Jeff Morse
Board of Education Candidates 2008: Jeff Morse
By Katie V. Jones
Posted 10/23/08
Jeff Morse
Residence: Taneytown
Age: 54
Marital status: Married 18 years to Ellen Morse.
Children: Two children, both enrolled in Carroll County Public Schools.
Education: Graduated from Cornell University in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in animal sciences; and completed a master’s in agricultural education.
Two seats are open on the Carroll County Board of Education, and in the Nov. 4 General Election voters will be asked to vote for two from a field of four. Candidates include incumbent Cynthia Foley of Westminster, write-in candidate and incumbent Virginia Harrison of Sykesville, Jeffrey Morse of Taneytown and Jennifer Seidel of Mount Airy. Barry Potts of Manchester had been selected in the primary this past spring to be part of the field, but he has withdrawn from the race, and his name will not be on the ballot. The following are profiles of each candidate and complete a question-and-answer session conducted with The Eagle.
Jeff Morse, 54, is a native of New York who moved to Maryland after attending Cornell University.
He was an agricultural teacher at Hereford High School before running and managing a series of agricultural feed businesses, owning and merging with other businesses over seven years. He returned to teaching in 1986 in Littlestown, Pa., and now lives on a farm in Taneytown with his wife Ellen, and two children — a 10th-grader at Winters Mill and an eighth-grader at East Middle.
Morse was appointed to the Board of Education to fill a vacancy on the board in May 2007.
He resigned in March 2008 after he admittedly used a racial slur to describe a black rock while touring the site of the Manchester Valley High School with county school staff. Virginia Harrison was appointed to finish his term. Still, Morse had finished third in the primary election, and decided to renew his campaign to regain his seat.
In August, he said voters, “should elect me because during the 10 months I served on the board, I worked hard and I looked in detail into the issues. ... I think I did a very good job as a board member.”
He said that since the Manchester incident, a “huge number” of people urged him to stay on the board.
“After a huge amount of thought and consideration I decided to leave my name on the ballot and run for a seat on the board,” he said.
“It was a very difficult decision because the events that occurred in March were not only very hard on me, but very very hard on my family,” he added. “But after an awful lot of family discussion, decided it was the right thing to do.”
Morse believes the state of financing is the key issue facing the Carroll County school system, but says the board member’s most important relationship, outside of with his/her fellow board members, is to develop a good working relati onship with the county commissioners in regards to funding.
In his 10 months on the board, Morse believes he developed an “excellent working relationship with (the commissioners).”
He says the school system needs to modernize and update facilities, but adds, “I don’t think the age of the facility should be the measuring stick we should use, but what goes on inside.”
Morse said he does not believe the county should “forward fund” high schools — i.e. pay for school construction projects instead of waiting for the state to fund them.
“I think for high schools, getting state funding is important. I do not favor building high schools where we don’t get state funding,” he said.
That goes for the $80 million Manchester Valley High School, which the county funded although the projected need did not meet state guidelines. But in that case, Morse said, “this project was already under way.”
But Morse said his personal highest priority is to reduce class size.
“(We) must get our class sizes in order,” he said. “Then and only then can we measure the things that we are doing.”
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
What would be your top priority as a Board of Education member?
Maintaining the budget. It is so obvious that we are in extremely difficult financial times and the budget is going to drive the school system. Over the last seven years, Carroll County Public Schools have added nearly 500 positions other than classroom teachers. It does not count new positions that were required due to the opening of a school. We have a very large administrative bureaucray and that is where the cuts have to come from. I also think, coupling with that, the most important relationship that a board member has other than with fellow board member is to develop a good working relationship with the county commissioners. The county commissioners determine the level of financing a school system will have. In my 10 months on the board, I developed an excellent relationship with our county commissioners; only candidate completely endorsed by one of the commissioners and the support of others. And that working relationship will be crucial to keep our school systems funded and running.
How important is it to have all schools on the same technological and structural level, and how can the school system achieve this?
