Wicomico County School News

Nominations Sought Now for Maryland Parent Involvement Matters Award (PIMA) Program
Do you know a parent who deserves statewide recognition for his or her work to improve public education? Nominate him or her today. The Maryland State Department of Education is currently accepting nominations for the Sixth Annual Maryland Parent Involvement Matters Award (PIMA) Program. The Maryland PIMA is an annual award for parents (and others with legal responsibility for a child) whose exemplary contributions to public education have led to improvements for Maryland’s public school children, teachers, schools, programs, and/or policies. Wicomico has had state finalists for the PIMA the past two years with education advocates Lauralyn Geiser and Ben Brumbley. 
The award was created by the Maryland State Department of Education to highlight the positive impact parents have on public schools and to encourage all parents to get involved in whatever way they can. An eligible nominee is a parent or person with legal responsibility for a child in a Maryland public school who has significantly impacted public education within the last 24 months with his or her involvement in the area(s) of communication; volunteering; learning; collaborating with community; or decision making. 
To learn more about the program and how previous winners were involved, and to download an application, go to www.MarylandPublicSchools.org/pima. Completed applications must be 
postmarked by Jan. 31.
Reminder for Homeowners in Maryland: Homestead Tax Credit Deadline Dec. 31
Any resident homeowner eligible for or receiving the Homestead Tax Credit must submit the one-time Homestead Application by December 31, 2012 to the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, according to an announcement by the Wicomico County Executive’s Office. To determine if you have already filed, go to the Department’s website, www.dat.state.md.us and click on the Real Property page for your specific property address. At the bottom of the page for your property, you will see the Homestead Application Status and the date an application was approved, if received. If an application is not submitted by December 31, 2012, then the Homestead Credit will be disallowed beginning with the July 1, 2013 tax year bill.
If you have not filed an application, you can call the Department’s Homestead Program at 410-767-2165 from the Baltimore/Metropolitan area or toll free at 866-650-8783, where a special application with an ‘Access Code’ will be mailed to you so that you can file the form electronically on the website. Filing electronically gets the form processed immediately and you will receive via email an electronic confirmation of the form’s receipt. Alternatively, you can go the Department’s website and click on the Homestead Application heading. There you can print a fillable application in PDF format that you will have to mail to the Department at the address show. You will NOT receive a written acknowledgment that the paper form was received.