Petition: Stop Montgomery County Public Schools' Anti-Black, Racist Culture

Petition in support of parent and advocates who interrupted Board of Education meeting this evening.

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Montgomery County Public Schools refuses to address the concerns of Black students and Parents in their schools.  They elevate the concerns of other protected classes and ignore their role in the school-to-prison pipeline, reduced academic outcomes of, and harsher discipline Black children face in their schools.  The recent Office of Legislative Oversight report highlights MCPS's persistent School-to-Prison Pipeline.

They are so successful at being anti-Black that other minority groups have become anti-Black. 

At Herbert Hoover Middle School in Potomac, Maryland racial epithets are hurled at Black students, and Black students, especially Black boys, have been choked, kicked, assaulted, targeted by security guards, and persistently called "nigger" in class and the hallways by Asian students.  The principal, Dr. Yong Kim, her direct supervisor, Dr. Peter Moran, teachers, and administration turn a blind eye.

This racial harassment and anti-Blackness has been formally documented from 2022 to the present, and the principal has acted with deliberate indifference to pervasive assaults and harassment against black students. Principal Dr. Yong Kim has created a school culture in which anti-Blackness is accepted and she refuses to protect Black students causing physical, mental, and emotional harm.

This is not exclusive to this school but is a widespread, well-documented issue within the District.

We demand:

1. Immediate removal of Dr. Yong Kim as principal of HHMS for violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for practicing deliberate indifference to severe, pervasive and objectively offensive harassment of Black boys by Asian and non-Black students, faculty, and the administration at HHMS, which has resulted in physical harm and unequal educational opportunities as Black students are in a hostile learning environment. Dr. Kim should also be removed for prima facie negligence for her failure to provide a duty of care and a safe environment for Black students that a principal providing a level of ordinary prudence would have exercised in similar circumstances. She has allowed Black students to be choked, kicked, assaulted, and persistently be called degrading and racist names such as "nigger" and "bitch" while at HHMS. This level of harassment and assault is unacceptable and obviously results in an environment that is not conducive to learning and makes Black students not want to attend school. The hostile, anti-Black environment impacts mental and physical health, grades, and results in unequal access to education.
2. On April 11, 2024, when a Black mother informed Dr. Kim that she feared for her son’s life since her son had been choked, assaulted and kicked at HHMS by Asian students, Dr. Kim laughed. Dr. Kim and Community Engagement Officer, Amy Homrock Badge #1348, did not take the Black mom’s complaint seriously. Officer Homrock stated that "worse has happened to LGBTQ students."
3. Peter Moran was recently promoted - he must be removed from his position. He has allowed this school’s anti-Blackness to continue for many years.
4. Removal of Mike Hopkins as a guidance counselor and lead of the Minority Scholars Program and replacement with a Black-identifying guidance counselor. Mr. Hopkins is not Black-identifying and not an ally to Black students. He has questioned Black students with up to 3 adults (once including an unknown intern) against one Black student which is intimidating for minors and wreaks of the lack of due process. Mr. Hopkins has also forced Black students to apologize for actions they did not commit and often blames Black students for the assaults they suffer due to race. His negligence, along with Dr. Kim’s has led to mental anguish, anxiety, depression, and poor mental and physical health for Black students.
5. Establishing a Task Force to address ongoing issues with Black male experiences and achievement within MCPS.  The experiences and outcomes of Black males is different than any other protected class, and should not be approached with blanket equity initiatives.
6. Ensure that the PTA executive board works with county-wide Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, not against them. Ensure that there is a strong disciplinary plan for students and staff and removal from participation in school activities for parents who use or promote hate speech.
7. MCPS should provide no-cost neuropsychological testing for all Black students at HHMS (and those forced to withdraw from the school) including screening for anxiety, depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and other mental and physical impacts of trauma, assaults, and the racist and toxic environment at HHMS.
8. Removal of the Latino security guard due to negligence who provides no duty of care or safety for black boys and removal due to harassment and targeting of black boys due to race.  Removal of Mr. Rossetti, a security guard who has been negligent and failed to provide a duty of care or safety for Black boys. He also targets Black boys due to race. Previously, in 2022, another security guard at HHMS targeted Black boys and they were treated differently from non-Black students.  Mr. Darcy is also anti-Black and must be removed
9. MCPS must pay for placement in another educational environment for students who have been severely impacted by their treatment.
10. The CollegeTracks programs faces cuts in funding. This program and others like SummerRISE directly impact Black achievement; Do not remove or reduce their funding.
11. MCPS must hire an outside consultant to address issues related to anti-Blackness and their role in the school-to-prison pipeline.  They are not the experts in this and continue to implement ineffective programs.

