In every school district but Garrett and Prince George's counties, there is a higher percentage of Black students than Black teachers...
According to a letter sent by the school system’s chief operating officer, Brian Hull, there has been a rise of “staff accounts being reported on,” which Montgomery County Public Schools had to follow up on...
For many Montgomery County Public School students, the school bus is their main option for getting to-and-from school. However, several students who take bus route 2305 from Quince Orchard have reported uncomfortable riding conditions – including Villalba-Lopez – saying that some riders are forced to either squeeze into filled seats or sit in the aisle.
When the dismissal bell rings, Villalba-Lopez must factor in the amount of time it takes for her to leave her last class and make her way to the afternoon bus. If she takes too long, she may find herself struggling to get a seat...
About 50 people rallied by the entrance to the Carver Educational Services Center in Rockville, which houses the county board of education, while a meeting was taking place inside. They chanted, “Reinstate our teachers now.”..
Virginia’s Fairfax County Public Schools, one of the nation’s largest districts, should make several changes to safeguard student privacy, according to legal experts who investigated the recent accidental release of sensitive, confidential records on more than 35,000 students.
Several of the documents were internal memos about special education services and litigation against the district that included the names of two former students who had brought lawsuits related to alleged sexual assaults. Another spreadsheet identified at least 60 students struggling with mental health issues including suicidal thoughts, self harm and eating disorders.
In the future, investigators said that attorneys should review and label files before a parent inspects them and urged staff throughout the district to be trained on the “importance of redacting and safeguarding confidential information.” In a letter to families Thursday, Superintendent Michelle Reid said the district would comply with all of the recommendations...
Based on the IRS definition of a part-time employee, Navarro could work up to 30 hours per week or 130 a month. At her current hourly rate, she could pocket up to $37,681 in three months...
...After Navarro was hired, school community members, county residents and advocates were eager to learn about her compensation and details surrounding the decision-making. At the time of the announcement, MCPS spokesperson Chris Cram did not answer questions about Navarro’s employment and the details of her employment were unknown until now.
Janis Sartucci, a member of the Montgomery County Parents Coalition, an advocacy and MCPS watchdog group, said at the time that the hiring was “shocking” and brought into question the priorities of the school system.
“We’ve seen other superintendents … that would bring in consultants, advisers, mentors and to be honest, we always have the same question: Why are those positions more important than classroom teachers? Is that what it means to fund an education system?” Sartucci said.
She echoed that sentiment of Friday, saying that teachers “beg” for school supplies in a Facebook group and believes that should be a spending priority that comes before hiring an senior adviser.
Sartucci also said that she and other advocates are left wondering if Navarro will have an expense account, credit card or a car, and whether Board of Education had involvement in the hiring process...
Navarro’s MCPS pay released: three months, $96.62 per hour | MoCo360
The budget was released Thursday.
Also Thursday, MCPS revealed the salary of former Councilmember Nancy Navarro, who was appointed recently as senior advisor for external affairs in McKnight’s office.
According to the Maryland Public Information Act filed by MCM, Navarro will be paid $96.62 an hour with no benefits for her work as a temporary, part-time position. The Dec. 21 response did not reveal how many hours she was hired for and whether there was a limit on those hours...
The original date to submit responses by March 15 remains, but local school officials will only have to answer questions and prompts on one page labeled “Systemwide Blueprint Implementation.”
One of the prompts request school officials to address in their responses: “How your district is communicating its goals and plans with those implementing the Blueprint in the district, including principals and educators; soliciting feedback; and adapting its communication strategies to improve stakeholder understanding of the Blueprint’s purpose.”..
School systems to receive more time to develop next Blueprint plan submissions - Maryland Matters
With a huge amount of help from the Public Access Ombudsman at the Maryland Attorney General's office, the Parents' Coalition has finally obtained a copy of the contract between the Montgomery County Board of Education and the Jackson Lewis law firm.
The contract, which was never approved by the Board of Education as required by law, is dated August 24, 2023 but covers the period July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. To be clear: The Jackson Lewis law firm began their work long before the contract was signed. We're not sure that matters much, though, since the contract has never been approved by the Board of Education — unless they approved it in secret, which would be a violation of the Open Meetings Act.
Since the contract was never approved by the Board of Education, there is literally no executed contract between the Board of Education and Jackson Lewis. The Board of Education isn't obligated or even authorized to pay Jackson Lewis for their services.
