Here are some of the highlights from the Social Justice Warrior's memo on the improvements being made to MCPS facilities and where the outside money is coming from:
Highlights:
$28K electronic sign for Paint Branch HS
$5K of landscaping for Seven Locks ES
$30K for Dugouts at Clarksburg HS
$20K of playground improvements at Cashell ES
$8K for eight hand dryers at North Bethesda MS (REALLY? Hand dryers cost $1000
apiece????)
$25K for press box and storage shed at Poolesville HS
$30K for electronic message display at Clarksburg HS (those people up in
Clarksburg must have $$$$ )
$22K for Seneca Valley HS scoreboard
$4K to upgrade the "LOUNGE" at Burning Tree ES!
And there's more!
$80K for an upgrade to the scoreboard at Winston Churchill!
starr's children attend Burningtree. We sure could use that 4k in the red zone for books and supplies. I just spent $300.00 on sticky notes, dry erase markers, crayons, pencils, etc. for my children at the elem. school I teach in. Funny, we can afford promethean boards for every classroom, but teachers all over this county have to spend their own money on bulliten board borders, furniture, books and supplies.
ReplyDeleteI dont know how much a hand dryer costs and being fair, the cost may also include labor and upgrades to electrical, etc to install the dryers. No, I am not a North Bethesda parent or employee. Go ahead and skewer me for defending them, I am not condoning just pointing out we don't have full information.
ReplyDeleteWe have ALL the information we need. Students paid fees in to the school for yearbooks, sports events, tickets to plays AND instead of using those fees to pay for what the student used, Superintendent Starr diverted the student fees to MAINTENANCE for the school! In violation of MCPS Policy, by the way!
DeleteThe fact that the Student Independent Activity Funds at this school were used for these building items means that students were GOUGED when they were charged for events, etc... They were overcharged, the school made a PROFIT, and then they diverted that PROFIT to building maintenance.
STUDENTS WERE RIPPED OFF. ROBBED. GOUGED. CHEATED. Pick you own word. But, this is totally unacceptable for a public school. Unless you are the mafia and then have at it.
For all the parents that think charging illegal fees to public students is OK: If you support illegal activity, then don't expect anything else honorable from MCPS. You get what you pay for.
ReplyDeleteApparently like anything else, they range in price:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.restroomdirect.com/nova-hand-dryers.aspx
Red Zone teacher: I bet you have a lot of colleagues who feel the same way: that the first priority should be essential supplies and materials, and that you shouldn't have to pay out of pocket for them. Unfortunately the big cheeses at Carver don't seem to care. And the bad news is that the voters don't seem to care much either.
ReplyDeleteHave you thought about just *not* buying stuff? And sending a letter signed by you and your colleagues to Starr saying that you need XXX supplies for our classrooms.
The Carver honchos spend money on lunches and dinners at fancy restaurants, personalized stationery, trips to conferences in California, and office parties. This is all $$ that should be going to help you in your classroom. Unfortunately, parent advocates are marginalized. Have you noticed: special ed advocates, GT advocates, math curriculum advocates, healthy eating advocates, the YAF kids at Piney Branch, on and on.
Only when a substantial number of teachers are willing to speak up and out publicly will things start to change. How about submitting an invoice for the stuff you bought for your class? Let it come back "rejected." I'll bet you could get a favorable Gazette article about your classroom's needs. The goal being, of course, NOT to have the parents shell out...but make MCPS administration give you the tools you need to do your job.
Lyda
All these amounts seem insignificant. Didn't the Superintendent and the Board just approve a donation of $250,000 from parents in one of Bethesda elementary schools for such facility improvements? Isn't there a limit of $50,000?
ReplyDelete