Kirk Shipley, the rowing coach at Walt Whitman High in Bethesda, Md., held onto his job through two investigations into his behavior. Then he was arrested for sexual abuse.
— Lizzie Johnson (@lizziejohnsonnn) November 30, 2021
My latest for the @washingtonpost:
https://t.co/IvUPk73vV8
Tuesday, November 30, 2021
@lizziejohnsonnn · Kirk Shipley, the rowing coach at Walt Whitman High in Bethesda, Md., held onto his job through two investigations into his behavior. Then he was arrested for sexual abuse.
Virginia judge's ruling favors Fairfax County moms seeking to expose school board spending
...This fall, Tisler requested documents on how the school board is spending taxpayer dollars through the Freedom of Information Act.
After FCPS handed over more than 1,300 pages of information, the moms posted some of the documents on their website for others to read.
FCPS took the Fairfax County moms to court, asking a Fairfax Circuit Court judge to censor the information on the mom’s website in a preliminary injunction motion.
This past week, the judge denied most of the school district’s request delivering a legal win to the mom’s seeking transparency...
The Day After the Board of Education Voted on an Electric Bus Deal, MD Energy Admin Announced Award of $817,000 to Winning Bidder.
New Maryland Clean Fuels Incentive Program “Greens” Transportation Sector $1.3 Million Awarded to Five Organizations; Largest Electric School Bus Deployment
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kaymie Owen, CMP
kaymie.owen@maryland.gov 443-694- 3651
Baltimore, MD – The Clean Fuels Incentive Program (CFIP), created and managed by the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA), supports both the purchase of fleet alternative fuel vehicles and funding to expand the state’s alternative fueling infrastructure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions via proven technology. The CFIP is designed to permanently “green” Maryland’s transportation profile, which will improve air quality by reducing consumption of fossil fuels. The fiscal year 2021 (FY21) CFIP awards of $1.3M will fund an array of clean fuel projects across the state, including one of the largest electric school bus deployments in the country.
“The Clean Fuels Incentive Program expands Maryland’s alternative transportation sector and benefits both our environment and economy,” began Dr. Mary Beth Tung, MEA Director. “With this program, we bring Maryland the first electric school buses and first electric step vans, plus add emission-reduced propane vehicles and build upon our electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.”
Highland Electric Transportation (HET) provides electric school bus services, including acquisition, vehicle financing, maintenance, fueling/charging, and charge equipment management to school districts across the country. HET will use their FY21 award of $817,000 to purchase 19 electric school buses, one of the largest deployments of electric school buses in the U.S., that will be used by the Montgomery County Public School district. Use of these electric busses is expected to displace over 520,000 gallons of petroleum and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50% over the lifetime of the buses.
...
The transportation sector is responsible for the majority of Maryland’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Maryland Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act Plan. Efforts like CFIP help reduce emissions while also reducing fuel and maintenance costs for fleets. The FY21 CFIP is a competitive program that was fully subscribed in its first year. Click here to learn more about CFIP.
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The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) advises the governor and general assembly on all energy matters, promoting affordable, reliable and cleaner energy. MEA develops and administers programs and policy to support and expand all sectors of the state’s economy while benefiting all Marylanders and implementing legislation. For more information about the Maryland Energy Administration, visit www.Energy.Maryland.gov and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Monday, November 29, 2021
Open to the Public: Councilmember Evan Glass joins the Taxpayers League to discuss Thrive 2050 - Wed, December 1st at 12:30 pm
Instructions for Joining the Zoom meeting:
Via computer CLICK https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89873087297?pwd=N2VFVS9LSnNNeXRDdStQcWxSZEp2UT09
Meeting ID: 898 7308 7297
Passcode: 504928
Via cell phone, call
301-715-8592
Montgomery Co. schools back down from employee vaccine mandate
The county confirms it is now offering those who admit they haven’t been vaccinated, or who won’t say one way or the other, the alternative of once-a-week testing in order “to meet operational demands.”
