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Tuesday, April 22, 2014
$10 to Graduate from Blair HS, But Seniors Must Ride Mandatory $20 Bus
What's going on at Blair High School? A senior at Blair can graduate for as little as $10! Well, almost! Seniors are "required" to ride a $20 bus to graduation! What's going on at the other MCPS schools that are charging mandatory fees of up to $75 to graduate without any bus transportation to graduation? What is all that money for? Life long learners might ask for an accounting of these fees at MCPS high schools. Be warned, MCPS doesn't really promote life long learning and doesn't appreciate questions about illegal fees!
Blair High School is the county's mega-high school. This school is so big that we are poorly accommodated at the DAR Hall. We could use the Comcast Center at UMCP, but that is a $30,000 rental fee. Wait until this year's 9th grade class (over 800 students) graduates. Because our school is so big, we plan down to the minute to get through the graduation ceremony in the allotted time. The students MUST take the bus in order to ensure every student is present in alpha-order in their seats, on the floor, in time for the graduation ceremony to begin.
Really? MCPS has buses. They are those big yellow/orange things you see all over the county. Don't tell us the buses aren't available, DAR is used for graduations on Sundays. $20 gets you to NYC on a MegaBus.
$20 is an overcharge and a way of collecting a slush fund for the school.
No whining about being a large school. That is what the community fought for, that is what they got. This blog post is about ripping off students. We have researched this for years and know that one of the "costs" that principals worked into these fees was lunch for MCPS staff! Sorry, that's not a cost of graduation! That's a PERK!
Actually, MCPS really are not available for Blair's graduation. According to the MCPS website, Blair graduates at 2:30pm on 6/10, which is a school day. MCPS buses are not available for field trips before 9:30am and between 1:30 and 4:30pm (while they are making their morning and afternoon runs). MCPS does not have surplus buses and/or drivers for field trips while transporting students to and from school.
Please. That's a choice. MCPS put the Blair graduation on that date. This is a $2.3 BILLION dollar budget. They have reserves, they have a slush fund. These are choices that are made. They can put Blair's graduation on a day and time when MCPS buses can transport the students if that is absolutely necessary.
Blair High School is the county's mega-high school. This school is so big that we are poorly accommodated at the DAR Hall. We could use the Comcast Center at UMCP, but that is a $30,000 rental fee. Wait until this year's 9th grade class (over 800 students) graduates. Because our school is so big, we plan down to the minute to get through the graduation ceremony in the allotted time. The students MUST take the bus in order to ensure every student is present in alpha-order in their seats, on the floor, in time for the graduation ceremony to begin.
ReplyDeleteReally? MCPS has buses. They are those big yellow/orange things you see all over the county. Don't tell us the buses aren't available, DAR is used for graduations on Sundays. $20 gets you to NYC on a MegaBus.
Delete$20 is an overcharge and a way of collecting a slush fund for the school.
No whining about being a large school. That is what the community fought for, that is what they got. This blog post is about ripping off students. We have researched this for years and know that one of the "costs" that principals worked into these fees was lunch for MCPS staff! Sorry, that's not a cost of graduation! That's a PERK!
Actually, MCPS really are not available for Blair's graduation. According to the MCPS website, Blair graduates at 2:30pm on 6/10, which is a school day. MCPS buses are not available for field trips before 9:30am and between 1:30 and 4:30pm (while they are making their morning and afternoon runs). MCPS does not have surplus buses and/or drivers for field trips while transporting students to and from school.
ReplyDeletePlease. That's a choice. MCPS put the Blair graduation on that date. This is a $2.3 BILLION dollar budget. They have reserves, they have a slush fund. These are choices that are made. They can put Blair's graduation on a day and time when MCPS buses can transport the students if that is absolutely necessary.
Delete