Paul Harrison
Running for school board in Calvert County District 2
How old will you be on Election Day (Nov. 5)?
57
Are you currently employed? If so, where, and what is your job title?
I am an accountant in D.C.
What is the highest level of education that you completed, and where did you get that degree?
Master’s of business administration, Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park.
Why are you running for the school board?
I am running to ensure a safer environment for my daughter and to straighten out a chaotic budget to ensure reliable and accurate funding for the 2,200 people that make their career in Calvert County Public Schools.
What makes you a good candidate for the board?
I am a father of three Calvert County Public Schools students and have been an accountant in higher education administration for 35 years.
What is the most important issue facing your school board and what would you do about it if elected?
Credibility. I would add a degree of credibility to the prepared and submitted budget.
Please name a public leader you admire and explain why.
I admire President Trump simply because he had nothing to gain by running for public office. His fortune shrank, his number of “friends” shrank, and his life has been threatened by assassination twice, and he perseveres. Agree with him or not, like his personality or not, the guy has resolve.
The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, passed by the General Assembly in 2021, is a 10-year plan that includes increased education funding to support early childhood education, increased teacher starting pay, college/career-readiness standards for high school graduates, and expanded services to multilingual and impoverished families, among other goals. Please tell us your views on the Blueprint and how it will affect your school district.
The devil is always in the details and the funding of the plan. It has put tremendous pressure on local governments, and while some of the ideals are admirable, it absolved Maryland jurisdictions from being innovative on their own in the quest to hire the best teachers and produce the smartest and most successful students.
Some school districts nationwide are placing new limits on the use of cellphones in middle and high schools. What do you think should be the policy on student use of cellphones in your district, and why do you support that policy?
Put it away. It is an unnecessary distraction to the learning environment.
Are you satisfied with your school district's efforts to ensure the safety of its students? What, if anything, should be done to improve school safety in your district?
We still have six schools without armed sheriffs. I will work to address that. I will also demand that the superintendent uniformly enforce policies designed to reduce disruptive and disrespectful behavior.
Do you think there are circumstances when books should be removed from school libraries? If so, what kind of books should be removed, and who should make those decisions?
Reading materials should be age appropriate. Mature subjects should be reserved for high school if at all.
Some school districts enact policies allowing transgender and gender nonconforming students to use their preferred pronouns while at the same time not informing those students' parents about that decision. What is your opinion of such policies?
Parents should always be informed and consulted about a student's behavior until the student reaches age 18. Students should be encouraged to discuss their feelings with parents.
