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Wednesday, November 27, 2019

WTOP: Parents, students protest school boundary change in Montgomery County



Parents and children, many from Clarksburg, Maryland, turned out in strong numbers to protest changes to school district boundaries Tuesday night outside the Montgomery County Board of Education.

Inside board headquarters, members voted 7-1 to approve Superintendent Jack Smith’s recommendation for school district boundary changes for Clarksburg, Northwest and Seneca Valley High Schools...
...“I have two siblings, and they’re going to two different schools; and all three of us, we’re going to be going to three different schools in three different ZIP codes and that’s a lot,” Van Herksen said...


Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Don’t alienate students: keep SMOB nonpartisan #StudentMemberoftheBoard #ethics #nonpartisan

Montgomery County is considered one of the most liberal areas of the country. In the 2016 Presidential Election, Democrat Hilary Clinton received 74.7% of the vote in the County while Republican Donald Trump only received 19.1%. Democrats clearly outnumber Republicans in Montgomery County, but that doesn’t mean we should isolate Republicans in all facets of government. 
The 2019–2020 Student Member of the Board, Nate Tinbite, has done this. 
Tinbite is one of just a handful of SMOBs to publicly declare his political party: he’s a Democrat, and he vocally expresses his liberal views on social media. On Oct. 19, he posted on his Instagram that he intended to vote for a Democrat, either Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders, in the 2020 Election. More recently, on Nov. 15, Tinbite posted an image of himself with Education Secretary Betsy Devos on his Twitter, captioning it, “only one of us supports public education.” Tinbite later tweeted that, “this tweet is an opinion of my own, not representative of my system or others.”
But Tinbite should follow past SMOBs and remain apolitical in order to create a more inclusive, non-partisan environment across MCPS. As a result of his partisan vocality, he’s isolated students who lean further right on the political spectrum, and he’s created unnecessary distractions from his goals for the school system. 
Many conservative students in MCPS have cited concerns regarding a lack of representation. They don’t feel supported by a SMOB that adamantly disagrees with their stances on federal politics.
“I voted for Tinbite under the impression that he would focus on MCPS,” said Trey Lee, a conservative junior. “His liberal posts on social media have definitely made me hesitant to support him. I don’t know if I would’ve voted for him if I knew he had all these beliefs that contradicted mine.”
By focusing on divisive national politics, Tinbite has distracted students from pressing local issues regarding high school students. 
“In SMOB candidates’ campaigns, their promises are centered around the changes they would make,” junior David Singer said. “It would be more practical for them to use their professional accounts to poll students on relevant local issues.”..

MCPS CLASS OF 2019 SCORED 48 POINTS LOWER ON SAT, BUT PARTICIPATION RISES

The Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Class of 2019 scored 48 points lower on the SAT than the Class of 2018. The average combined score for 2019 was 1119. 
The average combined score for all Maryland public school graduates in 2019 was 1041, a 25-point decrease from 2018. MCPS graduates earned 78 points more compared to other public school graduates in Maryland this year.
In mean total scores, Hispanic/Latino graduates scored 74 points lower on the SAT in 2019. Special education graduates scored 95 points lower, and FARMS (Free and Reduced Price Meals) students scored 52 points lower. 
The SAT includes two sections: Evidence-based Reading and Writing (ERW), and Math. The College Board has benchmark scores in both of these sections that indicate college/career readiness. The benchmark score for ERW is 480, and for Math it is 530. 
Among Hispanic graduates, 16.2 percent fewer students reached the benchmark score in the ERW section in 2019 than in 2018. In the Math section, 13.2 percent fewer Hispanic students reached the benchmark. 
Special education graduates saw a 16.3 percent drop in benchmark scores on the ERW section, and a 13.5 percent drop in Math.  
2019 graduates who received FARMS saw a 12.9 percent drop in ERW benchmark scores...

