Tues. 2/6/2024: BOE to Discuss IG Report BEFORE County Council Hearing on Thurs. @mocoboe @mcps

The Montgomery County Board of Education Revised Meeting Agenda for February 6, 2024, shows a discussion of an Office of Inspector General Report.  The item is listed as an oral discussion only and there is no memorandum posted relating to this agenda item.

 

The Montgomery County Council's committee hearing to discuss the Inspector General's Report on MCPS is on Thursday, February 8, 2024. 

Montgomery County councilmember says unredacted report on former MCPS principal should be released

 https://www.fox5dc.com/video/1402277

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/

$46,641 IRS Lien Filed on January 3, 2024 for @mocoboe Rebecca K. Smondrowski and spouse

Court System:	Circuit Court For Montgomery County - Civil
Location:	Montgomery Circuit Court
Case Number:	C-15-JG-24-000002
Title:	UNITED STATES IRS vs. KENNETH SMONDROWSKI, et al.
Case Type:	Judgment - Federal Lien
Filing Date:	01/03/2024
Case Status:	Closed

Monetary
Original Judgment
Judgment Event Type:	Recorded Lien
Judge:
Judgment Against:	SMONDROWSKI, REBECCA K
Judgment in Favor of:	UNITED STATES IRS
Judgment Ordered Date:	01/03/2024
Judgment Entry Date:	01/03/2024
Judgment Expiration Date:	To be determined by case law or statute
Principal Amount:	$46,641.80
Amount of Judgment:	$46,641.80	Total Judgment Index:	$46,641.80
Comment:

Judgment Status	Status Date
Entered	01/03/2024

***BREAKING: New Charges filed on former MCPS Cloverly Elementary School Teacher John Vigna

Please see our previous extensive coverage of the arrest, conviction, vacated conviction, and re-trial of former MCPS elementary school teacher John Vigna. Recall that Mr. Vigna was never fired by the Montgomery County Board of Education and his teaching license was never revoked.  He was allowed to retire and voluntarily surrender his teaching license. His original conviction was vacated and he was released from prison.  A new trial on those charges has been scheduled for 2024.  Now additional charges have been filed against Mr. Vigna.  

New charges were filed against Mr. Vigna on November 30, 2023.

From Maryland Judiciary Case Search: 

Circuit Court For Montgomery County - Criminal

Location: Montgomery Circuit Court

Case Number: C-15-CR-23-001418

Title: State of Maryland vs. JOHN VIGNA

Case Type: Criminal Indictment

Filing Date: 11/30/2023

Case Status: Open

 

Will @mocoboe Violate the Maryland Open Meetings Act today? Objection Filed.

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

Today's Closed Session Resolution contains only uninformative boilerplate language and is not in compliance with the Maryland Open Meetings Act law.  

Janis Zink Sartucci (signature attached) 

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.

Breaking: All Woman MoCo Board of Education FIRST to ever Approve a NEW Cell Tower Lease on Public School Land

One of the leases for a cell tower on the Woodwards Road Future School site was set to expire.

The Board of Education did not have to authorize a NEW lease.  The Board of Education could have decided that public school land should be used for building classrooms for students instead of for commercial uses of private companies.  

The Board of Education could have voted to not approve a NEW lease.  

But they didn't.  

The Board was fed a series of falsehoods, fell for them, and voted for the NEW lease. 

To date, none of the 12 cell towers existing on Montgomery County Public School land were ever approved by the Board of Education.  They were all approved by former Superintendent Jerry Weast without notification or approval of the Board of Education.  The Board of Education is the landowner. It is up to the landowner to decide what part of their land is to be leased.  

Below is the video from the August 24, 2021, Montgomery County Board of Education meeting where the unanimous Board of Education voted to approve a NEW lease for the Woodwards Road Future School site.  

In the discussion, MCPS staff (not under oath and not legal counsel) told the Board of Education members:

• That the Board has delegated their authority to the superintendent (False. They have not).
• MCPS staff called this vote the "renewal of the entire lease"  (False. It's a NEW lease.)
• MCPS staff claimed that bringing this lease to the Board was for transparency (False. It is legally required.)
• MCPS staff told Board members they were not turning over land to another company.  (FALSE. It is a lease for PUBLIC SCHOOL LAND.) 

