Exclusive: MSDE Grants to Charter School. Where Did the $1.2 Million Go? Anyone Got a Clue?

Don't expect the Montgomery County Board of Education to discuss this.  It's only taxpayer dollars. No one in Montgomery County cares about how tax dollars are allocated and spent. 

Former MCPS Elem School today after Charter School Shut Down

The letters shown below document that the failed MCPS Charter School (Crossway) had been given Grants from the Maryland State Department of Education and from the federal government totaling $1.2 million dollars. 
Where did that money go?
The MCPS Charter School barely lasted one year. 

The public school building that the Charter School was using has had a fabulous renovation since the Charter School closed. Was that renovation paid for with these state and federal funds?

Don't count on the Montgomery County Inspector General or the Montgomery County Council or the Montgomery County Executive to investigate and report on what happened to these state and federal grants. It's only money. They can get more.

Former MCPS School Building in Kensington Being VACATED. Charter School Failed. Crossway Program Failed. School Can Now Be Used for Public School Again.

Former MCPS Pleasant View Elementary School today.

Petition:   https://www.change.org/p/department-of-housing-and-community-affairs-office-of-the-general-inspector-remove-ceo-kathleen-guinan-and-administration-from-crossway-community

FACTS:
HOC and DHCA has an started an open investigation against Crossway Community May 2014 from all the complaints against this Non Profit Organization by the women and teachers.
Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County is no longer partners with Crossway Communities as of June 1, 2015 

[That means the former Pleasant View Elementary School building will be VACANT and available for re-use as a PUBLIC school. Contact Ike Leggett today and tell him to give this building back to PUBLIC school students!]

Megan Rome CEO of District Desserts, partnership with CEO Kathleen Guinan as of June 19, 2015, stopped taking customer orders because she was not going to be part of any more lies and refused to continue to operate in a commercial kitchen that was not inspected; furthermore this is the same kitchen was built for the women and was to be used for educational classes yet in reality it was used to conduct business to make cookies and treats. More information on Megan Rome.. This bakery had false ads on community involvement in regards of employing women that live in crossway community on her website.... http://districtdesserts.com
ALL current living women and children are leaving from Crossway Community, last day of stay will be 7/31/2015

Please check out the Facebook page "The Truth about Crossway Community"
https://www.facebook.com/groups/299280646948133/
And a Blog of many mothers and families stories about Crossway Community
http://raiseyourvoicewomenofcrosswaycommunity.weebly.com/about.html

Charter Schools in Maryland

Total Number of Charter Schools in Maryland

Charter schools are only in 7 counties.   
Anne Arundel County Public Schools ... 2
Baltimore City Public Schools ... 38
Baltimore County Public Schools ... 1
Frederick County Public Schools ... 2
Montgomery County Public Schools ... 1  [Charter school is closing.]
Prince George's County Public Schools ... 7
St. Mary's County Public Schools ... 1

Exclusive: Charter School Blames Parents

Yesterday, the Parents' Coalition posted the press release from MCPS announcing that the one and only public charter school in the county would be closing.  Today we bring you the statement that some charter school parents received yesterday.  This statement says that MCPS was involved in the decision to close the school through "a series of informal discussions."   The statement also places much of the blame on the closing of the school on the public school parents. 

The public school parents at this school were never part of the funding model as presented by Crossway's director to the Board of Education or the County Council!  Why are the public school parents now being blamed? 

Note that this statement refers to the Crossway Board.  The public charter school was to be run by its own board, not the Crossway board. From this letter it is confirmed that the public charter school never did have a board as required by its charter agreement with MCPS.

STATEMENT ON COMMUNITY MONTESSORI CHARTER SCHOOL 

After a series of informal discussions with representatives of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), the Board of Directors of Crossway Community, Inc. has concluded that Crossway will be unable to continue absorbing the growing operating deficit of the Community Montessori Charter School (CMCS) and, accordingly, has decided to terminate its Charter School Agreement and has adopted a plan of dissolution to close CMCS effective the end of the current 2013-2014 school year, that is, June 13, 2014. 

