Students, teachers and parents have panned Harford’s high school reform plan.

But school administrators, stressing a few positives, plan to move forward with the reform.

A report released last week showed parents, students, teachers and school staff had serious doubts about the Comprehensive Secondary School Reform Plan.

But among school leaders, initial talk of a failure of leadership and a need for re-examination had disappeared, said Cindy Mumby, a parent, PTA member and critic of the plan.

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“The about-face was stunning,” she said.

After being called to a meeting with Superintendent Jacqueline Haas the day after the report’s release, principals from almost all county high schools expressed support for the plan.

School board members pointed to positives in the report, by Columbia-based Leadership Capacity Inc., such as improved student achievement and support for the controversial four-period block schedule.

But County Councilman Richard Slutzky, a former teacher, criticized what he called school officials’ turnabout.

“It suggested a ‘circle-the-wagons’ mentality, a reversal of the previous acceptance that there were problems,” he said. “Now it’s more that those problems were minor, and that they’re going to keep forging ahead with the hope that it will all work out in the end.”

Bel Air High School Principal Joseph Voskuhl said the reform plan allowed schools to expand offerings and helped raise test scores and reduce disciplinary measures.

But Leadership Capacity’s study said the reform plan appeared to have no effect on student performance or discipline.

Board President Tom Fidler said board members were discussing how to talk directly to teachers rather than going through the superintendent, possibly holding PTA-style meetings to gauge their concerns, he said.

The “Living in a Contemporary World” class for ninth-graders got panned by every group surveyed for the report, and the class likely will be eliminated within two months, Fidler said.

The board also will re-examine a required fourth math credit and may discuss switching back to an eight-period schedule, he said.

“We don’t want to just stay the course; we want to stay the course and continue to see how we can improve,” Fidler said.

“Will this board go backward and delete the entire program? Absolutely not. But we’ve got a baseline. Let’s build upon it.”

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com