Sorry, there is no MCPS Ombudsman

This Gazette article mentions that a parent thinks she called the MCPS Ombudsman's office. Sadly, the current Board of Education members eliminated the position of Ombudsman. Now anyone who answers the phone at the Board of Education gets to be "Ombudsman for the Day!" Gone are the days when a parent or guardian could seek out a neutral party to investigate issues with MCPS administrators. 

Gazette: Gaithersburg parent seeks new school bus stop, finds dead end
East Deer Park mother wants safer spot for daughter

...Terilynne Butler wants a closer school bus stop for her daughter. The mother of six has lobbied Montgomery County Public Schools officials for a change for nearly two years, without success.

The school system does not keep records of how many requests it gets for bus route changes, or how often such requests are granted, said Dana Tofig, director of public information. Butler and other county parents say the process can be lengthy and frustrating.

Butler's request gained urgency in October 2009, when her then 12-year-old daughter, Amanda, was followed home from her stop by a group of men in a pickup truck. The Forest Oak Middle School student had separated from her friends a block earlier. She ran to a nearby house and pretended to go inside.

Then it happened again in the spring — different vehicle, different driver.

Butler looked at the bus route and realized that with no change to its afternoon run, the bus could stop closer to her house, at one of East Deer Park's two four-way stops. In the morning, the driver could travel one block further north without compromising the neighborhood's two existing bus stops.

She called the school system's transportation department with her idea.

In the months since, Butler said she has been bounced around the system without resolution. Her request was denied by the cluster transportation manager, so she sought help from the ombudsman's office. She then received a conference call telling her the proposal was denied again...