Disagreement leads to physical altercation between staff, students at Silver Spring middle school

...Booms sent another letter Tuesday to the entire school community in which she apologized for not reaching out to the entire school community and said her immediate focus was on the students directly impacted by Monday’s incident.  

Tuesday’s letter provided more detail about the incident, saying students didn’t follow the guidance of “adults” during lunch dismissal, which led to a “heated exchange of words” and a “physical altercation.”  

“This behavior was unacceptable and resulted in two students being struck and also minor injuries for two staff members who were involved,” Booms said in the Tuesday letter. “The students were assessed by the school nurse and released and the two staff members sought medical attention on their own.” 

MCPS spokesperson Liliana Lopez told Bethesda Today Wednesday that one staff member involved has been placed on leave.  

June 20, 2024: Council Hearing on @mcps @mocoboe. IG says, 10 Cases of MCPS Administrative Leave Termination since April 29th.

 

https://montgomerycountymd.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=169&event_id=16191&meta_id=181214

Tilden Teacher Placed on Leave Following Social Media Posts

Sabrina Khan-Williams, a world studies teacher and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team leader at Tilden Middle School, was placed on administrative leave after she posted strongly accusatory comments on social media.

Khan-Williams’ posts on X concerned the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and the war in Gaza that ensued.

In one post, she wrote, “Debunked!! No music festival attack. Babies were not burned. Women were not violated. Hospitals were attacked on purpose.”

In another post, she wrote, “Palestinians are being killed and their organs are being sold. How is real life scarier than movies??”..

Tilden Teacher Placed on Leave Following Social Media Posts - Montgomery Community Media (mymcmedia.org)

"Highland has been working for nine months on plans to equip the five bus depots it’s targeting for charging loads" [9 months prior to Feb. 2021 would be Before RFP Issued by MCPS]

 MCPS Request for Proposal for Electric School Buses: 

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/procurement/uploads/9462.1/RFP%209462.1%20Electric%20Buses%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf

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Article on Highland Electric evaluating MCPS bus depots: 

Highland Electric Raises $235M, Lands Biggest Electric School Bus Contract in the US

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

Electric school buses don’t just eliminate the carbon and pollution emissions of their diesel-fueled counterparts; they also cost less to fuel and maintain over the long haul. 

Unfortunately for cash-strapped school districts, the upfront cost to purchase an electric school bus is still more than twice as much as the cost of a diesel bus today. And that’s not counting the cost of new charging infrastructure or the risk that those charging costs may drive a district’s electric bills through the roof. 

Highland Electric Transportation says it can remove those barriers for school districts and transit authorities by taking on the financing and management of an EV school bus fleet in exchange for a fixed annual leasing fee...

...The cost of that service, $169 million, will be spread out over 16 years, and will fit into the existing budget structures for its existing diesel bus fleet, said Todd Watkins, the district’s transportation director. After seven years of budget-neutrality, the contract will end up saving the district money compared to what it could have expected to spend on its existing bus fleet, he said. 

And the district won’t be stuck with the uncertainties of what it will cost to install charging stations, pay for the electricity they use or keep the buses running, because all of that is Highland’s responsibility. 

While the district did have access to a small amount of upfront electrification funds from the Volkswagen “Dieselgate” settlement, Watkins said he is “not a huge fan of grant-supported pilot programs in any area, because if you can’t sustain it, it’s too risky.”..

...For example, Highland has been working for nine months on plans to equip the five bus depots it’s targeting for charging loads that will eventually grow to 5 megawatts apiece, he said. It ended up prioritizing one depot first, based on the relatively lower cost of connecting it to the existing utility grid infrastructure. The other four depots will be equipped over the next 18 months.

Four of those depots are served by utility Pepco, and the fifth is served by Allegheny Power...

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/on-heels-of-253m-raise-highland-electric-lands-biggest-electric-school-bus-contract-in-the-u.s

Student journalists at NYC’s Townsend Harris HS help boot teacher with multiple allegations of inappropriate sexual interactions with students.

Pupil Power!

Thanks to intrepid student journalists, an English teacher and coach at prestigious Townsend Harris HS in Queens was yanked from the school this week after it came to light that city investigators confirmed he had sex with a former female student.

Joseph Canzoneri, 53, allegedly brought the girl to an apartment where he plied her with wine and marijuana before they had intercourse and oral sex, the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools found.