We do have a formula in Carroll County schools for computer allocation in buildings based on enrollment. We do have a standard formula for technology allocation based on enrollment that is standard throughout the county so that I think you will find the technology in our schools is more uniform in schools than people tend to believe. I don't think the age of the facility is the measuring stick we should be using but what goes on inside. Are all of our buildings the same? No, and I would finish that with thank goodness. They are community schools and should be treasured as such.
We need to modernize and update our facilities. One of the tragedies in this economy is the board of education invested fully; we built built built like crazy and we now have no money. Tragedy because our renovations projects are now on hold.
What’s the biggest challenge facing Carroll County Public Schools regarding standardized testing?
We do an excellent job of the minimal tests. All of our schools make adequate yearly progress so that the testing for No Child Left Behind is what we are doing an excellent job with.
The biggest challenge we face, is our SAT scores. Carroll County scores are above average. ... Our population in Carroll County is 92 percent white Causaision. If you compare that, which is a very large subgroup, with those of other counties, we are significantly below average ... we are scoring 80 points below average. We have put a huge number of resources to get the lowest achieving kids to clear the minimal bar by No Child Left Behind and that has often been at the expense of the kids in the middle and upper end. We need programs where all children can reach their potential. We cannot afford to continue to target so much to such a small group.
Are you in favor of the county paying for school construction to address overcrowding even before it meets state criteria?
At the elementary level, I don't believe we built any schools for a long time that did not receive state funding. At the middle school level, the state uses a different model for determining capacity than we use. The state uses junior high school. We run middle schools. Our functional capacity of a building and the state’s capacity of a functional building are very different. Our buildings grossly exceed functional capacity while the state says they are not at capacity. For middle schools we will never get state funding for middle schools and honestly, I don’t think they are getting state funding in hardly any counties in the state. A good example of that would be Mt. Airy Middle School. Mt. Airy Middle School currently has eight portable classrooms, two quad units. If we use the state formula, all those units should be gone as they all fit in the building.
For high schools, yes I think getting state funding is important. When I came on the Board of Education the decision to build Manchester Valley had already been made. I questioned the administration hard as to why we chose to build that building (Manchester Valley). Nobody was ever able to answer why we built it for 1,200 students No, I do not favor building high schools where we cannot get state funding. However, this project was already under way, when I came on the board.
Do you agree with the recent changes in the school system’s policy regarding constructive possession — dealing with student behavior outside of the school setting?
I do not support the constructive possession concept. I do not feel that students should be deemed to feel guilty. The student didn’t necessarily partake in illegal acitivinty, (but was) merely present. A limit to the umbrella of the school system. There is a place for parents and a place for the schools and I think the schools had overstepped its bounds with constructive possession.
I also think it caused a nightmare as the only students enforced upon was if a student freely admitted to being there. If a student denied being there, there was absolutely nothing that could be done. When the board then acted on that policy, they went much farther than that. In fact they changed the length of the suspensions and some of the suspensions for when students in fact engaged in some of those illegal behaviors, not just constructive possession. The board made a serious mistake, not in changing the policy but not allowing the community enough time for input. They caught an awful lot of people by surprise. It was also during the summer, when nobody pays attention to the school board.
I think they made a big mistake not putting it to public input.
Do you think there are too many pressures on students today, and if so what can the Board of Education do to help?
There are a lot of pressures on students today. If most adults look back and remember their high school years, an awful lot of what they remember of high school is not in the curriculum. It is what is taking place in the cafeterias and halls. What we can do is to keep that part of the day as positive as possible and that will do a lot to relieve the pressure on students. Kids are actively engaged during hall changes and cafeteria time, what we need to do iskeep that part as positve as possible.
What’s the highest priority to help teachers cope with the demands of the classroom?
The highest priority for me is reducing class sizes. In the budget process last year, there were several different initiatives being put forward, and I felt strongly what we needed to do was prioritize. We needed to pull our resources and address one problem at a time. In fact we were able ... to add one new teacher in every high school ... to help reduce class size. We must get our class sizes in order. Then and only then can reevaluate the other programs we are doing and find they are no longer necessary. What we need to do is start shifting many of these mid-level managers we hired back into the classroom.
Do you support slot machines as a mechanism for education funding?
