...To cover expenses, MCPS no longer will offer handball. Participation in that sport had dwindled down to only two high schools, according to Sullivan...
Friday, July 26, 2024
MCPS Cut Handball to Pay for Pickleball
...To cover expenses, MCPS no longer will offer handball. Participation in that sport had dwindled down to only two high schools, according to Sullivan...
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Maryland Department of Health launches new overdose data dashboard
Baltimore, MD – The Maryland Department of Health today announced the launch of a new tool for combating the overdose crisis: the Maryland Overdose Data Dashboard. The dashboard, which replaces the previous one at StopOverdose.maryland.gov, provides a user-friendly and easy-to-understand visualization of overdose trends throughout the state.
“Overdoses have ripped apart families and left an empty seat at the dinner table for far too many Marylanders,” said Lt. Governor Miller. “For a targeted approach in the fight against this epidemic, we need data and the Maryland overdose dashboard will increase the ability of our partners across the state to reach communities most affected and connect people to the care they so desperately deserve. This is an effort that I’m truly passionate about and eager to champion on behalf of the Moore-Miller administration.”
The Maryland Overdose Data Dashboard includes the following features:
- Unified Data: The dashboard combines data on fatal overdoses, non-fatal emergency department visits, and EMS naloxone administrations. Users can search this data by zip code.
- Timely Data Updates: The dashboard provides the most current data available, reducing the data release period from 90 to 30 days. This allows for more proactive monitoring and response.
- Historical Trend Analysis: The dashboard provides historical data at the jurisdictional level, enabling the analysis of community trends over time.
- Demographic Insights: The dashboard provides insights across age, race and gender for targeted overdose responses across jurisdictions.
"We have received extensive feedback from our local and community partners about their need for the data and visualization," said Special Secretary of Overdose Response Emily Keller. "Community input played a crucial role in the development of this dashboard at every stage, and we are thrilled to provide Maryland residents with a new tool to assist our partners in responding more promptly to emerging trends."
Based on initial data, fatal overdoses in Maryland have been on the decline in recent years. In 2023, there were 2,513 fatal overdoses in the state, marking a 2.5 percent decrease from the 2,578 fatal overdoses recorded in 2022. The latest data from the dashboard, which currently includes information up to May of this year, indicates that the decrease in fatal overdoses has continued in 2024.
The Maryland Overdose Data Dashboard is accessible at bit.ly/OverdoseData.
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Not everyone on board is on board with proposed literacy policy to hold back third graders
Story by William J. Ford in Maryland Matters. Full story here.
Maryland State Board of Education sets public comment period on policy at August meeting, with eye toward voting in September
Some members balked Tuesday as the Maryland State Board of Education reviewed a proposed literacy policy that could lead to third grade students with reading difficulties being held back, with one calling it “harmful to children.”
Board member Susan Getty, an educator of 40 years that includes 35 years teaching prekindergarten and kindergarten, said the policy is “not a viable option and harmful to children. I don’t consider it on the list of best practice in literacy.”
During the nearly 90-minute discussion, board member Joan Mele-McCarthy said more research is needed on the policy. She mentioned that the National Association of School Psychologists does not support retention policies, especially those strictly based on test scores.
And:
The board said it will hold a special comment period on just the literacy policy during next month’s regular board meeting. The goal is to vote on the policy by September, but when it would actually go into effect remains unknown.
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Pickleball to be Offered at All County High Schools This Fall
Pickleball is coming to Montgomery County high schools as a varsity sport starting this fall.
During the fall of 2023, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) was the first district in the country to offer pickleball as a varsity sport, according to MCPS. It was part of a corollary sports program at 11 schools designed to provide increased access and participation for students with a disability...
https://www.mymcmedia.org/pickleball-to-be-offered-at-all-county-high-schools-this-fall/
Friday, July 19, 2024
MCPS spent ~$160,000 of tax dollars to prep BOE President Karla Silvestre. 11 lawyers, 56 days' work
In The Daily Mail, reporter James Reinl. Full story here. Yellow highlights my own.
Schools EXPOSED for spending $160K on lawyers to spin antisemitism problem, not textbooks
One of America's biggest school districts spent $157,000 of taxpayer's money to prepare a board member to speak about its antisemitism problem, casting doubt on its commitment to education, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), a sprawling Maryland district of some 210 K-12 schools in the Washington DC suburbs, spent the money on lawyers to ready education board president Karla Silvestre for a congressional grilling.
And:
A public records request by Parents Defending Education (PDE) shows how the district spent $156,987 on 11 lawyers from top firm Venable for 56 days' work from March through May, ahead of the House subcommittee hearing on May 8.
A growing @mcps bureaucracy that doesn’t dramatically improve literacy and math proficiency is not sustainable.