It is with deep regret that the Board took such action.  However, the Board felt that there was no other choice because the anticipated levels of revenue for CMCS were not achieved, and following a close review, it was determined that there was not a realistic chance of reaching such levels in the near term.  The shortfall was attributable to two factors. First, under the Charter School Agreement, MCPS provided funding for income eligible students who were 4-years-old by September 1 and for students who were 5-years-old by September 1.  CMCS opened last year for 3 and 4- year - olds.  As a result, during the first year of operation (SY 12-13), only those children who reached 4 years of age by September 1, 2012 and met income-eligibility guidelines received public funding for their tuition.  All other enrolled children received a full-tuition scholarship from Crossway Community to attend CMCS.  For SY 2013-2014, CMCS was expanded to include 5-year olds. Although, the school had a mixed-age classroom of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds, in keeping with the Montessori educational model, public funding was available only for the income eligible 4-year-olds and those 5-year-olds whose birthdays were on or before September 1.  Such public funding covered only [37%] of CMCS's operating costs.  The remaining [63%] had to be borne by CMCS and its families. 

The second factor was that a greater level of financial support from CMCS families was anticipated.  Despite some efforts to achieve a higher level of voluntary support and the generous response from some families, our operating expenses consistency exceed the revenue of CMCS.  Crossway Community will negotiate with MCPS an arrangement for the repayment of any monies due.  

This has been an agonizing experience for everyone but I want to reassure our families and the general community that all other related Crossway Community operations and functions - Crossway Community Montessori Children's House (CCMCH), the Family Leadership Academy, the Crossway Community Center, and the Intergenerational Learing Center -- will continue uninterrupted.  CCMCH will continue operations as it had for 22 years before the creation of CMCS; as a private, non-profit organization.  The primary source of revenue for CCMCH will be tuition payments from our families.  The tuition schedule for 2014-2015 will remain the same as it was for 2013-2014.  In keeping with the school's long-term plan, a lower elementary class will open for the 2014-2015 school year.  It is the long-term plan to add a grade each year thereafter until third grade. 

I know this announcement may come as an unwelcome surprise to some families.  I will be happy to answer any questions parents might have at an information meeting on Thursday, January 16, 2014, from 6-7 p.m. in our Community Room here at Crossway.  Please call Lauren Cooper at 301-929-2505 to make plans to attend.   

I look forward to working with all of you to plan a successful transition for your family as we continue to work toward "learning, community, and creativity for all families." 

Kathleen Guinan
CEO/President, Crossway Community, Inc.

Gazette: Montgomery County to lose only charter school #CommunityMontessoriCharter #Crossway

County and school system officials previously raised concerns about Crossway’s ability to raise enough funds.
Guinan said at a July 22 meeting with the County Council’s Education Committee that the school has the support of “highly reliable sources” in the county to help it raise the funds it needs.

http://www.gazette.net/article/20140115/NEWS/140119419/1124/montgomery-county-to-lose-only-charter-school&template=gazette

Breaking News: Crossway Community Votes to Terminate Charter for Community Montessori

MCPS Press Release:  School will operate as public charter for remainder of current school yearThe Board of Directors for Crossway Community, Inc., which operates the Community Montessori Charter School, voted January 14 to terminate the charter at the end of the current school year. Community Montessori will operate as a public charter school for the rest of this school year and plans to continue as a private school beginning next school year.

The Board of Directors took the vote after determining its financial structure was not sustainable. The Board of Directors came to its decision after making every effort to close a budget gap that existed between what the school received in public funding and what it needed to raise in private donations.

Public funding was available for 40 of the 100 students at the school, which educates students in mixed-age classrooms of 3, 4 and 5-year-olds in keeping with the Montessori educational model.  The school worked diligently to raise the funds necessary to supplement the public contribution but despite the generosity of parents and the community, it was still short of the goal.  This effort has been a mutual and concerted one by all involved and the decision for the board was very difficult.

Parents were notified of the vote in a letter today (January 15, 2014) and a parent meeting will be held on Thursday, January 16, 2014, at 6:00 p.m.

“Despite our best efforts, we could not sustain the school financially as a charter and will move forward to provide services as a private school,” said Peter Kirby, chair of the Crossway Community Board of Directors. “We appreciate the support and guidance we received from Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) throughout this process and we are committed to serving our students as a charter school for the rest of this academic year.”

Crossway’s not-for-profit non-charter school, which has operated for the past 22 years, is fully prepared logistically to absorb all charter school children for the next school year--and at this year’s tuition rates. Parents can also enroll their children in their neighborhood MCPS schools for next year.  All other Crossway activities will continue uninterrupted.

“We will work closely with the school and parents to ensure a smooth transition for students who move to their neighborhood school next year,” MCPS Superintendent Joshua P. Starr said. “We know this was a difficult decision for the Board of Directors and we will work with the charter school to facilitate the transition for students and their families.”

