Walter Johnson High School Charging Students $71 to Attend Free Public School Graduation. FYI: There are no fees to attend MCPS graduations.

The Maryland legislature and the Montgomery County Board of Education have not authorized the charging of any fees for attendance at MCPS graduations.  There are no legal senior dues or fees to attend Montgomery County Public Schools.  That fact becomes clear when a comparison of high schools shows that some MCPS high schools don't have any senior dues or graduation fees. 

As the Parents' Coalition has shown over the years, Kennedy High School students are charged the highest "senior dues." 

If any Montgomery County Board of Education members would like to explain why Kennedy High School students have been targeted for these illegal fees, we would be happy to post their explanation.

wj-senior-letter---class-of-2023.pdf (montgomeryschoolsmd.org)

Exclusive: Board of Education Still Charging Students Illegal Curricular Fees Even While Students are at Home. Because Why Not Rip Off Students During a Pandemic!

We checked to see if the Montgomery County Board of Education was going to take this opportunity to provide a free public education for all Montgomery County Public School students, or if they were still going to charge students illegal curricular fees to attend public school classes.

We looked at just one school.  

Just one and we immediately saw that the Board of Education illegal practice of charging students fees to attend public school classes is continuing.  Even during a Global Pandemic where students are learning online from home, the Board of Education is happy to deny students their right to a free public education.  

The illegal curricular fees are clearly labeled as fees for "at home during virtual learning." 

The Maryland Attorney General's statement on these fees is reproduced, once again, below a sample of Board of Education "at home during virtual learning" illegal curricular fees from the MCPS website. 

KameenOAGLetter by Parents' Coalition of Montg...

Prince George’s County students challenge summer-school fees, fighting for free public education

When Laurie Tucker’s family moved during her son’s senior year of high school, she was sorry to hear the last two classes he needed weren’t offered at his new school during spring semester. Instead of graduating, he has to finish up in summer school.

An even worse surprise: The family will have to pay for those classes.

On Thursday, students sued the suburban Maryland school system where Tucker’s son attends class in a bid to lift summer-school fees.

Students shouldn’t be able to graduate only if they can afford to, said Tucker, whose son is one of the plaintiffs arguing the right to a free public education is guaranteed under the Maryland Constitution.

Tucker was shocked by the price for summer school in Prince George’s County: $225 per class, which will be a burden for her family. Her husband works as a driver delivering donations to nonprofit agencies, she said, to support their three children; she stopped working two years ago to care for their youngest child, who is 4 years old and has a disability.

Prince George’s schools spokeswoman Raven Hill said it is policy to not comment on pending litigation. But she confirmed the fees: $100 per half credit, with a $25 registration fee, for county students. Those who qualify for free- or reduced-price meals because of their families’ income levels are required to pay only half of those amounts.

Students from outside the county are charged more, $645 for a full credit plus the $25 registration fee. Hill said the fees are mainly to cover the cost of paying employees who don’t normally work over the summer...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/06/13/prince-georges-county-students-challenge-summer-school-fees-fighting-free-public-education/?utm_term=.0e2c402a5980

2010: Every MD School Board Prohibited from Charging Bus Fees, But @mocoboe Does It Anyway

MCPS schools charge students to ride MCPS school buses, even though back in 2010 the Maryland Attorney General's office advised that every school board in the State of Maryland was prohibited from charging fees for bus transportation.

The 2017 fee you see in the image to the left was charged by an elementary school to transport students on MCPS buses.  MCPS has confirmed that this was a transportation fee.

Berthiaume was right! Every MD School Board Prohibited from Charging Bus Fees: Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

...prohibit every school board from charging fees for bus transportation...

MCPS - Still Ripping Off Students, Now with the Chromebook Excuse

Once again we remind Montgomery County Public Schools and the Board of Education that the Maryland Constitution guarantees ALL children a FREE PUBLIC EDUCATION.

Let's make this really simple:  If the CURRICULUM requires headphones, they are to be SUPPLIED for FREE by the public school system.

For College Gardens Elementary School students that means you do not have to pay $3 for headphones and you do not need to bring them from home.  If you need them for your classes, MCPS will be supplying them to you as part of their $2.4 BILLION dollar operating budget.  That's what those billions of dollars are for, that is Maryland law. 