Should the Montgomery County Council Make it Easier to Raise Property Taxes? You can read the Charter Review Commissions April 2024 report at
link below.
Gordie Brenne, Treasurer, Montgomery County Taxpayers League
1. The County has Excess Reserves- Last year the Council approved a 4.7% tax rate increase with just 8 votes, and
that combined with huge appraisal increases clobbered home owners and renters with the maximum tax
increase permitted under state law of 10%. The tax rate increase was unnecessary because it produced a
revenue gusher this year, and next year’s was forecast to yield excess reserves of 15.4%. A unanimous vote
would have prevented this.
2. One-Person Veto is a Myth- Up County would be most impacted by weakening the unanimous requirement
because the three up county Council members could get drowned out by a super majority of 8 down county
members. We agree with the minority opinion in the Commission’s report (pg. 22) that that a unanimous vote
makes each Council member accountable, increases their impact, and the voice of underrepresented parts of the
county. A unanimous vote would give undecided members the opportunity to join that member and be heard,
rather than be trampled by the majority.
3. Housing Costs are Skyrocketing as Assessments Increase- Property taxes are a significant driver of housing
cost increases. Homeowners’ Credits do not adjust property taxes for inflation to protect low-income residents.
Higher housing costs and scarcity underpin racial segregation in schools, and make it harder for seniors to retire in
place. Assessments are controlled by the state, but a unanimous vote would increase the Council control over tax
increases.
4. Structural Deficit Fail Safe- Of the three decision points in the Charter that control spending and revenues (pgs.
13-14), tax rate increases are the last control and should have the strongest vote hurdle. As happened last year,
less than unanimous spending control overrides could result in higher recurring costs and structural deficits in
future years without a unanimous vote for tax rate increases. Last year’s tax rate increase was approved with
only 8 Council votes, and was supposed to be for an education emergency that justified overriding the Charter’s
unanimous vote requirement. But most of the spending was for recurring County costs. MCPS got only 37% of
the additional money raised- approximately $100M. County employees got above market pay raises (estimated
cost- $38 million) advocated by powerful county unions, but not supported by a comparative salary survey last
done 13 years ago; and, county supplemental appropriations approved during the year ($25 million so far) were
not justified in the budget process, for a total of $63 million for the county, not MCPS.
5. Accountability and Transparency- Increased public confidence in county governance is reinforced with a
unanimous vote. Confidence stems from a better County and MCPS budget process that justifies spending with
numbers, not words for outcomes. The public should be able to see how spending links to objective returns on
investment to conclude their money is being spent wisely. Moody’s bond underwriters just placed a “negative
outlook” on the state because of likely structural deficits from growing education Blueprint costs. This puts
increased pressure on local county funding sources.
6. MCPS Spending Trade-Offs- A unanimous vote for tax increases will assure these tradeoffs are fully and
publicly debated, consistent with the “fair and predictable” governance process argued in the Commission Report
(pg. 17). A growing bureaucracy that doesn’t dramatically improve literacy and math proficiency is not
sustainable. The state's Maintenance of Effort law prevents any Council debate over what's in the base of the
MCPS budget where most of the achievement gap strategy money is buried along with overhead costs (we
estimate 45% for non-instruction). Spending that doesn’t improve literacy and math proficiency takes money
away from our kids, and squeezes funding for other County programs that could improve the lives of lower
income residents more, like affordable housing, public health and safety.
MOCO360 Opinion: Should the County Council make raising property taxes easier? Requiring a unanimous vote makes good fiscal sense.
The Charter Review Commission’s recent report recommended several changes to controls over how the County Council approves spending and revenues. Among these was a recommendation to reduce the number of councilmember votes required to approve a property rate increase–from unanimous to just eight of the 11 votes. Without a public hearing, the council is expected to vote on this recommendation on July 9 and seem likely to agree with the lower bar of eight votes and place it on the November ballot as a referendum.
Be wary. In 2020, the council placed its own referendum (Question A) on the ballot that was deceptively labeled as “Limit Tax Rate Increases,” while a competing grass-roots citizen petition (Question B) to prevent property tax revenue increases from exceeding the CPI (Consumer Price Index) rate was placed second on the ballot, and pejoratively labeled “Prohibit Override.” Inevitably Question A passed.
The Montgomery County Taxpayers League is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization comprised of county residents and focused on good government by the county to achieve efficient and effective operations and tax equity. We believe a unanimous vote to increase property taxes is an essential control over county spending. We do not stand alone. County voters have repeatedly voted–in 2008, 2018 and in 2020–to require a unanimous vote to increase property tax rates and they should not be ignored.
