Name/District: Dr. Julie Hotopp

Campaign Address/Phone/Email

hotopp4boe.org / (410) 429-7196 / hotopp4boe@gmail.com‬‬‬‬

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Educational History

 

1997 B.S. Microbiology and Immunology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY

2002 Ph.D. Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

 

Languages Spoken/Other Skills/Relevant Experience

 

I live in Howard County and am a mother of two children – an 8th grader at Wilde Lake Middle School and a 1st grader at Bryant Woods Elementary School. I have taught students for over twenty years, going back to when I was a graduate student when I received formal didactic training, as well as mentored training, in teaching and education. I have been a professor for over ten years at a major Maryland medical school. 

 

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1. Why are you running for this office? Describe how your campaign is viable.

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I am running for Board of Education because of my passion for education, particularly science education. I am a scientist and professor – with a lifelong dedication to educating the next generation of science leaders and encouraging STEM experiences and careers. As a mother who is invested in public education, I want to ensure that Howard County maintains the highest quality education system.

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2. What qualifications do you uniquely bring to hold this office? What experience do you have with the Howard County Board of Education (committees/PTA,etc.)? Have you ever testified? What positions did you take?

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I am a scientist and professor. I am the mother of two HCPSS students. I have a long history of training HCPSS high school students and alumni in microbiology, genomics, and bioinformatics, bringing them in to be part of my research group. During the pandemic, I organized a Nobel Laureate to visit an HCPSS middle school in support of the 7th grade curriculum. I have been a room parent. I have been a member of our elementary school PTA and our middle school PTSA, currently serving as PTACHC representative for both. I have helped organize an elementary school science fair, advocated for a countywide middle school science fair, and been a judge for the national high school science fair. I regularly attend board of education meetings. I have testified numerous times in front of the board about the need for a middle school science fair, redistricting, the open meetings act, the budget, and special education. I regularly submit written correspondence to the board. I have called my state legislators’ offices, have spoken to state legislators’ staff, and have submitted written testimony to the Maryland General Assembly in support of shifting the burden of proof in due process claims. I am committed to excellence in Howard County education.

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3. Have you signed the No Dark Money, No Developer Money pledge? If NOT how do you eliminate the appearance of conflicts? 

 

Yes. I have taken the No Developer Donation Campaign Pledge. I reject developer donations and donations from people and entities affiliated with developers and related industries. As this is a non-partisan election, I also reject donations and the endorsement of political parties. I feel strongly that non-partisan elections should stay non-partisan. To that end, I am not affiliated with a party. I believe education is being used as a wedge issue to drive voters to the polls, which ultimately harms our education system, particularly our students and teachers.

 

4. What are your top priorities for 2022? Discuss at least three areas in need of change, under the purview of the Board of Education, and how you would address them.

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1. We need new schools so that every child has a seat in a brick-and-mortar classroom, instead of a portable. With the school system’s annual operating budget, the school board has the philosophy that you can’t be fully funded without asking to be fully funded. Yet with respect to the capital budget, they do not submit a budget asking for the minimum necessary capital improvements to ensure every child has a seat in a brick-and-mortar classroom and that our brick-and-mortar classrooms are properly maintained. You cannot get what you don’t ask for. Every year, the school system needs to request capital budget funds for deferred maintenance and for new school construction to ensure that every child has a seat in a brick-and-mortar classroom.

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2. We need to use recovery act money to reduce class sizes, so teachers can address the gaps left by the pandemic without increasing their burden. Current class sizes are too large to allow teachers to provide the individualized instruction needed to address the gaps left by the pandemic, gaps that are uneven in magnitude and effect because each student’s experience was different. This would also reduce the burden on teachers, who need to address their own pandemic-related suffering.

 

3. We need to improve special education and outcomes. We need to improve identification of students early who have learning disabilities, since early intervention is the best and least expensive intervention. I hope that the implementation of pre-school through Kirwan will ensure this happens better.  But even kids in the schools are being under identified. We need a program that appropriately identifies students, so interventions can be used to ensure they succeed.

 

4. We need appropriate school start times that align with our children's biological clocks. Our children do not learn best when they are asked to attend school during hours when their bodies are meant to be sleeping. We need to align the school clock with our children’s biological clocks.

 

5. By July, by law, we need to eliminate the use of seclusion in schools. We need to continue to implement programs to reduce the use of restraints, as currently we have the highest incident rate in Maryland. The introduction of Ukeru in our schools should be expanded, if the trial period is deemed successful. But we also need pro-active solutions to reduce the need to use Ukeru, which can only happen through proper training of staff.

 

5. What do you believe are the strengths and weaknesses of the current Board? How have you demonstrated your ability to work with people who have diverse opinions and party affiliations?

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Strengths of the current Board include board members that (a) testify on behalf of the board and school system in Annapolis, (b) work with the union to advocate in Annapolis, (c) advocate to the County Executive, and County Council members, and (d) pay attention to the financial details, pushing back on things like sole source contracts. Weaknesses of the current Board relate to communication and a lack of willingness to bridge the partisan divide. Current communication is a hodgepodge of different formats often under the initiative of board members, a document management system that is difficult for the average person to navigate, and few opportunities for constituents to engage face-to-face with board members.

I think, of all the candidates running, I am the most likely to work with people who have diverse opinions and party affiliations. I engage with diverse groups and listen to diverse voices while reflecting on and developing my thoughts on a topic. Science trains people to do that, since it is incredibly collaborative with individuals who must work together across the globe and with diverse ethnic, cultural, and political backgrounds. For science to move forward, we collectively work together and embrace our diversity. As a scientist and science educator, I train my trainees to do that. I will bring that to the board and the boardroom. Choosing to run without a party affiliation will enable me to do that.

