@mcps @mocoboe COVID-19 Operations Advisory Team member tweets:

Silence from the MCPS/Montgomery County Board of Education COVID-19 Advisory Team as Montgomery County Public Schools are in another COVID-19 surge.  No advice, no guidance, no updates, no information whatsoever from this super secret advisory team.

But one member of the team took to Twitter to Tweet advice:  

 

https://twitter.com/clrosche/status/1525245895234793472?s=20&t=Yd_xx5UEUQ96zO4CH_SIyQ

Exclusive: As @mcps @mocoboe COVID-19 Cases Rise, Meet the Secret MCPS COVID Operations Advisory Team

On September 15, 2021, Superintendent Monifa McKnight formed the MCPS COVID-19 Operations Advisory Committee as part of the Montgomery County Board of Education's Five-Point Plan for Further COVID Safety and Mitigation.

Establish a COVID-19 operations advisory committee

The committee will comprise MCPS staff and students, representatives from the employee associations, MCCPTA and community organizations. We will request a DHHS representative to also serve on the committee. Committee feedback will help guide the district’s work in responding to COVID-19 throughout the year. 

But what happened to the COVID-19 Operations Advisory Committee?  First, they were renamed the Team instead of Committee to allow for the cool acronym of COAT.   

COAT began meeting on Thursdays with the first meeting on October 7, 2021. 

Then what happened?  Nothing.

COAT has never issued any reports, they have never presented to the Board of Education, they have never been heard from ever. Further, Board of Education President Brenda Wolff disavowed interest in COAT.

What we now know is that as soon as COAT began meeting attendees were told that meetings were CONFIDENTIAL.  

Apparently the COVID-19 Pandemic is a secret that MCPS administrators and the Board of Education think can be hidden from teachers, staff, students and parents.  

The Parents' Coalition has obtained the list of COAT members. 50 members are adults and 6 are students.  

27 members of COAT are MCPS employees

10 members are from groups outside MCPS, but with MCPS connections (MCCPTA/PTA etc...)

8 members are from Montgomery County Government

5 members are labeled as medical related

6 members are students - student names are not listed 

Meet the Team that isn't telling you what they are doing or recommending during the COVID-19 Pandemic: 

 Lisa Adkins MCPS

Nicole Allain MCPS

Aggie Alvez MCPS

Kea Anderson

Olivia Bailey MCPS

Gary Bartee MCPS

James Bridgers

Nicole Brown

Anita Chan MCPS

Kate Chance

Wylea Chase

Sonya Chawla Medical - internal medicine

Chris Cram MCPS

Jimmy D'Andrea MCPS

Val DaSilva MCPS

Jeanie Dawson MCPS

Ashwin Dharmadhikari

Robbie Dodd MCPS

Heather Dublinske MCPS

Dana Edwards MCPS

Shawn Ellis

Jane Ennis MCPS

Linda Ferrell MCPS

Joanie Glick

Nina Hagan MCPS

Darlene Harris MCPS

Christi Hay Medical - Pediatrics

Mark Hodge

Stephanie Iszard MCPS

Henrietta Jenkins MCPS

Byron Johns

John Landesman MCPS

Jenny Lazo

Michael Lewis MCPS

Sean O’Donnell

Jackie Quan

Dourakine Rosarion

Claire Rosche Matzzie

Oriole Saah MCPS

Mariana Serrani

Stephanie Sheron MCPS

Cynthia Simonson

Jeff Sullivan MCPS

Crystal Townsend Medical - Healthcare

Melanie Travers MCPS

Prabha Viswanathan Reddy Medical - Pediatrics

Diane Vu

Travis Wiebe MCPS

Kathleen Williams Medical - Healthy Communities

Julie Yang MCPS

Exclusive: @mcps Super Monifa McKnight's Secret COVID-19 Operations Advisory Team Meets Once a Week. What do they do? Next Meeting May 5th @ 4:15 PM.

The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD has obtained the dates for MCPS Superintendent Monifa McKnight's COVID-19 Operations Advisory Team meetings.   

But what does this Team do?  They don't take minutes, so are these meetings just a social gathering?  

Who is on the Team?  Do any parents or community members ever hear from the Team members?  Do they put out any reports or recommendations with regard to COVID-19 in schools?  

COVID-19 Operations Advisory Team Meetings 

Thursdays, 4:15-5:45 p.m

October 7, 2021

October 14, 2021

October 21, 2021

October 28, 2021

November 4, 2021

November 11, 2021 CANCELED

November 18, 2021

November 25, 2021 No Meeting - HOLIDAY

December 2, 2021 CANCELED

December 9, 2021

December 16, 2021

December 23, 2021 No Meeting - Winter Break

December 30, 2021 No Meeting - Winter Break

January 6, 2022

January 13, 2022

January 20, 2022

January 27, 2022

February 3, 2022

February 10, 2022

February 17, 2022

February 24, 2022

March 3, 2022

March 10, 2022

March 17, 2022

March 24, 2022

March 31, 2022

April 7, 2022

April 14, 2022

April 21, 2022

April 28, 2022

May 5, 2022

Fairfax Creates Online Budget Tool for Cost Cutting Suggestions

The Montgomery County Public Schools budget is put together behind closed doors, even the Board of Education members are not part of the budget meetings.  Yes, Maryland law calls on Boards of Education to actually set the local public school budget, but here in Montgomery County our Board of Education can not be bothered to spend their time on such mundane matters.

Take a look at what is going on over in Fairfax County Public Schools.  In that jurisdiction they have made available an online system to gather suggestions from the community.  Granted the choices have been pre-selected, but it is possible to eliminate the deficit and not impact classrooms.

Budget Proposal Tool is an online way for stakeholders to provide their recommendations for how to address the projected deficit that FCPS is facing in FY 2017. FCPS is gathering proposals for two different deficit amounts:  $50 million and $75 million. The shortfall contains uncertainty because there are costs and funding that are not determined until later in the budget process.

 http://www.fcps.edu/news/fy2017/budget-tool.shtml

$2,310,000,000 +/- MCPS Operating Budget for FY16 Set for Council Approval

MCPS, unions may revise contracts amid budget shortfalls

...“Union and district officials have been “scrubbing the budget” to look for potential savings, Prouty said. He said he doesn’t know where the contracts might stand at the end of the process.”...

...community members met with Houlihan... for an interview, but its members signed confidentiality agreements...

...The board said late Thursday it reviewed applications from 25 candidates and interviewed seven in person before choosing Houlihan.
Byron Johns, education committee chair of the Montgomery County branch of the NAACP, described the community reaction he’d heard as “underwhelmed.”
“His lack of experience and track record, I would have thought, is something that would give pause,” Johns said.
A board-created panel of community members met with Houlihan on Thursday for an interview, but its members signed confidentiality agreements.
Two people close to the panel who did not have permission to speak publicly about its work said the group did not officially vote on Houlihan. One said members had questions about his level of experience and his vision, with some expressing concerns about the learning curve he would face as Montgomery deals with challenges including rising enrollment and budget shortfalls. The panel was expected to relay its thoughts to the school board.

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/choice-for-montgomery-schools-chief-draws-community-support-criticism/2015/05/15/1b6a2648-fb39-11e4-9ef4-1bb7ce3b3fb7_story.html

Breaking: Baker MS Principal Letter to Parents, Sets up Meeting for Nov 5th at 7 AM

   Baker Middle School Letter Re: Oct. 6, 2014 arrest by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Off Camera on Sept 30th - County Council and Board of Education

September 30, 2014
9:00 AM Montgomery County Council MEETING with Board of Education (6th floor Council
Conference Room)

Previous County Council and Board of Education
Lunch/Meeting

No Agenda for this meeting.

No clue what will be discussed.

No television or web coverage of this meeting.

Stop by if you want to find out what your elected Board of Education and County Council members are up to tomorrow!

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/resources/files/agenda/col/current_agenda.pdf

UPDATE:  Video of this event provided to the public by the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD

Vote No on Secret Budget Meetings

Tomorrow Montgomery County voters will have the chance to vote whether or not they want the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) budget set in public by the Board of Education or behind closed doors by a secret committee.

Maryland law calls for the MCPS budget to be set by the Board of Education in a public process, but that hasn't happened in the last decade. Click here to read how the MCPS budget used to be formulated.

The Parents' Coalition documented the existence of the MCPS backroom, secret budget committee in March of 2012 when we made public Agendas that were obtained through a Maryland Public Information Act request. You won't find these documents on the MCPS website.  

We know that participation in these backroom budget meetings requires the participants to sign confidentiality agreements.  Yes, the people that set the MCPS public school budget sign that they will keep the MCPS budget setting process a secret. Yes, it's a public budget funded from public dollars, but the participants in this backroom meeting don't think you should know what they discuss.

We know that all three unions, MCPS administrators and MCCPTA participate in these backroom budget meetings. There are no Board of Education members or representatives of the public permitted in the room for these meetings.

It's your choice.  The Apple Ballot candidates support the backroom, secret budget process that sets the MCPS budget without any community input or public process. Those are the candidates that will support this continuing violation of Maryland law.

