http://audits.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/school/gaithersburghs
...Documents obtained by The Advocate show one of the things the assistant principals questioned three years ago was why Valentine did not report to state authorities a student's claim that a teacher touched her inappropriately.
According to the documents, a ninth-grader told Stamford High administrators in early May 2011 that a male teacher had touched her breast, and the assistant principals were concerned that Valentine did not call Stamford police or the state Department of Children and Families, as state law requires.http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Former-Stamford-superintendent-was-told-about-5918443.php#page-1
In late May 2011 the assistant principals asked to meet with Starr to discuss Valentine, according to a report written by a private investigator later hired by the Board of Education to look into their claims...
...The assistant principals said they had pens and notebooks, according to the report, and that Starr "directed them to close their notebooks and to participate in a 'let's just all talk it out' type of meeting." The assistant principals "also reported that when each of them read aloud from their statements of concern, Dr. Starr made remarks and questions like, 'Do you really want to put that in writing?' " the report states.
The meeting was part of Starr's internal investigation. Starr concluded that the assistant principals' claims were unwarranted, and in mid-June 2011 he transferred three of them to other schools in the district. At the end of June 2011, Starr left for Maryland...
Upset with the findings of his investigation, the four assistant principals hired an attorney to bring their claims about Valentine to the school district.
On July 22, 2011, the attorney, Victoria de Toledo, of Casper & de Toledo in Stamford, wrote a letter to then-interim Superintendent Winifred Hamilton, then-school board President Polly Rauh and the former human resources director. De Toledo wrote that Starr told the assistant principals that complaining about the principal was "a career killer."
...The Venable bill for July 2014 totaled $26,699. The largest amount was for policy matters ($20,205), the largest part of which related to expense review matters (18,477)..,
Petition to Oppose Locating Cell Phone Towers on School Property Reference: Articles
At the Council meeting of October 27, 2014, Theodora Scarato petitioned the Council to oppose the placement of cell phone towers on Prince George’s County Public School (PGCPS) property. In 2011, PGCPS entered into an agreement to lease property to Milestone Communications for the possible location of cell phone towers. According to news reports, over 70 schools have been identified as potential sites including Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Greenbelt Middle School, and Turning Point Academy.
Included in Council’s packet are a number of articles related to this topic including when parents opposed to the use of school property appeared before the School Board, an information piece on cell towers from Anne Arundel County Schools as well as information from an Anne Arundel County parents group opposed to cell phone towers on school property, and an article on the Federal Communications Commission view on cell phone towers.
According to the information, there is not conclusive proof that cell phone tower locations on school property are dangerous. However, there clearly are parental and group concerns, including the Prince George’s County Chapter of the NAACP which has gone on record opposing the placement of cell phone towers on school property.
Council direction is sought.
“In the period I’ve been at Montgomery County (since 1996), we’ve had zero fatalities on school buses, yet we’ve had several fatalities among student walkers. Different things have led to situations when kids have been injured or even killed. Often we’ve found students either walking with earphones or texting while walking,” Watkins told STN. “The reality is, if we could get students to act more safely when they walk, I think many of these (incidents) could be prevented, so that’s the target of the [YOLO] campaign.”Transportation Chief Turns Attention to Student Pedestrian Safety at NASDPTS
The school board assured us before the election that their No. 1 priority was closing the achievement gap. Now we learn the board approved spending upward of $1 million on a 15-month study of school choice and special programs, with no reference in the Oct. 22 RFP to closing the achievement gap.
The Taxpayers League has repeatedly called for an independent review of MCPS’ plans to close the gap. So far that review has not happened, and current plans do not include any concrete dates for closing the gap. Efforts to improve school choice without concrete dates for improving academic performance put the cart before the horse...
http://www.gazette.net/article/20141119/OPINION/141119231/1014/school-system-misses-target-again&template=gazette
...The standards guide how the city determines whether potential development projects would overcrowd its schools.
But the standards have failed to either control school growth or draw funding from the county for school projects, Councilman Tom Moore said.
Moore wants the city to follow the county’s guidelines of allowing development that causes enrollment to hit 120 percent of a school’s programmed capacity, rather than Rockville’s standard of 110 percent.
The 110 percent threshold was designed to allow the city to request county money before a school’s enrollment hits 120 percent of capacity, with the money allocated to that school’s cluster more quickly, but it hasn’t worked, he said.
Moore suggested other changes. He wants developers to pay a fee for projects when a school’s enrollment reaches 105 percent to 120 percent of capacity. He wants the city to assess the average of all schools in a cluster rather than each school’s capacity. Also, the city should calculate a project’s impact on enrollment when a developer applies for approval, not when it’s approved, as is done now.
Older residents are moving out of Rockville and being replaced by younger families with schoolchildren, with 85 percent of the city’s enrollment growth coming from existing homes rather than new development, Moore said.
Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton said she has said for years that Montgomery County Public Schools was incorrectly calculating school capacity and that more students would come from existing homes.
But before any changes are made, officials must make sure parents and other stakeholders are aware of them before January’s public hearing...
A recent Montgomery County substitute teacher accused of inappropriately touching a 12-year-old girl was arrested on additional charges Friday involving three more victims, county police said.
Two of the alleged victims said they were inappropriately touched in 2013 at Ridgeview Middle School. A third said she was inappropriately touched in 2004 at Forest Oak Middle School, and her principal was notified of the incidents, according to arrest records.