MCPS, YOU WILL NOT CONTINUE TO IGNORE US.

https://www.change.org/p/stop-montgomery-county-public-schools-anti-black-racist-culture?recruiter=1339325095&recruited_by_id=b6e4fe50-190b-11ef-9cb0-f77b0d58baf4&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=petition_dashboard&utm_medium=copylink#decision-makers-heading

@mocoboe meeting shuts down for 2nd time in one day. Mother stands up and says, "I wrote every single one of you about my son...and none of you responded." She appears to be supported by at least a dozen people in the audience. They stand in support.

https://www.youtube.com/live/YpLWWMCEZ6U?t=13809s

Some Springbrook HS Students have 1 hr and 10 min Bus Rides, other Elem. and Middle 1 hr.

Superintendent Jack R. Smith put out a very brief memo to the Board of Education giving some information on the length of time MCPS students ride school buses.

For the 2019‒2020 school year, 103,960 students are transported daily on 1,203 routes:

630 regular education routes with 92,860 students; 

512 special education routes with 5,900 students; and

61 magnet program routes with 5,200 students.


https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/boe/meetings/memorandum/200205%20Bus%20Routes%20Ridership%2001-09-20-02-B-C%20BD.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0TfFBY_77_MgQWbhsN6-dwj1I2GUnpoNsTh9Xc7outgPwnpxBVaeIukuc

Bye-Bye Trees at Wayside Elementary School #notjustPEPCO

Xs marks the spots where trees will be removed.

Neighborhoods are losing trees. 
Lots of trees.  And it's not just PEPCO that is removing them.  It's also MCPS.  

When MCPS "modernizes" a public school site they systematically wipe out the trees that have served as a neighborhood buffer for decades. 

Where do the trees go?  Sometimes there is a forest conservation area set up on the MCPS site. However, many times the trees are removed from the neighborhood public school site and a separate site is temporarily reforested elsewhere in the county.   

The temporary sites aren't cheap. The Board of Education has to pay a developer big bucks to "hold" trees elsewhere in the County.  Here's an example of the BOE spending $284,310 for temporary trees to make up for the ones that the Paint Branch High School neighbors lost.  Where are the temporary trees?  Can the Paint Branch High School neighbors visit them?  

Here is the BOE spending $55,000 for the trees that the Hoover Middle School neighborhood lost.  We found these trees up in Poolesville.  Although, the developer only has to plant the trees and maintain them for a few years. Whatever happens to the trees after the initial few years is up to nature. Maybe they will survive, maybe they won't. Who cares?

On June 5, 2014, the Wayside Elementary School neighborhood will say good-bye to .36 acres of forest in their neighborhood.  The forest will be moved "elsewhere" at a huge cost to the MCPS budget.

Montgomery County Planning Board:
11  -  POTOMAC, Wayside Elementary School Revitalization and Modernization - Preliminary Forest Conservation Plan and Mandatory Referral, in R-200 Zone at 10011 Glen Rd.

1.04 acres of forest exist in the northwest corner of the site. Encroachments beyond the existing developed area include improvements to the stormwater management outfall and existing trail. This will result in a total of 0.36 acres of forest loss. 
There are eight (8) Protected Trees in the project area that will be impacted and one that will be removed. All of these trees are located along the perimeter of the school property. Redevelopment of the already developed school site, together with encroachment into the perimeter forest area, creates the impact to the trees.

Greenberg Trial Date (Hoover Middle School staff)

Josh Andrew Greenberg Court Scheduling Information Trial Date: 12/16/2013 Trial Time:08:30 AM Room:411 Trial Type: Trial Location:191 EAST JEFFERSON ST ROCKVILLE 20850-2325

Guest Post: Outrage at tearing down of school buildings

I live in Potomac, MD. I witnessed Cabin John Middle School being torn down and replaced by a fabulous building. I called the School Board and was told that schools are periodically torn down and particularly now because the unemployment rate is high. That outraged me more because it seems that massive construction is being done just for the sake of bringing down the unemployment rate even though there is no real necessity. I then asked the person if this was the county’s way of spending money on education? 

