It’s about time this inequality was addressed! But the Council and BOE shouldn’t stop at private fundraising; they should look at costs assessed directly to families, too: required school uniforms/apparel, expected participation at private sports training facilities, transportation to competitions, course trip fees, etc.
Please explain. What fees do you get charged that fall into these categories? According to the BOE this doesn't happen. So, please give us real life examples from MCPS. Thanks.
And the County Council denies this happens, also. Remembering that Valerie Ervin and Nancy Navarro were on the BOE. They are heavily invested in covering up illegal fees.
Examples: Sports uniforms and fanwear w/school’s name on it (as required by coaches to be worn at all practices) have been purchased. MCPS buses have rarely been provided for competitions --even for some competitions outside the county. Parents have been told that no MCPS school buses can be made available OR none can be made available unless the sports teams would leave extremely early for their competitions, thereby missing a chunk of the school day. Course trips are components of various classes. Day trips $xx; overnighters cost much more! There are also a variety of high-pressure fundraisers, where teachers send the students out to raise money and parents are the obvious donors.
Now it’s true, some of the expenses mentioned above or in the previous comment are technically optional. However, the work done on course trips is graded. Having attended a parents’ sports meeting, it seemed clear: if they had aspirations of making the varsity team then JV players were well advised to attend the coaches’ practices at the private training facility. It is also true that a message commonly goes out: families should contact the teacher/coach/administrator for a waiver/scholarship/ fee-reduction if the expense would be a hardship. Yet, as MCPS already acknowledges that many FARMS-eligible families don’t take advantage of those benefits for their high schoolers, it seems illogical to expect that all those in need of support would seek it out for these other expenses.
This letter is dated March 20th. Does anyone know if there was a response from the BOE? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteIt’s about time this inequality was addressed! But the Council and BOE shouldn’t stop at private fundraising; they should look at costs assessed directly to families, too: required school uniforms/apparel, expected participation at private sports training facilities, transportation to competitions, course trip fees, etc.
ReplyDeletePlease explain. What fees do you get charged that fall into these categories?
DeleteAccording to the BOE this doesn't happen. So, please give us real life examples from MCPS.
Thanks.
And the County Council denies this happens, also.
DeleteRemembering that Valerie Ervin and Nancy Navarro were on the BOE. They are heavily invested in covering up illegal fees.
Examples: Sports uniforms and fanwear w/school’s name on it (as required by coaches to be worn at all practices) have been purchased. MCPS buses have rarely been provided for competitions --even for some competitions outside the county. Parents have been told that no MCPS school buses can be made available OR none can be made available unless the sports teams would leave extremely early for their competitions, thereby missing a chunk of the school day. Course trips are components of various classes. Day trips $xx; overnighters cost much more! There are also a variety of high-pressure fundraisers, where teachers send the students out to raise money and parents are the obvious donors.
DeleteNow it’s true, some of the expenses mentioned above or in the previous comment are technically optional. However, the work done on course trips is graded. Having attended a parents’ sports meeting, it seemed clear: if they had aspirations of making the varsity team then JV players were well advised to attend the coaches’ practices at the private training facility. It is also true that a message commonly goes out: families should contact the teacher/coach/administrator for a waiver/scholarship/ fee-reduction if the expense would be a hardship. Yet, as MCPS already acknowledges that many FARMS-eligible families don’t take advantage of those benefits for their high schoolers, it seems illogical to expect that all those in need of support would seek it out for these other expenses.