COVID-19 Positive Individual at Rock Terrace School #specialeducation

 March 9, 2021

Dear Rock Terrace Parents and Families,

This message is to inform you that an individual who was last present at the Rock Terrace School on Friday, March 5, 2021, has tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19). Following Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) guidelines, we notified individuals who were known to have direct contact with this individual and have advised them to quarantine for 14 days.

Per current DHHS guidance and our contact tracing process, unless you are notified directly, your child does not need to be tested or quarantine as they were not in direct contact with the person who tested positive for COVID-19. Direct contact is defined as: being within approximately 6 feet (2 meters) of an individual with COVID-19 for a prolonged period of time (e.g., being in the same office or classroom as a positive and symptomatic individual), or
having direct contact with the infectious secretions from an individual with COVID-19 (e.g., being coughed on).

Note: The definition of “close contact” does not include all other individuals on the same floor or in the same building as a positive individual, unless they also meet criteria (1) or (2).

We encourage you to closely monitor your child for symptoms of COVID-19, such as fever, cough and shortness of breath. If your child develops any of these symptoms, do not send them to school. You should contact your healthcare provider immediately for advice. Please contact the school if your child develops COVID-19-like symptoms. Students who develop symptoms, or test positive for COVID-19, will not be able to return to the building until they are medically cleared.

As a reminder, here are the steps that we can all take to keep ourselves, families, and school community safe:

-Wear a mask, or appropriate face covering, at all times when in school and other public spaces.
-Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, especially before and after eating.
-Cover your cough and/or sneeze and immediately wash your hands for 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer.
-Practice physical distancing and keep 6 feet away from others when possible.
-Stay home if you are sick.

Visit montgomeryschoolsmd.org/COVID19 and montgomerycountymd.gov/COVID19 for additional information.

We appreciate your cooperation as we work to maintain a safe and healthy school environment.


Graham Lear
Principal
Rock Terrace School
240-740-4650

In lawsuit, family says MCPS special education student was assaulted 11 times in one year

...The boy was placed in a “self-contained classroom,” according to court documents, with other students receiving special education services. Each student in the class was supervised and assisted by a one-on-one aide, according to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Montgomery County Circuit Court.

On at least 11 occasions between May 2017 and April 2018, the student was allegedly attacked by a fellow student or students, court documents say.

“The child was entitled to protection and being safe in school. That’s where the school completely, utterly failed in this case,” attorney David Ledyard, who is representing the family, said in an interview.

Three MCPS spokespeople did not respond to an email seeking comment on Wednesday, including questions about how the student was injured...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/in-lawsuit-family-says-special-education-student-was-assaulted-11-times-in-one-year/

Mr. Lopez’ alleged inaction is unacceptable. He has been placed on administrative leave. #NotFired

Rock Terrace School - Alfre... by on Scribd

Montgomery County Public Schools Paraeducator Charged with Child Neglect

Officers from the Montgomery County Police – Special Operations Division (SOD) Managed Search Operations Team have arrested Alfredo Lopez, age 59, of the 7800 block of Mineral Springs Drive in Gaithersburg, and charged him with two counts of neglect of a minor. Lopez had failed to provide supervision and failed to initially report two separate missing persons incidents.  On September 24, two teenage students with Autism and an Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) separately walked away from the Rockville public school where Lopez worked in a supervisory position. Both students were eventually reported as missing to the police and both students were located safe and unharmed later that day.

On Monday, September 24 at approximately 12:50 p.m., 1st District officers and Rockville City Police officers responded to the Rock Terrace High School located at 390 Martins Lane in Rockville for the report of a missing 16-year-old male student with Autism/IDD who had walked away from the school. During the investigation, officers determined that Lopez observed the student leave the school on foot at approximately 9:52 that morning and, at that time, made no attempt to notify school staff members that the student had walked away.  At approximately 12:40 p.m., Lopez notified school administrative personnel that the student had walked away, but only after a relative of that student had called the school to state that he/she would be picking the student up that day.  The student was then reported as missing to police.

That same afternoon, at approximately 1:51 p.m., a Montgomery County Public Schools bus driver observed the missing student walking northbound on Ridge Road (Rt. 27) at Sweepstakes Drive in Damascus.  The student was returned to his home.

