ADOPTED Procurement Contracts 230720.pdf (boarddocs.com)
The Board of Education paid $168,380 for Operational Functionality Consulting Services for the MCPS Department of Transportation in July of 2023.
Then they shelved the Report for a year.
The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD made the report public.
Thanks to a national clearinghouse for screening teachers, hundreds of school districts would have known to ask more questions before hiring Darien, the high school athletic director who was arrested in April and accused of framing a Pikesville principal using artificial intelligence. Florida’s education department flagged the clearinghouse eight years ago that Darien was denied a teaching certificate based on “test or document fraud.”
Baltimore County Public Schools didn’t get the memo...Here is the link to the February 2021, Montgomery County Board of Education Contract Approval for the HET MCPS, LLC. electric school bus scheme.
HET MCPS, LLC. was not awarded the contract through the RFP process, a company called Highland Electric Transportation was awarded the contract. Somehow MCPS switched companies, and the Board of Education approved a contract with a company that had not participated in the bidding process.
At the bottom of the 3rd page of the Contract Approval are the initials of the MCPS administrators who approved the Resolution submitted to the Board of Education.
Jack R. Smith, Superintendent
Monifa B. McKnight, Deputy/Acting Superintendent
Derek G. Turner, Chief
Essie McGuire, Associate Superintendent of Operations
Eugenia S. Dawson. Director
Todd M. Watkins, Director Department of Transporation
Watch the video below. Listen to Ms. McGuire sell the electric bus scheme to the Board of Education.
Ms. McGuire, "very excited to bring this forward today..."
"...ongoing effort with legal department, budget office, transportation office..."
In July, the education department drafted a mandate for third graders to be held back if they aren’t reading at grade level. The policy mirrored one Maryland’s State Superintendent Carey Wright introduced in Mississippi, which preceded a rise in fourth grade reading scores on a national test from second-to-last to the middle of the pack.
But it seems Maryland won’t be taking that exact approach. In a revised draft of the policy, parents have gained the right to challenge a school district’s decision to make a child repeat third grade...
Publication Date: March 06, 2024
Source: Harvard Business School
Founder Duncan McIntyre developed an innovative service-based business to electrify transportation fleets for school districts and scale through public-private partnerships while contributing to climate change solutions. The case covers the rationale for electric school buses, the leadership of its founder, its growth from one customer to many over five years, and relationships with multiple stakeholders in a complex system. Highland Electric Fleets contracted with school districts in the U.S. and Canada to supply and service electric school buses, offering to lower costs for the districts, even those who were not climate action supporters. Ancillary benefits included providing power back to the electric grid, reducing the use of fossil fuels and emission of greenhouse gases, and cleaner air for children. But just as McIntyre was envisioning expanding to electrify other transportation fleets, supply chain challenges leave McIntyre with the dilemma of how to deal with the possible defection of its largest customer [MCPS] because of buses failing to be delivered in time.
Wed, August 21st 2024 at 5:12 PM
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (7News) — 7News has obtained a scathing assessment of how Montgomery County Public Schools is handling the nation’s largest fleet of electric school buses.
In the report, which parents have not seen, CESO, an expert on electric buses, informed MCPS that the actual cost of owning and operating an electric bus fleet remains unclear.
The claim of budget neutrality, or no net increase to the district’s budget to transition into electric buses, was constructed based on false assumptions and estimates...
New report details failures at Montgomery County Public Schools over electric bus fleet (wjla.com)
Never seen report that I have obtained claims @MCPS has major issues with it's electric bus fleet including increased cost, outdated systems & calling the Montgomery County Public Schools transportation system stable but fragile. @7NewsDC @PCMC1 pic.twitter.com/DW2ukpKF0L
— Scott Taylor : 7 News - WJLA TV (@ScottTaylorTV) August 21, 2024
Antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ graffiti was smeared on Whitman High School property this past Monday, August 19th. Yesterday the principal, Mr. Miller, sent out this letter. The Board of Education has not commented.
Antisemitic graffiti was smeared on five MCPS schools over the past few days. This statement is from the Montgomery County Jewish Educators Alliance (MCJEA) Leadership, August 19, 2024.
For the faculty and staff of MCPS, as in schools across the country, the first day of pre-service week should be a day full of excitement, promise, and potential. Sadly, MCJEA Leadership was horrified to hear that today's pre-service kickoff was marred by hateful, antisemitic, and anti-LGBTQ graffiti at four MCPS schools: Churchill HS, Wootton HS, Fallsmead ES, and Strathmore ES.
There is a time and place for respectful discourse about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, October 7, and the ensuing war in Gaza. MCPS should strive to provide safe spaces for these conversations. Unfortunately, vandalism of this nature prevents us from achieving this goal. It sends a clear message to Jewish and Israeli staff and students: you are not safe and you are not welcome. Not as teachers, students, faculty, or families. The perpetrators of this act chose four MCPS schools known to have a significant number of Jewish students and staff. This was not an accident. It was a deliberate choice to target the Montgomery County Jewish community in its own backyard. This is a clear act of antisemitism.
