Grasmick grants five-day calendar waiver for Arundel schools - baltimoresun.com

Grasmick grants five-day calendar waiver for Arundel schools - baltimoresun.com

Charles, Frederick, Kent, Prince George's and St. Mary's counties also given schedule OK

Posted using ShareThis

Schools can request waiver for up to five days - baltimoresun.com

Schools can request waiver for up to five days - baltimoresun.com

Posted using ShareThis

Montgomery Co. Parents Concerned With Icy Walkways to Portables| ABC 7 News

Montgomery Co. Parents Concerned With Icy Road Conditions ABC 7 News

..."The staff parking lot is cleared so the staff can park," noted Amber Khan, a parent. "But frankly when we have 30 to 40 percent of our kids are walkers,
it's going to be pretty treacherous."

But even once they get to school, parent Jim Hoskinson showed the potential problems at the portable classrooms. "They're going to have to walk across this sheet of ice and have to walk underneath this water dripping down and these icicles falling down on top of them," he said...

Dr. Grasmick Gets Snow Creative

Congrats to Dr. Grasmick for finally thinking about a solution to the lack of educational opportunities caused by the closing of schools for over one week.

Student Service Learning Hours!  What a novel idea.  Now kids can get SSL hours for shoveling out their own front sidewalks.

I wonder though, whether Dr. Grasmick is aware of the preapproval requirement and paperwork involved in getting approved SSL hours from an entity that is not on the pre-approved list.  According to MCPS's own website:

Approval of MCPS Form 560-50; Request for SSL Pre approval is required in advance of service with organizations and opportunities that are not listed at www.mcpsssl.org as MCPS SSL approved.

Also - SSL hours can only be done for a non-profit organization.  Its doubtful that neighbors, whether retired or otherwise, are considered non-profit organizations. 

SSL requires planning and documentation. It must be performed with a nonprofit, tax exempt organization and supervised by their representative. SSL includes the phases of preparation, action and reflection. Students may earn a maximum of 8 SSL hours within a 24-hour period. Students may not be compensated for their services.

Supervision, action, and reflection are also components of the SSL hours.


So, nice try Dr. Grasmick, its a little late, and its really not feasible.  Unless the neighbors are pre-approved, MoCo students can't get hours for shoveling out the neighborhood.  Achievement may matter most, but it certainly won't get students student service learning hours.

Students in MoCo - its still a great idea to help out your neighbors shovel out.  But do it because its the right thing to do, even if you don't qualify for student service learning hours.

	For Immediate Release Contact: William Reinhard, 410-767-0486  NEWS RELEASE MARYLAND STUDENTS SHOVELING SNOW IS MORE THAN NEIGHBORLY – IT’S A SERVICE-LEARNING OPPORTUNITY Students earn service-learning hours by helping with natural disaster recovery BALTIMORE, MD (February 12, 2010) With Maryland’s record-setting snow storms, schools across the state have been closed for more than a week. But instead of staying cooped up in the house, many Maryland students have grabbed a shovel to help their neighbors dig out.    “This past week, Maryland has experienced a truly historic event, and students should really feel like they are a part of that,” said Nancy S. Grasmick, State Superintendent of Schools. “Every community is built on the people in it — the young to the old, the healthy to the sick. It is critical for everyone in the community to come together to support each other.” As a result, the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) is encouraging local school systems to allow students to turn his or her “snow aid” into service-learning credits, which are a Maryland High School Diploma requirement. “We need to encourage that sense of community and compassion in students whenever we can,” said Dr. Grasmick. “Students can make a significant contribution to their community simply by helping those who can’t — by shoveling walkways, steps, porches, and alleys.”   A student interested in possibly earning service-learning credits for helping neighbors should contact the school’s service-learning coordinator once classes resume to see if they are eligible, and to find out what procedure they should follow. To make the connection between shoveling snow and service learning, schools can provide instruction on community interdependence; natural disaster recovery; the roles of government during emergencies; and how being an involved citizen is necessary and vital to recovery. Maryland is the first state, and only state, to have a service-learning graduation requirement. For more information about service-learning in Maryland, go to www.MarylandPublicSchools.org/MSDE/programs/servicelearning.

11:03 AM School to Open, but at 2:56 PM Two Hour Delay

At 11:03 AM today (Feb. 15th) Superintendent Weast was interviewed by WTOP's Kate Ryan and asked about school on Tuesday, February 16th. In that interview schools were ready to open.