Here are six reasons why you should ask councilmembers to retain the unanimous vote requirement for tax rate increases before the council votes on a proposed referendum:
- The county has excess reserves: Last year the council approved a 4.7% tax rate increase with just seven votes and that, combined with huge appraisal increases, clobbered homeowners and renters with what amounted to the maximum tax increase permitted under state law of 10%. The tax rate increase was unnecessary because it produced a revenue gusher this year, and next year’s was forecast to yield excess reserves of 15.4%. A unanimous vote would have prevented this...
Thursday, July 18, 2024
BREAKING: MD Appellate Court Orders MoCo Board of Ed to Review $168M Electric School Bus Contract Award
The Appellate Court of Maryland has issued an Order vacating the Judgment of the Montgomery County Circuit Court In the Matter of AutoFlex Fleet, Inc.
This Order (shown below) mandates that the matter must be returned to the Montgomery County Board of Education for an administrative review of the augmented evidentiary record with regard to the award of the $168 million dollar contract to HET MCPS, LLC for MCPS electric school buses.
The Court said, "...the Contract must be reviewed in light of the adjudicated facts supporting the convictions of these DOT directors who were integrally involved in managing MCPS' bidding process, evaluating responding proposals, and awarding the Contract to an affiliate of the vendor they were exploiting." (Page 60 of Opinion below)
This litigation began with a protest filed by a losing bidder on this contract.
AutoFlex Fleet, Inc. filed a written protest of the decision to award the Contract to HET MCPS, LLC on December 16, 2020.
On March 5, 2024, the Appellate Court of Maryland released a 64 page opinion (shown below) detailing the matter and their decision.
This litigation has gone from the initial protest by a losing bidder to MCPS (protest denied) 🠞 Montgomery County Board of Education (appeal denied) 🠞 Maryland State Board of Education (appeal denied) 🠞 Montgomery County Circuit Court (appeal denied) 🠞Maryland Appellate Court (Order issued) 🠞 then mandated back to 🠞 Montgomery County Circuit Court 🠞 Maryland State Board of Education 🠞 Montgomery County Board of Education.
Why has the Contract Award protest been sent back to the Montgomery County Board of Education for review?
The very short answer is because 2 of the 3 (or 4) MCPS employees who reviewed the initial bids for the MCPS electric school bus contract have since been convicted of crimes including felony theft and misdemeanor misconduct in office in relation to a scheme to divert MCPS funds to an off the books account held by a subcontractor on the HET MCPS, LLC (Highland Electric) electric school bus proposal.
HET MCPS, LLC was the winning bidder of the $168M MCPS electric school bus contract.
AutoFlex Fleet, LLC wants the facts surrounding the criminal convictions of MCPS Department of Transportation (DOT) Director (Watkins) and Assistant (Ewald) to be reviewed in connection with their protest of the award of this contract.
The Appellate Court of Maryland agrees with them that these criminal convictions should be part of the review of the awarding of the $168M MCPS electric school bus contract and so the matter goes back to the Board of Education for review with these criminal convictions in the record.
Note: There's a whole lot of legal fees being generated to pay for the Board of Education's defense of this litigation, with more to come. The continued failure of the Board of Education to exert any oversight over MCPS continues to divert education funding away from classrooms to outside legal fees.
539S2022 Mandate by Parents' Coalition of Montg...
539s22 in the Matter of Aut... by Parents' Coalition of Montg...
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
'Don't get rid of my school'; Montgomery Virtual Academy students fight for future
It's a story 7News has been following for months.
Dozens of parents also met with the new Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) superintendent, Dr. Thomas Taylor, to discuss possible next steps.
One rising 8th grader, Toryn Goldman, spoke to 7News through his iPad.
"This is actually an iPad with some software on it that he uses," said his mom, Natoya Goldman.
Toryn has been part of MVA for three years now, whose future hangs in the balance due to budget cuts.
He joined the dozens of other students and families passionate about the program for a rally outside Rockville High School on Tuesday.
When 7News' Lianna Golden asked him what he loves most about his virtual school, he responded:
"I learned."..
Monday, July 15, 2024
MCPS Official: Lack of Student Progress Is ‘Highly Concerning. It Is A Call To Action’
Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) students are slowly recovering from the pandemic, but not quickly enough, according to district officials who reported to the County Council Education Culture committee Thursday.
Also, they noted, White students are progressing at a higher rate than Black, Latino and multilingual students.
“We are seeing the opportunity gaps grow,” said Committee Chair Will Jawando. “We are seeing our White students bounce back faster.”
Peter Moran, chief of schools, called the data covering the winter of the 2023-2024 school year for students in grades kindergarten, three, six and nine, “highly concerning. It is a call to action.”..
WTOP: What Montgomery Co.’s new superintendent is earning
'Unacceptable and immoral:' Petition criticizes UMD's hiring of former MCPS superintendent
WASHINGTON - A former superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools who resigned earlier this year will take a new role with the University of Maryland, officials confirmed this week.
