Online payment portal fails to charge credit cards, MCPS asks parents to make transactions a second time

MCPS financial officers are asking those who made purchases on the Online School Payment portal Sept. 13 to Sept. 30 to re-enter their credit card information due to an error by the vendor, Online School Management Systems.

The problem arose after an OSMS employee accidentally switched the software into testing mode for an upgrade, causing the credit cards to not be charged even though the order requests went through. To compensate for the lost revenue, the vendor has since privately reimbursed the affected schools.

Though OSMS informed parents of the situations, many expressed skepticism of being asked to re-enter their credit card information.

“I got a bunch of calls from parents who were concerned about the possibility that it was a scam, asking if this was a legitimate email and something that they should be doing,” MCPS Administrator of Financial Operations Robert Reilly said...

https://theblackandwhite.net/57703/news/online-payment-portal-fails-to-charge-credit-cards-mcps-asks-parents-to-make-transactions-a-second-time/

Blair Students Dismiss Role of Student Member of Board of Education

MCPS students have a full voting student member on the the Montgomery County Board of Education. Students vote on their representative. Why is it that Blair's students now say the decision to drop Edline was a surprise for them? Their student Board of Education member was at the Board of Education table for all of the discussion and votes on this change. Students were fully represented during the entire years long process. 

Oct. 26, 2017

MyMCPS: A decision we had no say in

MCPS faces major problems due to implementation issues in a decision without student input

From middle school to high school, many students had a best friend named Edline, who knew everything about them from their daily attendance, to the grades they received on assignments. But when school started this year, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) told them that Edline was no longer being used. With no recollection of giving input into the decision, students found themselves crashing head-first into a new system with almost no warning.

http://silverchips.mbhs.edu/story/13623

Cyber attack on county-wide network shuts down internet connection

Students and faculty across Montgomery County couldn’t complete planned classwork because of intermittent loss of internet service Sept. 25 and 26 after an an outside source issued a cyber-attack on the county-wide network, MCPS Chief Technology Officer Pete Cevenini reported.

These types of cyber-attacks are relatively common, according to Cevenini, and didn’t threaten student data or private information.

“It was difficult and very disruptive, but all it did was shut down the network at the front door. There was no serious damage to our network,” Cevenini said. “But we had to have people staying, pulling all nighters both nights to try to mitigate things and get things back in working order.”

Without internet, teachers were forced to adjust lesson plans last minute...

https://theblackandwhite.net/57066/news/cyber-attack-on-county-wide-network-shuts-down-internet-connection/

Dallas Dance: Dancing Into School Districts with Digital Devices

Resigned BCPS Superintendent Dallas Dance Takes Consulting JobsBy Joanne C. Simpson

Dallas Dance could be coming to a school district near you. For a visit anyway. Dance’s new role after leaving his $275,000 annual superintendent job at Baltimore County Public Schools after June 30–at least two national consulting gigs.

Both companies, MGT Consulting Group and the Center for Digital Education, have had at least tangential relationships with numerous BCPS vendors, the superintendent, or the school system itself.

Recently, Dance announced a full-time position with MGT Consulting Group, a large Florida-based educational consulting company with offices nationwide.

Among other goals for the for-profit consulting group: “Future-Facing. MGT recognizes the changing face of education, as requisite knowledge shifts and desirable goals are reimagined so students are prepared for a 21st century workplace. With our broad knowledge background and significant experience, we will give you solutions that are appropriate and actionable.”

A current focus of MGT Consulting, one shared by Dance, is “technology strategic planning:” “Our experts know how to effectively produce strategic planning documents including all necessary inputs and are able to present the technology strategic plans to governing bodies in a way that encourages adoption.”

Dance’s strategic planning skills are evident in reports for BCPS, including Blueprint 2.0. Yet there are questions about the financial efficacy–as well as no objective evidence of positive student learning outcomes–for Dance’s signature laptop-per-student initiative known as Students and Teachers Accessing Tomorrow (STAT).

Among other issues, Baltimore County’s standardized PARCC student test scores last year came in lower than districts in the region, and in some cases dropped below the state average. Still unproven since launched in 2014, STAT nonetheless is being used widely–by Dance and others, including BCPS’ digital director Ryan Imbriale–as an example to replicate in other school districts around the country.

Dance and other top district administrators have also traveled widely across the U.S., spending hundreds of thousands in taxpayers dollars to do just that. See post with details here.

http://nancyebailey.com/2017/07/08/dallas-dance-dancing-into-school-districts-with-digital-devices/

Detectives Investigate Eleven Purse Thefts from Schools in County; Photographs of a Suspect Released

What is going on with MCPS security?  Why were all of these schools so easy to enter undetected?  What does this say about the state of security in our public schools? 

Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) are investigating 11 thefts of female employees’ purses from nine area schools that occurred in May and June.  Two of these thefts occurred in Rockville City and MCPD detectives are working with the Rockville City Police Department regarding those incidents.  Investigators believe that multiple thefts were committed by the same suspect whose photograph is being released today in hopes that someone recognizes him.