Earlier this month, MCJEA leadership requested a meeting with Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor. We are pleased that Dr. Taylor agreed to meet with us, and tonight we sent him a message requesting an expedited meeting date. We look forward to collaborating with Dr. Taylor and his team to fight antisemitism within MCPS, and to ensure that students, families, and staff of all identities and backgrounds are protected, welcomed, and embraced.
-MCJEA Leadership: Sheila Berlinger, Brenda Green, Rebecca Kotok, Ilyssa Weiss, Lisa Miller
Five MCPS schools were smeared with antisemitic graffiti this week, only a few days before the start of the school year. The schools are:
Initially there were no formal comments from MCPS, and there still is no formal comment from the Board of Education, nor, as far as we can tell, any of the BOE candidates.
Dr. Taylor, the new superintendent of schools, put out the following statement yesterday on Twitter/X:
"As a community we need to stand together against hate. Very sad that many of our teachers returned to vandalized schools today with abhorrent messages."
Hate vandalism at two Montgomery County high schools and two elementary schools greeted staff on the first day back to school for teachers Monday.
“A number of our schools were illegally vandalized with politically charged graffiti, antisemitic iconography (including swastikas), and, in some instances, anti-LGBTQ+ language,” said a Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) spokesperson.
The vandalism occurred at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Thomas Wootton High Schol in Rockville and Strathmore Elementary School in Silver Spring and Fallsmead Elementary School in Rockville.
This follows recent antisemitic graffiti that was spray painted at Bethesda Elementary School where the Bethesda Farmers Market was being held.
Principals are asking staff to report these incidents and also to provide “the supportive resources necessary to address the harm and anxiety these actions may have caused,” the spokesperson said...
The PIA Compliance Board will hold its annual meeting by videoconference on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. The meeting will be held virtually by Microsoft Teams. The public is invited to attend.
Join on your computer, mobile app or room device
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 286 043 319 037
Passcode: EVJZFc
Join by phone (audio only)
+1 443-529-0364,,908702393# United States, Baltimore (one-click dial)
Call-in Number: 443-529-0364
Phone conference ID: 908 702 393#
If you have trouble joining by video or phone on the day of the meeting, please call (410) 576-6560, or email piaopengov@oag.state.md.us.
The meeting agenda is available on the Board’s website. To request a copy of the agenda or for additional information about this open meeting of the Board, please contact S. Spencer Dove, Administrative Officer, at piaopengov@oag.state.md.us, or call (410) 576-6560.
The PIA requires the Board to “recommend any improvements to [the PIA]” as part of its annual report. If you have a recommendation that you would like the Board to consider, please provide your recommendation to piaopengov@oag.state.md.us by the close-of-business August 14, 2024.
As time allows, the Chair will read public comments and questions. Please submit any public comments or questions to piaopengov@oag.state.md.us by the close of business on August 14, 2024
Join on your computer, mobile app or room device
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 227 213 925 600
Passcode: enRjW5
Download Teams | Join on the web
Join by phone (audio only)
+1 443-529-0364,,284914648# United States, Baltimore (one-click dial)
Call-in Number: 443-259-0364
Phone conference ID: 284 914 648#
If you encounter any issues when trying to join the meeting, please contact opengov@oag.state.md.us for assistance or call 410-576-6560.
The meeting agenda is available at https://www.
As time allows, the Chair will read public comments and questions. If you wish to submit a written comment or question for consideration, please send your comment or question by email to S. Spencer Dove at opengov@oag.state.md.us by the close of business on Friday, August 30. To receive email notifications about future meetings of the OMCB, please contact S. Spencer Dove at opengov@oag.state.md.us.
STATE OF MARYLAND
OPEN MEETINGS COMPLIANCE BOARD
AGENDA
Open Meetings Compliance Board
Annual Meeting
4 p.m. Wednesday, September 4, 2024
Via Microsoft Teams Virtual Platform*
1. Call to order; welcome; introductions (Lynn M. Marshall, Esq., Chair)
2. Comments on the past year’s work (Chair, Board)
3. Issues to study or recommend for legislative action (Chair, Board)
4. Review of draft annual report and instructions to staff for content (Chair, Board)
5. Reading of public comments/questions (by advance registration and as time allows*)
6. Closing remarks; adjournment (Chair)
(Posted July 18, 2024)
Beidleman no longer works at MCPS. He was accused of bullying and sexual harassment by multiple MCPS employees prior to being promoted from principal at Farquhar Middle School to Paint Branch High School. This was first reported in the Washington Post.
Besides the $300,000 settlement, MCPS paid $78,462.32 in legal fees to Karpinski, Cornbrooks and Karp of Baltimore and $68,369.64 in legal fees to Miller, Miller and Canby of Rockville. Another $1,188.80 was spent for transcripts of court recordings...
