Maryland governor makes appointments to new board on school safety

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has appointed four people to the newly created Maryland Center for School Safety Governing Board. The Maryland Center for School Safety was created earlier this year to work with all public school and law enforcement stakeholders to ensure a comprehensive approach to school safety. The appointments: Lorig Charkoudian, the parent of a public school student; Theresa E. Detorie, a representative of a nonpublic school; Valerie S. Carr, a school bus driver; and Elizabeth Watson Ray, an undesignated public member (she is a special-education teacher). State Schools Superintendent Lillian Lowery will chair the governing board. The board will have seven other members from the following Maryland agencies and organizations: the offices of the State Superintendent of Schools, the Secretary of State Police, the Attorney General, the Department of Disabilities, the Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland and a representative of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education. The State Superintendent of Schools will appoint a school psychologist or sociologist.