Commentary

Coming out of the pandemic, students will have spent substantially more time on screens than usual — a predictor of poorer mental health and increased stress, making their teacher-student relationships more challenging. Meanwhile, teachers who are coming off of historically stressful school years will now face heightened expectations for student achievement, while still managing their own pandemic stressors. That means children will need more relational support from their teachers, who may have less energy to provide such support. Fortunately, new understandings about a fundamental building block of relationships have emerged.

It is very concerning the direction that the Carroll County Board of Education is taking. First, it decided to adjust the manner in which we the public is allowed to comment in meetings. The Board of Education believes it should be allowed to limit the number of people who may participate in public comment. The board also wants to limit public comments to only those that relate to agenda items for that meeting. Has our Board of Education forgotten it is the public that funds them with our tax dollars? This is censorship plain and simple. Then our Board of Education decided to look at redistricting, but only for the southern part of the county.

The state of Maryland recently closed out the fiscal year with a $2 billion surplus. This produced all kinds of bipartisan self-congratulatory talk about fiscal discipline and good budgetary stewardship at the Sept. 14 Board of Public Works meeting with Republican Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford and Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat, taking bows. Much of that money is already slated to go to what is known as the “Rainy Day Fund,” which is essentially a savings account for when state government faces unexpected expenses such as a natural disaster, an abrupt economic downtown or a serious drop in tax revenue.

My neighbor Bernie has been leaving books on my stoop for at least 20 years. To say he’s thoughtful is to say that Lamar Jackson is athletic. Bernie hears a rumor about neighbors — that their kids play ice hockey, for instance — and, forget about it: You can expect old National Hockey League yearbooks and biographies of NHL stars on the stoop every couple of months, usually with a sticky note attached and an amusing quip written with a felt-tip pen.

Recently my daughter, Lisa, called from Texas where she moved last year when she got married. She and her new husband are hoping to start a family when she finishes grad school. “Mom, I’m worried about what’s happening in Texas. What if something goes wrong when I’m pregnant?” Lisa said. “I won’t be able to get help.” “Just come back to Pennsylvania,” I said. When problems crop up, moms double down, right?

I grew up with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. I followed Ron and Hermione’s slow, but eventual, romantic relationship through the books. I pondered with Harry over which female classmate he would take to the dance, and I celebrated with him when he eventually found love with Ginny Weasley. Reading the Harry Potter novels and watching the movies, I shared in the characters’ experiences of growing up, yet I found my story diverging from theirs. I am gay, and they are not.