Two Fairfax County teachers have been accused of sex crimes involving students

Howard school board gives final OK to redistricting plan that addresses overcrowding, balances poverty levels

After nine packed work sessions, several protests, thousands of pages of comments, and scrutiny of neighborhoods and school maps, the Howard County Board of Education voted Thursday to move about 5,400 students to new schools for the 2020-21 academic year, according to the school system.
With all but one of 55 motions approved, the board’s plan makes modest improvements in balancing the levels of poverty across the county’s schools by moving 2,827 elementary, 568 middle and 2,007 high school students, capping a contentious redistricting process.
The motion that failed would have moved students out of Clarksville Middle School to Lime Kiln Middle.
“Board members, we have just completed a long, arduous comprehensive redistricting process,” Howard schools Superintendent Michael Martirano said Thursday night. “This is the largest redistricting effort in Howard County’s history ... undoing nearly a decade worth of overcrowding at many of [our] schools, [and] advancing socioeconomic equity across all schools and yet we still have more work to do.”..

...Clemens Crossing Elementary School parents rejoiced for about two minutes Thursday night after a decision to move their neighborhoods to Bryant Woods Elementary failed.
After taking a brief break, the board came back to reverse the decision.
Vice Chairwoman Kirsten Coombs said, through tears, that not moving the Clemens Crossing students would have affected the entire plan.
Wearing bright orange shirts, parents whose children attend Clemens Crossing Elementary abruptly left the meeting after the decision.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

With the final vote tonight, here’s a timeline of what’s happened in the Howard redistricting process

Almost 10 months to the day after the Howard County Board of Education charged the superintendent to embark on a comprehensive redistricting process, the final vote to move 5,320 students for next September is today.
On Monday, the school board took three straw votes to move a total of 5,320 students; however, the final number of students affected will change because rising juniors being grandfathered was not factored in at the time of the straw vote. The school board’s plan currently looks to move 2,827 elementary, 486 middle and 2,007 high school students...

ABC7: Mason added the girl on Snapchat in June and gained her trust over summer break, police allege. In September, the 42yo teacher told the girl he was "interested in her," police add. #MagruderHighSchool

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Charging documents say the teacher — Peter Mason — who’s been an @MCPS employee since 2011 confessed to a family member that he was engaging in a “physical relationship” with the 17-year-old female victim.

Magruder High School Teacher Charged with Sex Abuse of Juvenile Student

Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – Special Victims Investigations Division, have arrested and charged Peter Wright Priest Mason, age 42, of New Market, for sexually abusing a Colonel Zadok Magruder High School female student.  At the time of these offenses, Mason was employed as a teacher for Montgomery County Public Schools at Colonel Zadok Magruder High School which is located at 5939 Muncaster Mill Road in Derwood.
On November 2, detectives began investigating the report that Mason had engaged in a sexual relationship with the victim.
This afternoon (November 20), Mason was arrested on the strength of a Montgomery County arrest warrant charging him with sexual abuse of a minor and fourth-degree sex offense by a person in a position of authority.
Bond information for Mason is currently unavailable.
Inquiries regarding Mason’s employment status should be directed to MCPS.
Mason has been employed with MCPS since 2011 and worked as a paraeducator at Northwest High School (located at 13501 Richter Farm Road in Germantown) from 2011 to 2015.  Detectives are requesting that parents of students who may have had contact with Mason talk to their children about their interactions with him and contact SVID detectives at 240-773-5400 if they believe their child was victimized.

Mike Rowe: Lack of shop classes is why we’re $1.6T in student debt

"Dirty Jobs" host Mike Rowe told FOX Business' Stuart Varney students continue to choose the expensive career path when there’s excessive demand for blue-collar workers. According to Rowe, there are currently millions of jobs out there that do not require a college degree...

https://www.wdrb.com/news/national/mike-rowe-lack-of-shop-classes-is-why-we-re/article_aad28c1e-0226-11ea-9da4-970d2e87a9b6.html?fbclid=IwAR1L52Z0XWPAQiDPoakGkgSzzgwLFbgcencqZku0ztMf69epIrmWQzSSpVo

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

School bus camera contract under review in Montgomery Co.

