By Ally Lanasa, Staff Writer

(Dec. 3, 2020) The Worcester County Board of Education announced at its meeting on Nov. 17 that Worcester County Public Schools Superintendent Lou Taylor is seeking a second term.

“In Maryland, when you’re in a contract year, you can begin expressing your intent, but everything becomes official by the board in February,” Taylor told Bayside Gazette.

Lou Taylor

He expressed his gratitude for the seven board of education members who unanimously offered him a second term.

“That doesn’t happen everywhere, and I was very humbled and flattered that the seven members of the board of education strongly very much agreed they wanted me back as superintendent,” Taylor said.

Taylor, 60, also thanked the county commissioners for their encouragement of his second term.

Over the next few months, Taylor and the board’s legal counsel will negotiate a new contract. The board of education will vote on his contract in February.

Taylor’s current salary is $186,023.

On Nov. 17, Vice President Sara Thompson said the board hopes to announce at the Feb. 16 meeting that a contract has been signed.

“We have a lot of work that we had in play before this pandemic that I’d like to see us complete, and I’d like to be a part of that,” Taylor said. “I want to continue the work that we set forth when I took over in 2016. I’m also seeking a second term because I work for the greatest community, I think, in the world.

“Worcester County is just a fantastic community from our board of education to our elected officials, our county commissioners, to most importantly, the greatest 6,800 students that I can be associated with and their families. I’m just honored to be able to carry the torch of our school system to educate our young people and to give them a chance to work toward becoming a successful and productive adult in our society.”

Taylor has been with the Worcester County school system for 37 years.

His career began at Berlin Middle School (now Berlin Intermediate School) as a physical education teacher. He then became assistant principal.

In 1991, Taylor became an assistant principal at Stephen Decatur High School. He went on to serve as the principal of the high school for 17 years.

In 1998, Taylor was named Maryland Principal of the Year.

Under his leadership, Stephen Decatur became the first Maryland Blue Ribbon School in the county.

Taylor also served as chief operating officer/assistant superintendent of operations for four years before becoming superintendent.

Taylor was named interim superintendent of the county school system in 2016, then officially began his first term as superintendent on July 1, 2017.

If his contract is approved for a second term, Taylor will continue to address achievement.

“We’ve done a tremendous job with being one of the top-performing school systems for several years now, and I’ve been able to maintain that level and increase in some of the areas,” he said. “There’s still some work to do with our achievement gaps that all of us need to focus on. We were making great strides when this pandemic hit.”

Another goal Taylor has is to increase the mental health services provided to students and teachers.

“That will be paramount once we come out of this pandemic, readjusting to life as it should be and that we as a community expect,” he added. “I have a feeling that there is going to be some work that will need to be done in that area.”

In addition, Taylor says he will evaluate revamping the strategic plan, “Forward View 2022,” as well as ensuring students are receiving the highest quality of instruction in relation to social and emotional needs.

“You can have all the goals you want, but if you cannot communicate and you cannot build relationships, you can’t move forward,” Taylor said. “One of the main goals personally that I had was that my communication with all stakeholders would be a priority. Then, it becomes building relationships with all those folks.”

He added that he is comfortable with the relationships he has established during his first term — the Worcester County Board of Education, Worcester County Commissioners, Worcester County Teacher Association and Worcester County Education Support Personnel Association.

“It has to be a mutual trust as well,” Taylor said. “You get those working together, then we go out as a team and we build that same sort of trust with our kids, with our employees and with our community business partners and families to make this whole model work.”

Over the next four years, Taylor presumes his greatest challenge amid the novel coronavirus pandemic is bringing students back into the classroom as quickly and as safely as possible.

“Every time I have to make a decision, it is very challenging to me as superintendent,” he said. “I hear from all sides. I try to look into the science of this, I try to look into the realization of this, I try to determine first and foremost what’s best for our kids.”

Although internet and computer technology has been a great asset with the spread of covid-19, Taylor acknowledges that distance learning is not comparable to face-to-face instruction.

After bringing students back to in-person learning, Taylor said Worcester County Public Schools will address the individual needs of students, educationally, socially and emotionally.

“We try to look at every individual as a special person that comes to our school,” Taylor said. “We have a responsibility to educate the whole child.”