Here is the 2:56 PM UPDATE:

Montgomery County Public Schools will open two hours late on Tuesday, February 16, due to emergency weather conditions. Bus service will be provided on a two-hour-delayed schedule. Morning prekindergarten, morning half-day Head Start, other morning half-day programs and field trips are canceled. Other activities and programs that begin at 10:30 a.m. or earlier are canceled. Administrative offices will be open on time. Day care programs in school buildings will remain open as scheduled.

WTOP interviews Jerry Weast "How Ready to Open are Montgomery Co. Schools?"

Click link to go to WTOP audio archives to hear WTOP's Kate Ryan's live interview with Superintendent Jerry Weast on Monday February 15th at 11:02 AM.

WTOP Radio Audio Archives

Play -  How Ready to Open Are Montgomery Co. Schools?

Jerry Weast, Montgomery Co. school superintendent

Posted Online: 02-15-10 11:02

Schools ask community to shovel out - wtop.com

NEWS FLASH:  11:04 am February 15, 2010 - Dr. Jerry Weast announces on a live feed with WTOP that MCPS will open on Tuesday February 16.  Building inspectors and maintenance crews have inspected school facilities.


Schools ask community to shovel out - wtop.com

Note that MCPS isn't included in the list of counties that are asking for community help to clear the schools.

Does that mean that MCPS is ready and able to open schools? Or have they already decided to stay closed on Tuesday Feb. 16?

Maybe MCPS is waiting for spring to open.

How to Deal with Snow - Lessons from Baltimore Educational Elite

This blog previously reported that Nancy Grasmick, State Superintendent of Schools, plans to waive the 180 day requirement for the K-12 educational programs under her supervision. According to the Gazette, Dr. Grasmick says we need to be "sensitive to the weather." Really? Isn't that why snow days are built into school calendars?

What about concern for the education of the students? What about taxpayers who have paid to support their schools? Why is weather a big surprise?

Those of us who have been in MoCo know that our own Dr. Weast frequently cites Harvard as an example of educational excellence.

So - how does a university show that it is "sensitive to the weather?"

Here is an e-mail sent out to students at Johns Hopkins University. They too have been hit by record snows - and are still digging out much the same as we are in the DC suburbs.

Dear Homewood Students, Faculty and Staff:

Though we've now lost an entire week of classes to the historic back-to-back Blizzards of 2010, the university expects to resume its normal schedule on Monday. To ensure that our students have as complete and rich an academic experience as intended, we now are faced with the question of how to get the semester back on track and make up the lost time. We have consulted with faculty members in the Krieger and Whiting schools, with student leaders and with the various offices that would be affected by a change in the academic calendar. We have now come up with a plan.

We looked at canceling spring break. We looked at scheduling makeup classes in the evenings and on weekends. Both options would be, we feel, far too disruptive.

We have decided instead to extend the semester, compressing some activities so that we can add just a few days to the academic year and can continue with plans to hold Commencement on the long-scheduled date of May 27.

The original schedule for the Krieger and Whiting schools looked like this:

Monday, April 26-Friday, April 30: Last week of classes
Monday, May 3- Wednesday, May 5: Reading period
Thursday, May 6-Thursday, May 13: Examinations (Sunday, May 9, unscheduled =
for use as a "conflict resolution" day)
Thursday, May 27: Commencement

This revised schedule will recapture the lost week of classes:

Monday, May 3-Friday, May 7: Last week of classes
Saturday, May 8-Sunday, May 9: Reading period
Monday, May 10-Sunday, May 16: Examinations (no unscheduled day)
Thursday, May 27: Commencement

By compressing the reading and exam periods, we will delay the end of exams by only three days.

These changes will cause some inconvenience; they may require you to change travel or other arrangements that you thought just a week ago were locked in. But we believe our plan will cause the least possible disruption. Among a number of unappealing alternatives, this, we believe, is by far the most palatable for the most people.

Please note that the Registrar's Office will release a revised detailed examination schedule in the near future. Our thanks, in advance, go to all of you for making this amended academic calendar work in the best interest of our students.

It has been a trying week! Our deepest thanks to everyone who has worked so hard under extraordinary conditions to keep things going and to everyone working now to bring us back toward normal, a state that seemed unimaginable at the height of Wednesday's blizzard.

We particularly want to acknowledge the amazing work of the university's
grounds and custodial crews, everyone in Residential Life, Housing and Dining, and Campus Security, all of whom have made herculean efforts to keep our students safe, secure and comfortable. Thanks also to the Eisenhower Library staff; they went the extra mile to keep the library open when they could and provided services online when there was no choice but to close.