Montgomery County, Maryland, schools plan to renegotiate a contract to put stop arm cameras on its school bus fleet, and the county’s inspector general wants more documentation.
Megan Davey Limarzi, who was appointed inspector general in September, noted the current contract is “slightly unusual.”..
...Glass said he was confused by some of the terms of the contract, and cited redactions in the original agreement...

Monday, November 18, 2019

Today, the Public Learned that $9.3 Million is Unaccounted for in Exterior Bus Camera Citation Collection

At today's Montgomery County Council hearing on the bus cameras installed on the exterior of MCPS school buses, Montgomery County Police stated that the citations issued to date have generated $21.4 million in fines.

However, when tracking the citation fines paid to Montgomery County, it is only possible to account for $12,086,617.  

Which leaves $9.3 million in citation fines unaccounted for in the public documents that track the receipt of these fines.

The public also learned at the hearing that the revenue sharing deal that was supposed to be agreed upon by December of 2016 under the contract (shown below), still has not been finalized.  That puts incoming revenue in limbo, but where is the incoming citation revenue being held during these years of negotiations?  That question was not asked or answered at today's hearing.

Is the revenue in excess of the contract price being held by the vendor pending resolution of the revenue sharing agreement? 





11/18 TODAY at 2PM Watch as Council Covers Up No Bid Contract That Violates Maryland Law. $18M+ Goes to Vendor, $0 to County. No IG Oversight. No AUDIT.




All Committee meetings are televised live, except those indicated below that are on County Cable Montgomery,
streaming live at http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/ondemand/index.html
Videos are archived and available on-demand 24 hours after the meeting concludes.

.@MCPS School Districts Debate: equity, capacity & access are among the data points analyzed in study to be released tonight. Interesting contrast in 2 screenshots from website. Second is from approved contract.


MCPS Spends Operating Budget $$$ to Fly Administrator to Dallas to meet with ONE Vendor. Contract then Awarded to that vendor without RFP or Competitive Bids. Competitors out of luck. Teachers, buy your own supplies, Directors need Double Scoops at Baskin Robbins. @mcps @mocoboe @MoCoCouncilMD

Double scoop receipt, but no dinner receipt?
MCPS Expense report showing that MCPS spent $495.72 in 2015 sending the Director of Transportation, Todd Watkins to Dallas, Texas in to meet with one vendor. 

The vendor was then awarded a contract without a RFP and without any other vendor being able to bid on this $18 million+ procurement.

Is it standard practice for public school system administrators in Maryland to spend Operating Budget funds to fly to the location of vendors?  Do all vendors get this kind of attention?  

How many MCPS contracts are awarded to vendors without an RFP being issued and without competitors having any chance of bidding?  There are competitors in the exterior bus camera market, but MCPS and Montgomery County Police did not allow any of those competitors to bid on this $18 million++ procurement.  This one vendor was awarded this contract after MCPS sent an administrator to Dallas, Texas.  

Remember there is  no oversight over MCPS or the Board of Education.  The Montgomery County Inspector General will never evaluate this procurement.  The IG released a report in July that evaluated the Police departments participation in this procurement, but the report did not evaluate the actual contract or any of the contract award details because those details were done by Montgomery County Public Schools Interim Superintendent Larry Bowers.

By having MCPS contract with the exterior bus camera vendor, which was in violation of the Maryland law authorizing these cameras, the entire contract process escapes oversight or review because MCPS is not subject to the Montgomery County Inspector General's oversight and there is no required oversight at the State level.

Below is the Expense report for MCPS Director of Transportation Todd Watkins to travel to Dallas, Texas to meet with Force Multiplier Solutions contact. (Force Multiplier CEO and contacts are  now in federal prison for bribery and other crimes related to this company.

Did the (no bid) vendor take the MCPS Director out to dinner while he was in Dallas?  There doesn't seem to be a receipt for dinner on the first day of the trip to Dallas. 




“Protecting America’s Schools: A U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Targeted School Violence”

(Washington, D.C.) - The U.S. Secret Service today released a new report on targeted school
violence in the United States.
The study, Protecting America’s Schools: A U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Targeted School
Violence, identifies 41 incidents of attacks against K-12 schools in the United States from 2008
to 2017. Researchers with the Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) have
examined the background and behaviors of the attackers and identified a series of key findings
and significant commonalities.
“Keeping schools safe requires a team effort, and I am proud to stand with our partners across
the federal, state and local governments, our school boards, law enforcement and the public in
this important work to better protect our children,” said U.S. Secret Service Director James M.
Murray. “The Secret Service will steadfastly continue these collaborative efforts in support of
our nation’s schools and communities.”
The report identifies ten key findings among the 41 incidents:
 There is no profile of a student attacker, nor is there a profile for the type of school that has
been targeted.
 Attackers usually had multiple motives, the most common involving a grievance with
classmates.
 Most attackers used firearms, and firearms were most often acquired from the home.
 Most attackers had experienced psychological, behavioral, or developmental symptoms.
 Half of the attackers had interests in violent topics, like the Columbine shooting or Hitler.
 All attackers experienced social stressors involving their relationships with peers and/or
romantic partners.
 Nearly every attacker experienced negative home life factors.
 Most attackers were victims of bullying, which was often observed by others.
 Most attackers had a history of school disciplinary actions, and many had prior contact with
law enforcement.
 All attackers exhibited concerning behaviors. Most elicited concern from others, and most
communicated their intent to attack...


https://www.secretservice.gov/data/press/releases/2019/19-NOV/Secret-Service-Releases-New-Research-On-School-Violence.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2CH1yqt0xKTe67XdWuczHSTmv3pIyWUMJh8FW8VHs9mdiJxN8XzBVJ35w

Sunday, November 17, 2019

County Council Ratifies Illegal Contract Action by Board of Education, Will Take NO ACTION on Inspector General's Report

On Monday, November 18, 2019, the Montgomery County Council will hold a hearing to discuss the contract that the Board of Education entered into to place cameras on the outside of school buses.

The County Council will take no action with regard to this contract even though this action by the Board of Education was not authorized by the Maryland legislature.


Maryland law is clear. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES are authorized by the legislature to place cameras on the outside of school buses.  




Yet, in Montgomery County, Maryland where laws are apparently optional, the police department did not enter into a contract to place cameras on the outside of school buses.  Instead the Board of Education entered into a contract with a company that has long since been shut down after the FBI began arresting, convicting and sending those involved with that scheme to prison.  The company reformed with a new name, but with most of the same officers and the Board of Education kept sending them money with out a discussion of the original, now void contract.  

The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD made the Board of Education contract available to the public in September of 2019, three years after it had been signed by Interim Superintendent Larry Bowers on his last day in office as a MCPS employee.

The contract shows that the Board of Education President Mike Durso never signed the contract 

The Maryland legislature did not authorize Maryland Boards of Education to enter into exterior bus camera schemes, nor did they authorize a Superintendent to enter into a bus camera scheme.  

In July of 2019, the Montgomery County Inspector General issues a report with regard to the Montgomery County Police Department's involvement with the bus camera scheme, but did not evaluate the role of the Board of Education.  The IG's report did not mention that the Board of Education's contract with a bus camera company was not authorized under Maryland law.

The Montgomery County Council will discuss the IG's report but will ignore Maryland law and will take no action with regard to the fact that a private company is sending out citations to County citizens for a bus camera scheme that was not authorized by the Maryland legislature.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Neelsville Middle School SGA says students call school "prison on the hill." @mcps @mocoboe

Public Comment from Neelsville Middle School SGA students at the November 5, 2019, Board of Education Facilities and Boundary Hearing.

Students discussed the one bathroom used by boys, girls and staff (each has their own stall), the lack of an elevator for access to all floors, and the need to have one hall be used for only one way traffic among other issues with the building.

One student asked the panelists about working towards improving things like bathrooms and water fountains at MCPS facilities.

Youth Town Hall allows students to voice concerns to elected officials

...Although many students were able to ask the panelists questions, there were still many who kept their hands raised right until the final minutes of the youth town hall...

https://mont.thesentinel.com/2019/11/07/youth-town-hall-allows-students-to-voice-concerns-to-elected-officials/?fbclid=IwAR03cvveOuTGhOze0b_173Fn3_TAvlCeineEM0p6scrDu-sNzfonG84vMfc

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Sprinkler Activation Forces Bethesda-Chevy Chase High To Dismiss Early



https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/sprinkler-activation-forces-bethesda-chevy-chase-high-to-dismiss-early/


--------------------------------

Subject: Fire Alarm and Building Evacuation 11/13/2019
 
Good afternoon Barons,

This afternoon at approximately 1:20 p.m. a sprinkler head in one of our science classrooms went off causing us to evacuate the building. The fire department responded, turned off the water, and cleared us to re-enter the building at 1:55 p.m. The fire alarm went off again at approximately 2:08 p.m. and the building evacuated. We were cleared to reenter the building at 2:25 p.m. Dismissal occurred at 2:30 p.m. as normal. TAP and other after school activities are proceeding as scheduled. All community use of the building has been canceled to allow for cleaning and repairs.

Building services, MCPS maintenance, and contractors are currently working to clean the affected area and assess the damage. At this time, we do not anticipate any changes to tomorrow’s schedule. I will share another update if this status changes.

Please let contact the main office if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

SM

_____________________________
Shelton Mooney, Ed.D.
Acting Principal
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School

NYC Public School Parents: What's really behind the city, state and national ...

NYC Public School Parents: What's really behind the city, state and national ...: The results of the biennual national tests called NAEPs were released on October 30, showing stagnant or declining test scores in reading ...

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Extended stop sign arm installed on school bus eliminates passing: Move solves problem

KEYSER, W.Va. – The addition of a five-foot stop sign arm installed on one of Mineral County’s school buses is proving to be helping to keep children safer, school officials said.
John Droppleman of the school system’s transportation department told the Board of Education on Tuesday that the extended arm was installed on bus No. 57.
“That was a bus that the driver indicated he had seen cars passing the bus when it was stopped to load and unload students,” Droppleman said, adding that there has been a significant improvement since the extension was installed.
The new arm extends five feet farther from the side the the bus.
“There were an increased number of stop arm violations reported,” he said. “Since the installation of the arm two weeks ago, there has not been a single violation reported.”

Monday, November 11, 2019

MCPS Bus Recall: The lack of impact absorption increases the risk of injury in the event of a crash.

Problem Description:
Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2014-2020 Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner EFX, Minotour, Saf-T-Liner
C2, and Saf-T-Liner HDX school buses equipped with SynTec S3B or S3C seats. The seats may have been manufactured with
styrene blocks that may not provide sufficient impact absorption in certain specific areas around the steel seat frame of the back
support. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number
222, "School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection.


DEFECT REPORT AT THIS LINK.



https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2019/RCAK-19V712-6834.pdf

Toxic PFAS Chemicals Found in Artificial Turf

Reporter Sharon Lerner, Oct 8, 2019, The Intercept. Full story here.

PFAS chemicals have been identified in synthetic turf, according to lab tests performed on several samples of the artificial grass that were shared with The Intercept. The presence of the chemicals, members of a class that has been associated with multiple health problems, including cancer, adds to growing concerns about the grass replacement that covers many thousands of acres in parks, schools, professional sports stadiums, and practice fields around the U.S.

In one set of tests, the PFAS chemicals were detected in the plastic backing of two samples of the turf. In another, in which the “blades” of the artificial grass were analyzed, scientists measured significant levels of fluorine, which is seen as an indication of the presence of the chemicals.