In a statement, the school system cites changing conditions surrounding the pandemic, including increased vaccination numbers for adults and approval of the vaccine for children as young as five...
https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2021/11/mcps-backs-down-from-vaccine-mandate-for-employees/
Anne Arundel County Public Schools ESSER Funds Allocation Data
*Anne Arundel County Public Schools will receive its proportional share of these federal funds as noted. [Source: Office of Elementary & Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education, ESSER Funds]
- The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, passed on March 27, 2020, provided $13.5 billion to the ESSER Fund.
- The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSA), passed on Dec. 27, 2020, provided $54.3 billion in supplemental ESSER funding, known as the ESSER II fund.
- The American Rescue Plan Act, passed on March 11, 2021, provided $122.7 billion in supplemental ESSER funding, known as the ESSER III fund...
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Todd Watkins, Montgomery County Public Schools. Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo introduced Vendor to MCPS.
March 5, 2021
...Highland is one of many companies that has approached me over the last few years about electric school buses. This particular introduction was through one of our state delegates, David Fraser-Hidalgo, who is very into sustainability and environmental issues. He is the one that first asked for a meeting and brought us together with Highland.
Right from the beginning, they were a class act in my mind. They actually reached out in advance and shared their story and their agenda. I so appreciated that.
We then went to this meeting, and they shared their plan, and everyone started to question if it was possible with the existing funding, because prior to this, nobody thought it was. Everybody thought you had to get a grant or come up with a pot of money to make this work.
So we started looking into it a little bit further. We wanted to make sure that as we were investigating this, we did it in a way that fit with public school procurement, and so fairly quickly we put out an RFI, so that anyone who might have similar ideas could feed us information, that way we weren’t just dealing with one vendor...
...Prior to that, we bought our diesels and financed them over six years, but we didn’t want to go into big debt and take on the cost of electric vehicles right away, so we asked for a lease, we asked for budget-neutral, we asked for design and install, and management of all of the charging pieces. We asked for them to include the electric in the price, and we asked for them to maintain the buses. We actually maintain all of our diesel buses in our five depots, and we have five full automotive shops that run five days a week, and we didn’t want to lose those people.
We asked that they be responsible for the cost of maintenance, but we wanted a contract for us to provide the maintenance service, and that was a way to control the total cost without getting rid of our maintenance tradition...
...And at the same time, we were spending a lot of time scrubbing the contract and worked with an outside counsel group and our own Office of General Counsel. As we were getting close to the end of that project, I felt that we had spent so much time working on the legal aspects, but I didn’t feel that we had done enough analysis of the financial pieces. Someone from our budget office really helped us with that, and there was a very complex financial model that Highland created which we reviewed extensively.
One slip of a formula somewhere could have made millions of dollars of difference over the 16 years of replacing the fleet. I wanted to go to my board with a high degree of confidence and demonstrating that we are going to spend close to the same amount that we spent on diesel buses for the first six years, and then we actually start saving money as compared to using diesel buses.
That is without any grant money. It is not grant-dependent from the school system’s perspective, which is what was important to us in inking this deal.
Highland took on all the risk of that piece. They are hoping for and expecting to get some grants in this proposal that they will be applying for on behalf of them and us, and we have a sharing mechanism for the grants when they come in. They anticipate those grants enabling them to offer continually-better pricing as we move through the entire fleet, which is important. We save directly from a grant, which will accelerate our savings. Enough grants coming in could move the saving point up to year four instead of year seven, for example.
The more grant support on Highland’s end, the more they are able to offer competitive pricing along the way. It is not grant-dependent, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t seeking grants...
...This year we are leasing 25 electrics and buying 113 diesels. Next year, we are leasing 61 electrics, and the rest of our purchase will be diesel. We think it will be around 60. Then from year three on, we are doing nothing but electric, no more diesels, in terms of purchasing. We are going to let each diesel live out its useful life that we have already invested in, while replacing our fleet.