Let us suggest that when you see any of these hard-working Johns Hopkins employees over the next few days, you add your own personal word of thanks to them. They deserve it!

Sincerely,

Adam F. Falk
James B. Knapp Dean
Krieger School of Arts and Sciences

Nicholas P. Jones
Benjamin T. Rome Dean
Whiting School of Engineering

Read the email carefully. It's not just sensitivity to weather. JHU administrators are interested in delivering a "complete and rich" educational experience, even if the alternatives may be an inconvenience to some.

Funny, we have our own yardstick of educational excellence right in our own backyard. It's just up Charles Street from Dr. Gramick's office.  Aren't our youngest children also entitled to a complete and rich academic experience?   Let's not forget that a significant portion of MCPS kids are on free and reduced meals - and don't get fed every day school isn't open.   Or is the MSDE motto that "Achievement Matters Most" only limited to a pretty image on their webpage?

Weast's absence left starving school children

While Superintendent Jerry Weast was in sunny Arizona, the school children that depend on him for food were starving.

One MCPS employee stepped up on her own to make a difference, but she could only help a small fraction of the children in need of food this week. 

Bravo to Marla Caplon for her initiative in helping students in need while the Superintendent was in Arizona.

Associated Press: String of snow days deprives many students of food

...Caplon is a food services supervisor for Montgomery County Public Schools, where about 43,000 children are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. Some also get breakfast, dinner and bags of staple foods to take home for the weekend. The snow days meant children would get none of that until Tuesday, because schools are closed Monday for Presidents Day.

"We've been bothered by this all week," Caplon said.

So Caplon arranged for Manna Food Center, a local food bank whose board she chairs, to bring boxes of food Friday to two still-closed elementary schools...

...Manna's effort brought out smiles and expressions of gratitude. But the approximately 200 families who came to pick up provisions represent just a fraction of the need in Montgomery County, let alone the entire snow-battered region...

Do It Yourself . . . Snow Removal

Will Montgomery County Public School really open on February 16 after the long weekend?

I can't say for sure, the parking lot at my neighborhood high school looks as if it has seen some plowing. In contrast, the elementary school a few short block away doesn't appear to be ready for schools to open. This is in line with the MCPS emergency message saying that high schools are open for community use this weekend.

In the absence of Superintendent Jerry Weast who is sunning in Arizona and no where in the vicinity of snow, MCPS' Dana Tofig, newly arrived from the sunny south, is quoted in the Washington Post:

If Mother Nature cooperates, and if after tomorrow we don’t get another drop of snow, I feel pretty good that we can open on Tuesday .. . . . But Mr. Bowers will keep evaluating that over the weekend.

The Washington Post has another answer.  Its time for the parents to take action and help schools dig out.

The Washington Post has launched a snow cleanup page and it can be really helpful for schools trying to organize big dig-outs this weekend. . . .

We’ll have to see about that cooperation, but until then, the clean-up goes on.
Here’s the link to the page that will help organize a snow cleanup:
http://specials.washingtonpost.com/snow-cleanup/

Once there:

Post your request for help using a title in this format: “School: Washington Elementary School” or “Church: Episcopal Church of Washington”

Make sure to specify clearly what your needs are in the body of your report (example: “We’ve got snow covering all our walkways, we need snowblowers and shovels”) and include your location in your report and using the map function. Also, clearly state when you need people to arrive for help this weekend (example: “we’re looking for 10 people from the neighborhood to come help at 10 a.m. on Saturday”).

After your report is approved by our team, you can use the link to your report to spread the word. We’ll do the same on Twitter (using the #72scu hashtag) and on our Facebook Fan page.

Keep checking the comments in your report, and encourage others to post their attendance in the comments of your report.

The Post will take the reports and highlight them on Twitter, Facebook, and the Web site.

Thanks Ms. Strauss and the Post.   Its good to see some adults in charge with great suggestions and organizational strategies leading to solutions while Dr. Weast is talking about the Seven Keys and MCPS out West.  

Maybe the eighth key in Dr.Weast's presentation should be a snow shovel. 

Gazette: Grasmick wants to waive 180-day rule

‘We have to be sensitive to the weather,' state superintendent says
by Marcus Moore
Staff Writer

State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick is planning to request a waiver for some of the instructional days school systems would have to make up because of this past week's two snowstorms...

Snow removal at MCPS schools - Thursday PM

The 4 pictures in this post show school bus drop off lanes at 4 different MCPS schools as of Thursday afternoon, February 11, 2009.