“We’re seeing unexplained levels of fluorine-based compounds in all of the eight samples of turf grass blades we’ve looked at,” says Jeff Gearhart of the Ecology Center, a nonprofit environmental research group based in Michigan that tested the turf blades. The samples of the blades that tested positive for fluorine were made by two different companies, Shaw Industries and Turf Factory Direct.

NYT: Child Abusers Run Rampant as Tech Companies Look the Other Way [How many pictures of MCPS students are circulating on the Internet today?]

The two sisters live in fear of being recognized. One grew out her bangs and took to wearing hoodies. The other dyed her hair black. Both avoid looking the way they did as children.
Ten years ago, their father did the unthinkable: He posted explicit photos and videos on the internet of them, just 7 and 11 at the time. Many captured violent assaults in their Midwestern home, including him and another man drugging and raping the 7-year-old.
The men are now in prison, but in a cruel consequence of the digital era, their crimes are finding new audiences. The two sisters are among the first generation of child sexual abuse victims whose anguish has been preserved on the internet, seemingly forever.
This year alone, photos and videos of the sisters were found in over 130 child sexual abuse investigations involving mobile phones, computers and cloud storage accounts.
The digital trail of abuse — often stored on Google Drive, Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive — haunts the sisters relentlessly, they say, as does the fear of a predator recognizing them from the images...
...Amazon, whose cloud storage services handle millions of uploads and downloads every second, does not even look for the imagery. Apple does not scan its cloud storage, according to federal authorities, and encrypts its messaging app, making detection virtually impossible. Dropbox, Google and Microsoft’s consumer products scan for illegal images, but only when someone shares them, not when they are uploaded.
And other companies, including Snapchat and Yahoo, look for photos but not videos, even though illicit video content has been exploding for years. (When asked about its video scanning, a Dropbox spokeswoman in July said it was not a “top priority.” On Thursday, the company said it had begun scanning some videos last month.)..

...During the trial, an investigator said that offenders often knew that live streams are harder to detect and leave no record.
“That’s why they go to Zoom,” said the federal prosecutor in the case, Austin Berry, during his closing remarks. “It’s the Netflix of child pornography.” Prosecutions in other cases have involved live streaming on Apple’s FaceTime, Facebook, Omegle, Skype, YouNow and others...


https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/09/us/internet-child-sex-abuse.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Friday, November 8, 2019

Maryland leaders propose record $2.2 billion to quickly build, repair schools

...The $2.2 billion would be in addition to the roughly $400 million per year that Maryland already dedicates to fixing school buildings. The Maryland Stadium Authority would oversee construction and issue revenue bonds to cover the costs. The debt would be repaid over decades, using $125 million per year out of about $538 million in tax receipts generated by Maryland’s casino industry...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/maryland-leaders-propose-record-22-billion-to-quickly-build-repair-schools/2019/11/06/c5c4a63a-00a3-11ea-8bab-0fc209e065a8_story.html

ABC7: Police investigating Magruder High School teacher for 'inappropriate conduct' with student

DERWOOD, Md. (ABC7) - A Magruder High School teacher has been placed on administrative leave while police investigate allegations he or she engaged in "inappropriate conduct" with a student.
On Monday evening, Magruder Principal Leroy Evans sent an email alerting parents and students about the concerning situation.
"MCPS is fully cooperating with the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) and the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office on this matter and the teacher has been placed on administrative leave while MCPD investigates," Evans wrote...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

WSJ: For Sale: SAT-Takers’ Names. Colleges Buy Student Data and Boost Exclusivity

For 47 Cents, the College Board will sell an individual's information, feeding admissions frenzy


Jori Johnson took the practice SAT test as a high-school student outside Chicago. Brochures later arrived from Vanderbilt, Stanford, Northwestern and the University of Chicago.
The universities’ solicitations piqued her interest, and she eventually applied. A few months later, she was rejected by those and three other schools that had sought her application, she said.  The high school valedictorian's test scores, while strong by most standards ...