Personally, I will not vote for slots. I have a problem with increasing gambling. I think there needs to be a better way to fund education. We desperately need a revenue source but I have a very difficult time promoting gambling under the jurisdiction that it is OK if it goes to education. There is absolutely nothing that says that money will be spent on education. That money will go into the general fund. We do not earmark money from a source like that for education. That one is earmarked to go into the general fund. It is not guaranteed to go to education.
How can the Board of Education provide for changing demographics of Carroll County Public Schools?
When we go to other areas of this county, you’re hard pressed to find somebody who has lived in that town for five years much less 10 years. Particularly, Mount Airy, you are very hard pressed unless down at Historical Society, you’re hard pressed to find people who have lived there 10 years much less second or third generations to go to Mount Airy schools. Consequently, they don't have those wonderful warm fond feelings and the connections to the old tired buildings.
I think the new people coming to Carroll County and into an old building, may not understand other people’s strong desire to keep the building as it is. They want to drive a bulldozer through it. That is an issue the school system has to constantly address. Another challenge for us is our ELS programs. The number of different native languages that our students have that we deal with in our school system on a daily balance .is a staggering number and trying to keep that program going so they can continue to get their education while they work to keep their English fluency up is a challenge.
The transits of our population. In our high schools a lot of these kids have moved numerous times and that is becoming a bigger and bigger challenge.. having a kid who walks into a school with no friends and getting them acclimated quickly and smoothly and seamlessly into a new school. Families are often moving now in the middle of the school year. Many, many more students coming in and leaving our schools every week and month of the year. It becomes a nightmare for guidance to schedule those students. Lots of issues with the transients of our society. Those are three of the biggest areas.
Let’s not pretend Manchester Valley or North Carroll will be full. I worked hard to promote the idea of Carroll Community College using that space. I was very glad to hear some of our special needs students now having to be bused far away are able to lease space and that will be great. Our county schools won’t be doing it but those programs will be offered here in the county.
What was your favorite school lunch?
My favorite school lunch is pizza. I eat school lunch every day. When I was a student, we didn't have pizza. I can't remember what my favorite main course was, but I was always excited when they had canned peaches.
Residence: Taneytown
Age: 54
Marital status: Married 18 years to Ellen Morse.
Children: Two children, both enrolled in Carroll County Public Schools.
Education: Graduated from Cornell University in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in animal sciences; and completed a master’s in agricultural education.
Two seats are open on the Carroll County Board of Education, and in the Nov. 4 General Election voters will be asked to vote for two from a field of four. Candidates include incumbent Cynthia Foley of Westminster, write-in candidate and incumbent Virginia Harrison of Sykesville, Jeffrey Morse of Taneytown and Jennifer Seidel of Mount Airy. Barry Potts of Manchester had been selected in the primary this past spring to be part of the field, but he has withdrawn from the race, and his name will not be on the ballot. The following are profiles of each candidate and complete a question-and-answer session conducted with The Eagle.
Jeff Morse, 54, is a native of New York who moved to Maryland after attending Cornell University.
He was an agricultural teacher at Hereford High School before running and managing a series of agricultural feed businesses, owning and merging with other businesses over seven years. He returned to teaching in 1986 in Littlestown, Pa., and now lives on a farm in Taneytown with his wife Ellen, and two children — a 10th-grader at Winters Mill and an eighth-grader at East Middle.
Morse was appointed to the Board of Education to fill a vacancy on the board in May 2007.
He resigned in March 2008 after he admittedly used a racial slur to describe a black rock while touring the site of the Manchester Valley High School with county school staff. Virginia Harrison was appointed to finish his term. Still, Morse had finished third in the primary election, and decided to renew his campaign to regain his seat.
In August, he said voters, “should elect me because during the 10 months I served on the board, I worked hard and I looked in detail into the issues. ... I think I did a very good job as a board member.”
He said that since the Manchester incident, a “huge number” of people urged him to stay on the board.
“After a huge amount of thought and consideration I decided to leave my name on the ballot and run for a seat on the board,” he said.
“It was a very difficult decision because the events that occurred in March were not only very hard on me, but very very hard on my family,” he added. “But after an awful lot of family discussion, decided it was the right thing to do.”