Investigators have received reports from 11 female employees who work at nine different schools/child care centers located in the County whose purses/wallets were stolen from a school classroom or office by an unknown suspect(s).  (The thefts are outlined below).  The victims’ stolen credit cards were then used to purchase items at stores.

During each of these thefts the suspect located an unattended classroom/office, found the employee’s purse/bag, and stole the entire purse or wallet or removed the victim’s cash and credit cards and left the purse/wallet.  At three of the schools the suspect was approached by personnel who inquired about his purpose in the school.  The suspect provided a brief response like he was with the cleaning staff or was a member of camp staff and then would quickly leave the area.  The suspect would then go to stores in the County, to include Target, Safeway, Best Buy, and Giant, and use the victims’ credit cards to buy merchandise.

The total amount of fraudulent charges placed on these victims’ credit cards has exceeded $13,000 and is growing.  (Investigators have not received final amounts for some of these fraudulent purchases so this amount will increase).  The total amount of cash stolen from these eleven victims is approximately $500.

Surveillance photographs of a suspect who used four of the victims’ credit cards at stores (from incidents in Germantown, Bethesda, and Silver Spring) were obtained by detectives and are being released to the public.

These thefts remain under investigation.  Anyone with information about this suspect or these thefts is asked to contact 2nd District detectives at 240-773-6710. For those who wish to remain anonymous, Crime Solvers of Montgomery County is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for any information that leads to the arrest of the unknown suspect. Tipsters can call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

Thefts of Purses/Wallets from Schools:

May 9 – Twinbrook Elementary School, 5911 Ridgway Avenue, Rockville, approximately 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Rockville City Police Department

May 19 – Little People Daycare, 12720 Royal Carriage Drive, Germantown, approximately 3:00 p.m.

June 1 – Georgetown Hill Early School, 850 Nelson Street, Rockville, approximately 9:00 am to 1:00 pm – Rockville City Police Department

June 8 – Rock Creek Forest Elementary School, 8330 Grubb Road, Silver Spring, between approximately 5:45 pm  – 6:00 pm

June 9 – Montgomery Child Care – Garrett Park, 4806 Oxford Street, Garrett Park, between approximately 11:00 am and 4:30 pm – Note: Two victims at this school

June 14 – Somerset Elementary School, 5811 Warwick Place, Chevy Chase, between approximately 1:40 pm and 3:00 pm

June 19 – Bethesda Elementary School, 7600 Arlington Road, Bethesda, between 10:30 am and 3:00 pm – NOTE: Two victims at this school

June 21 – Silver Spring International Middle School, 313 Wayne Avenue, Silver Spring, between 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm

June 29 – Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy, 13300 Arctic Avenue, Rockville

almost a third of the 50,000 Chromebooks he manages became "stuck in a state of flickering between a login screen and a 'Network not available' screen." - CTO Sherwin Collette did not respond to a request for comment.

...Six days ago, an IT administrator with Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland reported that following the update to Chrome version 56, almost a third of the 50,000 Chromebooks he manages became "stuck in a state of flickering between a login screen and a 'Network not available' screen." He also said that some of the roughly 45,000 Windows PCs he manages were affected. The admin said Blue Coat 6.5 doesn't appear to support TLS 1.3.

Attempts to reach the administrator via phone and email were unsuccessful and Montgomery County Public Schools' CTO Sherwin Collette did not respond to a request for comment.
According to Google engineer David Benjamin, the issue is that Blue Coat implements TLS 1.3 incorrectly. "[Blue Coat was] made aware of TLS 1.3 several months ago, but evidently did not test [its] software per our instructions," he wrote. Benjamin did not respond to further requests for comment.

A spokesperson for Symantec, which acquired Blue Coat last year, told The Register in an email, "Symantec has been alerted of a potential issue with TLS 1.3 on selected devices. We're investigating now and are working to resolve the issue."...

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/02/27/blue_coat_chokes_on_chrome_encryption_update/

Gaithersburg Parent: "rolling out technology in our schools must be done with health and safety oversight" @DelegateKaiser @SenatorZucker @CherylKagan @JheanelleW @delsheilahixson @EricLuedtke

From: Lisa Cline
Date: Wed, Feb 15, 2017
Subject: HB866 is Overdue.
To: steven.arentz@house.state.md.us
Cc: anne.kaiser@house.state.md.us, frank.turner@house.state.md.us, kathy.afzali@house.state.md.us,
 bilal.ali@house.state.md.us, Darryl.Barnes@house.state.md.us, Jason.Buckel@house.state.md.us, 
 Eric.Ebersole@house.state.md.us, sheila.hixson@house.state.md.us, 
 Kevin.Hornberger@house.state.md.us, carolyn.howard@house.state.md.us,
 Bob.Long@house.state.md.us, eric.luedtke@house.state.md.us, 
 nick.mosby@house.state.md.us, Edith.Patterson@house.state.md.us, 
 Teresa.Reilly@house.state.md.us, April.Rose@house.state.md.us, 
 Haven.Shoemaker@house.state.md.us, Meagan.Simonaire@house.state.md.us, 
 Jimmy.Tarlau@house.state.md.us, jay.walker@house.state.md.us, 
 mary.washington@house.state.md.us, alonzo.washington@house.state.md.us, 
 jheanelle.wilkins@house.state.md.us


Dear Delegate Arentz,

Too many of us do not fully understand how legislation becomes law and what you do in Annapolis during each a session. I am no different, but I would hate for intimidation to get in the way of expressing my deep passion for passing HB866. 