At approximately 3:00 p.m., 1st District officers and Rockville City Police officers again responded to the Rock Terrace High School for the report of a missing non-verbal 16-year-old male student with Autism/IDD.  During that investigation, officers determined that Lopez was also responsible for supervising this student.  Lopez had lost sight of the student and did not immediately follow established protocol to report the student as missing to administrative staff.  A review of school surveillance video showed the student exit the school through the front door at approximately 2:53 p.m.  MCP K-9 officers and officers from the 1st, 4th, and 6th Districts, immediately began searching for the missing student.

At approximately 6:11 p.m., MCP was notified by family members that the student was located at home in the Glenmont area.  Officers determined that the student had walked approximately six miles in inclement weather from the school to his home.

On Tuesday, September 25, officers obtained an arrest warrant for Lopez charging him with two counts of neglect of minor.

On Wednesday, September 26, Lopez was arrested at his home. After being charged, he was later released on his own recognizance.

# # #

Baltimore City school principal sentenced to 90 days in prison for theft of school money

The former principal of Baltimore Community High School was sentenced Friday to three months in prison for stealing money from a school bank account as well as school system technology, according to the Maryland state prosecutor.

Leslie N. Lewis, 45, pleaded guilty in December to two counts of theft for taking more than $58,000 from the Baltimore City school system.

According to prosecutors the school had a bank account that was set up with the proceeds from the sale of school uniforms, snacks, school supplies and graduation fees. Lewis used a debit card to make cash withdrawals and purchases at local casinos of about $13,000.

In a second case, she used deceptive purchase orders to steal over $45,000 worth of technology from the city through its internal purchasing system between 2013 and 2016. The statement of fact states that she stole a dryer, a Bose speaker system, Apple laptops, laser printers, digital cameras and other items for her personal use.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-prinicpal-theft-20180202-story.html

Principal charged with theft of school funds, withdrawing cash at casino

The former principal of an alternative high school in southeast Baltimore has been indicted on charges of stealing more than $13,000 from a school account — proceeds from the sales of school uniforms, class dues, graduation fees — and withdrawing the cash from an ATM at Maryland Live Casino, state prosecutors said.

The Office of the State Prosecutor announced Monday the indictments charging Leslie Lewis, 44, of Owings Mills, and her former colleague Albert Fluker, 45, of Randallstown. Lewis worked as principal of Baltimore Community High School near the Dundalk line. Fluker formerly worked as a teacher at the alternative high school. Lewis is charged with theft, misappropriation and conspiracy to commit theft; Fluker with theft and conspiracy...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-principal-teacher-charged-20170320-story.html

Fairfax School employee steals money from student's lunch accounts

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/virginia/school-employee-steals-money-from-students-lunch-accounts/255373266

BOE Attire at Graduations Differs

@mocoboe members don't wear robes for Steven Knolls and RICA graduations but do for DAR graduations. #disability bias @MDDisabilities

— Lyda Astrove (@LydaAstrove) June 10, 2016

Stephen Knolls graduation 2016 - Patricia O'Neill

Phil Kauffman at Longview Graduation

RICA Graduation Jill Ortman-Fouse

Frederick woman sentenced to 15 months in prison for stealing $150K from employer

Read more: http://thedailyrecord.com/2016/01/21/frederick-woman-sentenced-to-15-months-in-prison-for-stealing-150k-from-employer/#ixzz3y1KxIpso

But when students' funds are lost to MCPS administrators...nothing happens.

WTOP: Ex-employee charged with stealing from elementary school

ELKRIDGE, Md. (AP) — Howard County police have charged a former elementary school employee with stealing nearly $9,000 from the school.
Fifty-year-old Twyla Blackmon-Green of Elkridge was charged Monday in a criminal summons with 16 counts of theft, the department said Tuesday in a news release.
Officers say the Howard County Public School System notified the department about discrepancies in account ledgers. Authorities say Blackmon-Green, an officer worker at Ducketts Lane Elementary School in Elkridge, had access to the school’s accounts and cash.
Investigators say Blackmon-Green stole money that had been collected for field trips, book sales and in fundraisers.

 http://wtop.com/howard-county/2016/01/ex-employee-charged-with-stealing-from-elementary-school/

The conclusion of no criminal wrongdoing, he said, was from the state’s attorney’s office, not a grand jury.

What happened to the Grand Jury investigation into the Rock Terrace School missing student funds?

http://www.gazette.net/article/20150513/NEWS/150519765&template=gazette

Gazette: McCarthy said he thinks there is an assumption by some that the only money in the accounts was earned by students working in jobs.