The SCI recommended Canzoneri be fired, and the Department of Education tried to do so. But the girl refused to testify at a hearing, so the case was dropped and he was entitled to keep his job under New York tenure protections.

After more than a year in a rubber room, a space where accused teachers await the disciplinary process, he quietly returned to Townsend Harris at the start of the school year in September. The principal kept him out of classrooms in an office.

The scandal remained under wraps until three weeks ago, when someone leaked the case to teen journalists at the school’s student newspaper, The Classic...

https://nypost.com/2021/11/20/townsend-harris-hs-student-journalists-help-boot-sex-teacher/

Under the agreement, Highland and its project partners... will electrify all five of MCPS’ bus depots [Even the Shady Grove Depot that is supposed to move one day?]

Proterra Press Release

...Under the agreement, Highland and its project partners, including Thomas Built Buses, Proterra, and Annapolis-based American Bus, will electrify all five of MCPS’ bus depots, supplying the electric school buses and charging infrastructure along with services including managed charging. Highland will purchase buses manufactured in North Carolina by Thomas Built Buses, which will be supplied and serviced by American Bus. Both companies have been long-time trusted suppliers and partners for the MCPS Department of Transportation. Designed, engineered, and manufactured in the United States by Thomas Built Buses, the all-electric Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley school bus is powered by Proterra’s electric vehicle technology platform. The Jouley couples 226 kWh of total energy capacity with a Proterra Powered drivetrain to offer an industry-leading operating range of up to 135 miles on a single charge to meet the needs of school bus fleets...

https://www.proterra.com/press-release/montgomery-county-approves-largest-electric-school-bus-order/

The Day After the Board of Education Voted on an Electric Bus Deal, MD Energy Admin Announced Award of $817,000 to Winning Bidder.

Press Release:  

New Maryland Clean Fuels Incentive Program “Greens” Transportation Sector $1.3 Million Awarded to Five Organizations; Largest Electric School Bus Deployment

February 24, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kaymie Owen, CMP
kaymie.owen@maryland.gov 443-694- 3651

Baltimore, MD – The Clean Fuels Incentive Program (CFIP)​, created and managed by the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA), supports both the purchase of fleet alternative fuel vehicles and funding to expand the state’s alternative fueling infrastructure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions via proven technology. The CFIP is designed to permanently “green” Maryland’s transportation profile, which will improve air quality by reducing consumption of fossil fuels. The fiscal year 2021 (FY21) CFIP awards of $1.3M will fund an array of clean fuel projects across the state, including one of the largest electric school bus deployments in the country.

“The Clean Fuels Incentive Program expands Maryland’s alternative transportation sector and benefits both our environment and economy,” began Dr. Mary Beth Tung, MEA Director. “With this program, we bring Maryland the first electric school buses and first electric step vans, plus add emission-reduced propane vehicles and build upon our electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.” 

Highland Electric Transportation (HET) provides electric school bus services, including acquisition, vehicle financing, maintenance, fueling/charging, and charge equipment management to school districts across the country. HET will use their FY21 award of $817,000 to purchase 19 electric school buses, one of the largest deployments of electric school buses in the U.S., that will be used by the Montgomery County Public School district. Use of these electric busses is expected to displace over 520,000 gallons of petroleum and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50% over the lifetime of the buses.

...

The transportation sector is responsible for the majority of Maryland’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Maryland Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act Plan. Efforts like CFIP help reduce emissions while also reducing fuel and maintenance costs for fleets. The FY21 CFIP is a competitive program that was fully subscribed in its first year. Click here to learn more about CFIP. 

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The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) advises the governor and general assembly on all energy matters, promoting affordable, reliable and cleaner energy. MEA develops and administers programs and policy to support and expand all sectors of the state’s economy while benefiting all Marylanders and implementing legislation. For more information about the Maryland Energy Administration, visit www.Energy.Maryland.gov and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

https://news.maryland.gov/mea/2021/02/24/new-maryland-clean-fuels-incentive-program-greens-transportation-sector-1-3-million-awarded-to-five-organizations-largest-electric-school-bus-deployment/

MCPS Electric Bus Deal: County Exec. Marc Elrich Introduced Company to MCPS. Delegate Fraser-Hidalgo Introduced Elrich to Company.

-February 27, 2021

...Montgomery County Executive Marc B. Elrich (D) said he brought school system transportation and Highland Electric officials together after meeting the company’s CEO, Duncan McIntyre, in Annapolis.