“Everyone involved can take heart that we’ve all had a promising vision of what the future of education will look like,” said Kathleen Guinan, Crossway Community CEO.  “We know now where some of the pitfalls are and we have also seen the great potential of the idea.  For over 22 years, Crossway Community has been and is committed to making great things happen for young children and their parents.  This is consistent with the best research in the country in preparing our children for the 21st century.  We will continue to focus on improving the lives of our youngest citizens ages zero through six years.”

MCPS Charter School: Please No Characters on Clothing!

Here are the uniform requirements for public school children that attend the MCPS Charter School.

When did the Board of Education discuss this policy for the Charter School? Was this requirement disclosed in the Charter Schools application packet to the BOE?

Guess Mickey and Minnie are out at MCPS' one and only Charter School.
Parents and guardians, take note!

  Uniform.pdf by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Valerie Ervin likes MCPS Charter School Contract Binding Parents to Fundraising

Montgomery County Council member Valerie Ervin likes the fact that the MCPS Charter School requires parents to sign a contract. But, has Councilmember Ervin ever seen the contract that MCPS Charter School parents are required to sign?

The MCPS Charter School contract requires parents to sign that they will participate in the annual fundraising! 

Why does Councilmember Ervin think that requiring parents and guardians to participate in fundraising for a publicly supported school is appropriate?

  Parent Agreement by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

MCPS Charter School Teaching Assistant, Who Claimed "Dissociative Fugue" Amnesia, Has Been Lost And Found Again

WUSA reports:

This time, searchers found Hannah Upp after just a few days walking on solid ground near Wheaton Regional Park. "When you start to see a pattern like that, you really start to wonder, 'Ok, what's going on with this person?'" says Dr. Baum. "I would be looking for things with a cyclical tendency. BiPolar Disorder or underlying personality disorder or substance abuse or seizure disorder."

http://www.wusa9.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=2651989088001

Missing Charter School Teach Assist. Lives in Charter School

...Montgomery County police said Hannah Emily Upp was reported missing Tuesday morning and was last seen near Kemp Mill Road and Glenallan Avenue. Upp is an assistant teacher at the Community Montessori Charter School in Kensington. She also lives in the building, which is at 3015 Upton Drive...

http://www.gazette.net/article/20130904/NEWS/130909687/1124/montgomery-teacher-who-disappeared-in-new-york-five-years-ago-is&template=gazette

Durso: "charter school is experiencing some structural and procedural issues that need to be addressed"

http://www.gazette.net/article/20130904/NEWS/130909820/1022/charter-school-makes-changes-to-lottery-process&template=gazette

Dubious Charter School Funding Model

Gazette:  Montgomery school system, county raise questions about charter school’s fundraising

Exclusive: Charter School Violates Public Lottery - MCPS and Council Cover Up Violation?

From page 4 of the February 26, 2013 internal MCPS memorandum.

The Parents' Coalition has obtained a copy of a February 26, 2013, internal MCPS memorandum from Community Superintendent Donna Hollingshead to the Community Montessori Charter School administration.

In this memo we learn that for the 2012-2013 school year the Community Montessori Charter School enrolled 7 students who were not part of the public lottery.  Back on July 7, 2011, Board of Education member Laura Berthiaume had been very concerned that the charter school run a fair lottery for seats with "no thumbs on the scale".

We know that in the 2012 public lottery for seats at the MCPS charter school there were 247 applications for 70 seats. 

Why has this memo been covered up by MCPS and by the County Council? 
Note the memo is not even copied to the Superintendent or to the Board of Education!

The Montgomery County Council's Education Committee has held two hearings on the Community Montessori Charter School since February and MCPS and Council staff have suppressed this memo at both hearings.

April 24, 2013, Council Education Committee Hearing Video

July 22, 2013 Council Education Committee Hearing Packet:  Note how the Council Staff covered for the Charter School's 2012 Lottery Process.  We believe that Council staff had the Feburary 26, 2013, memo shown below, but did not mention in the information supplied to Councilmembers the 7 students enrolled outside the lottery process.

From July 22, 2013, Council Education Committee Packet prepared by Council Staff

It is important to note that the MCPS funding for the charter school is based on the number of pre-schoolers who are eligible for public funds.  The February 26, 2013, memo (shown in its entirety below) makes no reference to the eligibility of the 7 students enrolled outside the lottery process for public funding.  Did these 7 students change the MCPS funding given to this public charter school?