Title quote is from this Gazette article: 
http://www.gazette.net/article/20150513/NEWS/150519765&template=gazette

Then why were bank accounts set up using the students' social security number and why were W-2's issued?
 
It seems that State's Attorney John McCarthy isn't following his own investigation. The Washington Post has already reported that these were work-study funds and W-2's were issued.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/prosecutors-find-no-criminal-activity-at-school-for-special-education-students/2015/05/06/20e5a2ee-f348-11e4-b2f3-af5479e6bbdd_story.html

State's Attorney: "answering the question of whether it’s student money or program money is not for us to resolve"

...The prosecutor’s office examined records from 2001 to 2013, tracking 7,039 transactions amounting to about $69,000. The average transaction was around $25.
The office also interviewed Rock Terrace staff. It didn’t talk directly to parents or students, but rather reviewed parent statements and other information the school system passed on from its investigation.
The Educational Systems Federal Credit Union provided records for 93 students, Roslund said.
The investigation uncovered multiple inconsistencies related to how staff managed the money and bank accounts. The “variances” point to a lack of supervision and oversight “within individual school years, individual student accounts and from year to year,” McCarthy said.
The investigation determined that money pulled from the accounts generally was put toward school programs, but there was no documentation of exactly how the money was spent...

 http://www.gazette.net/article/20150513/NEWS/150519765&template=gazette

State's Attorney Did Not Interview Victims, Concludes No Crime

No crime found in Rock Terrance School incident 

No criminal conduct occurred when Rock Terrace School maintained accounts without parents’ knowledge for special-education students in transition-to-work programs, the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office found.

The office investigated the management of money and the accounts after some parents in 2013 discovered the school had set up bank accounts for their children to receive work stipends but the children had not received the money. The State’s Attorney’s investigation confirmed the findings of Montgomery County Public Schools’ internal investigation of mismanagement but no criminal conduct.

Chief of the Special Prosecutions Division Bryan Roslund said he could not comment on mismanagement because the investigation was focused solely on potential criminal activity.

“No acts constituted a crime ... The broader question of what went on at the school and what was being done with programs is not really for us to answer,” Roslund said.

Roslund said the investigation looked at school records and letters or comments parents had sent to the school about the issue, but did not involve interviewing parents. Lyda Astrove, a local attorney and advocate for the parents and students, said that made it a “one-sided investigation.”...

 ...MCPS has reimbursed students in 71 payments adding up to about $34,400...

 http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2014:no-crime-found-in-rock-terrance-school-incident&Itemid=766

#RockTerraceSchool Prosecutors on what their investigation showed about student finances

#RockTerraceSchool Prosecutors on what their investigation showed about student finances https://t.co/fE1ZnZAuaR

— Kate Ryan (@KateRyanWTOP) May 7, 2015

 https://soundcloud.com/kryanwtop/rockterrace-1-long-5-7-16?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=twitter

Does the Tuxedo Crowd Care about Protecting Students? #rockterrace #identitytheft

Yesterday saw Montgomery County Councilmember Roger Berliner posting the picture below on Facebook.  Then the comments came, including from Councilmember George Leventhal saying "four handsome fellows."

This display of yet another party for elected officials was posted on the same day that the Montgomery County State's Attorney secretly released the results of a Grand Jury investigation into the misappropriation of student funds by MCPS staff at the Rock Terrace School in Rockville.

Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy did not hold a press conference to announce the findings.  Instead he gave an exclusive interview to The Washington Post.  No other news agency could report on the Grand Jury findings and no other news agency could ask questions of Mr. McCarthy. 

So which of the tuxedo clad elected officials in this Facebook picture will speak up on behalf of the Rock Terrace students who had their identities stolen by MCPS staff? $69,000 of student funds is missing.  Do any of these tuxedos care or are they only concerned with getting to their next fundraiser on time?

Posted by Roger Berliner on Sunday, April 26, 2015

@MCPS Releases Transition Work Group Report - Fallout from #RockTerrace Financial Mismanagement

When the Rock Terrace Scandal began to unfold, MCPS administrators fell all over themselves trying to explain that the purpose of paying the students was only for the purpose of teaching the "work-pay connection." The Board of Education even hired a multi-national law firm to write a memo (to the tune of $72,000) propounding that the money the students earned wasn't really "pay," and that the purpose of any money was only to teach the "work-pay connection."