Dr. Monifa McKnight will serve in the inaugural position of "Dean’s Fellow and Superintendent in Residence" with the University of Maryland’s College of Education. The role is expected to support the development of and implementation of special projects within the college and "strengthen partnerships between the college and PK-12 schools across the state," according to UMD.
McKnight stepped down as MCPS superintendent in February, agreeing to a $1.3 million separation deal amid scrutiny over the school system’s handling of sexual harassment and bullying allegations against now-former Farquhar Middle School principal Joel Beidleman. For this reason, an online petition with more than 500 signatures Friday is criticizing the university for its hire...
Petition asks U.Md. to reverse its decision on hiring former Montgomery Co. Superintendent McKnight
Days after the University of Maryland hired a former Montgomery County superintendent, a new online petition is calling for university officials to “reverse course” on the decision.
The Change.org petition claims that the hiring of former Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Monifa McKnight to a leadership position at the University of Maryland is “unacceptable and immoral.”..
Friday, July 12, 2024
Thursday, July 11, 2024
Montgomery County: Central committees often leave candidate vetting to others when filling vacancies
Political central committees in Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions are charged with filling legislative vacancies and vetting the candidates to see if they’re eligible for the offices they are seeking. Those reviews, however, do not always include scrutiny of public records — including court records.
A whisper campaign against one candidate seeking to fill a House of Delegates vacancy has spotlighted the vetting procedures of state central committees charged with filling the positions. It is a process currently underway in Montgomery County, where the Democratic Central Committee on Thursday will recommend a candidate to Gov. Wes Moore (D) to fill a vacant House of Delegates seat.
Two of nine Democrats seeking to fill the District 16 seat vacated last month by now-Sen. Sara Love (D) were found to have had some contact with the courts involving criminal charges or other proceedings.
The criminal charges — and in one case a conviction nearly a decade ago — raise questions about how thoroughly political parties vet candidates. It also adds another wrinkle in an ongoing debate in Annapolis over moving to fill vacancies with special elections instead of an insular process involving party insiders...
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Maryland probe highlights flaws in teacher vetting after alleged abuser gets school jobs
A lengthy probe into the vetting of school teachers in Maryland is raising some glaring issues.
The probe, by Maryland's Inspector General, examines the case of Mark Planamente, a former Baltimore County School teacher who is now serving a five year prison sentence for the sexual abuse of a minor.
However, investigators are questioning how Planamente managed to be hired by two schools after allegations of misconduct surfaced.
Before a teacher can be hired in Maryland, their former employer must affirm that the teacher had never been disciplined, discharged or asked to resign while allegations of child sexual abuse or misconduct were pending.
In Planamente's case, the Baltimore County School District where he formerly worked, checked 'no' to the question and later told investigators that the allegations "did not constitute sexual advances nor were they sexually explicit."..
Tuesday, July 9, 2024
Groups Speak Out Against Chief Jones’ New Job with County Public Schools
Young People for Progress, Silver Spring Justice Coalition and Jews United for Justice joined the Decriminalize Montgomery County Campaign to oppose Jones’ recent appointment by the Board of Education.
According to these groups, Jones’ background with the Montgomery County Police Department and his 38 years in law enforcement “makes him unsuitable for working with students.”
Previously, the Decriminalize Montgomery County Campaign fought to end the School Resource Officer program. Under that program, sworn police officers were assigned inside schools...
https://www.mymcmedia.org/groups-speak-out-against-chief-jones-new-job-with-county-public-schools/
MCPS system did not adhere to its policies on emergency procurement, report finds
The Montgomery County Education Association is also upset about the findings writing, stating, "MCPS misspent valuable tax dollars...it shifted time and attention away from what should have been its top priority: our students."
7News also received a text message from a parent who has a student who attends the Montgomery Virtual Academy.
That program was eliminated due to recent budget cuts...
Retiring police chief Marcus Jones appointed as MCPS security chief
Jones, 59, announced his retirement in January after serving in the police department for 38 years. He spoke to MoCo360 about his tenure in an interview in February...
Monday, July 8, 2024
MCPS misused emergency funds in sexual harassment investigation, new OIG report says
"This was all about the reputation of the Board of Education and protecting the individuals on the Board of Education without a thought in the world to what's going on in the classroom and what students need," Sartucci said.
Sartucci added that unchecked spending like this is one of the biggest problems in the county.
"Parents, community members, they think education funding means classrooms. They think when they pay their property taxes, that money is going to classrooms to support students and teachers," Sartucci said. "In fact, tens and tens and tens of millions of dollars in this $3.2 billion education budget go to things like this damage control."
One parent FOX 5 spoke with, Priya Baskaran, said she would love to see resources be diverted into schools rather into administrative bloat...
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