I now see that Hoover Middle school is being torn down. I called the County Council and the District 15 office and spoke to Ms Daphne Bloomberg to get some answers but no satisfactory one was given. I even contacted State Senator, Mr. Garagiola’s office and was told there is nothing he can do about it. Surely tax payer dollars can be put to better use to further education. Maryland operates in the ‘RED’, our infrastructure needs repairs, so it is inconceivable and obscene to see this massive and ridiculous waste of tax payer’s money. I was even told that there were many more schools scheduled to be torn down. 

My reason for writing to you [the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD] is to find out if there are others who share my outrage and if this can be stopped. I believe in the power of the people. I urge you to call the County Council, Roger Berliner at 240-777-7900, and the school board at 301-279-3617 or the Superintendent at 301-279-3383 and express your outrage and STOP this waste of our resources. 

Meher Desai

MCPS and Vulnerable Families

A tragedy recently occurred in Kensington, Maryland. Local media reported that Margaret Jensvold, a psychiatrist, murdered her son Benjamin (who was reportedly diagnosed with Apersger's Syndrome) and then committed suicide. Dr. Jensvold's ex-husband told the Gazette:

Benjamin had complained he was picked on and bullied at Hoover Middle School, but Montgomery County Public Schools would not cover the expense of sending Benjamin to Ivymount, something Barnhard said could have led to Jensvold’s breakdown.
“She was frustrated and devastated by what was happening with the school system and the rejection of the assistance that she needed to get Ben into Ivymount,” he said. “She couldn’t bear to see him face the pain and the torture and the torment that he received [at Hoover].”

An article in the Washington Post contained a similar, sad story:

Bob Baum, who represented Jensvold in her divorce, said his client was constantly fighting with the public school system over her son’s education.

“She had just this list of horror stories about how they would have IEP meetings and they wouldn’t invite her. If she would come to a meeting, they wouldn’t let her talk,” Baum said. “There’s probably nothing more frustrating in her life than dealing with Montgomery County public schools.”

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This tragedy has hit way too close to home for many reasons. Fifteen years ago, I saw Dr. Jensvold, who helped me manage the post-traumatic stress of our own dispute and due process hearing with MCPS over our son's placement. Luckily, back in 1995, we prevailed, and our son with autism was subsequently enrolled at Ivymount School, where he spent the next 14 years. But the stresses back in 1995 didn't have anything to do with the fact that our son had autism: it was a direct result of shitty treatment by the MCPS administrators who had never laid eyes on our child.

Instead of helping us, MCPS threw obstacles in our path, denied information to us, denied listed IEP services to our son, lied to us, lied to the hearing examiner, and finally admitted that they "knew at the time when they didn't have staff that they would not be able to provide the services" that our child needed.

The hellish treatment that MCPS put our family through, and has put other families through for the past 15 years has been the direct cause of my determination to be an advocate for other families embroiled in the same nightmare, and played a large part in both my husband's and my decision to run for Board of Education. I have known and represented too many families that MCPS has pushed to the breaking point, and can say with first hand knowledge that some of those families have been irretrievably broken. Families of children with severe disabilities are vulnerable, and you can't predict how they will react if they are kicked when they are down. Our family reacted by fighting back. Unfortunately Dr. Jensvold reacted in a tragic, tragic way.

During my 15 years of advocacy for special education families, I would have to say that the overwhelming majority of folks working in special education are kind, caring, and want to do the right thing. But the decisions aren't always made by people in special education, or even people who have first-hand knowledge of the child. The MCPS budget director, for example, has on multiple occasions stated that he views special education litigation against families as a deterrent to keep other families from requesting what their children need. And certainly long-timers remember when MCPS's senior attorney went to a national conference and mocked Montgomery County special education children and families.

It only takes a few mean-spirited people, or people more interested in getting the next promotion up the MCPS ladder than in serving disabled children, to cause damage to families that will take years to heal. Unfortunately, this Kensington family won't get that chance. Dr. Jensvold was ultimately responsible for her own actions, but let's not deny the role that this family's disputes with MCPS may have played.

WUSA: "[MCPS] has earned a reputation among many special ed parents for being really tough on this kind of special ed placements"

WUSA:  Kensington Murder-Suicide: Was Dad Next On Hit List?

...He struggled with an autism spectrum disorder and obesity.
He'd had a terrible time in Montgomery County Public Schools. "He had difficulty with bullying and harassment," says Barnhard. "And he gained a tremendous amount of weight."
His mother tried to convince Montgomery County to send him back to Wellspring. But his father says the school system refused. "She didn't want him to suffer, she didn't want him bullied, she didn't want him hurt."...