There were, of course, many problems with this "explanation." First and foremost, the students at Rock Terrace School are smarter than both MCPS and their counsel give them credit for. These students are able to understand the "work-pay connection" without too much explanation. What is harder for MCPS to explain is just exactly how they were teaching the "work-pay connection" when (a) the students never actually saw the money, (b) never actually received any bank statements, and (c) the money that they did earn was stolen from them!

In light of what happened with the money the Rock Terrace students earned, MCPS convened a workgroup to evaluate the teaching of the "work-pay connection." Unsurprisingly, the recommendation is to disband the program where students earn money through work experiences and instead use those funds to help in school start-up businesses, like coffee shops, etc.

To date, the Board of Education has not discussed the memo (below) nor its recommendations. Why not? Perhaps because the State's Attorney for Montgomery County is still investigating whether anyone bears criminal liability for what happened at Rock Terrace. An announcement of the results of the State's Attorney's investigation is expected shortly.

   Transition Report Final by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

TONIGHT: Rock Terrace School/Tilden Middle School Roundtable Discussion Group

This is a reminder that there is an opportunity to observe the Roundtable discussions about the feasibility of co-locating the Rock Terrace School, which serves students ages 12-21 with significant cognitive issues, with the new build of Tilden Middle School at Tilden Lane and Marcliff Road.  The next meeting is Tonight, January 20th at 7pm, at Tilden Middle School (11211 Old Georgetown Road).   

Rock Terrace School/Tilden Middle School

Roundtable Discussion Group

Timeline

Meeting #      Date                Location                     Topic

            --          12/01/14          Rock Terrace               Public Information Meeting #1

            1          12/18/14          Tilden MS                   Introduction; Review of Committee charge; Overview of   process and timeline; Identification of concerns and

                                                                                      development of committee criteria

            2          01/05/15          Rock Terrace               Identify possible concepts

            3          01/20/14          Tilden MS                   Staff presentation of concepts and Roundtable clarification

            4          01/26/14          Rock Terrace               Sharing of pluses/minuses for each approach; discussion of community concerns by Roundtable members

            5          02/12/14          Tilden MS                   Discussion of programmatic issues and community concerns

            6          02/23/14          Rock Terrace               Review and clarification of concerns with concepts; Review of items to be included in the Roundtable Discussion

                                                                                      Group’s summary of issues for report.

            --          03/04/14          Tilden MS                   Public Information Meeting #2

            --          03/06/14                                               Roundtable Discussion Group report sent to

                                                                                      superintendent of schools and Board of Education

 

The first Public Information Meeting will be held at the Rock Terrace School Library Media Center. All of the Roundtable Discussion Group meetings will be held in the Library Media Centers of Rock Terrace School or Tilden Middle School. The second Public Information Meeting will be held in the Tilden Middle School cafeteria. All meetings will be held from 7:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m. All information relating to the Roundtable will be posted on the MCPS website at the following link:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/planning/CommunityInfo_Roundtable.shtml

Rock Terrace School Teachers Have Safety Concerns, Request More Support

The following statement was received by the Parents Coalition on Monday, December 8.

Article 9 of the Montgomery County Education Association union contract states that we "must provide a safe, respectful, and affirming environments for all." Rock Terrace has done their job
of doing this for the students but has failed at doing this for the teachers.
This year alone by September there were 11 workman's compensation claims filed and
that's only the ones that were reported. Teachers have suffered bites resulting
in infection repeatedly, teachers have sustained concussions from being head
butted and punched. Current Rock Terrace School Administration, Superintendent Joshua Starr, and Director of Special Education Gwen Mason have
been made aware of these safety concerns and yet injuries continue to occur.
Recently a pregnant teacher who had previously expressed concern for her safety
was kicked in the stomach. Staff are scared to come to work and report feeling physically
and mentally unable to perform their jobs.

MD special-ed students can't serve coffee at school

The Baltimore Sun:

Patapsco special-ed students can't serve coffee at school, will now sell slushies

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/dundalk/bs-md-co-java-slushie-shop-20141011,0,2351882.story#ixzz3G7o3SZ2N

Petition 
Revise MOM-12: Maryland Nutritional Standards for All Foods Sold in Schools, to revise the state policy limiting "caffeinated beverages" to high school students.