In this specific example below, not only is College Gardens ES charging students for something that should be supplied for free, but College Gardens is overcharging students ($3.00) what MCPS is paying for these headphones ($2.75).  That's a rip off on top of a rip off with no accounting for where the extra funds are going. 

For readers that wonder why we track the expense accounts of administrators, here's why!   

How many headphones did Board of Education members "party" away last year? 2,398

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

January 28, 2015

Dear Parents/Guardians,

College Gardens has received chrome books for all students in grades 3 and 5. These are in addition to the 90 chrome books purchased by the PTA. With the use of the chrome books, students will need headphones. Students may bring their own from home or purchase KOSS headphones from the school for $3.00.

The chrome books are used in the classrooms to enhance creativity and collaboration in the classroom. All students will have access to a Google Apps for Education account. These accounts are secure to the learning environment and staff members are able to access their accounts. The staff and student accounts enable document sharing, collaborative work, and assessment opportunities in this cloud-based platform. For MCPS, participating students and staff are assigned an “@mcpsmd.net” G-mail like account. With this e-mail account students only have access to w-mail with people inside the MCPS system. Student progress and engagement will be monitored via a learning management system integrated into the platform that allows teachers to send information to students, offer real-time feedback, and monitor progress on activities.

As an added precaution to safeguard students, MCPS has enabled a feature of Google Search called “Safe Search” within our Google Apps domain. With “Safe Search” enabled, sexually explicit video and images are filtered from Google Search result pages, along with results that might link to explicit content when logged into their account. In essence, students’ internet searches are safer and more secure than if they were not using their accounts to conduct the same searches.

If you have questions or want additional information on the MCPS initiative to bring chrome books into the schools, please contact the Office of the Chief Technology Officer at 301-279-3581, or if you have questions regarding the use of chrome books at College Gardens you may contact me at 301-279-8470.

Sincerely,

Stacey Rogovoy

Principal

SR:cb

When does spending less really mean spending more?

Answer:  When your kids go back to school.

According to the New York Times, parents are spending less on certain school items - like clothing, because money is tight.  Sound familiar?  Its not just in our own Montgomery County Public School District.

However, one expense has increased - and that is school supplies.  When money is tight, schools try to do more with less, and often items we took for granted when we were in school - like scissors, paper, and glue - are in short supply, so parents are asked to chip in.

Montgomery County is not alone in facing more students who can't afford school supplies.  Is this a factor at your school?

The NYTimes notes:

 Of the more than one million K-12 students enrolled in New York City public schools last year, 74 percent came from “economically disadvantaged” households, meaning that they qualified for free or reduced-price lunches and other assistance programs, according to data from the education department.

About 84,000 homeless students attended school in New York City during the 2013 school year, up 25 percent since 2010, according to the Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness. A majority of those students do not live in shelters, which means they often miss the benefits of backpack drives and other fund-raisers aimed at low-income families, said Linda Bazerjian, a spokeswoman for the group.

. . . 

The gap between rich and poor, private school and public school, can be evident in lists for school supplies, and who comes prepared. Mr. Schulist says that one of his school lists requires students to bring 100 pencils, which helps compensate for children whose families can afford no pencils at all.

Underfunded schools are a problem nationwide.   Think about what your school provides, and whether all children are able to come to school prepared to learn.  And whether the gap just gets bigger instead of smaller with each new school year.

Free public education costs in Montgomery County High Schools

Isn't high school supposed to be free for public school students in Maryland?  Taxpayer dollars cover the costs for all students to attend - right?

We know that, and you know that it's in the Maryland Constitution.

But unfortunately, our Board of Education seems to think that the Maryland Constitution doesn't apply.

Our MCPS students get charged for classes and materials that should be free.

Our middle schools list is only eight pages - but the high school list is 23 pages long!

Amazing.

One day, our Board of Education will get it right.  Or maybe never.

Here is the 2015 list of fees for high school students.  Read my previous post to see what happens in middle schools.  

  2015 MCPS High School Fees

I wonder what the ghosts haunting the State House in Annapolis think of what Pat O'Neill has done to their prize constitution.

Are your children getting a free public education in Montgomery County?