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6. In the recent past, the County has funded far less than the requested HCPSS budget. How would you bridge the gap?

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We need smart policies that ensures that programs and actions are cost effective. For example, forcing students to fail before qualifying to get special education services is our current strategy to reduce costs in special education. But this strategy leads to expensive lawsuits and requires more expensive remedies such that it ultimately increases costs. Early intervention is the least expensive and best intervention; we need to focus on early identification and intervention.

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The case of bus drivers is another good example. During redistricting, we heard testimony about a school bus driver shortage, yet the board ignored those issues. The result is an even worse shortage now. At the time, I testified to the board about moves that would have resulted in the same socioeconomic distribution at three schools in downtown Columbia but would have resulted in 2-3 fewer bus routes. The last-minute rush in elementary school redistricting, where moves could not be thoroughly vetted, contributed to the current bus shortage. 

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Lastly, we need to identify where improvement in county services could reduce costs, like advocating for infrastructure to reduce the reliance on buses. In my own neighborhood, there are students within view of the elementary school with less than a half mile walk that are picked up by a bus because there isn’t a crosswalk. In other neighborhoods in the county, the lack of sidewalks precludes students from walking to school, which would be better for their health and the environment, as well as the budget. We need better integration of all county services to ensure that we use all resources at our disposal to reduce costs. 

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7. What HCPSS policies do you believe should be changed regarding protections of marginalized groups?

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Three areas that come to mind immediately with respect to marginalized groups are — (1) disproportionate discipline where black/brown students, special education students, and boys are more likely to be suspended; (2) restraint and seclusion, which is disproportionately used on special education students; and (3) bullying. In general, many policies should be amended to require better reporting. Often in the boardroom, we hear that we don’t have data that is needed to make informed decisions. For example, policy 9200 on student discipline needs to be amended to require reporting on informal removals, a practice that for all intents and purposes suspends special education students in a manner that doesn’t increase the number of reported school suspensions. Policy 9400 must be amended to be consistent with current Maryland law, which as of July 2022 prohibits the use of seclusion. While this question focuses on changes to HCPSS policy, often it isn’t the policy that needs to be changed. We need to focus on programs that reduce bullying, just like we need programs that address disproportionate discipline and that reduce the use of restraint and seclusion, as well as other program that increase protections for those from marginalized groups.

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8.  What criteria should be prioritized in redistricting?

 

Capacity is the main criteria that needs to be prioritized in redistricting. Until we reduce our capacity problems, redistricting will be frequent. Unfortunately, over the years, certain neighborhoods have disproportionately born the burden as they are bounced back and forth between overcrowded schools. In the future, when redistricting decisions are made, we must ensure that we do not concentrate poverty in schools and that we decrease costs.

 

9. What do you believe are the best ways to address overcrowding in schools? What steps would you take as a Board Member to address this concern?

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Every year the superintendent and school board ask for the operating budget we need. Every year, the superintendent and the school board need to ask for the capital budget we need as well. This should be a request for a seat for every child in a brick-and-mortar classroom, space for all activities including those resulting from pull outs and title 1 funding, and funding to address all deferred maintenance. We continue to hear with the operating budget that we can’t get what we don’t ask for. The same is true for the capital budget.  As development continues, as it has been, we need school building to keep pace. Over the past two decades it has not. We also need to add land to the land bank, particularly in underserved areas of the county, to ensure that when we build schools, we can do it in areas that need capacity the most, like putting a high school in Elkridge.

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10. What is your position on HCPSS continuing to provide virtual learning?

 

If the Digital Education Center (DEC) provides services at a lower cost, reduces capacity issues in the school, and is equivalent to what students receive in person, then we should continue to provide it at all grade levels for students who want to attend. This would also allow students who cannot attend their physical school for medical reasons to attend virtually (e.g., students with severe anxiety). However, it is important that we assess the outcomes of virtual learning in the DEC. Much of what we learn is school is not just facts or knowledge, but how to interact with others. The latter is crucial later in life, particularly in the workplace. I need more hard data about how that is happening in the DEC to make an informed decision about the DEC. 

 

11. How should security be handled in schools? What staffing and/or training changes do you believe should occur?

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I prefer SROs because they have a lot of training, and I do not think that the school system has the knowledge or ability to provide that training. The school system also has an overburdened Human Resources department that makes it difficult to recruit high-quality individuals. That said, the memorandum of understand for SROs should include additional training mandated by HCPSS, particularly as it relates to implicit bias, discipline disparities, and interacting with neurodiverse children. In addition, we need diverse SROs who match the diversity of kids in the schools. The larger problem, though, is that SROs are generally a reactive solution, acting after an event has occurred. We need to invest in proactive solutions that address the causes of violence in schools. 

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12. Special Education has not been funded to the level deemed necessary by the HCPSS to provide adequate services. What would you do to make necessary improvements to services with limited funding?

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We need to ensure that we fill the positions and openings we have. We need to ensure that our human resources office has the capabilities to recruit individuals before they are hired by other school systems. The school system is different from many businesses, where individuals frequently move from a job at one company to a job at another. Teachers tend to stay in the school system where they are, accumulating seniority. Therefore, it is crucial that we get out in front and snap up the best and the brightest as quickly as possible, filling the positions we have, and ensuring that no Special Education positions (or any other positions) remain vacant.

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13. What will you do to hold the HCPSS accountable for consistent, equitable student outcomes across the County?

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We need targeted interventions to address specific issues related to consistent, equitable student outcomes. We need to test those interventions in a small number of schools collecting appropriate data that allows us to appropriately measure student outcomes. Effective interventions need to be swiftly rolled out to the entire school system.