Showing posts with label Grace Rivera-Oven. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grace Rivera-Oven. Show all posts

Monday, February 9, 2026

Breaking: 20 Victims Sue MCPS under Child Victim's Act #childabuse #survivors

From Wikipedia:  

The Maryland Child Victims Act is a law in the U.S. state of Maryland passed by the Maryland General Assembly during the 445th legislative session in 2023 and signed into law by Governor Wes Moore. It retroactively and prospectively repeals the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse lawsuits and raises the liability limits for a single plaintiff for claims against private institutions. Its first version was introduced by former Democratic state senator James Brochin in 2007. Iterations of the proposal were put forth during the 425th, 435th, 436th, 437th, 439th, 441st, 442nd, and 445th legislative sessions...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_Child_Victims_Act

In 2025, approximately 20 Montgomery County Public School children or adults filed suit against the Montgomery County Board of Education under the Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023.  

The Montgomery County Board of Education has already hired the outside law firm of Karpinski, Colaresi & Karp, P.A. in Baltimore to handle the majority of these cases.  

Yet, as of today, the Montgomery County Board of Education and Superintendent Thomas W. Taylor have not said a word about these cases.  

Further, to date, the Montgomery County Board of Education has never put out a statement with regard to the dozens upon dozens of children who have been sexually abused in classrooms and schools over the last 20 years.  In the vast majority of these cases MCPS administrators, and sometimes even the Board of Education, had been notified of suspected child abuse occurring in a school but did not report this information and did not remove the suspected perpetrator from contact with students.  

MCPS even kept a secret list of suspected abusers who were still employed by the school system.  

The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD has followed many of these cases by attending court proceedings.  In the majority of these cases, there was no press in the courtroom, no one from the Board of Education and no one from MCPS.  

Neither the BOE nor MCPS administrators were in the courtrooms to hear the victim impact statements on behalf of these children.  We have transcribed just a few of these statements for the public.  

VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENTS

The 2017, weeklong trial of MCPS elementary school teacher John Vigna wasn't even covered by any local media.  When the trial was over, the Parents' Coalition obtained the audio transcripts of the trial and posted much of the proceeding to this blog.  

Does MCPS still keep a secret list of suspected child abusers that are in classrooms?  

"We have a confidential file that we keep separate from personnel files, and we check those names routinely when we get an investigation." Statement of MCPS investigator Myles Alban, Page 102, Transcript of Daniel Picca v. Montgomery County Board of Education 

Will the Board of Education acknowledge these 20+/- victims or will they continue to spend Operating Budget funds on endless litigation fighting students who were sexually abused in MCPS schools? 

Monday, January 5, 2026

MoCo school board member Brenda Wolff won’t seek re-election to District 5 seat

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. 

Monday, December 9, 2024

Rivera-Oven and Natalie Zimmerman were absent for vote on new @mocoboe officers

In its first meeting with new board members, the Montgomery County school board on Thursday morning unanimously elected Julie Yang, who holds the District 3 seat, to serve as its president for the coming year and District 1 representative Grace Rivera-Oven as vice president.  

“We will fix our attention on our North Star — the student achievement,” Yang said after her election Thursday morning at the school board’s headquarters in Rockville. “We will be a symbol of hope for all our students, families and educators and together … we will strive to change lives and build futures.”..

https://moco360.media/2024/12/05/yang-to-lead-school-board/

Monday, July 8, 2024

Correction: Superintendent Taylor and Security Chief Jones were NOT Unanimously Appointed to @mcps. @mocoboe member Grace Rivera-Oven was ABSENT.

The Montgomery County Board of Education has multiple options for remote participation by Board of Education members.  The Board of Education also controls their calendar.

Yet, on June 25, 2024, two major appointments (Superintendent and Chief of Security) were made without the full Board of Education participating.  There are 8 Board of Education members. Only 7 voted on these appointments. 

Board of Education member Grace Rivera-Oven has been known to dissent from other MCPS appointments and she was notably absent from the June 25th Board of Education meeting. Even her name plate was removed for the meeting. 


Her seat was filled in by another Board member and no mention was made of her absence at the start of the meeting.  She didn't call in, or video conference in, or express regrets for missing the meeting. 