Morse believes the state of financing is the key issue facing the Carroll County school system, but says the board member’s most important relationship, outside of with his/her fellow board members, is to develop a good working relati onship with the county commissioners in regards to funding.
In his 10 months on the board, Morse believes he developed an “excellent working relationship with (the commissioners).”
He says the school system needs to modernize and update facilities, but adds, “I don’t think the age of the facility should be the measuring stick we should use, but what goes on inside.”
Morse said he does not believe the county should “forward fund” high schools — i.e. pay for school construction projects instead of waiting for the state to fund them.
“I think for high schools, getting state funding is important. I do not favor building high schools where we don’t get state funding,” he said.
That goes for the $80 million Manchester Valley High School, which the county funded although the projected need did not meet state guidelines. But in that case, Morse said, “this project was already under way.”
But Morse said his personal highest priority is to reduce class size.
“(We) must get our class sizes in order,” he said. “Then and only then can we measure the things that we are doing.”
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
What would be your top priority as a Board of Education member?
Maintaining the budget. It is so obvious that we are in extremely difficult financial times and the budget is going to drive the school system. Over the last seven years, Carroll County Public Schools have added nearly 500 positions other than classroom teachers. It does not count new positions that were required due to the opening of a school. We have a very large administrative bureaucray and that is where the cuts have to come from. I also think, coupling with that, the most important relationship that a board member has other than with fellow board member is to develop a good working relationship with the county commissioners. The county commissioners determine the level of financing a school system will have. In my 10 months on the board, I developed an excellent relationship with our county commissioners; only candidate completely endorsed by one of the commissioners and the support of others. And that working relationship will be crucial to keep our school systems funded and running.
How important is it to have all schools on the same technological and structural level, and how can the school system achieve this?
We do have a formula in Carroll County schools for computer allocation in buildings based on enrollment. We do have a standard formula for technology allocation based on enrollment that is standard throughout the county so that I think you will find the technology in our schools is more uniform in schools than people tend to believe. I don't think the age of the facility is the measuring stick we should be using but what goes on inside. Are all of our buildings the same? No, and I would finish that with thank goodness. They are community schools and should be treasured as such.
We need to modernize and update our facilities. One of the tragedies in this economy is the board of education invested fully; we built built built like crazy and we now have no money. Tragedy because our renovations projects are now on hold.
What’s the biggest challenge facing Carroll County Public Schools regarding standardized testing?
We do an excellent job of the minimal tests. All of our schools make adequate yearly progress so that the testing for No Child Left Behind is what we are doing an excellent job with.
The biggest challenge we face, is our SAT scores. Carroll County scores are above average. ... Our population in Carroll County is 92 percent white Causaision. If you compare that, which is a very large subgroup, with those of other counties, we are significantly below average ... we are scoring 80 points below average. We have put a huge number of resources to get the lowest achieving kids to clear the minimal bar by No Child Left Behind and that has often been at the expense of the kids in the middle and upper end. We need programs where all children can reach their potential. We cannot afford to continue to target so much to such a small group.
Are you in favor of the county paying for school construction to address overcrowding even before it meets state criteria?
At the elementary level, I don't believe we built any schools for a long time that did not receive state funding. At the middle school level, the state uses a different model for determining capacity than we use. The state uses junior high school. We run middle schools. Our functional capacity of a building and the state’s capacity of a functional building are very different. Our buildings grossly exceed functional capacity while the state says they are not at capacity. For middle schools we will never get state funding for middle schools and honestly, I don’t think they are getting state funding in hardly any counties in the state. A good example of that would be Mt. Airy Middle School. Mt. Airy Middle School currently has eight portable classrooms, two quad units. If we use the state formula, all those units should be gone as they all fit in the building.
For high schools, yes I think getting state funding is important. When I came on the Board of Education the decision to build Manchester Valley had already been made. I questioned the administration hard as to why we chose to build that building (Manchester Valley). Nobody was ever able to answer why we built it for 1,200 students No, I do not favor building high schools where we cannot get state funding. However, this project was already under way, when I came on the board.
