Bullet found in boys’ locker room at Tilden Middle School

A bullet was found on the floor of the boys’ locker room at Tilden Middle School in Rockville on Monday, according to a letter to the school community from Principal Sapna Hopkins.

The MoCo Show first reported the incident and reprinted the letter Hopkins sent to the school community.

The incident comes after a handful of schools in the county received “swatting” calls and other threats which led to Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School being placed in lockdown on Thursday and Walt Whitman High School to evacuate students and Bethesda Elementary School briefly going on lockdown on Friday...

https://moco360.media/2024/05/21/bullet-found-in-boys-locker-room-at-tilden-middle-school/

Tilden Principal publishes letter to the community

Tilden Middle School principal Sapna Hopkins published this letter, below, to the Tilden MS community on November 17, 2023 as part of the Timberwolf Connection newsletter.  

It appears that her instructions to staff is to not respond to certain emails from Tilden parents. If anyone reading this blog has more information please let us know. And she warns parents who will be attending upcoming Caregiver Conferences not to bring up "the matter of the teacher who is under official investigation." (That teacher is on paid leave.)

GREETINGS TILDEN FAMILIES!

zoom_out_map

To say that this week has been one of the toughest week for me, our students, staff, and families would be a huge understatement. Tilden community is hurting. Our staff is pushing through every day with the hope that there is some light at the end of this dark tunnel. Yet, time and again, situations occur on a daily basis to push us back. This week, a community member sent multiple staff members an email containing disturbing images depicting violence against Israelis and outlining specific expectations for classroom discussions on the Israel-Hamas conflict. Such behaviors pulling us away from taking care of our students. Furthermore, they suggest that antisemitism is prevalent within our school.

I want to strongly emphasize that I vehemently disagree with this portrayal. We must not let the alleged actions of one individual paint a broader picture; antisemitism is not widespread at Tilden. In fact, respect is a fundamental core value in our school, emphasizing the diverse and individual nature of each person in our community. We discuss, teach, and expect nothing less from everyone.

During these challenging times, our school community must approach sensitive issues with a professional and focused mindset. I urge you to refrain from sending such emails and encourage open communication through appropriate channels.

Staff members have been instructed not to engage with these emails, as doing so would be unprofessional. Rest assured that, with the support of the MCPS Office of School Support and Well-Being, our response will follow an established process, including necessary communication to keep our community informed.

No such conversations will be entertained at the Caregiver Conferences on Monday, November 20. We are developing talking points for teachers to use during conferences if similar topics come up. We will have Security presence to reinforce the safety of our staff, our student volunteers, and caregivers. Please know that the primary goal of these conferences is to focus on your student's academic and well-being of your student which will not be served by bringing up the matter of the teacher who is under an official investigation.

Your continued support for Tilden Middle and our collective efforts to foster a positive educational environment is greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

Tilden Middle School Principal letter to the community regarding the vicious antisemitism from a teacher in the school

This is the Tilden Middle School principal's response to the vicious antisemitic posts made by the DEI leader/teacher at Tilden Middle School. So far the elected Board of Education has not made any statement nor acknowledged the growing antisemitism in MCPS schools.

Community Message 11.13.23 by freestategal on Scribd

Sabrina Khan-Williams, a Tilden MS ("No Place for Hate") teacher posts horrific antisemitic accusations online

Sabrina Khan-Williams, a Diversity Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Team Leader/teacher at Tilden Middle School, has proudly come out as a vicious antisemite. In the last few days she openly posted horrific antisemitic statements, claiming that Israelis "harvest organs." If your child goes to Tilden MS, please be careful at that school.

She posted the following: "Palestinian's are being killed and their organs are being sold. How is real life scarier than movies??"

Ms. Khan-Williams also posted "Debunked!! No music festival attack. Babies were not burned. Women were not violated. Hospitals were attacked on purpose."

We reached out to the principal at Tilden Middle School and to Ms. Khan-Williams. As of this writing we have not heard back. While it is possible Ms. Khan-Williams' social media were hacked we understand MCPS leadership and the county council are taking these posts seriously.

How much longer will MCPS allow this vicious antisemitism in our school system?

Meanwhile, the Tuesday evening November 14th PTSA meeting has been cancelled.

Antisemitic incident this morning at Tilden MIddle School

This morning a swastika was discovered draw on a table at Tilden Middle School. Antisemitic 'incidents' are an almost daily event in MCPS schools and yet our Central office leadership and school staff do almost nothing about it.

TODAY: Watch Interim Super. McKnight Violate BOE POLICY, Cut Out Parents, Skip Principals in Construction of NEW CELL TOWER @mocoboe @mcps

Today the Montgomery County Board of Education will vote to turn over the decision of whether or not to build a NEW cell tower at the Woodward High School site under construction to Interim Superintendent Monifa McKnight.  

If Montgomery County Interim Superintendent Monifa McKnight is given this power, she will make the decision without Board of Education review and without input from the school's parents, community or principal.  

The Woodward High School site is currently under construction.  On that property a new high school will be built, one that as of yet does not have any students or staff.  

Board of Education POLICY ECN specifically calls for input on the placement of a cell tower on a public school playground from school staff, the PTSA, and community groups: 

d) Impact on the school site and operations based on input from school staff, PTSA, community groups, and facilities staff.

But at this school site there is no school. There is no staff.  

There are no parents and no PTSA.  The school doesn't exist yet. 

So instead of waiting for the school to be built and following the Board of Education POLICY, Interim Superintendent Monifa McKnight wants the power to build the cell tower NOW so she can make the decision without hearing from school staff, PTSA or parents.  

Why?

BECAUSE MCPS PARENTS OVERWHELMINGLY OPPOSE CELL TOWERS ON PUBLIC SCHOOL PLAYGROUNDS. 

If McKnight waits for the new high school to be built to build a NEW cell tower she already knows that parents will OPPOSE such a plan.  

When ever a cell tower has been publicly proposed for a MCPS school site parents have overwhelmingly OPPOSED those construction projects. 

Sligo Middle School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../breaking-news... 

Parkland Middle School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../exclusive... 

Wootton High School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../video... 

Julius West Middle School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../we-said-noand... 

Neelsville Middle School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../video-tower... 

Northwest High School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../parents... 

Clemente Middle School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../november-11th... 

Daly Elementary School https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/.../starr-wants...

How MCPS Superintendents Fib to the Board of Education or How a New High School will Get a New Cell Tower at the Front Entrance.

 May 13, 2021 Update:  As noted in our original blog post below, the memorandum from Superintendent Jack Smith to the Montgomery County Board of Education was not factual.  The Montgomery County Transmission Facility Coordinating Group had NOT approved the placement of a new cell tower at the Woodward High School site on Old Georgetown Road.  

This agenda item was pulled from the May 11th Board of Education Agenda during the meeting because the memorandum from Superintendent Jack Smith was not correct. 

On today's Board of Education Agenda is a perfect example of how MCPS Superintendents fib to the Montgomery County Board of Education.  

The Board of Education members are well aware of these continuing fibs and approve of this method of conducting public school business.

 Board of Education members are "trained" to not question what they are told by the superintendent and by MCPS staff.  The "job" of Montgomery County Board of Education members is to be a rubber stamp for the actions of superintendents. 

Today's example:  Superintendent Jack Smith wants to build a new cell tower at the new high school site on Old Georgetown Road.  In order to do that, the superintendent has to bypass the existing Board policy and procedure that calls for the Board of Education to approve new cell towers. Superintendent Smith doesn't want to put this matter before the Board of Education because for the past 10 years all new cell tower proposals have been rejected by parents and community members in Montgomery County. 

Here are the steps involved in bypassing the existing policy and sneaking in a new cell tower:

1. Do not give the Board of Education members the actual documents they are approving!  Just write a memo (see images) that refers to documents, but gives no details.

2.  Fib about the history of the issue.  In today's Board memo, Superintendent Jack Smith says that the Board of Education previously "entered into a telecommunications lease."  That never happened. The Board of Education never entered into cell tower leases.  Cell tower leases were all executed by previous Superintendent Jerry Weast without Board votes.

3. Mention an internal approval process but give NO DETAILS.  This memo says that MCPS DFM (Department of Facilities Management) staff reviewed a plan and found it acceptable.  Where is the plan? Why can't the Board of Education see the plan? What about parents and neighbors? They haven't seen the plan. Why can't they see the plan?  By referencing some vague approval it sounds as if the plans are just fine and no one should question them.  