The appointment of the new Superintendent and the new Chief of Security were both made with only 7 Board of Education members instead of the full 8.  Unanimous of those present, but not unanimous of the full Board of Education.

All superintendents going back to at least 1991 (Vance, Weast, Starr, McKnight & Felder) have been appointed by the full Board of Education without any Board members absent 


...The county school board voted unanimously Tuesday to appoint Thomas Taylor to a four-year term as the new head of Montgomery County Public Schools after a four-month search that followed the resignation of the former superintendent...

https://moco360.media/2024/06/25/school-board-appoints-taylor-as-new-mcps-superintendent/

Monday, January 22, 2024

January 22, 2024: Open Meetings Act Objection Filed

The following objection was filed today, January 22, 2024, with the Maryland Open Meetings Act Compliance Board. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Under Maryland Open Meetings Act § 3-305(d)(3), I am filing an objection to the Montgomery County Board of Education's Closed meeting today for failure to comply with the Maryland Open Meetings Act Closed Session requirements.  

Today's Montgomery County Board of Education Closed Session was held without an Open Meeting to vote on whether the Board of Education would go into a Closed Session, and without notice to the public that a meeting would occur today. The Closed Session meeting was not listed on the Board of Education's public calendar (see attached). 
The public learned that there was a Board of Education closed session through media reports after the meeting was held.  
 
Janis Zink Sartucci
Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD
Formed in 2002, the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland seeks to achieve the goals of coherent, content-rich curriculum standards; high expectations combined with timely remediation and acceleration; a wider range of educational options for parents and children; greater transparency and accountability; and meaningful community input.





What did MCPS’ McKnight know about harassment scandal, and when did she know it?


Redactions in law firm report indicate she was aware of inquiry but didn’t immediately tell school board

https://moco360.media/2024/01/22/what-did-mcps-mcknight-know-about-harassment-scandal-and-when-did-she-know-it/

@MCPS Superintendent Monifa McKnight fights ouster @mocoboe

She says ‘no justification’ for request from school board, vows to ‘defend my reputation’

Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Monifa McKnight is fighting a move from the Board of Education, she announced Monday afternoon.

“Officers from the Board of Education indicated last week their desire for me to step away from my role as superintendent, providing me with no justification for their request. The Board has never written, documented, or communicated any concern about my performance, and through the evaluation process has consistently affirmed that I have met expectations...

https://moco360.media/2024/01/22/mcps-superintendent-monifa-mcknight-fights-ouster/


Friday, December 9, 2022

New @mocoboe members Immediately Left Town for Miami Vacation with rest of BOE and @mcps Superintendent.

Newly elected Board of Education members Grace Rivera-Oven and Julie Yang were on the Montgomery County Board of Education for just 7 days when they left town for Miami with the rest of the Board of Education members. 

This December vacation for the Board of Education and Superintendent will be paid for out of the MCPS Operating Budget.  Remember all those teachers begging for school supplies?  Sorry, the Board of Education and Superintendent needed to get some Miami sun in December.  Buy your own supplies teachers.  


Friday, December 2, 2022

MCPS Board of Education Members Sworn In



The two returning and two new Montgomery County Board of Education members were sworn in Thursday and immediately took their seats.

Board President Brenda Wolff from District 5 and Karla Silverstre, an at-large member, were re-elected in November. Also elected was Grace Rivera-Oven and Julie Yang.

“The success of Montgomery County depends on the success of our children in MCPS,” Silvestre said. “Thank you for your support. We will need it now and into the future.”

Wolff called the previous two years “an incredible journey for us, because we had incredible things to deal with.” Her goal during her second term is to ensure that all students are college or job ready.

Rivera-Oven, who represents District 1 and is a native of Bolivia, promised “to work very hard to ensure your voices and heart,” she said, referring to the students who represent 156 countries and speak 115 languages.

Yang, who represents District 3, said, “Education has made the biggest difference in my life” and referred to her second-grade teacher “who didn’t give up on me.”

While serving on the board, Yang hopes to “have a positive influence on the life trajectory of a student, because every child can succeed if they are given an opportunity to.”

BOE members also honored outgoing members Scott Joftus, who was not re-elected, and Judy Docca, who has been on the board since 2006...

MCPS Board of Education Members Sworn In - Montgomery Community Media (mymcmedia.org)