Monday, July 10, 2017

MCPS COO Zuckerman Surprises Parents, Skips Promised Design Meeting

According to parents, the introduction of the Preliminary Plans for the modernization (insert new MCPS name for construction here - Rev/Ex) of Potomac Elementary School is being presented to the Board of Education (BOE) tomorrow without the promised community meeting to "review the conceptual design elements of this approach."  

MCPS Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Zuckerman, has apparently communicated to parents that there would be an additional meeting to review the plans.  

The last design meeting was held January 24, 2017.  At that point, parents report that no modifications had been made to the plans presented at the December 19, 2016, meeting nor the January 18, 2017, meeting.  At these previous meetings, parents made multiple suggestions as to how each of the proposed designs could be improved.  

There was apparently no final presentation to the Potomac Elementary School PTA and community so that everyone would know what would be put before the BOE for approval. 

Tomorrow's presentation could well be a surprise for parents and neighbors. 

This is not the first time we have seen MCPS COO Andrew Zuckerman throw parents under the bus.  Remember when he ditched the entire Child Abuse and Neglect Work Group to write his own "report" with another administrator on MCPS' handling of the sexual abuse of students by staff?  

Why do MCPS administrators front that they are working with parents, then stop communicating with them, and then write their own reports, thus leaving out actual parent and community input?

The bigger question is, why do our elected Board of Education members fall for this over and over again?  


11 comments:

  1. Attending parent meetings would be considered work and that is something Dr. Zuckerman just doesn't do. He is a complete failure. He can't answer a single question at the board table w/o texting for help. Maybe MCPS could talk Larry Bower's mustache out of retirement. It alone could out work Zuckerman and I bet it would have been smart enough to keep the budget. If you didn't know, Dr. Zuckerman doesn't have a hand in the operating budget. That was taken out from under him by the CFO. The real question is what exactly does he do?

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  2. Did the COO go cuckoo?

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  3. It's not the elected BOE members. They are not 'falling' for anything. It's the voters who re-elect them. Over and over. Did you vote for these people? This is what you want.

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    1. They want vague, ambiguous and dubious.

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  4. The BOE has one employee... the superintendent of schools (yes there are staff that work for the BOE in the office). All other school system employees work for the superintendent. Jack Smith would have to have to fire Dr. Cuckerman.
    http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/departments/orchart-2016.pdf

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    1. While that is right, as you say, Smith works for the elected Board of Ed. They can easily direct him to remove Cuckerman. The Board of Ed is supposed to work for the residents of this county. Maybe term limits for board members?

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    2. Smith works for the Board of Education. They just gave him an unasked-for $15,000 raise. When was your last raise? They refuse to assert their authority on behalf of the residents of this county. They prefer to go to parties with other politicians and people in the bubble, and charge dinner to the taxpayers with their AmEx cards.

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  5. @6:37 AM 5/8/2018 anonymous comment. Thank you for sharing your link with us. We are not posting the link in order to protect your child, but we do have some comments about what you posted.

    -You do not mention if you have filed a report with Child Protective Services. If not, we encourage you to do so immediately. CPS would be the appropriate agency to review the child abuse, mental abuse, and emotional abuse issue. You mention your child being locked in a room? That brings up the use of restraint and seculsion by MCPS. https://www2.ed.gov/policy/seclusion/restraints-and-seclusion-resources.pdf

    http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/HHS-Program/Program.aspx?id=CYF/CYFChildAbuseNeglectHotline-p359.html

    -You also mention the use of the School Resource Officer. We were not aware that SRO's would be used in this situation.

    -We would also note your concerns about FERPA https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/audience/parents-and-students and HIPPA https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/index.html?language=es

    -If your child has an IEP or a 504 special education plan we would suggest that you make all of the documents that are relevant to your concerns a part of that file. Those education plans allow for parent responses and you can include the documents relevant to your concerns along with your parent response letter. Thus, your concerns will be permanently documented in your child's educational record.

    -You mention MCPS administrator Robin Confino. We thought she had retired. In what capacity is she involved with your local school?

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    1. It does sound like my daughter's horrific experience in grade school.
      They ran the cafeteria like an institution for delinquents with iron discipline.
      Once, as she was eating her peach, the 'warden' turn Off the lights and yelled
      "Lunch time is over. Put your food away!" By the time my startled daughter reacted, the 'warden's' iron grip ripped the peach from my daughter's hand and threw it in the trash.

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    2. Which school? Which principal? People need to be accountable and we can't have that unless people are willing to speak up and call these people out.

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  6. Need is need, and to be is to be, and never the twain shall meet. BTW no longer at that school.

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