Did you know that the Maryland Constitution guarantees a free public education for its students?

The Montgomery County Board of Education still has not read the document.  Imagine running a multi billion dollar public school system, and not knowing about state law.

Truly amazing.

As our annual tradition, below is the list of  fees "approved" by the Board of Education for middle school students.  If you cannot pay or choose not to pay, simply tell ask the school to waive your fee. Your child cannot be excluded from class for not paying a fee.

And why hit the arts classes the hardest?  How many times per semester does the school get their band uniforms dry cleaned?  And - can't they use a discount dry cleaners?  Or have the kids wear white shirts and black pants?

Remember, you are the taxpayer.  Ask questions - and if you do pay these fees, treat them as a donation to the school, not a mandatory fee, because we all know that mandatory fees are not allowed - right?

High school fees will be posted shortly.

2015 Middle School

So Far, the Prize for Most Ripped Off Kids at Graduation - Northwood HS

Its hard to say whether Northwood HS is charging more or less for the honor of walking down the aisle for graduation ceremonies.

In 2010, Northwood assessed a senior fee of $140 dollars, but let students who only wanted to attend graduation fork over $40.

This year, the senior fee is $75.  We can't say what the fee covers, only that of the three schools reporting in so far, this one is the clear top dollar.

Senior Northwood HS Dues - Class of 2015 Full Payment - Online School Payments_ Montgomery County Public Sc...

Payments go directly through an MCPS website. How convenient is this? But - how do you know the money even goes to Northwood? Where does the receipt of the funds appear in the budget?

Second Candidate for Graduation Fee Extortion - Montgomery Blair HS

Montgomery Blair HS in Silver Spring MD charges its students to walk down the aisle and receive their diploma.

Really.

Here is the information sheet, straight off the school website:

Senior Info Sheet 2015[1]

In 2010, when my child graduated from Blair, the fee was a bit higher - but the fee covered items such as the senior picnic, the honorarium for the speaker, and other"graduation venue related costs."

The bus fee is another example of extortion.  Parents and families have to travel to the graduation venue, why make the kids pay for a bus?  Metro is cheaper.  Most of the students leave the venue directly to continue the celebration with their families - so they essentially are subsidizing transportation without receiving a benefit.  And what about those magnet families that don't live in the area?

Great job, Mrs. Johnson.  At least you aren't collecting fees this year for a graduation speaker!

Paint Branch HS - our First Candidate for Graduation Fees and Educational Extortion

Paint Branch HS reports that they are being charged a fee for graduating from a MCPS High School.

Really?

Here is a link to the article.

Apparently, the students did not raise enough during their three years at the high school  Cancelled school events led to the Class of 2015 not having enough cash to provide "pomp" with their graduation festivities.

From the article:

Dr. Rogers shared that this fee was put in place this year because the class has not raised enough money over the past three years to cover graduation. All of those cancelled dances and PB Idol competitions that never quite happened could have been funding sources for senior events – including graduation

According to Dr. Rogers, students will have individual fundraising options to help defray or eliminate this $30 graduation fee. Dr. Rogers notes that she is “happy to do anything and everything that I possibly can to reduce costs for students.” She adds that “within a couple of weeks we are going to provide an option where students can individually fundraise to absolutely cover the cost of the graduation fee.” - See more at: http://pbmainstream.com/1820/features/senior-moments/#sthash.8LBDmbo4.dpuf

Sounds like educational extortion to me!

What's happening at your high school?

Zip Code Madness - Do You Pay More to Graduate from an MCPS High School Because of Where You Live?

Answer:  Probably.

Back in 2010, this blog did a survey of how much each high school charged for various fees related to walking down the aisle to pick up a diploma.   You can read the post here.

MCPS representatives were reported to state at a recent Taxpayers League meeting that these fees were approved by the Board of Education and consistent with MCPS policy,

Answer:  Wrong.

The state of Maryland Constitution guarantees a free public education, and the state constitution trumps MCPS policy.

You, your family, and your child cannot be charged a fee to attend the students graduation ceremony.

Yet, MCPS continues to claim this is legitimate.  We claim this is educational extortion.

We will send in for an official list of what's been "approved" so you can determine which zip codes get shaken down the most.  Last time we checked, the fees approved didn't quite match what the students were charged.

What to do if you get a bill?

Answer:  Don't pay.

What if you already sent in your money?

Answer:  Ask for a refund.  Blair HS's graduating class of 2010 got a refund because they were charged to cover the graduation speaker's honorarium.  Really.  And the speaker was the spouse of a Blair staff member.  Talk about a rip off.

And please, stay tuned to this website for more information.

BOE Won't Fund Graduations So Principals Extort Money from Students? What's wrong with this picture?

Public school graduation is free in Maryland.  There is no legal charge to attend your own graduation from a Montgomery County Public High School.

The Board of Education got their budget request fully funded by the County Council this year!  How is it that graduation is not included in fully funding the public school budget? 

...Most Montgomery County high schools hold commencement at the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., which costs more than what’s allotted by the school system, forcing the schools to charge students a fee to graduate...

 http://www.gazette.net/article/20140513/NEWS/140519867/-1/arena-at-shady-grove-metro-station-poised-to-advance&template=gazette

Educational Extortion! MCPS will hire this prof...

Georgia Tech professor accused of taking $20K from students

Note: First action of Georgia Tech is to remove professor, second action is to commit to re-paying students.

What would you do after a winning football season?

So, those of you in MoCo sports land - how do you reward a winning coach?

What if the coach had a winning season?  On a brand new athletic field?  For a team that was traditionally at the bottom of the field, from the point of athletic ability?

If you are Michael Doran, principal of Wootton HS, you fire the coach.

Really?  Your team narrowly misses the opportunity to go to the playoffs, and the reward is ?

FIRE THE COACH.

Something is wrong here, but this writer has been saying that for several years.

We thought the school was terrific.  Dr. Doran orchestrated a concert during 2012 that all but ensured his school would get a replacement athletic field, until he had to move the concert on to the pavement. But he still got his artificial turf.

SO - what really happened, Dr. Doran?  And, by the way, how did you come up with the money to cover the concert and pay the school's portion of the fundraising effort for the turf field?  Financials would be nice, but do the brainiacs at Wootton know how to account for funds?

Inquiring minds have a lot of questions.

See the story from the Washington Post here.

Delegate Eric Luedtke Charging Students $80 to Attend Public School

Maryland Delegate Eric Luedtke is also a MCPS teacher.

We are pretty sure that Delegate Luedtke is familiar with the Maryland Constitution's guarantee of a free public education, yet here we see him charging students $80 to attend Outdoor Education at his school. He's a social studies teacher after all, so shouldn't he be familiar with the Maryland Constitution?

Outdoor Education is a program that is part of the MCPS curriculum, but in order to charge students for this class program MCPS administrators deny that the program is part of the curriculum.  MCPS administrators say that if your child does not attend the Outdoor Education program they will receive the same instruction sitting in a classroom while all their classmates go on an overnight.

The Board of Education approves of this charade and has set the fee for students to attend Outdoor Education at $76.  Yet, even $76 isn't enough for Delegate Luedtke.  He's charging his students $80 to attend Outdoor Education!

The Parents Coalition 2013 List of High School Fees

As we start the school year, here is the Parents Coalition annual post of fees allegedly approved by the Board of Education for high school students this coming year. 

2013MCHSFees

We've made this list an almost annual tradition, and we see once again, that arts and music take the biggest hit.   I am curious about whether these fees have any real meaning - do schools actually dry clean music clothes?  Both of my kids played in the concert bands at two high schools and the jazz band at one school.  I recall they wore their own clothes - so why do their schools (both schools) have dry cleaning fees?

Once again, MCPS amazes me.  This year, MCPS even has a site for you to pay these fees ONLINE.
Thanks for being such a good helper, MCPS.  Convenience comes with a  small service charge - wonder who gets that money.  You can click here to get to that site.

Some schools are great - no fees whatsoever.  But other schools?  Look at Edison.  Funny, how their nail technology fee really is for a textbook for the course.  And Churchill - the school that thinks the rules don't apply?  You will find several links to convenience purchases of textbooks available. 

The middle school list will be coming shortly - I can't wait to see what surprises are on that list.

But remember the words from our former first lady, Nancy Reagan.  JUST SAY NO.

