MCPS Deputy Sup. "Schiavino-Narvaez said she supports school choice and admires Hartford's "portfolio" approach to education that gives families the option of traditional neighborhood schools, specialized academies, charter schools and magnet programs."

Superintendent Joshua Starr's former intern and now MCPS Deputy Superintendent Beth Schiavino-Narvaez is one of two candidates for the Hartford, Connecticut superintendent position.  In today's Hartford Courant article on the superintendent selection process we learn what Schiavino-Narvaez had to say about school choice at yesterday's Hartford forum.

Hartford Courant:  Hartford Superintendent Finalists Meet The Public

Gazette: School system efforts ‘not working as intended’

Gazette:  County study: Montgomery high-poverty schools face bigger gaps

Starr Follower Job Shopping Already

...In 2008, upon starting her doctorate coursework in Harvard's urban superintendents program, Schiavino-Narvaez said in an article published by the Penn State College of Education, her undergraduate alma mater, that her goal was to become a superintendent.
She joined the Springfield school system as a central office administrator in 2010, and for a time during her doctoral studies was an intern for then-Stamford superintendent Joshua Starr.
Starr left Connecticut in 2011 to become superintendent of Montgomery County public schools, and soon recruited Schiavino-Narvaez to join him as a community superintendent responsible for a cluster of 31 schools in the Maryland district. She was promoted to her deputy superintendent role two years ago.
"Beth has done an exceptional job in Montgomery County, especially in leading our school improvement efforts," Starr said in a statement Thursday evening. "Throughout her career, Beth has been a passionate advocate for children and is committed to making sure every student graduates with the skills necessary to be successful in college, in the work place and in life."

 http://www.courant.com/community/hartford/hc-hartford-superintendent-finalists-0412-20140410,0,6034655.story

Exclusive: Charter School Violates Public Lottery - MCPS and Council Cover Up Violation?

From page 4 of the February 26, 2013 internal MCPS memorandum.

The Parents' Coalition has obtained a copy of a February 26, 2013, internal MCPS memorandum from Community Superintendent Donna Hollingshead to the Community Montessori Charter School administration.

In this memo we learn that for the 2012-2013 school year the Community Montessori Charter School enrolled 7 students who were not part of the public lottery.  Back on July 7, 2011, Board of Education member Laura Berthiaume had been very concerned that the charter school run a fair lottery for seats with "no thumbs on the scale".

We know that in the 2012 public lottery for seats at the MCPS charter school there were 247 applications for 70 seats. 

Why has this memo been covered up by MCPS and by the County Council? 
Note the memo is not even copied to the Superintendent or to the Board of Education!

The Montgomery County Council's Education Committee has held two hearings on the Community Montessori Charter School since February and MCPS and Council staff have suppressed this memo at both hearings.

April 24, 2013, Council Education Committee Hearing Video

July 22, 2013 Council Education Committee Hearing Packet:  Note how the Council Staff covered for the Charter School's 2012 Lottery Process.  We believe that Council staff had the Feburary 26, 2013, memo shown below, but did not mention in the information supplied to Councilmembers the 7 students enrolled outside the lottery process.

From July 22, 2013, Council Education Committee Packet prepared by Council Staff

It is important to note that the MCPS funding for the charter school is based on the number of pre-schoolers who are eligible for public funds.  The February 26, 2013, memo (shown in its entirety below) makes no reference to the eligibility of the 7 students enrolled outside the lottery process for public funding.  Did these 7 students change the MCPS funding given to this public charter school?

It is now August and the February 2013 internal MCPS memo is just being made public by the Parents' Coalition.  The 2013 lottery for this charter school has already been held.  Was it a public process?  Were seats filled from the public lottery?  What guarantee do parents and taxpayers have that this public charter school lottery is being run without "thumbs on the scale?"

  MCPS Community Montessori Charter School by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Breaking News: Starr Eliminates Clusters and Community Superintendents

During the years when Jerry Weast was the superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools the administration of local schools was set up according to Clusters.  Each Cluster had a Community Superintendent assigned to that area of the county.  Cluster were typically the high school, middle schools and elementary schools in the geographic area. Parents knew that any public school issues in their part of the county were under the supervision of their area's Community Superintendent.

Today, Superintendent Joshua Starr announced that he will be eliminating the Community Superintendent positions and replacing them with Associate Superintendents who will oversee levels of schools, not schools in particular areas.  For parents, that means that during a child's time in MCPS they will now come under the direction of 3 different Associate Superintendents; one for elementary school, then another one for middle school, and then one for high school. Superintendent Starr's e-mail to staff and his new organization chart are shown below.