As a parent and PTA president in Montgomery County and an active advocate for shielding children from a.) things they cannot see (like wifi radiation and blue light), and b.) things they should not have to understand at such a young age, HB866 will change everything for our children during the 6+ hours they "live" at school.

The beauty of HB866 is there is nothing objectionable in it. There is no downside. 

Computers are arguably very valuable 21st Century learning tools, particularly for those who need an extra push to engage in the learning process. But rolling out technology in our schools must be done with health and safety oversight. Montgomery County Public Schools, for one, lacks that overseeing body. 

I have met with Mr. Sherwin Collette, Chief Technology Officer at MCPS. I have spoken with Dr. Andy Zuckerman, Chief Operating Officer at MCPS. I have asked officials within County government.... "Who is making sure these computers aren't hurting the kids?" I have yet to find a person, or an admission, that our childrens' health is being protected from the ill effects of computer use. Meanwhile, radon is being measured and mitigated, and pesticide use is being fully disclosed and carefully deployed. 

The known dangers.

There are over 400 peer-reviewed studies that say RF radiation — the kind emitted from laptop computers and overhead routers — causes everything from nausea and headaches to DNA damage and cancer.

Our daughter died of cancer. After her death, I was asked to participate in a study out of the University of Minnesota that analyzed environmental factors surrounding pediatric leukemia cases. It was then that I realized just how many invisible pollutants swirl around our children and how much more vulnerable a population they are than adults. RF radiation is a definite culprit.

The effects of blue light on our childens' eye health is even more conclusive. Retinal damage is inevitable without proper protection. Blue light filters cost about $20. Why wouldn't we outfit all the Chromebooks with these safety mechanisms?

Digital addiction is an undeniable reality that is befalling the Computer Generation. Device use affects the brain much like cocaine. Any parent of teenagers will tell you how real this is. And the research is deep.

Now what?

I don't blame anyone for the severe lack of "tech health" being taught in our schools. It's all so new. But now is the time to complement the technology roll-out with safety measures to go with it. 

Please pass HB866 for the kids who are counting on us, and the parents who are counting on you.

Very kindly,

Lisa Cline

Gaithersburg, Maryland

MoCo 911 outage another sign of growth outpacing i...

Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row: MoCo 911 outage another sign of growth outpacing i...: The failure of Montgomery County's 911 emergency system last night and early this morning is another indication that infrastructure i...

...And a damning 2016 State of Maryland audit of Montgomery County Public Schools uncovered a staggering number of cybersecurity weaknesses, leaving student information easily accessible to hackers. Cyber intruders, the audit revealed, could access "any destination on the MCPS network." Eighty-six business partners of the school system improperly have "network-level access to the entire MCPS network." And the installed version of the database holding student information hasn't been supported by its developer since January 2012. Oh, and did I mention that 75% of the workstations tested by auditors didn't have the current security updates downloaded?...

Yet another MCPS software blunder

MCPS Chief Technology Officer Sherwin Collette, a gentleman with a degree in English and no credentials whatsoever in information systems management, has committed yet another amateur software configuration blunder.

Due to misconfiguration, MCPS employees and retires are not able to access any information stored on the PenPoint system.  The system is currently 100% down.

Many users get the following error screen immediately after entering their userid and password.   Even the most rudimentary testing would have prevented this situation from occurring.

The account and password controls over network authentication and the student information and financial management system applications and databases did not meet certain minimum thresholds

From the 2016 Maryland State Office of Legislative Services audit of MCPS: 

Finding 10 Network, application, and database account and password controls were not sufficient to properly protect critical resources, as they did not meet minimum thresholds in accordance with recognized best practices. Analysis
Network, application, and database account and password controls were not sufficient to properly protect critical resources. The account and password controls over network authentication and the student information and financial management system applications and databases did not meet certain minimum thresholds, as identified in best practices prescribed by the State of Maryland
Information Security Policy.
For example, network authentication password controls were deficient with respect to password length, complexity, maximum age, and history. A similar condition related to network authentication and application password controls was commented upon in our preceding audit report.

MCPS Core Firewalls Not Configured to Properly Secure MCPS Network

This section of the 2016 Maryland State Office of Legislative Services audit of MCPS speaks for itself.