Superintendent Joshua Starr set up a secret task force to deal with the dozen arrests of MCPS staff on sexual abuse of students charges over the last 3 years. The secret task force began meeting on April 24, 2014.
Only now is the task force finally being reported on in the press. The Gazette is the first to break the story of the existence of this secret "task force." Note this secret task force does not have a website, press releases, or a twitter handle like the MCPS Cybercivility Task Force, nor does this task force have any public accountability.
Meanwhile, the MCPS Child Abuse Policy remains 26 YEARS out of date.
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...Group member Jennifer Alvaro — who teaches child abuse prevention
programs — called the work group “a complete farce” and said she sees
multiple problems in the system’s approach to child abuse.
One mistake the group has made, she said, is not discussing past or
recent specific incidents, including those at Clemente and Baker middle
schools.
“If you’re going to revamp the entire school system approach to
preventing the sexual abuse of its students, how can you do that without
looking at specific incidents?” she said.
Alvaro said the district is unnecessarily delaying certain actions
that could help address the issue. The school system needs to
immediately post more clearly visible information on child abuse on its
website and develop an employee code of conduct for a consistent
definition of inappropriate behavior, she said.
The packet recently given to principals indicates that the system is
providing contradictory directions, Alvaro said. She said she doesn’t
understand why some staff don’t know when to report an incident, which
some in the work group raised.
The school district has shown it is “unwilling or uncapable” of
making necessary changes, she said, and needs to hire an outside agency
to investigate and set up policies and procedures for the district
regarding child abuse.
“Their absolute refusal to be transparent about policies and
procedures, their refusal to post an employee code of conduct, their
refusal to be open with parents about the magnitude and extent of the
problem is keeping children in danger,” she said.
http://www.gazette.net/article/20141203/NEWS/141209633/1124/montgomery-schools-work-group-examining-child-abuse-policies&template=gazette
Let us hope that no part-time legislators are on this Secret Task Force and that none will be consulted!
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