That third year will be the first year of 12 where we replace the entire fleet. Then years 13 and 14 will come back and pick up the diesels that we bought this year and next year. It is over 14 years that we replace all 1,422, and we believe that we can, as the need for maintenance comes down, save maintenance costs in two ways. One is that for each electric bus, we will save half of what we spent on diesel maintenance, and the second, is that we are going to get reimbursed by Highland for continuing our own maintenance...
https://school-busride.com/exclusive-interview-todd-watkins-montgomery-county-public-schools/
MCPS Electric Bus Deal: County Exec. Marc Elrich Introduced Company to MCPS. Delegate Fraser-Hidalgo Introduced Elrich to Company.
...Montgomery County Executive Marc B. Elrich (D) said he brought school system transportation and Highland Electric officials together after meeting the company’s CEO, Duncan McIntyre, in Annapolis.
The two had been introduced by Del. David Fraser-Hidalgo (D-Montgomery), a longtime proponent of electric buses.
In talking with McIntyre, Elrich became convinced that tax credits and depreciation allowances were starting to shift the economics... surrounding electric buses in a significant way...
Friday, November 26, 2021
Applications of citizens interested in the District 3 Board of Education seat
1.1 Cynthia Anderson-Clay
1.2 Rhonda Applebaum
1.3 Anil Chaudhry
1.4 Eric Delgado
1.5 Robert Demske
1.6 Ana Sol Gutierrez
1.7 Laurie Halverson
1.8 Merry Eisner Heidorn
1.9 Scott Joftus
1.10 Kim Becker Koch
1.11 Victor Mastroianni
1.12 Benjamin McDonough
1.13 Neal Orringer
1.14 Debby Orsak
1.15 Margery Smelkinson
1.16 Vashti Van Wyke
1.17 Julie Yang
1.18 Jeremy Young
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=C8L4RD0C1419
Thursday, November 25, 2021
Happy Thanksgiving
The Parents' Coalition wishes all a good and happy Thanksgiving. We are thankful that COVID vaccines for children are finally here. Get your children vaccinated!
Image from The New Yorker
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
Opinion: Wootton should take off the blinders
Thomas S. Wootton High School, its football team, its administrators and its community need to take off their blinders. Yet another incident regarding the football team and an allegation of sexual misconduct was reported.
Wootton is playing down the situation. Those present were asked to destroy videos (i.e., evidence), and the principal limited a subsequent meeting to football parents...
Breaking: County Executive Marc Elrich Withholds Financial Compliance Review of BusPatrol America, LLC from the County Council and Public
In December of 2019, the Montgomery County Internal Audit office completed a financial compliance review of BusPatrol America, LLC.
But the Internal Audit office only released the cover page of the audit to the County Council and the public.
The entire report has been kept secret from the public and from the County Council for two years.
***********************************
Montgomery County Internal Audit Program
This program provides independent strategic risk-based auditing services. The core function of this program is to improve internal controls and provide reasonable assurance of reliable financial reporting, effective and efficient operations, legal and regulatory compliance, fraud investigation and deterrence, and the safeguarding of County assets.
Montgomery County Internal Audit (MCIA) conducted a financial compliance review of BusPatrol for transactions occurring from July 1, 2016 through August 31, 2019, with the following objectives:
1. Obtain supporting documentation and verify the validity of charges billed to the County;
2. Calculate the total amount of payments made to BusPatrol and compare to the “Cost of Investment” reconciliation prepared by BusPatrol defined in the Agreement;
3. Confirm if (or when anticipated) the break-even point would be reached;
4. Perform analysis of any payments owed by the County to BusPatrol. This report summarizes the review performed.
THIS REPORT CONTAINS PROPRIETARY INFORMATION AND IS CONSIDERED CONFIDENTIAL. THE REPORT IS NOT AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC .
Balt. Co. Public Schools ransomware price tag nears $10 million
That comes one year after the cyber attack crippled the school system.
WYPR received the latest cost of the ransomware attack from the school system after submitting a Freedom of Information Act request. As of November 12, it is almost $9.7 million.
The school system is expecting about $2 million of the overall cost to be covered by insurance...
...The county schools had to shut down for three days last year because of the cyberattack. They were closed the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and two days the following week. Since then, the school system has been rebuilding its computer network and putting in safeguards...