Do you agree with the recent changes in the school system’s policy regarding constructive possession — dealing with student behavior outside of the school setting?
I do not support the constructive possession concept. I do not feel that students should be deemed to feel guilty. The student didn’t necessarily partake in illegal acitivinty, (but was) merely present. A limit to the umbrella of the school system. There is a place for parents and a place for the schools and I think the schools had overstepped its bounds with constructive possession.
I also think it caused a nightmare as the only students enforced upon was if a student freely admitted to being there. If a student denied being there, there was absolutely nothing that could be done. When the board then acted on that policy, they went much farther than that. In fact they changed the length of the suspensions and some of the suspensions for when students in fact engaged in some of those illegal behaviors, not just constructive possession. The board made a serious mistake, not in changing the policy but not allowing the community enough time for input. They caught an awful lot of people by surprise. It was also during the summer, when nobody pays attention to the school board.
I think they made a big mistake not putting it to public input.
Do you think there are too many pressures on students today, and if so what can the Board of Education do to help?
There are a lot of pressures on students today. If most adults look back and remember their high school years, an awful lot of what they remember of high school is not in the curriculum. It is what is taking place in the cafeterias and halls. What we can do is to keep that part of the day as positive as possible and that will do a lot to relieve the pressure on students. Kids are actively engaged during hall changes and cafeteria time, what we need to do iskeep that part as positve as possible.
What’s the highest priority to help teachers cope with the demands of the classroom?
The highest priority for me is reducing class sizes. In the budget process last year, there were several different initiatives being put forward, and I felt strongly what we needed to do was prioritize. We needed to pull our resources and address one problem at a time. In fact we were able ... to add one new teacher in every high school ... to help reduce class size. We must get our class sizes in order. Then and only then can reevaluate the other programs we are doing and find they are no longer necessary. What we need to do is start shifting many of these mid-level managers we hired back into the classroom.
Do you support slot machines as a mechanism for education funding?
Personally, I will not vote for slots. I have a problem with increasing gambling. I think there needs to be a better way to fund education. We desperately need a revenue source but I have a very difficult time promoting gambling under the jurisdiction that it is OK if it goes to education. There is absolutely nothing that says that money will be spent on education. That money will go into the general fund. We do not earmark money from a source like that for education. That one is earmarked to go into the general fund. It is not guaranteed to go to education.
How can the Board of Education provide for changing demographics of Carroll County Public Schools?
When we go to other areas of this county, you’re hard pressed to find somebody who has lived in that town for five years much less 10 years. Particularly, Mount Airy, you are very hard pressed unless down at Historical Society, you’re hard pressed to find people who have lived there 10 years much less second or third generations to go to Mount Airy schools. Consequently, they don't have those wonderful warm fond feelings and the connections to the old tired buildings.
I think the new people coming to Carroll County and into an old building, may not understand other people’s strong desire to keep the building as it is. They want to drive a bulldozer through it. That is an issue the school system has to constantly address. Another challenge for us is our ELS programs. The number of different native languages that our students have that we deal with in our school system on a daily balance .is a staggering number and trying to keep that program going so they can continue to get their education while they work to keep their English fluency up is a challenge.
The transits of our population. In our high schools a lot of these kids have moved numerous times and that is becoming a bigger and bigger challenge.. having a kid who walks into a school with no friends and getting them acclimated quickly and smoothly and seamlessly into a new school. Families are often moving now in the middle of the school year. Many, many more students coming in and leaving our schools every week and month of the year. It becomes a nightmare for guidance to schedule those students. Lots of issues with the transients of our society. Those are three of the biggest areas.
Let’s not pretend Manchester Valley or North Carroll will be full. I worked hard to promote the idea of Carroll Community College using that space. I was very glad to hear some of our special needs students now having to be bused far away are able to lease space and that will be great. Our county schools won’t be doing it but those programs will be offered here in the county.
What was your favorite school lunch?
My favorite school lunch is pizza. I eat school lunch every day. When I was a student, we didn't have pizza. I can't remember what my favorite main course was, but I was always excited when they had canned peaches.
user comments (0)
related articles
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement