"Your budget is a spending plan.
There isn't a single line in the 10,000 lines that are in your budget that will be spent
exactly how the dollars line up.
You will have some that are higher and very few that are lower.
But it is your plan as you have it mapped out for how
In a statement to the I-Team, MCPS said it is still reviewing the state’s decision and has not yet analyzed the full implications for the district.
The Montgomery County Board of Education is meeting for two days off camera to hold discussions and possibly act.
These meetings are open to the public under the Maryland Open Meetings Act. The public is encouraged to attend part or all of these meetings and record or document what discussions and business the Board of Education transacts.
Past Board of Education retreats have yielded crucial discussions that impacted the operations of MCPS and the Board's interactions with the public.
Friday, January 23rd and Saturday, January 24th
15 West Gude Drive, Rockville, Maryland
Administrators at Odessa Shannon Middle School delayed contacting Montgomery County police for several hours following an Oct. 22 incident that seriously injured a student when he was struck in the head with a metal object thrown by another student, according to a police report recently posted on social media by the injured boy’s mother.
The incident at the Silver Spring school occurred at roughly 11 a.m. and resulted in the hospitalization of the student in an intensive care unit. Principal Natasha Booms called 911 for medical aid, but did not contact police until about 5 p.m. that day, the police report said. Responding Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) crews transported the boy to Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring.
“It should be noted that school staff did not contact [the police department] about this incident when it occurred,” said the report posted on Jan. 14 by Emily Diaz, mother of the injured boy. Bethesda Today confirmed the report’s authenticity with police.
The October incident is one of two incidents occurring in Montgomery County public schools in recent months in which there was a delay in contacting police —despite a 2022 memorandum of understanding between the police department and the district that details the type of incidents that require police to be contacted immediately...
https://bethesdamagazine.com/2026/01/21/silver-spring-middle-school-delays-police/
Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland
A typical work week for a pupil personnel worker for Tee Clark in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), can involve helping families and students experiencing homelessness complete required forms, advising families who are considering homeschooling or assisting in the re-enrollment of students who are involved with the county Department of Juvenile Services.
“We show up at hospitals for kids. We show up at funerals for kids,” Clark told Bethesda Today on Tuesday. “We’re there with families who are grieving the loss of their kids because of whatever reasons. I was at a funeral about a month and a half ago with a family. I went to the house before the funeral. So we do a whole lot of personal touch with the families.”
That’s why Clark, who serves the Northwood cluster, and her fellow pupil personnel workers, along with county school board members, are raising concerns about Superintendent Thomas Taylor’s recommendation to cut 10 of the district’s 52 positions and other positions that support students as part of his proposed $3.78 billion operating budget for fiscal year 2027.
“Although I totally understand that we are [in very hard times] times of budgeting … I am very leery about cutting certain positions that we have built on for decades to ensure that we have that trust in the community,” school board President Grace Rivera-Oven said Tuesday during a work session on the budget proposal attended by Clark and other pupil personnel workers at the board’s Rockville headquarters...
https://bethesdamagazine.com/2026/01/07/proposed-cuts-to-mcps-staff-raise-concerns/
The GPS systems are supposed to allow parents to track when buses are about to arrive, as well as their kids’ whereabouts once they’re on board. But parents have complained for years that the GPS often doesn’t work. Lander said a lack of accountability is one of the problems driving the dysfunction of the notorious school bus system.
“For decades, our city’s school bus system has failed our students and families,” he said.
Lander said the system is plagued by “a real culture of underperformance from the bus companies and weak oversight by [the education department’s] Office of Pupil Transportation.” He called for a thorough overhaul of the school bus system, and said Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani should appoint a school bus czar to jump-start major improvements.
Lander’s audit comes after a Gothamist investigation found the city’s official data on delays and other school bus problems does not capture the full scope of the problem. The city relies on school bus companies to self-report incidents, like when they are stuck in traffic, get in a crash or don’t show up at all.
The city last month renewed an agreement with bus companies for the next three years despite the persistent problems, but pushed back against an even longer contract supported by the bus companies. Lander said officials must use that window to finally reform the system.
“With the shortened three-year contract extensions, City Hall has a unique opportunity to fix our schools’ dysfunctional bus system,” the comptroller said...
PROPOSED BUDGET: $3,775,269,535
NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 156,511
EIGHT BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS
ONE BUDGETPALOOZA!
We reached out to MCPS to learn more about the cases. The school system confirmed recent screenings flagged 22 employees...
...We talked to a former MCPS student and parent who is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Sex Offender Treatment Provider.
She said MCPS is putting its students in danger.
"My response is a deep sense of disappointment and outrage. What this means is MCPS is failing in its most basic duty to help create safe environments for our children," Jennifer Gross said.
MCPS blamed the background check backlog on the previous administration and said it rescreened more than 10,000 employees between September and December of 2025...
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It’s just one element of the school district’s redistricting plan that would draw new boundaries in the state’s largest school district.
Throughout the meeting, parents held up signs and many wore tee shirts emblazoned with a large “W” featuring stars and stripes...
BOE members expect to vote later this month on a recommendation by the school district to revoke its charter...
https://www.mymcmedia.org/board-of-education-set-to-discuss-fate-of-its-only-charter-school/
BREAKING NEWS:
— Chris Papst (@chrispapst) January 8, 2026
Harford County Schools Superintendent Dr. Sean Bulson has been placed on administrative leave, with pay.
The Maryland Inspector General for Education is investigating.
Dr. Diane Mack is now acting superintendent.
This comes after @FOXBaltimore obtained the… https://t.co/8A71WfIuV7
Since the October 2025 death of 11-year-old sixth-grader Summer Lim, near Earle B. Wood Middle School in Rockville, a previously unreported traffic incident has come to light. Now, a third student has been injured near school grounds. Are two new stop signs enough to keep our children safe? MCM News asked a traffic safety expert to provide insights...
https://www.mymcmedia.org/after-school-safety-its-complicated/
Story by reporter Ashlyn Campbell, in Bethesda Today. For the whole story go here.
MCPS parent files to run for post; Grace Rivera-Oven becomes sole incumbent running for re-election
Montgomery County school board Vice President Brenda Wolff, who represents District 5, said Monday she won’t seek re-election to a third term in 2026.
Wolff told Bethesda Today by phone she will have served on the board for eight years at the end of her current term and believes it’s time for someone else to take on the role.
Meanwhile, Elma-Lorraine Diggs, a parent of two Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) students, on Jan. 2 filed with the state and local elections board to run for Wolff’s seat in the June gubernatorial primary election, according to the state elections board website. Diggs is the only candidate who has filed for the District 5 seat. Her candidate information filed with the state elections board includes a Silver Spring address.
