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JULY 18, 2014
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
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OCEAN RIP CURRENTS Australian expert, “Dr. Rip,” visits with Ocean City Beach Patrol and beachgoers – Page 49
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City settles MGH deal; additional issues in limbo Key questions unanswered regarding tourism numbers, competitive bidding process
By Zack Hoopes Staff Writer (July 18, 2014) Despite reaching the forgone conclusion this week of renewing its contract with MGH Advertising for another three years, City Council likely stirred up more political dirt than it settled in bringing the issue to a close. The lengthy debate centered around two questions, the first being where tourism in Ocean City is headed–and how much control MGH has over that–and the second being if the city should put the contract back out for competitive bid, regardless of whether or not MGH has been a success. Neither of these were fully answered, but are probably best summed up in the closing exchange between Mayor Rick Meehan and Councilman Brent Ashley. “I think you can make the numbers look any way you want them to look,” Meehan said after going several rounds with his colleagues over the city’s tourism statistics. “I think MGH is doing the right thing for Ocean City.” “Then they shouldn’t be afraid to show it,” Ashley replied. Council ultimately voted five-totwo, with Ashley and Councilwoman Margaret Pillas in opposition, to extend MGH’s contract as the city’s marketing agent for another three years, at the current rate of $22,598 per month, for a total commitment of $826,488. Thus, by 2017, MGH will have gone nine years without raising its prices – but the city will also have gone seven years without a competitive review of its marketing, and 14 years under the same agency. “If I didn’t think we were getting a good deal with that price six years ago, See EVEN Page 8
JOSH DAVIS/OCEAN CITY TODAY
SHE SAID ‘YES’ Indiana firefighter, Lance Overholser proposes to his girlfriend, Melinda Brown in the Ocean Gallery, on the Boardwalk at Second Street, Wednesday. See story on Page 5.
County, state MSA scores drop By Clara Vaughn Staff Writer (July 18, 2014) Students’ scores fell across the board in the final administration of the Maryland School Assessment (MSA), the test that has measured student achievement in this state for a decade. Educators across the county and the state anticipated the drop, however, as curricula shifted to reflect Maryland’s full-fledged adoption of the Common Core State Standards last year. “We knew going into this assessment period that the standards and the curricula being taught were not completely aligned,” State Superintendent of Schools Lillian Lowery said in a release. “Teachers were transitioning to the new Maryland College and Career Ready Standards within new countydeveloped curricula while administer-
ing a state accountability assessment, the MSA, based on the old standards,” Worcester’s Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jerry Wilson said. On the 2014 MSA, which tests students in grades 3-8, 92 percent of Worcester students scored proficient or advanced in reading — down slightly from 95 percent in 2013. In math, the scores fell further from 94 percent in 2013 to 89 percent this year, reflecting bigger changes in the curricula, Wilson said. Worcester County continued its trend of faring better than the state overall. Across Maryland, elementary school students’ reading scores dropped two percent since 2013 with 84 percent scoring proficient in the area. In math, those numbers fell by 8 percent since 2013 with 76 percent of students scoring proficient. In Maryland’s middle schools, read-
ing scores dropped from 84 to 80 percent proficient and math scores fell from 72 to 63 percent proficient over the same time. While education officials agree the results should still be used to judge each of Maryland’s 24 county school systems and their individual schools, classrooms and student groups against each other, Worcester’s Chief Academic Officer Dr. John Quinn called comparisons between this year’s MSA scores and last year’s “challenging to make.” “In addition to the misalignment between what is being taught and what is being tested, full implementation of the new standards has taken place at different rates,” Quinn said. “Although we welcome accountability, we caution that this year is not a good year to look for ‘apple to apple’ comparisons.” See MSA Page 7