Send pictures of your local schools snow removal progress via e-mail to contact @ parentscoalitionmc.com

Jack Dale stays home, while Weast abandons district

Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Jack Dale was scheduled to present at the AASA Pre-Conference in Phoenix, Arizona today.

But he didn't show up.

Instead, a FCPS Assistant Superintendent gave the presentation.

...Dockery said Jack Dale, superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools, who was not able to be at the session due to severe winter weather...

But, here in Montgomery County the weather wasn't so bad! Superintendent Jerry Weast decided he could leave his school district.

Apparently, it was more important to give a presentation on the creation of the Seven Keys in 1999 than stay in Montgomery County during the Blizzard of 2010.


Picture is of a MCPS elementary school parking lot as of Thursday afternoon, February 11, 2010.  More pictures here and here.

Can classroom trailer roofs hold this much snow?

Who's inspecting the roofs on the MCPS classroom trailers (portables) to insure that they are safe for students when school opens?

MCPS has 551 classroom trailers in use this year. Buildings have a "snow load" rating that determines how much snow the roof can safely hold.

 Montgomery County requires residences and commercial buildings to have a 30 PSF rating. (PSF = pounds per square foot)  The snow load for the classroom trailers in Montgomery County is unknown.  Research indicates that classroom trailer snow loads are typically designed to meet the local building codes.

Montgomery County now has over 2 feet of snow. MCPS is quite possibly approaching or already exceeding the snow load on the classroom trailer roofs.

1/29/2010 Durango Herald:

...Knowlton explained: One inch of snow weighs 1.3 pounds per square foot. So the 28 inches of snow on the roof of the senior center put 36.4 pounds on each square foot...

These photographs were taken on February 11, 2010 of MCPS classroom trailers at 3 different locations.

Here are some school roof issues that have already happened in the region:

2/10/2010 Delaware Online:  School roof one of several collapsing

Faced with unprecedented snow loads on flat roofs around the state and initial reports of some roof collapses already, the Delaware Emergency Management Agency recommends that building owners and residents of those buildings be aware of the weight loads that these back-to-back storms may be creating. Only qualified individuals should be sent to inspect roofs, and all appropriate safety measure must be followed.

2/9/2010  Manassas Public Schools Press Release:  Mayfield Intermediate Closed Due to Compromise in Roof from Heavy Snow

Reference:

2/10/2010 Maryland Emergency Management Agency:  Owners, Residents of Flat Roof Buildings Urged to be Aware of Load Dangers from Storms

While Weast away, Bowers in charge

Looks like MCPS Chief Operating Officer Larry Bowers is in charge of the school system this week during the record breaking blizzard of 2010.

That means Superintendent Weast is free to be in Arizona this week at the Phoenix Convention Center, assuming he got out a flight out of town!

Who is Larry Bowers? You might remember he is the MCPS employee who signed the lease for Promethean Boards, even though the document called for the signature of the Board of Education.

Washington Post - The Answer Sheet: MoCo schools hope to open next Tuesday

That’s why Montgomery County Superintendent Jerry Weast bowed to reality today and decided to close schools for the rest of the week on the recommendation of his chief operating officer, Larry Bowers, who assessed the state of the roads and the school buildings, district spokesman Dana Tofig said...

...“If Mother Nature cooperates, and if after tomorrow we don’t get another drop of snow, I feel pretty good that we can open on Tuesday,” Tofig said. "But Mr. Bowers will keep evaluating that over the weekend.”

Bowers collected a lot of information from staff sent out to the schools to start cleaning up and assessing the situation, as well as folks who were on the roads that lead up to schools...

Gazette: "school system has not determined the amount of damage to its facilities"

Snow cleanup costs batter Montgomery

‘We're struggling,' school system official says
by Margie Hyslop and Marcus Moore
Staff writers

..."We're struggling," Bowers said. "Our equipment isn't made for 15, 20, 25 inches of snow."
More expenses could be on the way from water damage, busted pipes and leaky roofs, Bowers said, but the school system has not determined the amount of damage to its facilities.
Even after schools reopen, it's going to be tough to get students to school.
"I don't know how buses are gonna make it through some of the neighborhoods," Bowers said, adding that some streets might not have cleared sidewalks enough for students to walk or wait for the bus...

MCPS announces...

Montgomery County Public Schools are closed Wednesday, February 10, Thursday, February 11 and Friday February 12, due to emergency weather conditions. All school activities and community activities in school buildings are canceled. A decision about administrative offices will be made at a later time.