Thanks to a national clearinghouse for screening teachers, hundreds of school districts would have known to ask more questions before hiring Darien, the high school athletic director who was arrested in April and accused of framing a Pikesville principal using artificial intelligence. Florida’s education department flagged the clearinghouse eight years ago that Darien was denied a teaching certificate based on “test or document fraud.”
Baltimore County Public Schools didn’t get the memo.
When the school district first hired Darien in spring 2023, it didn’t have access to the database run by the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education Certification, which has tracked all “adverse action” against licensed educators since 1985, according to Jimmy Adams, the group’s executive director...
...Maryland law requires school systems to review applicants’ employment history “by contacting the employers listed by the applicant” when the job involves direct contact with minors. School systems, though, can set up their own vetting procedures in addition to what’s required by law, according to the state education department...
On May 18, 2023, Montgomery County Police, Metro Transit Police and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services all responded to the station for a shooting just before 6 p.m.
There, they found 18-year-old Tenneson Vaughn Leslie, Jr. unresponsive on the metro platform.
He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead a few hours later.
Investigators said that a fight broke out as a group of boys were going down an escalator. As Leslie and a few other were running from the escalator, the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office said that then-16-year-old Emmanuel Simmonds pulled out a gun and shot him in the back of the head.
Simmonds’s co-defendant, a 14-year-old boy, was seen on surveillance footage throwing the magazine with live ammo on the ground before boarding the train...
Gaithersburg teen sentenced for 2023 murder at Wheaton Metro Station | DC News Now
Bid/RFP Number: RFI 4916.2 | |
|---|---|
Solicitation Title | CLOSED NO AWARD - Continued Implementation of an Electric School Bus Fleet |
Due Date & Time | 02/06/2024 02:00 PM |
Contract Type | RFP |
Buyer E-mail | |
Description | The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit information from qualified, experienced and capable vendors to partner with the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Department of Transportation (DOT) to continue the implementation of a program that initiated two years ago.
|
Marcus Jones will earn almost $250,000 a year as the chief of security and compliance for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), making less than he did as the chief of the county police department but more than his replacement will earn.
Jones was appointed MCPS security chief by the county school board June 25 directly after retiring as the chief of the Montgomery County police department. Jones served as chief from 2019 to 2024 and worked for the department for almost 40 years.
MCPS public information officer Liliana Lopez said Jones will earn $249,322 annually plus benefits—the same pay as other department chiefs, such as the MCPS chief of strategic initiatives and the chief academic officer. Last year, chief-level positions were paid $242,060. Lopez said benefits provided to Jones can’t be released because it is considered personnel information...
Former county police chief to earn almost $250K as head of MCPS security | MoCo360
The cohort of 42 educators, assigned to schools throughout the district, is part of a cultural exchange program that allows J-1 visa holders to teach in the U.S.
In partnership with Foreign Cultural Exchange Consultants, Inc., these distinguished educators from the Philippines are provided with comprehensive support, including assistance in arranging housing accommodations and essential needs such as food, household goods, transportation, and security. This support is aimed at ensuring a stress-free transition, allowing them to focus on preparing to teach our students on the first day of school. Foreign Cultural Exchange Consultants, Inc. also offers financial and informational support to the exchange teachers, further ensuring a positive experience while living in the U.S.
Cultural exchange teachers are compensated using the same pay table as Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) teachers, based on education and years of experience. They also receive the same benefits afforded to MCPS teachers.
“Programs like these are vital because they open doors to new perspectives, fostering a more inclusive environment where everyone can thrive,” said Danillya Wilson, vice president of the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA).
Special education vacancies were particularly challenging last year. With this new partnership, MCPS has been able to significantly reduce that number this year.
The release of body-camera video led to nationwide outrage.
That video begins with officers encountering the child hiding by a car after teachers said he had a tantrum in the classroom and ran out of his elementary school in Silver Spring.
They placed him in the police cruiser and brought him back.
The video, more than 50 minutes long, shows an officer screaming at the crying child and another officer grabbing him and calling him names.
One officer said to "crate him" and he was acting "like a little beast."
Another officer said, "We need to have a conversation with his mom. This is like a little Chucky doll."..
..."We counted 19 times where one or both police officers threatened a beatIng in some manner of the child or suggested that he should be beaten. 19 times in front of him during the entire 51-minute video," Papirmeister said...
...You can access Maryland's student arrest data here...
"The Office of the County Attorney for Montgomery County, Maryland has announced the settlement of the lawsuit involving the Jan. 14, 2020 incident at East Silver Spring Elementary School. The parties settled all claims arising from the incident. The family received a total of $275,000 from the County's Self-Insurance Fund. Of that total, $220,000 was paid on behalf of Officers Dionne Holiday and Kevin Christmon and $55,000 was paid on behalf of the Board of Education for Montgomery County. Pursuant to the "Release and Settlement of Claim" agreement, the parties released each other from all claims with no admission of liability with the lawsuit to be dismissed with prejudice.
