Colt Black
Running for school board in Frederick County
How old will you be on Election Day (Nov. 5)?
36
Are you currently employed? If so, where, and what is your job title?
Owner and supervising mortician, Black's Funeral Home & Acacia Society; co-owner- BlueStar EMS Corp.
What is the highest level of education that you completed, and where did you get that degree?
Associate's degree, American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service.
Why are you running for the school board?
I am running to restore balance and sanity back to the school board of Frederick County. We are currently facing a major budget crunch. Without proper funding, schools can't operate. Tough decisions must be made to stabilize our financial standing and move forward. Our learning environment for students and work environment for staff must be welcome to all but without infringing on the rights of others to do so. In general, our current board members have enacted policies which create hostile learning and work environments to numerous individuals’ rights of free thought and expression. We must end the madness.
What makes you a good candidate for the board?
I am a father of three Frederick County Public Schools students, a lifelong Frederick County resident and business owner. In my line of work both as a funeral director and as an emergency medical technician, I manage crises every day, which is exactly the situation facing our schools. I am adept at giving accurate information even when it's bad and finding unconventional solutions to problems that arise. As a father, I talk to my kids, their friends and their friends' parents, among others. I have my finger on the pulse of the community and its expectations for the school system.
What is the most important issue facing your school board and what would you do about it if elected?
One of the most important issues facing the school board is the lack of transparency of the school system to parents. From day one I will work to eliminate policies that place barriers between parents, educators, administration and students within the school system while enacting policies to enhance communication between all stakeholders. There is no room for deception, withholding or lying to our students, parents or the community at large. Under my leadership, I promise to be the most transparent member of the Board of Education.
Please name a public leader you admire and explain why.
Thomas Jefferson would be a public leader I admire. Thomas Jefferson was a visionary who believed in the cause of liberty and freedom guaranteed by our Constitution. He was a studied scholar who understood the importance of education.
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.
I firmly believe the Blueprint for Maryland's Future is an overzealous plan to artificially create winners and losers. While working to resolve inequity in education, it will in turn create weakened schools that were not weak prior to the implementation of the Blueprint. It will cost the taxpayer dearly without making a difference in the outcomes. Throwing money at our education issues is not the cure. And the metrics being used to determine college/career readiness (i.e. standardized test) prove nothing. Until teachers stop the cycle of "teaching to the test," our students will continue to falter.
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?
As a parent I send my kids to school with their phone to contact myself or my wife, a trusted friend or authorities in case of emergency. While I understand the implications educationally and mentally, I would never be in favor of disallowing cellphones in school altogether. My policy would allow students to retain their phones at school. I would require a modified do not disturb setting be enabled to prevent neverending notifications or other distractions from going off. During testing, the phones could be placed into some sort of storage bin in each classroom.
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?
If elected, I will work to have a systemwide security and safety audit conducted. I would insist that all changes be based upon the framework. I strongly support armed school security for every school campus in Frederick County.
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?
I am a First Amendment absolutist, so in short, I don't support book bans. However it is reasonable to not use tax dollars to purchase books for school libraries which hold no academic, historical or social value. And age-appropriateness is a factor, as well. Once someone is no longer in school, it's up to parents to police what their children are consuming, but overall school systems should work to ensure materials are age-appropriate, and what may be all right for a high school-age student would not be all right for a middle or elementary school student. Books which contain extreme violence or are sexually explicit, which glorify these things with no academic value, should be removed. All books, both instructional and library resources, should be reviewed by a committee and public comment accepted before allowing them or disallowing them in the educational setting.
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?
These policies are an absolute breach of parental and public confidence in the schools. When children are struggling, be it with physical, mental or learning issues in school, it is the absolute responsibility of the school to inform the parents so the student can receive help. Gender issues are no different. How can a parent get a student help if they don't know something is amiss? Any policy that keeps parents from their children is the wrong policy and must be eliminated.