Montgomery County Election Results

 Available through the Maryland State Board of Elections website:

https://results.elections.maryland.gov/county_status_page_root.html

As City of Gaithersburg Takes $1.5M +/- "Gift" from MoCo Board of Education, Who Sits on City Ethics Commission But a MoCo Board of Ed. member. #Ethics

The City of Gaithersburg has cut a deal with the Montgomery County Board of Education to allow the Board of Education to build an elementary school on a public City park that serves 5 communities.  

The Board of Education had put forth that the land was being given over at no cost, but the actual contract reveals that the Board of Education will be spending over $1.5 million dollars +/- to pay the City of Gaithersburg what can only be described as gifts since the contract does not detail the actual cost of these items. The gifts to the City are to be paid for by the Board of Education and will include an artificial turf football field (and costs for the future replacement of that field), bleachers, lighting and a tot lot.  

Clearly, the land is not being handed over to the Board of Education at "no cost."  But what is the exact cost to the Board of Education and the MCPS Operating Budget? That number can only be estimated as no exact cost was included in the contract.  

If any any point in time there are ever allegations of unethical actions by the City of Gaithersburg elected leaders or their staff, any such complaint would go before the City of Gaithersburg Ethics Commission. 

Montgomery County Board of Education member Rebecca Smondrowski is a member of the City of Gaithersburg Ethics Commission. 

From Board member Smondrowki's online MCPS bio:  

Mrs. Smondrowski was reappointed as a Commissioner for the City of Gaithersburg Ethics Commission in January 2015.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/members/district2.aspx

Two School Board Members Plan to Run for Re-Election

Two members of the Montgomery County Board of Education said on Wednesday they plan to run for re-election in 2020.

The terms of Shebra Evans, Rebecca Smondrowski and Jeanette Dixon expire in 2020. Evans and Smondrowski said that they plan to run for another four-year term, while Dixon said she has not decided.

Nobody has officially filed for candidacy with the Montgomery County Board of Elections, but Evans and Smondrowski said they plan to soon. The filing deadline is in January...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/two-school-board-members-plan-to-run-for-re-election/

MCPS Communication App in Limbo

The future of a proposal to develop a “communication app” for the Montgomery school system is uncertain as school staff consider concerns about the legality and “technical feasibility” of the idea.

At issue is whether the school system can legally create an “opt-out” communication system that would send alerts to families about everything from weather-related closings to community meetings.

In a memo to school board members, Superintendent Jack Smith said federal regulations restrict school districts from sending automated text messages without prior consent. The school system currently allows families to “opt-in” by giving prior consent to receive emergency alerts via text message and email, while the new system would automatically enroll families while giving them the option to remove themselves from the communications list.

The federal regulation Smith cites lists two exceptions for which automated communications can be sent without consent, including “emergency purposes” and communications that “while not for emergency purposes, are closely related to the educational mission of the school, such as notification of an upcoming teacher conference or general school activity.”

A resolution introduced by District 2 school board member Rebecca Smondrowski that would direct the school system to develop and implement the app, was expected to receive a final vote at the board’s May 14 meeting, but was tabled so board members could conduct more research. It is expected to go back before the board at Thursday’s meeting...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/mcps-communication-app-in-limbo/

Damascus principal struck deal to resign, retain $160K salary in MCPS office job

By Neil Augustine, For full story go here. Yellow highlight my own.

When Casey Crouse resigned Tuesday as principal of Damascus High School amid the investigation into alleged rapes in the football locker room, she didn’t know what her job would be, but she knew she would maintain her $160,763 salary.

Crouse has taken a job in the Montgomery County Public Schools central office as “administrator on special assignment,” school spokesman Derek Turner said Friday.

Asked whether the position were permanent, Turner said, “This is the position she is going to be in for now, and she’s always welcome to apply for other positions.”

Environmental Waste Generated by Board of Education's Lust for Plastic Football Fields: The Turf Mountain

The Netherlands is a country of artificial turf. No country in the world has more artificial turf per capita. Last summer, over 200 artificial grass pitches were replaced in the Netherlands. No less than 1 million square metres of artificial turf had to be removed. All waste that cannot be dumped. What happens to the old pitches? What happens to all that plastic and all the polluting rubber in them? Processing companies promise to separate all the waste and recycle it. Municipalities pay top dollar for that. But what is the reality? Those involved call it 'the best kept secret in the market'. ZEMBLA follows the trail of a number of transports, and finds itself in a world of dealers, defrauding artificial turf processors, absent supervisors, and a growing artificial turf pile.

Montgomery Co. reveals more routes operated by bus driver charged with raping special needs student

WASHINGTON — Montgomery County Public Schools officials have released an updated list of bus routes driven by the man charged with sexually assaulting a 12-year-old special needs student.

On Wednesday, the school system published on its website an updated list of bus routes driven over the past several years by 62-year-old Etienne Kabongo, who’s been charged with second-degree rape and other sexual offenses...

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2018/08/montgomery-co-reveals-more-routes-operated-by-bus-driver-charged-with-raping-special-needs-student/

.@MoCoCouncilMD @MontgomeryCoMD who is accepting responsibility for massive crumb rubber pollution of Cabin John Creek? Crumb rubber everywhere even after @MCPS official “claimed” precautions taken!

.@MoCoCouncilMD @MontgomeryCoMD who is accepting responsibility for massive crumb rubber pollution of Cabin John Creek? Crumb rubber everywhere even after @MCPS official “claimed” precautions taken! pic.twitter.com/fIRL1p3RNY

— Lyda Astrove (@LydaAstrove) July 30, 2018

Please notice spilled crumb rubber all over the place, entering Cabin John creek watershed due to shoddy artificial turf removal/replacement efforts at #RichardMontgomeryHS @mocoboe pic.twitter.com/foL9lcXten

— Lyda Astrove (@LydaAstrove) July 30, 2018

3rd Dumpster of Artificial Turf Headed to Brunswick, VA Landfill #artificialturf #12tons #MontgomeryCounty #whiteprivilege

3rd Dumpster of artificial turf at RMHS 7/29/2018

8/6/18 Update:  See all the pollution generated by the removal of the artificial turf at RMHS at this link. 

12 tons of the used plastic field and crumb rubber have been sent to the Brunswick, Virginia landfill.

A 3rd dumpster has been filled with used artificial turf and crumb rubber at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland.  The artificial turf field was used for 10 years and now is being removed and at least 3 dumpsters of the used plastic and ground up tires is being sent to a landfill in Brunswick, Virginia despite assurances by the Montgomery County Board of Education that:

"The existing artificial turf material has been removed and sent for recycling."

Please note that two of these pictures were taken after the statement from MCPS COO Andrew Zuckerman saying that the old field had been sent for recycling.

Maybe MCPS COO will explain to the public what he means by "recycling" at this evening's Board of Education meeting.

2nd Dumpster 7/26/2018

1st dumpster at RMHS  7/18/2018

Board of Ed Sued Again on Procurement Issue: ABC7 - Judge reverses controversial decision on after-school care in Montgomery County #assault #sexabuse

POTOMAC, Md. (WJLA) — Farmland Child Development Center ran Potomac's Wayside Elementary after-school program in Montgomery County the past 27 years. But a new company bumped out the non-profit group when after-school care came up for bid this year: for-profit company Kids Adventures.

"I was shocked, honestly," said one father who requested anonymity with children still going to Wayside Elementary. “I couldn't believe that a provider that had a record like that was in business, let alone winning contracts.”

A Kids Adventure employee faces 50 years in prison, charged this April for allegedly assaulting and robbing a co-worker at a Takoma Park elementary school parking lot.

In a separate incident, an after-school care employee working with Kids Adventures pleaded guilty to sex crimes victimizing a 10 year old girl at another Potomac school.

http://wjla.com/features/7-on-your-side/judge-after-school-care-lawsuit-montgomery-county

Board of Ed. Used Money for NEW Artificial Turf Fields to Pay for RMHS REPLACEMENT Field

At this evening's Board of Education meeting MCPS Chief Operating Officer Andrew Zuckerman explained to the Board of Education that the money that was going to be spent for the replacement of the Richard Montgomery football field had already been approrpiated by the County Council. He said the money was coming from the Artificial Turf fund. 

Here is the Council's PDF form for the MCPS Artificial Turf Program (See page Circle 8)  The description of the fund is shown in the image below.  

The Artificial Turf Program was set up to fund the installation of NEW artificial turf at the 19 high schools that did not have artificial turf.

Richard Montgomery High School was the very first high school to have an artificial turf football field installed and is one of the six schools mentioned in the Description above.  

The Artificial Turf Program was not set up to fund the replacement of artificial turf fields.

If the Board of Education is using this fund to pay for the replacement of the RMHS field they are using funds that were appropriated for another purpose and they are taking away money meant to put in a new field at a high school that currently does not have an artificial turf football field.