Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Montgomery County Schools to phase out gymnastics programs; program head responds--"At the very best it's a bait and switch at the very worse its a bold face lie,"
...7News spoke with Paula Shaibani, a gymnastics instructor at Bethesda Chevy Chase High School and who oversees sport across the seven schools. She told 7News that not only was the district's claims of waning numbers incorrect, but that she and the other coaches had been caught off guard by the decision.
She said MCPS leadership informed them of a potential vote by athletics directors but would give them another notice prior to the vote. She said the gymnastics coaches were also promised the opportunity for public comment periods.
"At the very best it's a bait and switch at the very worse its a bold face lie," Shaibani told 7News during a phone call.
It wasn't until a coach at another school was told by an Athletics Director about the vote that Shaibani said she even knew of the decision.
She added that only two gymnastic coaches were told of the decision in a formal statement and said they were given very few opportunities to talk with MCPS athletic leaders on how to keep the program...
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
MACo Resists Unfunded One-Size-Fits-All School Infrastructure Mandate
Monday, March 2, 2026
“I think this is just a bunch of bull,” said board Vice President Brenda Wolff after presenting a resolution, which failed, that would have given the school until December to solve the issues.
...In a contentious Thursday evening decision, the Montgomery County school board voted to close the county’s only charter school, MECCA Business Learning Institute (MBLI), at the end of this academic year if it doesn’t resolve ongoing issues — a decision that comes just nearly seven months after the school opened.
“I think this is just a bunch of bull,” said board Vice President Brenda Wolff after presenting a resolution, which failed, that would have given the school until December to solve the issues. “I’m very disappointed in some of this discussion because we don’t have all of our schools that are successful in our own system, and we don’t give them three months to improve.”
The board voted 5-2 to approve a resolution based on Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Thomas Taylor’s December recommendation to begin formal proceedings for revoking MBLI’s charter. The recommendation to revoke the charter earned 5 votes from board members Rita Montoya, Laura Stewart, Julie Yang, Karla Silvestre and Student Member of the Boa/rd Anuva Maloo...
Montgomery County Public Schools uses AI-supported tool to improve safety [FYI: No Contract]
"This has not been discussed at the Board of Education. This has not had any procurement process so once again, we see MCPS making a deal with a company behind closed doors," said Janis Sartucci of the Parents'Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland.
The Coalition filed a Maryland Public Information Act request to secure a copy of the contract between VOLT AI and MCPS.
"There's an agreement with a company that's going to effectively be able to watch students in hallways, and there's no documentation that's been made public," Sartucci said.
Sartucci showed 7News a letter she received from MCPS saying, "There are no contracts, invoices, receipts, or purchase orders from VOLT AI. The 30-day pilot program is a no-cost agreement."
She also told us at a meeting earlier this month, MCPS Chief Safety Officer Marcus Jones assured the school community that lawyers from both sides had thoroughly vetted the agreement between the school system and VOLT AI...
Thursday, February 26, 2026
It's Girl Scout Cookie Season! Support the Girl Scouts
Once again, we're reprinting this article, which we first published on March 3, 2012. Because it's always time to celebrate Girl Scouts.
Girl Scout Cookies are now available, and the Girl Scouts have a nifty app to show us where to buy our cookies this year. To find your local girl scout cookies, go here.
And, in the interests of historical accuracy, we found this early recipe from the origins of the Girl Scout cookies, and yes, Virginia, I made them, and they are delicious! Lots and lots of butter and sugar and not much else, so if you don’t feel like buying the cookies, here is the original you can use as a substitute. Just remember instead to donate money to the Girl Scouts. For the history of Girl Scout cookies go here.
An Early Girl Scout Cookie® Recipe
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar plus additional amount for topping (optional)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
Cream butter and the cup of sugar; add well-beaten eggs, then milk, vanilla, flour, salt, and baking powder. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Roll dough, cut into trefoil shapes, and sprinkle sugar on top, if desired. Bake in a quick oven (375°) for approximately 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Makes six- to seven-dozen cookies.
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
MCPS Speech-Language Pathologist: "A student who can communicate, even without words, is a student who can learn, belong, and be safe."
Public Comment given by a MCPS Speech-Language Pathologist in response to Superintendent Thomas W. Taylor's surprise gutting of Special Education support personnel in December of 2025.
January 15, 2026:
Protecting Students’ Ability to Communicate
By
Maintaining a Stand-Alone Supervisor for MCPS Speech and Language Services Good evening,
My name is Amy Thek. I am an MCPS Speech-Language Pathologist, and I am here tonight
because I believe in something very simple:
A student who can communicate, even without words, is a student who can learn,
belong, and be safe.
