What is the money for? We have no idea. Mr. Goodwin is using graduation to extort these funds from students. In MCPS graduation is a free event. Graduation is funded by the Board of Education as part of the MCPS Operating Budget. But, if parents and guardians want to throw an extra $50 bucks at Alan Goodwin, then be our guest.
Just know that there is no $50 "fee" for graduation and that punishing students for not paying this illegal fee is bullying and extortion.
The Board of Education and MCPS are teaching students a very important lesson about how public institutions can use their power to bully citizens and extort funds. We can expect this type of behavior to continue in Montgomery County for generations to come as our public school system trains each generation how to bully and extort from children.
From Whitman High School - January 13, 2015:
PLEASE SHARE THE MORNING ANNOUNCEMENTS WITH YOUR STUDENT(S)
Gardiner
A reminder to all seniors - It's time to get your senior dues in. Dues are $50.00 and both cash/checks are acceptable with checks made out to WWHS.
This covers the cost of caps/gowns, tickets and programs. It is now considered an obligation if dues have not been paid, which means that students cannot apply for parking second semester. In addition, prom tickets/picnic tickets will not be able to be purchased until dues have been paid. Please bring your payment to Mrs. Gardiner in the main office.
Posted by Donna Gardiner
Starrbucks!
ReplyDeleteYes, exactly... for a school like Whitman, $24,050 might cover lattes and scones.
DeletePaint Branch HS? More lattes and scones?
DeleteWonder if anyone will ask about it at the 2/4 meeting (see below)? I doubt it. Most will just pay the fee and go along with it. The parents down there don't bother to question anything at WWHS. You should check out the article in the B&W about some of the teachers that have spent their careers there, including the one assistant principal. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteOn Wednesday, February 4th, there will be a senior parent grad/post-prom meeting in the auditorium from 7:30pm – 9:00pm. During this time, you will hear from school staff, post-prom committee members and students discussing graduation, events coming up and important information regarding post-prom. If you have questions regarding graduation, this is the perfect time to get your answers. Please plan to attend this informative meeting.
Class dues for seniors at Sherwood High School for this 2014-2015 school year was $45.00. In the SHS Handbook, it states, "The dues cover graduation related items e.g.: cap and gown, senior breakfast, etc....Class dues must be paid in full no later than September 26, 2014 or a financial obligation will be issued to students" While it doesn't mention tickets as Whitman HS statement does, the expectation is there for graduation costs. Would be interesting to check other high school senior class expectations...
ReplyDeleteWe've already checked. We have been monitoring these illegal fees for years. Some schools give students their FREE public school graduation. NO SENIOR FEE. Imagine that. Others schools like Sherwood and Whitman prefer to extort money from seniors They are easy marks. They need to get their final transcript and they have events they want to attend. So they turn over the cash in order to get out the door. That's how extortion works.
DeleteBy the way, you can forget your "expectation". These fees do not pay for graduation. Graduation is already paid for by the MCPS Operating Budget. This is just a slush fund for lunches, dinners or other perks for administrators.
Look at how principals rip off their seniors.
Deletehttp://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2014/12/so-far-prize-for-most-ripped-off-kids.html
http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2010/04/who-sets-mandatory-senior-fees-in-moco.html
http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2009/03/graduating-not-so-fast-pay-up-or-stay.html
The notice from "Donna Gardiner" states that the fee covers the cost of the cap/gown as well as tickets and programs. Why not ask how much a cap/gown costs and what it costs to print the tickets and programs. Divide the total by number of seniors. Does it add up to $24,050?
DeleteYou can't add up costs that don't exist. MCPS supplies printed materials.
DeleteCap, gown and tassel = $15
BTW, the notices keep coming in the morning announcements from WWHS. The day after you posted this the school sent the same "reminder" to parents.
ReplyDeleteOf course! It's called EXTORTION! Just pay up and they will stop bothering you.
Delete"Notices" don't make it legal but they sure BULLY!
That's the point! Bully the families into submission. Now pay the fake fee and go away. That's what Joshua Starr and the BOE want you to do and year after year after year that's what MCPS parents do.
Well, except the ones that don't and those families get a free public education. The rest of the families are just suckers.
Sorry, your comment has been edited. We don't do crude here.
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you guys are stupid. I love how all your sources come from your own damn website.
...this is extortion....is it really? Stop spreading your ... across the web. BTW. The fees are most likely for the buses that transport the teachers down to D.A.R. since teachers are not required to go to graduation. They can stay at school and work. However to encourage that there are enough staff members at graduation, there are buses provided to staff as are snacks and water. There isn't a prime rib being served to everyone. If the BOE was paying for everything, why are elementary schools asking for school supplies?
@anonymous - Thanks for thinking that we wrote the Maryland Constitution, but we did not! The MD Constitution was not created by the Parents' Coalition. Neither was the letter from the Maryland Attorney General's office that confirms that public school is free.
DeleteUmmm fees for teachers to ride buses? You are kidding right? There is NO such thing as charging students for teacher bus rides! That's hysterical.
Why are elementary school short on school supplies? Because the teachers don't go before the BOE and ask for the funds for school supplies. Watch a BOE Operating Budget hearing and see how many teachers show up and ask for school supplies! Zip. If teachers need school supplies all they have to do is go to their union and ask. The money is there. Plenty of funding is there, so much that the BOE and MCPS administrators can take themselves out to lunch all the time! If teachers want that money for classrooms, they just need to ask, otherwise the BOE and administrators are dining out!