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Saturday, June 18, 2011

A Tribute To Robin H. Holloway


WHEREAS, Robin H. Holloway has served Wicomico County Public Schools faithfully and loyally as a member of the Board of Education for ten years from 2001 to 2011, serving as its president from 2006 to 2009; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Holloway has consistently supported the mission of the school system "to provide all students an educational foundation and a set of skills which will enable them to become responsible and productive citizens in our society;”and

WHEREAS, during the 2007-08 School Year, President Holloway gave unselfishly of her personal time and talents to engage the Board and the community in an aggressive superintendent of schools’ selection process utilizing a national search firm to ensure that the best possible candidate would be selected to the position of superintendent and chief executive officer of the Wicomico County Public Schools; and

WHEREAS, during her tenure year on the Board, Mrs. Holloway has served as a member of the School Building Commission, the Board’s Audit and Budget Committee, the CTE Advisory Committee, the School Health Council, and the Superintendent’s Facilities Task Force; and

WHEREAS, during her tenure on the Board, Mrs. Holloway also served on the Board of Directors of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, serving as a member of its Legislative Committee as well as the Federal Relations Network Committee, the Charles W. Willis Memorial Award Committee, the Budget and Audit Committee, the Conference Planning Committee, and a participant and graduate of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education’s Leadership 1 and 2 Programs; and

WHEREAS, her professional expertise has helped to guide the Board's decision-making and policy-setting processes and has helped to establish programs for other school systems to emulate; and she has consistently supported the commitment of the school system to help ensure a safe and productive school environment for all students and staff by advocating for all safe school initiatives; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Holloway has strongly advocated support for adequate funding of public education locally and throughout the state of Maryland, and with her expertise in business and finance, she has consistently advocated that the Board and the school system must be vigilant in the use of public funds; and

WHEREAS, she has been enthusiastically involved in the long-range plans of renovating and building new school facilities to improve the quality of education for all Wicomico County students; such as Salisbury Middle School, Willards Elementary School, North Salisbury Elementary School, Prince Street School, and the James M. Bennett High School; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Holloway supported the establishment of the School Construction Savings Plan which will provide future funding for capital construction projects of Wicomico County Board of Education’s Capital Improvement Program as needed; and

WHEREAS, she has encouraged parental and community involvement in public education as evidenced by her commitment during her children’s public education experiences, her support of and participation in activities of the school system, and while serving as a mentor at Prince Street Elementary School; now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education of Wicomico County expresses its gratitude to Robin H. Holloway for her ten years of dedicated service; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education of Wicomico County publicly recognizes Mrs. Holloway’s contributions to local education and to the Maryland Association of Boards of Education; and be it further

RESOLVED, that a copy of this tribute be presented to Robin H. Holloway and a copy be spread upon the minutes of the Board of Education of Wicomico County this 14th day of June 2011.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Heard she is a very good person....true child advocate!

So... can Mrs. Holloway help the BOE rid themselves of people who are not dedicated to children or their education?

Anonymous said...

Did Mrs. Holloway pass-a-way?

It sounds as though we are reading her obituary. Maybe I'm missing something here.

Anonymous said...

She will be missed greatly. She was the best board president the BOE has ever had.

Who will be appointed to take her place? Any names?

Anonymous said...

She is the only Board member willing to ask Dr. Fredericksen tough questions and hold his feet to the fire. The others act like they're his employees instead of the other way around. They smile, nod and vote however he wants them to. He's convinced them that anyone who asks a question is out to destroy the harmony of the Board. There's harmony, OK. The six who refuse to think are very together with the Supt. who tells them what to do. How Mrs. Holloway stood all of them is the biggest question. Maybe someone should look into all the social contacts Dr. F. maintains with each of the Board members. With the smart one gone, look for Dr. F. to become even more convinced he was crowned, not appointed.

Anonymous said...

1:30

I totally agree! If BOE wants harmony, they should address real issues presented and find solutions. When the board members or employees of the BOE just "turn their head" to keep harmony instead of standing up and addressing issues brought to their attention, it makes for a very weak system to entrust with our children's education.

I saw on a previous blog a link to a petition on www.change.org targeted to the Wicomico Board of Education. It is disheartening that any of the taxpayers should feel that their voices or concerns about education are not being heard. As the leaders such as Holloway leave the system, one hopes that our local educational system does not decline.

Anonymous said...

She is incredibly sharp, and she does her homework. I wonder why she bothered. One in seven coming prepared to question and think was never enough. Mrs. Holloway was an independent Board of Educ. president. Wish the others could find some guts.

Anonymous said...

I'm quite certain that the real reason there are a high number of of Maryland teachers deciding to retire - is because of the retirement packages that the MTA negotiated when Thornton was implemented. It was a time when State and Local coffers were stuffed with plenty of money.

The most meaningful difference is over the tricky area of average final compensation -- the figure used to determine the size of their pension check: Teachers want it to be calculated as the average pay over their last three years - and receiving bonus as a result of announcing retirement.

My opinion - the taxpayers are getting the shaft again. It is a Ponzi scheme to the detriment of Maryland taxpayers. By announcing their retirement - then - the teachers retirement pensions will be increased substantially as it is based on the their last three years income.

MTA - YOU HAVE BEEN MADE OUT!

Anonymous said...

To 11:06

I remember it - (plan)- vividly.
It was referred to as the 10 - 10 -10 plan.

By announcing a teachers retirement - the teacher will receive an automatic 10% yearly increase in income. Then - their retirement pension will also be increased in a requisite amount.

The Daily Times failed to post the full story again in today's Sunday's edition. Shame on you DT!