Surprise! KID Museum is not the only science program in Montgomery County. Here's a company that actually takes the science directly to the classrooms, no field trip required.
What a treat for 2nd grade! In-school field trip with @MadScienceGroup #sublimation #notmelting #dryice #smokeybubbles @MCPSCommunitySc @MCPS @MCPSEspanol pic.twitter.com/GeZV1Mu3U6
— Vicmarie Arocho (@HighlandES_CSL) February 16, 2023
As of 12:33 p.m, Joftus had 57,390 votes to Julie Yang’s 118,394 votes in District 3.
The new board will have seven female members. Arvin Kim, the student member, will be the lone male.
In unofficial results, Grace Rivera-Oven was chosen to represent District 1, following Judith Docca’s resignation at the end of her fourth term. Her last meeting also was Thursday. Rivera-Oven had 98,548 votes to Esther Wells’ 73,167...
Board of Education member Scott Joftus' spouse KID Museum founder and executive director Cara Lesser says that KID Museum "partnership has been evaluated every year both by MCPS Office of Shared Accountability and by external evaluators and we've been showing significant results year over year."
The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD filed a Maryland Public Information Act request for:
Kid Museum Data Brief _21-2... by Parents' Coalition of Montg...
KID Museum Data Brief _v.15... by Parents' Coalition of Montg...
The Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation wasn't permitted to bid on providing science education programs to MCPS schools so we will never know what they might have offered or the cost for their programs.
An open, transparent procurement process puts all of the options on the table and enables the Board of Education to make the best use of finite education funding. Will the Montgomery County Board of Education ever decide to put out all procurements for competitive bids?
Thank you Mrs. Stoner of the Mobile Science Lab - Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation (MAEF)! 🐮 We learned which was stronger? Milk or Elmers glue?? Awesome time learning. 🎆📝 pic.twitter.com/lRJuY05rlE
— LPES (@lpes_smcps) May 13, 2022
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.
“We’ve had so much disruption in so many different ways,” McKnight said. “We want to be able to continue services with our students that we found to be successful, and the KID Museum is one.”
The Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County, an advocacy group, raised concerns before a school board vote last week that the contract for MoCo KidsCo Inc. — the corporation behind the KID Museum based in Bethesda, Md. — was being awarded as a no-bid contract, with no discussion by the school board, a lack of competition and a conflict of interest...
Montgomery parents group concerned about awarding of no-bid STEM contract - The Washington Post
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — MCPS recently awarded the KID Museum with a nearly $2.4 million contract to continue their partnership providing STEM-based learning activities for students.
The Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County raised concerns about the extension of this agreement because the KID Museum’s founder is board member Dr. Scott Joftus’s wife. The advocacy group also says due to this conflict of interest no other companies were able to bid on this opportunity.
“It’s not a new issue that the board of education is not diligent in dealing with the public procurement, and following the public procurement laws,” said Janis Sartucci from the Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County. “And really keeping everything aboveboard and as transparent as possible.”..
Controversy surrounding Kid Museum’s contract with MCPS | DC News Now
The non-profit offers programming in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and is a partner with Montgomery County Public Schools.
The museum was awarded a nearly $2.4-million contract by the Montgomery County Board of Education.
"This is a large purchase to a private entity for education purposes for our students and that should be described [discussed] by the Board of Education at their table in public," said Janis Sartucci of the Parents Coalition of Montgomery County .
Montgomery County BOE awards $2.4M to KID Museum without competition from other bidders | WJLA
On March 8, 2022, the Whitman High School newspaper published an article about an annual event called Vike-A-Thon. The article alleged that the event is associated with rampant sexual abuse of students by other students.
Within hours of the article being published the principal notified parents, guardians and students that the event was being cancelled and that the Montgomery County Police were being consulted. Students were encouraged to report unsafe behavior or serious incidents to administrators immediately. [Note: But please go straight to the police!]
The Whitman High School school newspaper article was written by Eliana Joftus, the daughter of new Montgomery County Board of Education member Scott Joftus.
Since being appointed to the Montgomery County Board of Education on December 2, 2021, Scott Joftus has remained relatively quiet and has not taken a public stand on any significant MCPS matters. His new re-election website makes no mention of the decades of cases of sexual abuse of MCPS students by MCPS staff, nor has Mr. Joftus spoken up in support of the dozens upon dozens of known victims of sexual abuse by MCPS staff.
Bravo to Eliana Joftus for investigating and documenting the information she obtained about an annual, toxic school event and making that information public.
MARCH 8, 2022
Content warning: This story contains language that pertains to sexual assault and drug use. Students’ names have been changed for anonymity.
As a freshman, junior Lacey put all of her energy into preparing for Vike-A-Thon on the afternoon of the event. She straightened her hair, put on the sparkly outfit that she had purchased specifically for the party and meticulously applied glitter on her upper cheekbones to add a radiant shine to her face. But the night wasn’t all about Instagram-worthy experiences.
At Vike-A-Thon, Lacey was sexually assaulted.
Vike-A-Thon is a rave-style fundraising event that has served as the pinnacle of Whitman SGA’s “Charity Month.” Tickets cost between $30 and $40, and from 9 p.m. until midnight, students pack together in the school’s darkened gymnasium as music blares and neon lights strobe.
Vike-A-Thon was once a “dance marathon” previously known as “bRAVE” during which students were locked in school for 12 hours on a weekend night. bRAVE started in 2012, but due to excessive underage drinking and drug use, the SGA re-branded the fundraiser in 2016 as Vike-A-Thon. The last time the SGA held Vike-A-Thon in February of 2020, sales raised $24,000, more than the funds from every other Charity Month fundraising event combined.
While organizers advertise the event as lighthearted and fun, the event’s appeal is rooted in a toxic atmosphere, one that’s ripe for sexual abuse — particularly involving exploitative power dynamics between upperclassmen and underclassmen. It’s been 10 years too long. Whitman’s SGA or school administrators need to cancel Vike-A-Thon...
https://theblackandwhite.net/71844/opinion/its-been-10-years-too-long-vike-a-thon-needs-to-go/
Montgomery County Public Schools' Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund funding memo reveals that new Board of Education member Scott Joftus' wife's private company MoCo Kids Co, Inc., also known as KID Museum, was given $2.1 Million dollars in COVID-19 relief funding that was directed to public schools through the ESSER funding.
Scott Joftus' own company lists his wife's company, KID Museum, as a client.
KID Museum also shows former MCPS Superintendent Joshua Starr as a member of their Board of Directors and lists Scott Joftus and former Board of Education member Shirley Brandman under "advisors and corporate supporters."
...As a policy wonk, I believe that student learning flourishes in classrooms that include students with a wide range of abilities and backgrounds. As a father, I want my daughters to appreciate diversity of all types. But I also want them to be surrounded by children who come to school ready and eager to learn. These goals come into conflict when some students are constantly disruptive; the policy wonk must preach patience to the father who wants the class disrupter out...
https://www.educationnext.org/when-education-reform-gets-personal/
https://www.mymcmedia.org/scott-joftus-unanimously-chosen-as-mcps-board-member/