It is now August and the February 2013 internal MCPS memo is just being made public by the Parents' Coalition.  The 2013 lottery for this charter school has already been held.  Was it a public process?  Were seats filled from the public lottery?  What guarantee do parents and taxpayers have that this public charter school lottery is being run without "thumbs on the scale?"

  MCPS Community Montessori Charter School by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

MCPS Releases Charter School Free and Reduced Meals (FARMS) Rate, Still No Principal

MCPS has finally released a tiny bit of information about its one and only charter school.

The Community Montessori Charter School information page on the MCPS website confirms that the school is operating without a principal.  In fact, the Gazette has reported even the one staff member named on this page is no longer at the school.  

The page also shows that the percentage of students designated as eligible to receive Free and Reduced Meals (FARMS) at the school is 17.9%.  The MCPS County average FARMS rate is 42.4%.

Here is what the public schools look like in the neighborhood around the Community Montessori Charter School:

Weller Road ES (0.2 miles from the school), FARMS 79.8; ESOL 60.3
Georgian Forest ES (0.9 miles), FARMS 76.2, ESOL 34.8
Highland ES (0.9 miles), FARMS 82.2, ESOL 59.6
Shriver ES (1.0 miles), FARMS 82.1, ESOL 62.4
Harmony Hills ES (1.1 mile), FARMS 88.4, ESOL 57.2
Bel Pre ES (1.5 miles), FAMRS 67.2, ESOL 46.5

  2013 Community Montessori Charter School by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

MCPS Charter School's "future is uncertain"

Here's the staff list for the MCPS Charter School.
No principal is listed, only two teachers. 

The Washington Post reports on Montgomery County Public Schools only Charter School.  In typical Washington Post fashion, they skip the fact that the school has no principal!  If a D.C. school was operating without a principal wouldn't The Washington Post report that?  You bet they would. 

And, don't you think The Washington Post would get the name of the school correct?  There is no "Crossway" Charter School.  The name of the school is Community Montessori Charter School.  The Charter School was to be a separate and independent organization from the Crossway organization.  Again, if this was a D.C. story The Washington Post would be all over the fact that the Charter is not being operated according to their legal mandate.  But, this is MCPS so who cares? 

The Washington Post: Montgomery’s public Montessori school seeks financial stability

...The relationship between the school system and the charter school will become particularly important as Crossway begins teaching kindergarten-age students this fall and looks to develop sustainable funding. Crossway opened in August with about 70 students, and about 40 new children are expected for the coming year. The plan is for the school to eventually teach students through third grade...

Gazette: Montgomery’s first charter school operates under the school board’s radar

Contract requirements not yet met, board has yet to be updated

Community Montessori Charter School faced an initial rejection and then much scrutiny from Montgomery County school board members two years ago when applying to be the first public charter school in the county. 

Yet in its first school year, the school has had little oversight by school board members. It lacks a certified principal. And the building does not meet all federal and local building and health codes...

 http://www.gazette.net/article/20130522/NEWS/130529725/1124/montgomery-x2019-s-first-charter-school-operates-under-the-school&template=gazette

Breaking News: MontCo's first charter school tells rejected students they were admitted

Montgomery County's first charter school botched its first year of admissions, notifying at least 72 children who did not receive seats at Community Montessori Public Charter School that they had been admitted.
Meanwhile — thanks to a computer error — parents of children who were admitted were incorrectly told that their children were put on a wait list.
"Your questions to us as to how that could have occurred are entirely appropriate and understandable," Kathleen Guinan, CEO of the charter's operator Crossway Community, wrote in an email to parents. "If we are in your shoes, we would be asking the same questions."...

Read more of this breaking news from the THE EXAMINER at this link.

Berthiaume on charter lottery: "...a fair process with no thumbs on the scale..."

Here is the statement that Board of Education member Laura Berthiaume made at the July 7, 2011, Board meeting on the Crossway Montessori program application for a charter school in Montgomery County. 

Board member Berthiaume refers to the residential program that Crossway currently runs for the Housing Opportunities Commission.  Ms. Berthiaume expresses concerns about the possibility that a charter school could be opened by the Crossway program but that all of the current Crossway students might not be admitted to the school under an open lottery.  

Ms. Berthiaume is concerned that this charter school application could end up just "converting a private school."

Board member Berthiaume refers to Ms. Guinan in her statement. Kathleen Guinan is the current director of the Crossway Montessori program and the primary contact on the application for the Community Charter School.