The two had been introduced by Del. David Fraser-Hidalgo (D-Montgomery), a longtime proponent of electric buses.

In talking with McIntyre, Elrich became convinced that tax credits and depreciation allowances were starting to shift the economics... surrounding electric buses in a significant way...

https://www.marylandmatters.org/2021/02/27/montgomery-school-system-deal-to-lease-electric-buses-called-historic/

The MCPS Electric Bus Deal: "The small, three-year-old company currently has only one school bus on the road."

 

February 24, 2021

...Montgomery County’s first 25 electric buses will begin operating this fall, followed by 61 buses in 2022 and then 120 in each of the two years after that. Spread across five bus depots, Montgomery ranks among the 10 largest school bus fleets in the country...

...The small, three-year-old company currently has only one school bus on the road. But this month it raised $253 million from venture capital firms.

Highland plans to buy its vehicles from Thomas Built Buses, a North Carolina subsidiary of Daimler Benz, and use batteries made by California-based Proterra. Proterra says its school bus batteries can completely recharge in three hours...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2021/02/24/climate-solutions-electric-schoolbuses/?commentID=f49391cb-a269-4180-ac6e-8e247ec18d28

MCPS bus attendant faces charges after deadly hit-and-run, police say #Onleave #NotFired

MANASSAS, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - A bus attendant with Montgomery County Public Schools was arrested and charged after police say he struck and killed a woman with his vehicle in Manassas over the weekend.

Police say 29-year-old Muhammad Taha is facing second degree murder and hit and run charges after they say he intentionally struck 66-year-old Shamsa Begum on Sunday around 5:30 p.m. on Cloverhill Road.

Authorities say Taha fled and was later located and arrested by Prince William County Police at a 7-Eleven store on Dumfries Road. Begum was hospitalized in critical condition but later died from her injuries...

http://www.fox5dc.com/news/local-news/montgomery-county-public-schools-bus-attendant-faces-charges-after-deadly-hit-and-run-police-say?fbclid=IwAR0r2wSTDt5pzM_vwxNyQcXySSb3xvktnDGRxNbXmUzzSkYv8Wi0vOmzhK8

Friday: Sentencing of Cloverly ES Teacher on Sex Abuse of Minor and Third Degree Sex Offense Verdicts, Still on MCPS Payroll in March

For 4 days in June, a long time Montgomery County Public School teacher was on trial for sexual abuse of 6 elementary school students over a period of 16 years.  The trial was held before a packed courtroom with an overflow crowd standing in the hallway. A prayer circle was held in the hallway outside the courtroom.  

After midnight on the last day of the trial, the jury returned verdicts of guilty on:

COUNT 1: CHILD ABUSE SEXUAL- GUILTY. 

COUNT 2: SEX OFFENSE THIRD DEGREE- GUILTY. 

COUNT 3: SEX ABUSE MINOR- GUILTY. 

COUNT 4: SEX OFFENSE THIRD DEGREE- GUILTY.

COUNT 5: SEX OFFENSE THIRD DEGREE- GUILTY. 

COUNT 7 :SEXUAL ABUSE OF A MINOR- GUILTY. 

COUNT 8 : SEX OFFENSE THIRD DEGREE- GUILTY. 

COUNT 9 : SEX OFFENSE THIRD DEGREE - GUILTY. 

COUNT 10: SEXUAL ABUSE OF A MINOR - GUILTY. 

The testimony presented at the trial revealed that the teacher had two reprimands in his personnel file for having students sit on his lap. The reprimands were from 2008 and 2013. Students testified that he was their favorite teacher and popular in the school. The teacher testified that he loved his students and that if he had to stop hugging them and allowing them to sit on his lap he did not want to be a teacher. 

The Board of Education did not remove this teacher from the classroom, even though there were multiple complaints about his practice of permitting female students to "lap sit."  The Cloverly Elementary School principal testified that she had followed Board of Education protocol.

We know from recent MCPS salary information that this teacher was still on the MCPS payroll as of March 2017, almost a year after his first arrest on these charges. 

March 2017, MCPS Payroll 

The Parents' Coalition has been providing the public with notes from the trial as the the trial was not covered by any media. 

Sentencing is scheduled for August 4, 2017, at 1:30 PM in the Montgomery County Circuit Court.  The Defendant's Motion for New Trial will also be heard at that time.  The teacher could face 25 years in prison for each count of sex abuse of a minor and 10 years for each third degree sex offense.