4. Claim the Montgomery County Transmission Facility Coordinating Group (TFCG) has approved the new cell tower when they actually haven't.   This particular cell tower is actually listed as PENDING on the TFCG website.  The proposal has not been approved. 

5. Instead of using the word "new" call the new cell tower "longer-term."  That will trick the Board of Education members into thinking they aren't really giving the Superintendent the power to erect a new cell tower.  

The May 11, 2021, memorandum shown above from Superintendent Jack Smith is an excellent example of how to get around Board of Education policies and procedures, keep Board members clueless as to what is being approved, and eliminate public notice of commercial construction projects on public school land. 

TODAY: Board of Education to Approve FIRST Ever Cell Tower on MCPS School Land

May 13, 2021 Update: As noted in our original blog post the memorandum from Superintendent Jack Smith to the Montgomery County Board of Education was not factual. The Montgomery County Transmission Facility Coordinating Group had NOT approved the placement of a new cell tower at the Woodward High School site on Old Georgetown Road.  This agenda item was pulled from the May 11th Board of Education Agenda during the meeting because the memorandum from Superintendent Jack Smith was not correct.

Currently, there are 12 cell towers located on Board of Education property.  

However, NONE of those cell towers were ever approved by the Board of Education.

ALL of those cell towers were placed on public school land by former Superintendent Jerry Weast (1999 - 2011) without the approval of the Board of Education.    

The Board of Education never voted to approve any of those cell tower construction projects.

But, TODAY the Montgomery County Board of Education will VOTE to approve a NEW CELL TOWER at the Tilden Middle School/Woodward High School on Old Georgetown Road.  

The lease for the cell tower on the Tilden Middle School/Woodward High School is about to expire. And the entire site is about to be leveled for the construction of a new high school.   

Superintendent Jack Smith has told the Board of Education to grant HIM the power to sign a new, 20 year lease for a NEW cell tower at the Tilden Middle School/Woodward High School site.  The new cell tower will go somewhere on the site of the new high school, but the public doesn't know where the NEW cell tower would go if approved.  

Under the Board of Education's cell tower approval process, the principal and the community are supposed to be involved in the placement of any NEW cell towers.  The MCPS New Cell Tower Process is shown on the image to the left. 

BUT, Superintendent Jack Smith does NOT WANT the public or the school community involved in this decision, so today he is telling the Board of Education to give HIM total control of the placement of a NEW cell tower at this site.  

Today, is a historic day!  Never before has the Montgomery County Board of Education voted to place a cell tower on a public school site.  But today, the Board of Education will vote to approve a NEW cell tower at the Tilden Middle School/Woodward High School site and turn over that entire decision to the Superintendent, thus bypassing any school, PTSA or community notice or input into the decision.  The public will have no opportunity to be heard on whether or not this NEW cell tower should be built on this school site, or where a NEW cell tower could be placed on this school site.  

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/C2NJD54C7B68/$file/Charles%20W%20Woodward%20HS%20Telecom%20Lease%20Amend.pdf

Wed. Jan. 6th Public Meeting: Vendor Wants to Move Cell Tower on MCPS School Site without Board of Ed. Approval. Back Property Taxes Owed on Cell Tower = $4,699.

Design Development for Cell Tower Relocation at Charles W. Woodward High School Project  Community Work Session (Tilden Middle School site on Old Georgetown Road)

Date: Wednesday, January 6th, 2021

Time: 6:30 pm

Location: Zoom Meeting

Meeting #: 919 2973 6178    

Passcode: 534386

Additional Zoom link information for this meeting at this link. 

------------------------

1.  When did the Montgomery County Board of Education approve the placement of a cell tower at the Tilden Middle School/Woodward High School site?

2. The cell tower that this vendor wants to move owes back taxes of $4,699.  This is not the first time this cell tower has had a vendor owe back taxes.  In fact, the Parents' Coalition has been tracking this cell tower for years and property taxes are frequently not paid on this site. 

3.  When did the Board of Education approve a new location at this school site for a cell tower?  Board of Education decisions require a public vote.  The Board of Education is the land owner for this property.  In order for a private organization to construct a structure on Board of Education property, the Board of Education would have to authorize a Lease with the private company.  Has that been done?  When? Who signed the Lease? 

Notice of Community Meeting by Parents' Coalition of Montg...

Notice of Community Meeting... by Parents' Coalition of Montg...

$27,740 Owed in Back Taxes on Tilden Middle School Cell Tower

But, hey, it's only money.  We're rich in Montgomery County and unpaid property taxes are no big deal here.  

See previous posts on this topic. 

Drug arrest at Walter Johnson HS - Other sexual offense at Tilden Middle School.

Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row: Drug arrest at Walter Johnson HS, sex offense repo...: Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on January 11, according to crime data: Burglary. 3900 block East-West Highway. ...

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

MCCPTA 2004: "Will we have land available if we need it?"

On March 3, 2004, the Montgomery County Board of Education held a hearing on the surprise revelation that 3 parcels of public school land (over 31 acres in total) was about to be declared surplus and turned over to the county for non-school uses. That night over 300 parents and community members from all over Montgomery county showed up at the Board of Education for the public hearing.


Here is the statement given that evening of then MCCPTA President Michele Yu on behalf of that organization. 
MCCPTA2004

Weast's Plan: Leaky pipes and dead animal odor

How does "leading American education expert" Superintendent Weast maintain MCPS school facilities in a world class school system? Listen up Harvard University, Northern Ireland Parliament, New Jersey school systems, and Professional Learning Communities Institute, this is what you want to emulate. 


Potomac Almanac:  For Cabin John, a Double Dose of Maintenance

Parents find Tilden Holding Center unfit.
By Ansley LaBarre
Thursday, November 12, 2009

On their first visit to the temporary academic facility, parents found profane graffiti on the walls, absent baseboards leaving gaps above the floor, and leaky pipes dripping through ceiling tiles — an issue that led to the corrosion of electrical outlets and light fixtures. The faulty heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system left some parents wondering if the excess water was causing mold to grow in the building while concerns grew over the possibility of increased student illness...

...concerned with the decaying and broken asbestos tiles in the stairwells...

..."My jaw hit the floor at the filth and the blatant disrepair of the building," said Lisa Caplan, parent to a seventh grader...  
...the timing of which left parents wondering if the maintenance issues would have gone unnoticed had they not raised alarm...
 
... "Although issues like a nonfunctioning HVAC unit and dead animal odor were noted in the air quality report."...

"James Song has promised to resolve the list of 52 items we noted at the beginning of the school year and we are continuing to work with MCPS on unresolved issues."

"You can put in all the new ceiling tiles you want," said Caplan, who believes there are instances where the County has resolved to temporary solutions. "But if you don’t stop the leaks above the ceiling tiles at the source, then all that new money is going to waste."

Tilden MS to move / Woodward to re-open

Another surprise tucked into the newly released MCPS Capital Improvement Program budget document:

Tilden Middle School is currently located at the Woodward facility that is located on Old Georgetown Road. Rather than modernize the Woodward facility for Tilden Middle School, the current Tilden Holding Facility, that is used for middle schools and is located on Tilden Lane, will be modernized to house Tilden Middle School. The Woodward facility will then become a secondary school holding facility for middle and high school modernizations scheduled after Tilden Middle School.

The CIP Budget Chapter on the Walter Johnson Cluster is here.
Remember just a few years ago Superintendent Weast surplused part of the Woodward High School site for housing because Tilden Middle School didn't "need" all that land.  How things change in just 5 years!

Here is what Superintendent Weast said in 2004 to convince the Board of Education to surplus the parcel of land at the Woodward site:

...At one time, while the school was known and operated as Charles Woodward High School, a driveway was considered for development through the parcel to obtain access to Edson Lane and relieve on-site traffic congestion...The driveway was never built and is no longer needed for the operation of the middle school, since an additional traffic signal was installed on Old Georgetown Road to facilitate ingress and egress from the school. It is unlikely that this parcel will be needed in the future.

Anyone want that driveway (or any other use) land to be available if the site is now a high school again? Will Montgomery County Government  give back that land to the Woodward High School site?

White Flint Sector Plan: Scale it Back

This coming Wednesday, Sept. 16, Councilmember Roger Berliner will host an open forum at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center. With the White Flint Sector Plan up for a vote at the County Council, now is the time to let Councilmember Berliner know his constituents do not want inappropriate density, overcrowded schools, dangerous traffic, and boundary changes.

Here is the information on the forum:

Date: Wednesday, September 16

Time: 7:30 pm

Location: Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center

4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda