Montgomery moves forward on plan to remedy mismanagement at special education school

By Donna St. George, Tuesday, January 21, 11:14 AM 

Montgomery school leaders are moving forward with a plan to make payments to students at a special education school for withdrawals from their school-arranged bank accounts, in spite of strong criticism that the proposal is inadequate.

The school board voted 6 to 1 last week to support the plan offered by Superintendent Joshua P. Starr to resolve mismanagement of work-study funds at Rock Terrace, a special education school in Rockville. Board Member Michael A. Durso opposed the plan, and student board member Justin Kim was absent.

and...

Lyda Astrove, a lawyer who has advocated for the families of Rock Terrace, had called Starr’s proposal “insulting” when it first became public, saying the $200 payments amounted to a “lowball” offer.

After the board’s action, Astrove said she was heartened that Durso “seemed to get it,” but was disappointed in the outcome. “I still think they need an independent auditor to look at it,” she said.

For the entire article go here.

The Washington Post: Lawyer: Method of repaying special-ed students in Montgomery is ‘insulting’

A plan to remedy financial mismanagement at a Montgomery County special education school immediately drew attacks from critics who said it does not go far enough to help students reclaim work-study funds that school officials withdrew from their bank accounts...
...In developing the proposal, schools officials did not confer with families...
...Rhonda Turner, whose son attended Rock Terrace, said she read about the proposal Friday with frustration. Communication with Montgomery officials, she said, has been a problem for months.
“These children worked hard for this,” Turner said. “They’re doing this to children with disabilities.”
Turner said her son, who has Down syndrome, worked for a time stuffing envelopes and shredding paper. Then he worked in Rock Terrace’s kitchen and an on-site bistro...

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/lawyer-method-of-repaying-special-ed-students-in-montgomery-is-insulting/2014/01/10/7d3e3b40-7a00-11e3-8963-b4b654bcc9b2_story.html

Bring a great story!

This flyer has been put in mailboxes at Rock Terrace School.  It announces a "retirement" party for the former Rock Terrace School principal and asks participants to "bring a great story."

Here are some of the "great" stories that have already been in the news:

Missing credit card logs

Lobster tail in Europe

Superintendent Joshua Starr suppressing information about Rock Terrace investigation.

"Unusual and ripe for fraud and abuse"

See you at the party!

WTOP: Concerns about Montgomery Co. school finances aren't new

• A PlayStation, a Nintendo 3DS, and nine iPod Shuffles were paid for with school funds, but there was no record of who received them.

http://www.wtop.com/52/3366607/Concerns-about-Montgomery-Co-school-finances-arent-new

WTOP: MCPS parent - Money taken from secret bank account in student's name

Friday - 6/21/2013, 5:19am  ET
WASHINGTON - Where's the money?
That's the question parents of students with disabilities at one Montgomery County school are asking after they learned their children had bank accounts where money was deposited and withdrawn -- allegedly by school staff.
As first reported by WTOP, a group of parents whose students attend the Rock Terrace School in Montgomery County say their young adult children are transitioning out of the program. But the parents only recently found out their children were getting paid for work performed as part of their vocational training at the school...
story continues at this link: http://www.wtop.com/52/3365414/Montgomery-Co-mom-says-students-money-taken-by-teachers