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Big Win in Dyslexia Case! Court Orders District to Reimburse Parents $456,990.60
by Peter W.D. Wright & Pamela Wright
Wrightslaw.com
In O.R. v. Clark County Schools, a federal judge determined that the school district violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabiliation Act, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and ordered Clark County School District to reimburse the parents $456,990.60.
O.R. is a child with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. Fifteen to twenty percent of all school children have dyslexia. Dyslexia is the most common cause of reading, writing and spelling difficulties. [What is Dyslexia?]
Although dyslexia makes learning to read more difficult, children with dyslexia can learn to read if they have the right instruction. Parents of children with dyslexia who seek the "right instruction" in public school programs are often stunned when they encounter major obstacles to their reasonable requests that the school teach their children to read.
Few parents know that many teachers, including special education teachers, were not trained to teach children, including children with dyslexia, to read. Few parents are aware that many programs used by public schools to teach children to read are not effective or research-based.
This case is noteworthy in several respects. The Court held that:..
Monday, November 22, 2021
Montgomery County Board of Education Redistricting Plan Bill Hearing tomorrow, Tuesday, November 23, 7:00 p.m.
This is a final reminder that the Montgomery County Delegation will hold its Montgomery County Board of Education Redistricting Plan Bill Hearing tomorrow, Tuesday, November 23 at 7:00 p.m. Please click here to sign up to testify at this bill hearing. Further information about the Board of Education Redistricting Plan as well as a link to the different redistricting plan options can be found on the Calendar page of the website. Please click here to view the Redistricting Plan bill draft.
Any individual or group wishing to testify at Montgomery County Delegation public hearings should be aware of the following protocol:
The Board of Education Redistricting Plan Bill Hearing will be held virtually. If you wish to testify please sign up by 4:00 p.m. today, November 22; to sign up please click the above link - or you may e-mail: RStryer@house.state.md.us. Those registering later than that may be taken on a "virtual walk-in" basis the day of the hearing at the discretion of the Chair.
Written testimony is not required, but if you choose to have it distributed, please email it by 4:00 p.m. today, Monday, November 22 to RStryer@house.state.md.us to allow time for proper distribution to the Delegation Members. Written testimony will be made publicly available, and the bill number should be clearly indicated in the upper right-hand corner.
Individuals will have two minutes in which to speak; representatives of organizations will have three minutes; elected officials will have five minutes. Organizations will be limited to one representative speaking for three minutes. There is no ceding of time. Please note that the speaking order is at the discretion of the Chair.
This bill hearing will be live-streamed on the Delegation's YouTube page. Further specifics will be provided to those testifying.
Rebecca Stryer
Montgomery County Delegation Administrator
Maryland House of Delegates
Lowe House Office Building
6 Bladen Street, Room 219
Annapolis, MD 21401
301-957-6332
www.montgomerycountydelegation.com
The MCPS Electric Bus Deal: "The small, three-year-old company currently has only one school bus on the road."
...Montgomery County’s first 25 electric buses will begin operating this fall, followed by 61 buses in 2022 and then 120 in each of the two years after that. Spread across five bus depots, Montgomery ranks among the 10 largest school bus fleets in the country...
...The small, three-year-old company currently has only one school bus on the road. But this month it raised $253 million from venture capital firms.
Highland plans to buy its vehicles from Thomas Built Buses, a North Carolina subsidiary of Daimler Benz, and use batteries made by California-based Proterra. Proterra says its school bus batteries can completely recharge in three hours...
Friday, November 19, 2021
District 15 Open Seat - Deadline to Apply: November 29th, 5pm
Want to have some say in the governing of MCPS and the county? Tired of the secrecy and governing by in-the-bubble folks? Sen. Kathleen Dumais has left an open seat. If you are a Democrat living in District 15, please apply!
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MCPS bus depot employee accused of assaulting, sexually harassing female staffer at work
The alleged victim and suspect both work at the Shady Grove Bus Depot on Crabbs Branch Way in Derwood. The sprawling property houses hundreds of school buses and the administrative offices for the school system's department of transportation...
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