Speech-language services are how thousands of MCPS students find their ability to
communicate, to find their voice.
Right now, MCPS is in the process of making a structural change that would weaken the system
that protects these students. The district is eliminating the stand-alone Speech and Language
Services Supervisor and moving Speech and Language Services under a general administrative
umbrella that oversees multiple departments.
And that is why I am so deeply concerned.
I have worked as a speech-language pathologist in this district for more than two decades. I
have served students in preschool, elementary, middle; in special education programs such as
SESES, PEP, Autism, and Deaf and Hard of Hearing. I have worked with students who could
not ask for help, who could not tell someone when they were scared, and who could not explain
what they needed.
One kindergarten student I worked with could not tell his teacher when he was confused or hurt.
He screamed. He hit. He shut down. Not because he was defiant, but because he had no way
to communicate.
After months of speech-language therapy, he learned to say, “Help me,” “I don’t understand,”
and “Stop.”
That did not just change his behavior. It changed the entire school experience for him and his
classmates.
That is what speech-language services do. And those services only work when there is a
strong, clinically led system behind them.
Parents also feel this impact. They’ve shared how their children went from being "invisible" and
frustrated—unable to express needs or make friends—to actively participating in class and
sharing their day. Speech therapy didn't just provide a means of communication; it gave them
dignity.
That dignity does not come from organizational charts or paperwork. It comes from a system
that is properly led, protected, and clinically guided.
Speech-language pathology is not a generic support service. It is a licensed, regulated clinical
service. It directly affects literacy, behavior, mental health, access to instruction, and student
safety.
That is why MCPS has maintained a dedicated, clinically qualified Speech and Language
Supervisor over the past 40 years. Someone whose responsibility is to ensure that over 12,000
students receive speech and language services that are legally mandated, appropriate,
compliant, and based on sound clinical judgment.
Under this change, students are the ones who will feel the impact first. Without a certified
Speech and Language Supervisor, students are going to experience missed IEP services,
delayed evaluations, inappropriate dismissals, inconsistent therapy, and breakdowns in services
when staffing changes occur.
Our department currently supports over 320 full-time equivalent SLPs.
We are in the middle of a national SLP shortage. School systems across the country are
struggling to recruit and retain licensed clinicians. MCPS is no different. When districts remove
clinical leadership and place SLPs under non-specialized supervision, clinicians leave for
districts that respect their expertise and provide professional support.
If this position is eliminated, MCPS will lose many of its own experienced clinicians, and the
students who rely on them will lose continuity of care.
Especially the students who are most impacted: students with autism, complex communication
needs, multilingual learners, and students in our highest-needs schools.
But those students cannot come to this podium.
Their parents are not always able to navigate the system. They rely on us to protect the systems
that protect their children.
A student’s ability to communicate is powerful and necessary.
A system that protects that ability is essential.
Do not remove the one position whose responsibility is to protect students’ communication
services.
Our students deserve better than that.
MCPS Speech and Language Services requires focused, clinically qualified leadership, not
oversight divided across multiple departments.
Thank you.
Maintaining a Stand-Alone Supervisor for MCPS Speech and Language Services
Good evening. My name is Amy Thek. I am a Speech-Language Pathologist in MCPS, and I am
here tonight because I care deeply about the children and families we serve and about the
professionals who work every day to help those children find their voices.
I am asking you to protect something that matters a great deal to our students and to our staff:
that MCPS Speech and Language Services continues to be led by one dedicated, certified
Speech-Language Pathologist, not folded under a general administrator who oversees many
departments.
Currently, Speech and Language Services sits in the Department of Special Education Pre
Kindergarten and Related Services with its own clinically qualified SLP Supervisor whose sole
responsibility is protecting speech-language services. Under the proposed move to a
Department of Special Education Related Services, that structure disappears. One supervisor
will now be responsible not only for Speech and Language Services, but also for Deaf and Hard
of Hearing, Vision Services, Physical Disabilities and High-Incidence Assistive Technology.
These are all highly specialized, regulated programs with completely different clinical standards,
service models, and compliance requirements. No single supervisor - especially one without
SLP licensure - can meaningfully oversee the thousands of IEP service minutes, evaluations,
legal timelines, and clinical decisions required to protect speech-language services while also
running all of those other departments. The result is predictable: Speech and Language
Services will no longer have a real voice when decisions are made about staffing, caseloads,
service delivery models, or compliance with IEPs and federal law. Without an SLP in a
leadership role, decisions will be driven by budget, scheduling, and administrative convenience
rather than by clinical standards, student communication needs, or legal requirements.