The new charges come after several weeks of heightened concern among Montgomery parents over how the school system handles such allegations...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/more-victims-allege-sex-abuse-against-former-substitute-teacher-in-montgomery/2014/11/21/82f8ddcc-71b4-11e4-893f-86bd390a3340_story.html
High school coaches within Montgomery County Public Schools no longer have to play doctor on the side. The county launched a pilot program for the 2014-15 school year that MCPS Athletics Specialist Jeff Sullivan said is an extension of last year’s addition of mandatory baseline concussion testing. All 25 high school athletic departments have their own nationally-certified trainer to help ensure student-athletes’ health and safety...
...MCPS sought additional help from the state for school construction during the 2014 legislative session, but the funds were not approved. After the proposal fell through, the Montgomery County Council approved a $1.53 billion CIP for fiscal years (FY) 2015-2020, which was $214 million less than requested by the Board of Education. The Board’s requested amendments approved Monday would increase the six-year CIP to $1.75 billion.
“We deeply appreciate the partnership of our local elected officials and the significant investment our citizens make to meet the space needs of our students,” said Patricia O’Neill, vice president of the Board. “It is my hope that our state leaders will now step up to help provide our students with the learning spaces they need and deserve.”...
ROCKVILLE – The Planning Commission re-approved a self-storage facility application in East Rockville with a 4-2 vote on Nov. 12, against the wishes of residents and the parents of students at a local elementary school...
http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1307%3Aplanning-commission-re-approves-ezstorage-application-for-development-despite-resident-concerns&Itemid=766...Multiple residents of David Scull Courts talked about walking to and from bus stops or walking their children to school.Sade’le, a mother who preferred only to give her first name, said she is worried about traffic and crime that could happen around the facility.“There are fifth graders, fourth graders walking little kids because parents have to work to provide. We’re not as rich as the public storage unit people that have many locations and are gaining money for it,” she said. “We have one crossing guard that manages people coming from many directions.”Littlefield said the testimony from David Scull Courts residents elevated his concerns about parents taking their children to Maryvale, which sits about two blocks from the storage site. Although he said overall traffic numbers would increase no matter what the site became, Littlefield voiced concern about people without experience driving trucks and vans dropping belongings at the storage unit.“I don’t know that it would be a heavy flow of people, but it would exist and to me that just adds to the potential that, God forbid, a little child could get in an accident just because of the situation,” he said. “When we first considered this, I didn’t quite appreciate the people walking their kids to school from the direction of David Scull.”
...The Watchdogs anti-corruption toolbox features an “exposure” website, insistence on freedom of information, pro se lawsuits, public comment at open meetings, earned media, and motivating hundreds of local citizens to attend board meetings. It may be the most effective watchdog model in the nation...
...In Ford-Iroquois County, the health department was disbanded after the Watchdogs pushed an investigation into an alleged $4 million federal flood grant fraud, public credit cards used for private beer and gasoline purchases, and substantial gift card employee compensation which circumvented payroll taxes...
...They even recently exposed a superintendent – a candidate running for the state house – who racked up $5,000 on the school credit card at fast food restaurants...
...The Watchdogs live by Dillon’s Rule – a principle from a famous 1868 case that says government only has the power granted by law. As the Watchdogs argue, in the absence of a legal basis, government power is limited. Public bodies are asked to prove that public funds, property or credit are only being used only for public purposes (Article 8 Section 1 of Illinois Constitution). Trusting government to act in the public’s interest isn’t good enough. They require proof and verification...http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2014/11/05/sick-of-politics-more-than-100-illinois-public-officials-fled-their-positions-rather-than-face-these-watchdogs/2/
A recent Montgomery County Council report points out that the Montgomery County Public Schools teacher corps is not diverse enough when compared to the school system’s student body.Nearly, two-thirds of MCPS students are non-white and yet 76 percent of its teachers are white...
"I would also like to schedule a time to meet with you to discuss MPPCSA’s available resources to assist MCPS in assessing your current policies and practices and developing comprehensive strategies to reduce the risk of child sexual abuse within your schools."
...Parents were also furious about how the young victim had been handled at Clemente Middle once she reported Pineda’s alleged sexual assault. She was repeatedly questioned by staffers before police or her parents were called...
...It is widely recognized that child victims should not be subjected to numerous investigative interviews during the course of a child maltreatment investigation. As stated in the American Prosecution Research Institute’s Investigation and Prosecution of Child Abuse manual: “The number of investigative interviews should be limited to one whenever possible. Multiple sessions are stressful for the child, are often unnecessary, and can lead to seemingly inconsistent statements.”1
1American Prosecutors Research Institute, Investigation and Prosecution of Child Abuse 39 (3d ed. Sage Publications 2004).
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| http://www.enoughabuse.org/ |
...Clark County Sheriff Jerry Parsley personally responded to the scene that night, because he knew it was a heated situation. He told the BGA that Kraft handled the citizen's arrest responsibly, and the board was definitely in violation of the Open Meetings Act by not allowing the public to speak."It's not that they should have. They're mandated to," Parsley said. "The people need to have their voice. It's not a dictatorship. It's a democracy."...
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| This is the message that PTA members got last week. |
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| http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/9QXN6T5510AD/$file/141106%20Res%20Work%20Session%20Qs.pdf |
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| One ton of crumb rubber. Each field gets 120 tons of crumb rubber. |
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| Concept 1 - all of the red structures are new apartment buildings |
