...Cathy Stocker — vice president of the Friends of Westbrook School Foundation and PTA president at Chevy Chase Elementary School — said she helped raise about $247,000 for improvements to the all-purpose room and courtyard at Westbrook Elementary School in Bethesda...http://www.gazette.net/article/20140512/NEWS/140519976/1144/montgomery-school-community-members-thinking-of-new-system-for&template=gazette
The case, “The Unions in Montgomery County Public Schools,” recounts one large, urban-suburban district’s successful efforts to partner with its three labor unions in order to increase student learning. This case follows the evolution of district-union relations as the parties representing each of the three employee groups negotiated contracts. It recounts a bitter fight about the education budget, which pitted the district and its unions against the county government. The case can be used with current and aspiring school, district, and union leaders.
...Resolved, That the Board receive a briefing by staff and discuss ongoing collective bargaining negotiations and matters that relate to the negotiations...The Board of Education is also set to adopt the FY 2014 Operating Budget today.
"When numbers support it, positions are allocated for combination classes."There are many other changes to the document that will reduce or change the number of staff at local schools next year. There are also more instances where staffing is at the discretion of the local principal, and a number of positions do not give the details of actual allocations.
This e-mail message has been approved for distribution by Mr. Larry A. Bowers, chief operating officer. No hard copy will be provided.
To recognize and thank staff for their commitment to our students’ success, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and the three employee associations have agreed to release employees two hours early on Wednesday, November 23, 2011, the day before Thanksgiving. You will not be required to use your leave.
If you are unable to leave your work location early, you will be credited with personal leave. If you are normally scheduled to work more than four hours that day, you will receive two hours of personal leave; if you are normally scheduled to work four hours or less that day, you will receive one hour of personal leave. If you are unable to leave early, you must inform your principal or supervisor.
If you are responsible for Interagency Coordinating Board (ICB) activities occurring after 5:00 p.m. or if you are a Department of Transportation school bus operator or attendant, you will be credited with personal leave.If you are on leave that day, you will be charged for your leave and will not be credited with any additional leave.
MCPS and your employee associations have worked out the implementation guidelines and distributed a memorandum to administrators and directors who will ensure that the provisions are implemented. Any questions about how this provision will affect you may be addressed to your principal, director, or supervisor at your work site.
...In Montgomery County, stable leadership with a superintendent who has been in the position for 12 years has helped foster a collaborative culture. The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) worked with MCPS to develop three Professional Growth Systems (PGS) for teachers, administrators and support professionals. In April 2010, MCEA and MCPS signed an agreement to use student performance data in evaluations.
A shared sense of leadership also helps. “You have to distribute the leadership. You can’t just distribute the responsibility,” added Weast. “Authority and responsibility have to go together. You have to defuse the governance.”..
Montgomery County. Jerry Weast’s initial description of MCPS as a school system divided into two separate and unequal districts — a Red Zone of poverty, color and low achievement and a Green Zone of affluence and high achievement — led directly into “Our Call to Action,” which was designed to mobilize both the district and the community to embrace all students and ensure that achievement would not be predictable by race. This same call to move across boundaries and develop shared responsibility for all students went out to the three employee unions. Beginning as collaboration and building on the district’s earlier move to interest-based bargaining, it resulted in a restructured governance process. The three unions were invited to participate in the district’s capital and budget planning process. To ensure all voices were heard, the superintendent also invited administrators to form a fourth union to participate on equal footing with the others. Once the initial planning processes were completed, the heads of the teachers’ and administrators’ unions became permanent members of the district’s leadership team. The resulting decision-making structure has allowed MCPS to cross verticalLessons Learned in Systemic District Reform, September 2008 (Page 25-26)
and horizontal boundaries within the organization, speak with a consistent voice and model a culture of shared responsibility.
...Five years ago, the district [MCPS] created a budget committee, half of whose members belonged to unions. Last year, when Larry Bowers, the district’s [MCPS'] finance director, said the schools could not afford a scheduled 5.3 percent raise, the teachers’ union agreed. “Saved us $89 million,” Mr. Bowers said.
Mr. Prouty, the union president, said he knew Mr. Bowers was telling the truth. “We formulate the budget; we know where the money is, which makes us much more trusting,” said Mr. Prouty, whose members also agreed to forgo a raise next year.
From the beginning of the process, representatives of each of the employee associations (the Montgomery County Education Association, the Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 500) and leaders of the Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations (MCCPTA) participated in all of the budget development meetings. They spent hundreds of hours reviewing every proposal and alternative...Executive leadership and many other staff members also played an essential role in providing information and developing new ideas to advance the budget process.
"Administrators have been advocating for flexibility in making many decisions for their buildings, including staffing decisions. In this case, the decision to give elementary principals the flexibility to make cuts that included media specialist positions came approximately two weeks before that decision became publicThus, Media Specialists had no opportunity to advocate for their positions before a final decision was made. That's how the MCPS Secret Budget Table works. Those select few at the table keep all budget discussions confidential to prevent any public discussions of decisions being made.
knowledge. Nothing was finalized at that time. Until decisions are final, they must remain confidential to minimize rumors and misinformation that can arise.
Therefore, MCEA representatives could not inform media specialists in advance."
Kevin Lewis