Note to Supt. McKnight: December 20, 2023 is a Wednesday.
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The news release from Service Employees International Union, Local 500, Montgomery County Education Association and Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals praised the proposed Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Montgomery County Public Schools budget for “fulfilling many of the basic agreements that are required to retain the highly qualified staff who work to keep this system going day in and day out.”..
The Amherst County Sheriff's Office said seven children at Central Elementary School in Amherst "experienced a reaction to ingesting gummy bears" while at school on Tuesday. Five students were transported to area hospitals for treatment, officials said...
In September, state Administrative Law Judge Stacey Bawtinhimer ruled that Wake County had violated federal law by not providing a free and appropriate public education to a middle school student with disabilities. Bawtinhimer ordered Wake to provide the student and his family with 402 hours of compensatory education services, which have an estimated cost of $87,500.
Fresh off the state win, the family filed a federal lawsuit against Wake on Oct. 20 to try to recoup $219,193 in legal fees...
Judge Rules School District Let Special Ed Student 'Abscond' From Classes - Disability Scoop
An indictment was returned against John Anthony Vigna on Nov. 30. Officials say Vigna is additionally charged with one count of sexual abuse of a minor and three counts of third-degree sex offense...
...According to Montgomery County Police, new victims have come forward since Vigna's initial conviction. Detectives said they believe more victims could still be out there. They are asking anyone with information about the case to contact the Special Victims Investigation Division of MCPD at 240-773-5050. Tips can also be reported online at www.crimessolversmcmd.org.
New charges filed against Maryland teacher convicted of sex abuse | wusa9.com
Students with disabilities account for a larger percentage of those attending public schools than just a few years ago, according to findings from the U.S. Department of Education’s latest civil rights data collection. At the same time, these children are far more likely than others to be subject to restraint and seclusion, be suspended or expelled or referred to law enforcement.
The information offers a look at the situation across more than 17,000 school districts and over 97,000 public schools during the 2020–2021 school year...
Ed Department Finds Students With Disabilities Disproportionately Disciplined - Disability Scoop
So let me understand: Seven years and 18 complaints from staff members were apparently not enough to convince Montgomery County Public Schools that Mr. Beidleman was not a good staff member to keep, never mind promote. I wonder what the threshold of complaints needed to be for the school board to have acted...
Work Plan & Projected Budget Fiscal Years 2022 – 2025 (montgomerycountymd.gov)
Please see our previous extensive coverage of the arrest, conviction, vacated conviction, and re-trial of former MCPS elementary school teacher John Vigna. Recall that Mr. Vigna was never fired by the Montgomery County Board of Education and his teaching license was never revoked. He was allowed to retire and voluntarily surrender his teaching license. His original conviction was vacated and he was released from prison. A new trial on those charges has been scheduled for 2024. Now additional charges have been filed against Mr. Vigna.
New charges were filed against Mr. Vigna on November 30, 2023.
From Maryland Judiciary Case Search:
Circuit Court For Montgomery County - Criminal
Location: Montgomery Circuit Court
Case Number: C-15-CR-23-001418
Title: State of Maryland vs. JOHN VIGNA
Case Type: Criminal Indictment
Filing Date: 11/30/2023
Case Status: Open
Frangos was told the median wasn’t high enough, but that’s not what state law says. PennDot’s law clearly states: “If physical barriers such as grassy medians, guide rails or concrete median barriers separate oncoming traffic from the bus, motorists in the opposing lanes may proceed without stopping.”
If physical barriers such as grassy medians, guide rails or concrete median barriers separate oncoming traffic from the bus, motorists in the opposing lanes may proceed without stopping. Just on principle, I’d spend $2,000 to fight it before I will pay the school system,” Frangos added.
Jay Beeber wrote a report for the National Motorists Association. He says data nationwide shows automated cameras don’t make kids safer and a cut of the revenue goes to the local school district...
11 Investigates digs into people wrongfully ticketed by automated cameras on school buses – WPXI
Noting that a blue ribbon commission had spent over a year crafting plans to enhance the powers of Madigan’s office to undercover waste, fraud and abuse in county government, the Association of Inspectors General said Jones’ amendments would upend the county’s “progress towards the creation of a truly independent office of the inspector general.”
“The AIG calls on the Baltimore County Council to reject Council Chair Jones’ amendments to Bills 83-23 and 84-23,” the group, which represents 2,000 federal, state and local government watchdog offices, said in a statement released from its New York headquarters.
