.@mcps admin. Jonathan Brice becomes interim superintendent of Rhode Island school district

ABC6 - Providence, RI and New Bedford, MA News, Weather

https://www.abc6.com/story/40821815/people-in-bristol-warren-regional-school-district-meet-interim-superintendent

Today at County Council: Vaping in Schools

Vaping in Schools
The E&C Committee and HHS Committee will meet jointly to hear from representatives from the County’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) on vaping in schools. The purpose of the discussion is because of the rise in the number of young people who are using e-cigarettes, vaping devices or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). Many of these devices are hard to detect as they tend to look like computer thumb drives (USB), pen, or an item that students would commonly and appropriately carry. Those expected to attend include Dr. Travis Gayles, County health officer and chief of Public Health Services, DHHS; Dr. Jonathan T. Brice [Note Brice is busy looking for a job in other communities.], associate superintendent, Office of Student and Family Support and Engagement, MCPS; and Dr. Cara Grant, supervisor, pre-K – 12 Health and Physical Education, MCPS.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/Resources/Files/agenda/cm/2019/20190620/20190620_ECHHS1.pdf

MCPS Assoc. Superintendent Applying to Be Interim Bridgeport, Connecticut superintendent

...Jonathan Brice

Jonathan Brice, an associate superintendent for the Montgomery County Public School system in Maryland, was the first candidate to be interviewed.

There were about a dozen observers in the audience. Some who had pushed for the school board to hold interviews in public, confessed they didn’t expect them to do it so didn’t come the first night.

Brice described himself as an urban educator whose trajectory from a poor Baltimore, Md., neighborhood to a doctorate from Harvard University included a stint as as a deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education. The district where he now works serves 163,000 students.

He called the Bridgeport job a perfect fit for his skill set.

If hired in Bridgeport, Brice pledged not to be merely a caretaker but to move the district forward and set the table for the individual who comes after.

He said he would focus his year in the district on curriculum, enhancing the district’s work in social emotional learning and the district’s significant budget issues.

“I would walk in with an established game plan,” he said. “One year gives me opportunity to ... create conditions so that the next superintendent can hit ground running.”..

https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Search-for-interim-Bridgeport-schools-14000074.php

Breaking: Starr Payments to One Transition Team Member = $3,000 Fee and $299 a night Hotel ($343 with tax)

An investigative reporter in New Rochelle, NY has uncovered what Montgomery County parents and citizens never were told.  Former Superintendent Joshua Starr used MCPS Operating Budget funds to pay for his "transition team."  Starr's transition team was created, hired and paid behind closed doors.  The budget for this team was never disclosed to the public or approved at a public Board of Education meeting.  

We now know that just one of these team members cost children and classrooms $4,163.  That's money that should have gone to classrooms, supplies and teacher salaries but instead was secretly diverted to a "team" created by Starr.

A New York investigative reporter has exposed the payments made from the MCPS Operating Budget to team member Brian Osborne, now the superintendent in New Rochelle, NY.  The documents showing the MCPS payments to Osborne are at the link at the bottom of this post.

There were 15 members of Joshua Starr's transition team and a report was generated.  How much of the MCPS Operating Budget did Joshua Starr spend on his transition team and their report?  

...The first is a letter of recommendation from Dr. Starr. He says that the first person he called to help him when he was hired as Superintendent of Montgomery County Schools was Brian Osborne. Starr, in fact, put Osborne on the payroll of the Montgomery County School District. Records obtained by Talk of the Sound under a Maryland Public Information Act request show that Osborne was paid fees totaling $3,000 plus reimbursement of expenses for travel and entertainment totaling $1,163.00 for 20 hours of work, primarily two days of “transition team” meetings in Maryland, one on June 16, 2011 and another on August 23, 2011...

http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/tangled-web-between-montgomery-county-maryland-public-schools-and-new-rochelle-city-school

Osborne Consulting Payments from Montgomery County Public Schools [PDF]

BOE Hires Former Garrett Co. Superintendent, Won't Let Her Talk to Media. MCPS PR "Sad"

The Board of Education hired former Garrett County Superintendent Janet Wilson as an associate superintendent in MCPS.  The Sentinel tried to interview Ms. Wilson and another new associate superintendent, Jonathon Brice.

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

Montgomery County Public Schools spokesperson Derek Turner said Monday The Sentinel could not photograph or interview the two new associate superintendents because he didn’t want them interacting with media within their first days in office.

"We're trying to avoid schedules with media requests (for now)," said Turner. "We really want to let them fully settle into their jobs."

One of his assistants sent photographs of each person.

Turner later said, “We’re not trying to block the Sentinel or anyone in particular but with any new jobs, we let staff settle into a new position.”

Turner proposed a reporter write two questions for each person so he would send the questions to the two new staffers, and try to have the questions answered before deadline or by the following morning. Turner said he limited the reporter to two questions per person because that number would be “easy to answer” in a limited amount of time.

By Tuesday morning, Turner said in an email he had not received responses from the associate superintendents to questions the reporter sent him.

An assistant to Turner sent a response from Dr. Janet Wilson, one of the two new associate superintendents, Wednesday morning but questions though Jonathan Brice, the other new superintendent, did not respond.

Turner said Board of Education President Mike Durso told him the reporter asked two people the same question to see if they had the same story. Turner said the reporter doing this “saddened” him and told her she could only communicate with him through email and that he would arrange a phone call if she asked something he determined could be answered on the phone...

http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/newsx/local/item/3810-transparency-watch-a-look-at-transparency-in-local-government