCo Watchdogs newsletter, please send the title & link to hocowatchdogs@protonmail.com .
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Articles / Blog Posts
authored by HoCo Watchdogs, 10/22/2021
A summary of major improvements, new problems, and unaddressed concerns in the new draft HCPSS Policy 6010 (Redistricting). The Board of Education will consider adoption of this draft policy in November 2021.
authored by Howard County Government, 10/17/2021
Howard County voter district boundaries are updated (redistricted) every 10 years. The current district boundaries are under review and set to change soon. This page contains background information on the councilmanic redistricting process, four proposed versions of new district boundaries, a timeline of next steps, and instructions on how to provide public input.
authored by Chao Wu, 10/2/2021
Dr. Chao Wu, Chair of the HCPSS Board of Education, analyzes recently collected data on the HCPSS student yield per house unit and shares thoughts on why this metric has increased over the years.
authored by Traci Spiegel & Kim Ford, 10/25/2021
Two Howard County, MD parents weigh in on why the student member of the Board of Education should not have an official vote that affects school policy decision-making and share their rationale for taking this issue to the Howard County Circuit Court and Maryland Court of Appeals.
authored by Lisa Markovitz, 9/30/2021
A discussion of the persistent misinformation that plagues the local political debate about how to best balance the need for new housing developments with the need for adequate public school capacity & maintenance and supporting county infrastructure such as roads, sidewalks, parks, hospitals etc.
authored by Our Revolution Howard County, Sunrise Movement Howard County, The Howard County Citizens Association, The People’s Voice and Progressive Democrats of Howard County, 10/11/2021
A local political campaign pledge created by Howard County community members for political candidates to sign, promising not to accept campaign donations from Developer or unknown “Dark Money” sources. Candidates running for Howard County Executive, County Council, Board of Education, state elected office, and other offices in 2022 are encouraged to sign.
Videos
Howard County Councilmanic Redistricting: Address Lookup and Demographic Data Now Available
Upcoming Events
Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) 101 Webinar
November 4, 2021 – 7:00 PM
What is the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO)? Why are Howard County’s schools overcrowded? What affects class sizes and school quality? When is school redistricting an appropriate policy tool to alleviate overcrowding and when is it not? How do we pay to build and maintain roads? How are my tax dollars spent and what decisions affect how much taxes I pay? What is the General Plan and how does it affect me?
Sign-up to attend a webinar on APFO 101 to get answers to all these questions and more. Register in advance for this meeting using this Zoom registration link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
This highly informative session will be led by Brent Loveless, a community activist who has advocated on local issues and has deep familiarity with APFO. Brent served as president of the PTA Council of Howard County and the 2015 APFO Task Force, among several other county committees and work groups.
HoCo Watchdogs Newsletter Archives
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