Students in Montgomery County are entitled to a free public education.   If you don't pay, have no fear, your child will still get their diploma (and yes, class dues and graduation fees are also illegal).

Happy back to school. 

Calif. Schools Must Put Fee-Complaint Systems in Place by Friday

By Friday, all California public schools need to have in place a system for complaints about potential violations of the state's guarantee to a free public education, under a law passed last fall.
In essence, the law prevents public schools (including charters and other alternative public schools) from charging students mandatory pay-to-play fees for interscholastic athletics, among other educational activities.

Since the late 1800s, Article IX, Sec. 5 of the California Constitution has required the state legislature to "provide for a system of common schools by which a free school shall be kept up and supported in each district." In 1984, the state Supreme Court ruled in Hartzell v. Connell that "educational opportunities must be provided to all students without regard to their families' ability or willingness to pay fees or request special waivers."
Not all schools were necessarily following that law, however. In 2010, an investigation by the San Diego Union-Tribune found a number of schools openly posting extra fees for students on their websites. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a class action against the state in September 2010 over the schools that charged students mandatory fees. The state reached a settlement with the ACLU in December of that year, contingent on the establishment of a"comprehensive monitoring and enforcement system" to ensure that schools weren't charging unlawful fees.
On Sept. 29, 2012, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law, AB 1575, meant to identify and prevent schools from charging mandatory student fees. The law alters the existing uniform complaint procedures to allow parents or students concerned about the legality of a school fee to file a "complaint of noncompliance" with their school principal. Starting in the 2014-15 fiscal year, the state department of education must also provide guidance to school administrators regarding the state's free schools guarantee and the types of fees permitted in schools. (Voluntary donations, for instance, are still allowed.)
The passage of AB 1575 led to the resolution of the ACLU's lawsuit from two years prior. Under the new law, an "educational activity" includes both curricular and extracurricular activities.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/schooled_in_sports/2013/02/calif_schools_must_put_fee_complaint_systems_in_place_by_friday.html

Dr. Doran on How to Install an Artificial Turf Field at your School

Wootton Booster Club

Dr. Doran, the principal of Wootton HS, is so creative.


We are so lucky to have him as principal.  He has kids who score well on standardized tests, and, as a reward, he is able to get perks that simply aren't available in other schools in the county.

Last spring, this blogger wrote about Third Eye Blind concert at Wootton.  At that time, this blooger joked that it seemed the ulterior motive was to ultimately get an artificial turf field at Wootton High School.

This blogger was correct.  Artificial turf is coming to Wootton.

All parents need to do is come up with $200,000 to meet their end of the "partnership" with Bethesda Soccer League, the same folks who brought artificial turf to Walter Johnson High School.

Did I hear that the fundraising needs to be completed by December?

Funny, I don't recall that Gaithersburg or Paint Branch High Schools needed to raise a similar amount, and I know that Richard Montgomery and Montgomery Blair High Schools did not need to dig into their pockets to support a field.

What gives?  Is this a thank you for those test scores?

Pay up folks.  After all, its only $50 per student.  And you get to say that you went to the top nonmagnet high school in Mo Co.




Scan 0004

The Parents Coalition Annual List of School Fees for 2012

Did you think that our new Superintendent of Schools, Josh Starr, would shake things up here in MoCo?   Did you think he might chart his own course?

Wrong. Looks like its more of the same old same old. Our students are still not getting their constitutionally guaranteed free education again this year.

Here is the annual back to school fees list for high school students.
2012 Highschool Fees

And here is the back to school fee list for middle school students.
2012 Middle School Fees

Are the lists accurate? Readers will need to report back whether they were charged additional fees not on the list.


So - what is a parent to do, other than try to transfer their students into schools that charge less than others?

Ask for a waiver. Students are not supposed to be denied educational opportunities based on whether a fee is paid. If you do choose to pay a fee, consider it a donation.


Want to compare to last year's lists? Try here for high school and here for middle school.

Note to Emily and Mitch Rales - when you look over the lists, you will see that the majority of the fees are charged in the arts related classes. If you (or any other business person in MoCo) would like to help out students, perhaps you could adopt a school or a class on the list, and save Josh and his staff from having to beg for the payments.