And that is why I am worried.
Speech and language services are not just another support on a checklist. When a child cannot
communicate, they cannot learn, they cannot make friends, and they cannot fully participate in
school. We are licensed clinicians who diagnose and treat speech, language, fluency, voice,
social communication, and motor-speech disorders. We write legally binding IEP services and
we are accountable to state and federal law and to a national Code of Ethics.
This work needs clinical leadership.
For decades, MCPS has understood that. Speech and Language Services has always been led
by an SLP, someone who has done this work and understands what is at stake when it is not
done well. That leadership has kept students safe, supported staff, and kept the system running
in a way that is both ethical and legal.
Putting Speech and Language Services under a general administrative umbrella breaks that.
A non-SLP can track paperwork. But they cannot determine whether a child’s speech goals are
clinically appropriate, whether therapy is being delivered in a way that can actually produce
change, or whether a student is failing because of their disability or because the program is not
designed correctly. They cannot look at data and know if a child is truly making progress,
plateauing, or regressing. They cannot evaluate whether an IEP goal is evidence-based,
whether services are being delivered with fidelity, or whether a child who cannot speak is being
given a meaningful opportunity to communicate. Those judgments require licensed clinical
expertise
And when clinical leadership disappears, quality turns into compliance, and children are the
ones who lose.
Right now, Speech and Language Services serves more than 12,000 students across 211
schools with more than 320 full-time equivalent SLPs. The need grows every year. At the same
time, we are in a national shortage of speech-language pathologists.
There are more open jobs than there are SLPs to fill them.
Fewer clinicians are choosing school-based work.
Graduate programs cannot keep up with demand.
And more children than ever need services.
This is not a short-term problem. This is the reality of our profession.
MCPS is still able to function in this crisis because Speech and Language Services runs its own
clinician-led recruitment and staffing system. We know licensure rules. We know supervision
requirements. We know what it means to be a school-based SLP. People do not come to MCPS
because of a generic job posting. They come because they talk to SLP leaders who understand
them, their training, and their profession. That connection is what brings people here and what
keeps them here.
Our department also tracks vacancies in real time, works directly with principals, manages
transfers, recruits nationally, and places contractor SLPs when MCPS clinicians are not
available. These decisions are made based on student needs and clinical realities, not
convenience.
That is how we keep services running.
Contractor SLPs are not used casually. In-person services are prioritized for Pre-K, special
schools, self-contained programs, and students with complex needs. Virtual services are used
only when there is no other option, and they are closely monitored and changed as soon as an
in-person SLP becomes available.
This system works because it is run by clinicians.
Every SLP in MCPS is bound by a national Code of Ethics. We are required to do what is right
for children. When decisions are made by people without clinical training, it puts us in
impossible positions and it puts the district at risk of legal and ethical violations.
That is why a certified SLP Supervisor matters.
And MCPS already has that safeguard. It is working.
Speech and Language Services is not one person. It is a countywide clinical system. The
Supervisor, six Support SLPs, and an Instructional Specialist support all the SLPs, IEPs,
meetings, Pre-K programs and services, services in private and parochial schools, diagnostic
evaluations, staffing, allocations for all schools, vacancy coverage, professional learning,
Clinical Fellows, hiring, and contractors just to name a few.
This is how services stay consistent and safe, no matter where a child attends school.
Under SLP leadership, Speech and Language Services also successfully led the overhaul of the
Medical Assistance billing platform, a complex, multi-year effort that will improve compliance
and increase revenue for MCPS. That only happened because the people leading the work
understood both the clinical side and the system side.
Please do not dismantle something that is protecting children just because it looks simpler on
paper.
Speech-Language Pathology is specialized, regulated, and high-stakes work. Our students,
families, and clinicians rely on having a stand-alone, clinically-qualified SLP supervisor, and we
cannot afford to lose this leadership.
More than 12,000 students across 211 schools are counting on you.
Please stand with them. Please protect the system that serves them.
Thank you.
xMINDS: Major Cuts to MCPS Autism Services - Autism Unit Reduced by half
|
|
|
Thursday, February 19, 2026
MCPS was Stopped from Moving Seven Locks ES to another site. IG Exposed MCPS Fib about Cost Data.
In 2006, MCPS was stopped by the Montgomery County Council from moving Seven Locks Elementary School to another site after a scathing report was released by the Montgomery County Inspector General. The IG found that MCPS had fibbed about construction costs.
A few weeks after the IG's report was released the County Council defunded the project and Seven Locks Elementary School was not moved.
The superintendent's plan had been to hand the existing site over to developers.
Here's the timeline of what happened:
FEBRUARY, 2006: Montgomery County Inspector General Thomas Dagley releases a 25-page report that faults MCPS for providing misleading and inflated cost data about renovating Seven Locks Elementary and failing to provide the board and council with information about two less costly options on the site. The report also states that MCPS misrepresented community sentiment in reports to the board and council. In response, Councilmember Howard Denis (R-1) says he’ll introduce a CIP amendment to halt plans to build on Kendale and instead build a new school on the current Seven Locks site...
https://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2006/feb/14/seven-locks-controversy-timeline/
The Montgomery County Council affirmed March 28 that it will not fund the construction of an elementary school on Kendale Road in Potomac — an outcome that was nearly inconceivable three months ago...
https://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2006/mar/28/if-not-kendale-then-what/
2/18/26: MCPS Director of Security at BCC High School on VOLT AI Pilot
Notes from the PTSA meeting held at BCC High School on February 18, 2026.
The topic of the meeting was the surprise announcement of a pilot of the VOLT AI system. MCPS Director of Security Marcus Jones was the only speaker on this topic. No representatives from VOLT AI spoke.
Director Jones said that MCPS was approached and offered a no cost, 30 day trial of the VOLT AI product.
The 30 day pilot will be at three schools: Seneca Valley HS because it is the largest high school in the state of Maryland, BCC High School because it is urban, and Magruder High School because it is suburban. They asked the principals if they would participate. The pilot will begin March 2nd.
Director Jones said this is the "evaluation phase." There will be weekly reports and a final report. MCPS schools already have cameras. The VOLT AI system will only be on 30 cameras per school. Each school has about 200 cameras. Currently, existing MCPS cameras are not monitored.
A question was asked about what data MCPS currently has on incidents at schools and if that data would be used to compare to to the data generated from the VOLT AI pilot. Director Jones said there isn't any data and you can't know what will happen in a school any given week. There are no plans to evaluate data and no metrics for evaluating the system were stated.
The agreement to do this pilot was reviewed by MCPS legal counsel.
Director Jones said that nothing is off the table with regard to school security.
Once installed, MCPS will run tests to see how VOLT AI responds. They will set up test scenarios and see response. A human at VOLT AI will receive the alerts, review the video and contact MCPS. A question was asked about where the VOLT AI human was located, the answer was USA.
VOLT AI will retain the video for 30 days and then it will be deleted.
Director Jones said he can not speak to the cost of VOLT AI. He said he is not the decision maker. The decision maker are the elected officials. Even though VOLT AI is from Bethesda, they won't be given preference.
Director Jones will not tell principals how to use the information from VOLT AI.
Friday, February 13, 2026
Statement on Behalf of the Black United Front of Montgomery County Re: Wootton High School
The Black United Front Of Montgomery County is saddened and troubled by the shooting that took place on Monday. Our thoughts are with the family of the victim and we offer any help as they navigate this very difficult time.
At the same time though, The Black United Front of Moco cannot help but condemn the backlash and outrage over the facts. The fact that certain public officials are calling for the return of School Resource Officers despite study after study and input from experts that SRO’s do not contribute to student and school safety and marginalize Black students. The fact that certain public officials are calling for AI Surveillance in schools. Which is problematic considering the fact that AI has already been noted for having racial bias and that this measure will disproportionately affect Black students. In addition, contribute to the expansion of the police surveillance state in Montgomery County. Lastly, the fact that certain segments of the populace are demanding metal detectors in schools. This is problematic because it essentially turns schools into training grounds for incarceration and feeds into the school to prison pipeline and the larger prison industrial complex.
The fact is that despite the condolences offered by the County Council, this is just a cover of the continued anti-Blackness that permeates the county. For 250 years since the county’s establishment, it has been very apparent that Black people are the permanent underclass and as the permanent underclass, they feel that they can do whatever they want to us. It is a bitter irony that for a County that is celebrating its 250 years with the theme of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion that the Black community continues to be excluded and denigrated. Despite the passage of the Racial Equity and Social Justice Act in 2019, the Council wants to act like they haven’t passed it. We demand that the council makes a stronger commitment to enforce the laws and rules already in statute and county policy.
This was totally preventable! Especially since the mother reported that she had been trying to remove her son from Wootton due to the ongoing bullying that they have been dealing with. Anyone who is familiar with MCPS will tell you that the bullying is at an astronomical level with the Board of Education and MCPS in particular stepping in line defending bullies. On top of which, the anti-Blackness in the bullying adds additional trauma to students. This is not surprising but still disgusting because despite recommendations from activist-organizers on developing Black cultural curriculum, mental health centers and designating young Black boys as a protective class, there has been silence or in some cases hostilities in creating programs specifically for Black students yet the same bodies will create programs for every other group.
The Black United Front demands accountability not only from the School Board, but the County Council and the County Executive who has firmly denied and allowed this incident to happen. Blood is on their hands. We demand that the County Council, the School Board apologize for their failure to act on behalf of Black youth. We demand investments in Black youth that include a Black cultural curriculum, true restorative justice, and wraparound mental health services. We also demand an immediate emergency council meeting to deal with the crisis among Black youth especially since the increase of homicides in the county disproportionately affect Black boys and men.
Uhuru
The Black United Front Of Moco:
Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition
Racial Justice NOW!
UNIA-ACL
Cameroon American Council
Friends of the Congo
EPIC of Moco
The fact is that despite the condolences offered by the County Council, this is just a cover of the continued anti-Blackness that permeates the county. For 250 years since the county’s establishment, it has been very apparent that Black people are the permanent underclass and as the permanent underclass, they feel that they can do whatever they want to us. It is a bitter irony that for a County that is celebrating its 250 years with the theme of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion that the Black community continues to be excluded and denigrated. Despite the passage of the Racial Equity and Social Justice Act in 2019, the Council wants to act like they haven’t passed it. We demand that the council makes a stronger commitment to enforce the laws and rules already in statute and county policy.
This was totally preventable! Especially since the mother reported that she had been trying to remove her son from Wootton due to the ongoing bullying that they have been dealing with. Anyone who is familiar with MCPS will tell you that the bullying is at an astronomical level with the Board of Education and MCPS in particular stepping in line defending bullies. On top of which, the anti-Blackness in the bullying adds additional trauma to students. This is not surprising but still disgusting because despite recommendations from activist-organizers on developing Black cultural curriculum, mental health centers and designating young Black boys as a protective class, there has been silence or in some cases hostilities in creating programs specifically for Black students yet the same bodies will create programs for every other group.
The Black United Front demands accountability not only from the School Board, but the County Council and the County Executive who has firmly denied and allowed this incident to happen. Blood is on their hands. We demand that the County Council, the School Board apologize for their failure to act on behalf of Black youth. We demand investments in Black youth that include a Black cultural curriculum, true restorative justice, and wraparound mental health services. We also demand an immediate emergency council meeting to deal with the crisis among Black youth especially since the increase of homicides in the county disproportionately affect Black boys and men.
Uhuru
The Black United Front Of Moco:
Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition
Racial Justice NOW!
UNIA-ACL
Cameroon American Council
Friends of the Congo
EPIC of Moco
Ujima People Progress Party
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Day after Wootton High shooting, Montgomery Co. superintendent addresses frustrated parents
...But as the meeting concluded, several parents shouted questions and concerns at Taylor. Questions could be submitted, and more community meetings would be planned, Taylor assured them.
Eventually, as the comments continued, Taylor told families he knew his responses would be “unfulfilling and unsatisfactory,” and then ended the meeting.
“That was very embarrassing,” one parent said. “We came here because we expected that they were going to answer our questions, but unfortunately, they didn’t answer our questions.”..
Once again, MCPS skips public bidding process for "pilot" with unknown cost/benefit. Future cost could be tens of millions.
The Montgomery County Board of Education has had no public discussion of this pilot. The Board of Education has not voted to pilot this company's system and did not pick the 3 schools.
In 2024, MCPS estimated that weapons detection systems for secondary schools would cost $11,000,000.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What we know about an AI-powered weapons detection system coming to county schools
The day before gunfire pierced a Montgomery County high school, the district quietly began rolling out a pilot program for an AI-powered weapons detection system.
Chief Safety Officer Marcus Jones wrote to families in three high school communities — Seneca Valley, Bethesda-Chevy Chase* and Magruder — to tell them that their campuses were poised to test VOLT AI.
“This pilot is a careful, short-term opportunity to test a potential tool,” the Feb. 8 letter reads...
...How much does it cost?
Sokolowski isn’t charging Montgomery County for its 30-day pilot.
“We are confident in our technology, so we allow companies and school districts to pilot completely for free.”
He said he has not yet discussed future pricing models with the district...
*Note: Superintendent Thomas Taylor has said he grew up in the BCC High School community and would be moving home when he took the MCPS superintendent position.
Student injured, another arrested in shooting at Wootton High in Maryland
A 16-year-old male student was shot inside Wootton High School in suburban Maryland on Monday afternoon, and police have arrested another student in the case, officials said.
The suspect, who is also 16 and lives in Rockville, will be charged as an adult, officials in Montgomery County said.
The victim, who police say is from Gaithersburg, was taken to a hospital in stable condition. The students’ names were not released. Both are students at Wootton.
The school campus was placed on lockdown...
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Monday, February 9, 2026
Breaking: 20 Victims Sue MCPS under Child Victim's Act #childabuse #survivors
From Wikipedia:
The Maryland Child Victims Act is a law in the U.S. state of Maryland passed by the Maryland General Assembly during the 445th legislative session in 2023 and signed into law by Governor Wes Moore. It retroactively and prospectively repeals the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse lawsuits and raises the liability limits for a single plaintiff for claims against private institutions. Its first version was introduced by former Democratic state senator James Brochin in 2007. Iterations of the proposal were put forth during the 425th, 435th, 436th, 437th, 439th, 441st, 442nd, and 445th legislative sessions...
In 2025, approximately 20 Montgomery County Public School children or adults filed suit against the Montgomery County Board of Education under the Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023.
The Montgomery County Board of Education has already hired the outside law firm of Karpinski, Colaresi & Karp, P.A. in Baltimore to handle the majority of these cases.
Yet, as of today, the Montgomery County Board of Education and Superintendent Thomas W. Taylor have not said a word about these cases.
Further, to date, the Montgomery County Board of Education has never put out a statement with regard to the dozens upon dozens of children who have been sexually abused in classrooms and schools over the last 20 years. In the vast majority of these cases MCPS administrators, and sometimes even the Board of Education, had been notified of suspected child abuse occurring in a school but did not report this information and did not remove the suspected perpetrator from contact with students.
MCPS even kept a secret list of suspected abusers who were still employed by the school system.
The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD has followed many of these cases by attending court proceedings. In the majority of these cases, there was no press in the courtroom, no one from the Board of Education and no one from MCPS.
Neither the BOE nor MCPS administrators were in the courtrooms to hear the victim impact statements on behalf of these children. We have transcribed just a few of these statements for the public.
The 2017, weeklong trial of MCPS elementary school teacher John Vigna wasn't even covered by any local media. When the trial was over, the Parents' Coalition obtained the audio transcripts of the trial and posted much of the proceeding to this blog.
Does MCPS still keep a secret list of suspected child abusers that are in classrooms?
"We have a confidential file that we keep separate from personnel files, and we check those names routinely when we get an investigation." Statement of MCPS investigator Myles Alban, Page 102, Transcript of Daniel Picca v. Montgomery County Board of Education.
Will the Board of Education acknowledge these 20+/- victims or will they continue to spend Operating Budget funds on endless litigation fighting students who were sexually abused in MCPS schools?
Friday, February 6, 2026
County officials cite communication gaps after snowstorm
...A Delayed Response
Montgomery County Public Schools requested county assistance Sunday Feb. 1 at around 2 p.m.—about a week after the storm hit—to clear sidewalks and school bus stops. Officials later said the work was not completed.
“We couldn’t make a decision to open schools if there was no enforcement of clearing sidewalks,” said Adnan Mamoom, chief of district operations for MCPS. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have a way for students to safely walk to school.”..
https://www.mymcmedia.org/county-officials-cite-communication-gaps-after-snowstorm/
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
‘A long list of problems’: MCPS proposes adding auditor to expand investigative abilities
“Well, we have a long list of problems, there’s no question about that. There’s a long list of things that we could look into and correct,” Superintendent Thomas Taylor told the county school board during a Jan. 20 work session on the district’s proposed $3.78 billion operating budget for fiscal year 2027.
Creating the position, which would report directly to the board, “might help to support identifying areas of improvement … it may enhance our efforts to continuously improve,” Taylor said.
The audit coordinator was among several positions Taylor included in proposed discretionary spending, such as 10 full-time equivalent positions to support implementing a proposed regional program model, a Safe Routes to School coordinator to support pedestrian safety, 28 full-time equivalent elementary school-based safety staff and 153 full time equivalent special education resource teachers...
https://bethesdamagazine.com/2026/01/29/mcps-auditor-budget/
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)