The County PTA was also structured to mimic the organization of MCPS with PTA positions assigned to each geographic cluster.  That allowed the PTA officers to directly communicate with the MCPS administrator for their area.  Those geographic clusters will no longer exist.

Note, the Board of Education did not vote on this change and parents were not given the opportunity to comment on this reorganization of MCPS administration.

Dear Colleagues, 

I am writing to inform you about the reorganization of the Office of School Support and Improvement (OSSI) and how this will better serve our schools and students.

Since beginning my tenure at Montgomery County Public Schools, the district’s leadership team and I have been working to make sure that our central office is focused on its core mission of serving principals and supporting schools. This work began in earnest in December 2011 with a reorientation process and, since then, the Office of School Support and Improvement has worked strategically to identify and meet the needs of our schools. We have also heard a clear message from principals at all levels: You have to know us well to serve us well.

As we have endeavored to get to know our schools well, we have attempted to work within the current structure that provides support by regional area (i.e., quad cluster and quint cluster). This has presented some challenges. As we continue to implement the Common Core State Standards, each grade level has unique programmatic and instructional leadership demands. The regional organization also makes it more difficult to address the systematic needs of all 202 schools in an equitable way.

To that end, effective July 1, 2013, OSSI will be reorganized into level-alike school improvement teams that will better meet the needs of our schools based on their grade levels, rather than their geography. There will be six school improvement teams—one for high schools, one for middle schools and four for elementary schools. These teams will focus on the needs of schools at each level to implement Curriculum 2.0 and the Common Core State Standards; strengthen Professional Learning Communities; develop strong leaders; and promote social emotional learning and the development of 21st century skills in our students. Each team will be led by an associate superintendent and will include directors and staff that will provide flexible, targeted support and professional development for our schools.

In order to re-energize our efforts to narrow the achievement gap, the work of the associate superintendent for professional development and school support will be recast. This position will now become the Chief School Improvement Officer, who will work with 10-15 schools at a time, delivering intense support aimed at improving instruction and narrowing gaps.

An organizational chart that explains the new structure of OSSI is attached to this email. In the coming months, we will share more about these budget-neutral changes and how they are designed to support the work that is going on in and around our classrooms every day.

I want to thank the principals, teachers and school-based staff that have provided honest feedback to us over the past 18 months, which has led to our making this important change in our structure. I also want to thank the entire OSSI team for their commitment to our students and staff, and their willingness to embrace change as we seek to organize around the specific needs of our schools.

Sincerely,
Josh

  OSSI Reorganization by   Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Starr Transition Team member snags Administrator Position

The Gazette article below fails to mention that new MCPS hire Rebecca Thessin was a previous hire of Joshua Starr's in Stamford, CT.  Thessin and Starr also have written an article together, and  Superintendent Starr put her on his "transition team."  Now Starr has created a new MCPS office and appointed her as the administrator. 

Gazette:  Superintendent brings in 5 new top-tier execs 

After one year leading Montgomery County Public Schools, Superintendent Joshua P. Starr is bringing in a new team and realigning some departments.
The changes will align the school system with priorities laid out in Starr’s transition plan: intervention, community engagement and professional development, schools spokesman Dana Tofig said.
Last year, three offices reported directly to Starr: the chief of staff, deputy superintendent of schools, and chief operating officer.
This coming school year, four offices will report to him. Also, due to staff resignations and retirements, two of the deputy superintendents that will lead these offices will be new, and one associate superintendent will be new.
The chief of staff and the chief operating officer will continue to report directly to Starr.
In the place of the office of the deputy superintendent, Starr has created the Office of Teaching, Learning and Programs, and in the place of the chief school performance officer, which had reported to the deputy superintendent, Starr created the Office of School Support and Improvement, which will now reports directly to him.
Frieda Lacey, who had been deputy superintendent, retired last month. Kimberly Statham was appointed to lead the newly redefined Office of Teaching Learning and Programs, which oversees programmatic functions such as curriculum and instruction.
Under that office, Starr has realigned the Department of Family and Community Partnerships, to create the position of Chief Engagement and Partnership Officer. That position has not yet been filled.
Also under that office, Adrian Talley, associate superintendent for shared accountability, has resigned, leaving an open position for a new leader.
Since Frank Stetson retired as chief school performance officer, Beth Schiavino-Narvaez has been appointed as the deputy superintendent of school support and improvement.
Under that office, Starr has created one new office, for Professional Development and Support. It will be lead by a new hire, Rebecca A. Thessin, as an associate superintendent.
Thessin has been assistant professor of educational administration at George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development.
“This is to align with Dr. Starr’s strong belief that professional development and direct service to principals is extremely important,” Tofig wrote in an email.