The statement follows Jones’ attempt last Monday to slip unpublicized and unvetted changes into inspector general bills up for a final vote at the Council.
Shortly before the scheduled vote, The Brew disclosed the secret amendments, which Jones had sent to fellow Council members the day before on his private email account...
But now, Pittsburgh Public School buses are using automated cameras that send tickets and our viewers say they’re not working.
“I think the system was designed to make money,” Lance Duggar tells 11 Investigates...
...He got a $300 violation in the mail and said he was so surprised, he thought it was a scam. He was able to go online and look at the video footage showing his “violation.” The video showed he didn’t pass the bus on Brownsville Road while the red lights were flashing, so he went to court and won.
BusPatrol says a Pittsburgh Public Police officer looks at the video before a citation is actually mailed out. Dugger says, based on what he saw, he’s not sure anyone reviewed his case. And it came with court costs he said he had to pay for in cash.
“$90. I don’t have 90 dollars [in court costs] to give away,” he said...
11 Investigates viewer complaints about school bus cameras wrongly ticketing people – WPXI
"This is a chronic problem. They started a lead remediating program in 2004 and they said they had finished all their steps in their strategic plan in 2018 - and here we are in 2023 and the schools do not have filtered water," says Christina Toy who has a student attending classes.
Since 2019, every school has been provided at least one filtered water fountain with a bottle fill, district officials told 7News. That's at least one filtered water fountain at each of its 200 schools with roughly 131,600 thirsty students combined...
Prince George's County parents want public schools to supply more safe water fountains | WJLA
The math performance of U.S. teenagers has sharply declined since 2018, with scores lower than 20 years ago, and with American students continuing to trail global competitors, according to the results of a key international exam released on Tuesday.
In the first comparable global results since the coronavirus pandemic, 15-year-olds in the United States scored below students in similar industrialized democracies like the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany, and well behind students in the highest-performing countries such as Singapore, South Korea and Estonia — continuing an underperformance in math that predated the pandemic.
The bleak math results were offset by a stronger performance in reading and science, where the United States scored above average internationally.
About 66 percent of U.S. students performed at least at a basic level in math, compared with about 80 percent in reading and science, according to the exam, the Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA...
Joel Beidleman, former principal of Farquhar Middle School, was placed on administrative leave in August after an investigation by The Washington Post found Montgomery County Public Schools had received at least 18 reports alleging misconduct by him dating back to 2016. After the report, the school system — Maryland’s largest — hired the Baltimore-based law firm Jackson Lewis to investigate The Post’s findings. The law firm identified additional complaints, making the total 25...
The filings from plaintiffs’ lawyers respond to a legal challenge from the Washington diocese last month, with the church’s attorneys arguing Maryland’s child victims law is unconstitutional, and that the men’s lawsuits, filed in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, should be dismissed as a result.
Archdiocese attorneys contend the legislature granted defendants immunity from child sex abuse lawsuits after the victim turns 38, when it expanded the statute of limitations to that age in 2017. They argue their legal protection stems from a rare provision in the law known as a statute of repose, which created “vested rights” that lawmakers cannot simply change.
Lawyers for the victims in the lawsuits disagree.
In their filing Friday, attorneys for a man who sued the Washington diocese in Montgomery County said the diocese’s lawyers’ interpretation of the law runs afoul of “well-settled principles set forth by the Maryland Supreme Court.”
“Applied here, those principles demonstrate that the law at issue here is a statute of limitations, which the General Assembly is free to modify under Maryland’s constitution,” wrote attorneys Robert K. Jenner, Philip C. Federico and Steven J. Kelly, all of whom are representing the man suing in Montgomery Circuit Court...
Kindergarten literacy rates increased 24%, from 48% to 72%. Twelve new math coaches were hired this school year, and 22 schools were added to the expanded enriched literacy curriculum in elementary schools, for a total of 63 schools.
MCPS now has six wellness centers in six high schools and 117 mindfulness rooms and spaces...
...The pair of cases before the justices presented a fresh opportunity for them to consider when public officials — in this case, two school board members in California and a city manager in Michigan — can bar critical voices from social media accounts that are increasingly used at all levels of government to communicate with citizens. They are part of a set of legal controversies the justices will review this term that will clarify the future of speech on social media platforms...
