Howard County Public Schools
| Howard County Public School System | |
|---|---|
|
Columbia, Maryland United States |
|
| District information | |
| Type | Public |
| Grades | PreK−12 |
| Superintendent | Renee Foose (2012–Present) |
| Asst. Superintendent(s) | Linda Wise |
| Schools | 76 |
| Budget | $725,280,030 (FY 2014) |
| District ID | 2400420 |
| Students and staff | |
| Students | 52,700 |
| Teachers | 4670 |
| Staff | 3259 |
| Student-teacher ratio | 14.3 |
| Other information | |
| Website | www.hcpss.org |
The Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) is the school district that manages the public schools of Howard County, Maryland, USA. It is headquartered in the Columbia, Maryland census-designated place; the facility has an Ellicott City mailing address. It operates under the supervision of an elected, eight-member Board of Education. Renee A. Foose is the current Superintendent.
The district operates 76 Schools: 41 elementary schools, 20 middle schools, 12 high schools, and 3 special schools/education centers. As of February 2013, a total of 52,000 students were enrolled.
Howard County consistently earns high marks in school performance metrics such as test scores and graduation rates. It gets high percentages at all levels of the Maryland School Assessments. In 2007 Forbes magazine rated Howard County as one of the ten most cost-efficient school systems in the United States.
*As of February 2014. Official count does not include PreK.
*For class of 2013. 4-year adjusted cohort
In 1723, Maryland enacted a bill requiring a school in each county. Rev Joeseph Colebatch, Col Samuel Young, William Locke, Charles Hammond, Capt Daniel Maraitiee, Richard Warfield, and John Beale were commissioned to buy land and build schools in what was then Anne Arundel County. Ellicott city opened its first boys' school in the Weir building in 1820. In 1835, the state declared Ellicott's Mills a primary school district. In 1839, the Howard District of Anne Arundel County was formed. Early schools were funded and managed independently through towns, investors, the state and churches. Some early examples are St. Charles College, incorporated in 1830 near Doughoregan Manor, Patapsco Female Institute (1833) in Ellicott City, and Mount St. Clement (1867) at Illchester. By 1847, the Howard district operated 20 single-room school houses. By 1853, the law required each school to have three trustees and one clerk appointed in one year terms by vote. In 1864, Maryland created the state board of education for public education, leaving counties to control their own school boards. Teachers pay was increased to $100 per quarter. The Patapsco Female Institute was the first women's school to receive state funding. After the civil war, single-room schoolhouses within walking distance of communities were built throughout the county. In 1885, former Maryland Governor John Lee Carroll joined the school board along with J. T. Williams and John W. Dorsey. In 1894, Chairman Robert A. Dobbin and the remainder of the county school board were indicted for receiving money in excess of per diem. In 1905, corporal punishment was tested in the courts after Highland School teacher Cora Burgess was fined for whipping a student, an act that would be banned by the state 88 years later.
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