Vote for the Apple Ballot to support the continuation of the backroom, secret budget meetings.

Vote to return the MCPS budget to the Board of Education table for a public budget process by choosing non-Apple Ballot candidates.

It's time for all parents to have a say in the MCPS Operating Budget!

MCCPTA has put out a call for PTA parents to participate on committees to discuss the MCPS Operating Budget.

MCCPTA is the Countywide organization for local PTAs.  
PTAs are clubs that require the payment of dues for membership.  As of this month, PTA membership represents less than 30% of all Montgomery County Public School (MCPA) parents.  
That means about 70% of MCPS parents have no say in setting the MCPS Operating Budget.  

Once again we remind the public that under Maryland law the MCPS Operating Budget is to be set by the Board of Education.  The Board of Education has not been doing their job for almost a decade. Click this link to read how the MCPS Operating Budget used to be compiled.

It's time for the MCPS Operating Budget to be set by the Board of Education, at the public Board table, in full view of all parents and Montgomery County citizens. It's Maryland law. Let's follow the law.

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

All - 

Larry Bowers is forming Operating Budget Committees to meet a few times over the summer, by school level - Elementary, Middle, and High School.  Meeting dates & times have not been set yet, but will most likely be scheduled during the work day.  MCPS would like to have 2 parent representatives from MCCPTA for each school group.

The committee members would be considering Operating Budget items and representing MCCPTA, not their specific school, Cluster or Area.  Their input should consider students and schools as a system, from our perspective.

If you are interested, please reply (to me individually) by Wednesday evening. Feel free to invite other parents who you think may be interested. I will take three names (2 members, 1 alternative - first to reply) so that we have a back-up in case the final meeting schedule doesn't work for one of the two representatives.

Thank you.

Frances Frost

MCCPTA President

Taxpayers League wants seat at MCPS Secret Budget Table

Now that the Parents' Coalition has exposed the secret budget meetings that are held to set the MCPS Operating and Capital budgets, the Taxpayers League wants to participate in those meetings.

Doesn't MCCPTA represent all citizens countywide on this committee? Who would know, MCCPTA's President has signed a non-disclosure document about what goes on behind these closed doors.

Gazette Letter: He who pays the piper

The budget of the Montgomery County Public Schools for FY 2015 is in the early stages of formulation. This budget of over $2 billion is close to 50 percent of the tax-supported budget of Montgomery County. So who are the players who will influence this budget at this critical stage?
It is the Budget Steering Committee. The members of this committee are the deputy superintendents, the employee union leaders representing the Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals, the Montgomery County Education Association (teachers), the Service Employees International Union Local 500, and the Montgomery County Council of Parent Teachers Associations.
These are all undoubtedly important players and represent important sectors of the Montgomery County Public Schools. Every member of this committee has a vested interest in increasing the budget for many and various reasons.
Why is the school board not represented? It is true that they will eventually get the budget for approval but they do not have the analytical capability at that late stage to ask the hard questions. ...continues at link

BOE & Starr Blow Off Council Education Committee discussion of MCPS Surplus

• 5% cut backs for other Montgomery County agencies for FY 2014 while MCPS boasts a $21.8 million surplus for FY 2013 

• The $21.8 million surplus includes 185 vacant school based positions. 

When the Montgomery County Council's Education Committee met on July 8, 2013, to discuss the Monthly Financial Report of MCPS, Superintendent Joshua Starr and the Board of Education members were absent. In fact, there weren't even any Deputy Superintendents or Associate Superintendents in attendance at the committee meeting.

The only representative from MCPS at this discussion was the new MCPS Director of Management and Budget, Thomas P. Klausing.

Where were Superintendent Starr and all of the BOE members during this important budget discussion?

Discussion of MCPS surplus starts at minute 1:25 of the YouTube video:

Exclusive: Starr Creates New Budget Process

At Monday's Board of Education Fiscal Management Committee meeting an April 30, 2012, Memorandum was made public that describes the "new" behind closed doors process for setting the MCPS Operating and Capital Budgets.

BOE Committee meeting documents are not made public on the MCPS website.  Thanks to Parents' Coalition member Danuta Wilson for attending this meeting and making this memo public.  

What is interesting about this memo is that the MCPS budget process has been a secret for years!  So, it's impossible for us to say what is "new" about this process.  The secret committee members sign bogus Confidentiality Agreements swearing that they will never reveal what goes on in these budget meetings!  (The oath includes "cross my heart and hope to die...")  Somewhere along the way Montgomery County citizens forgot that a public school budget is created in a public process, not behind closed doors. 

For those new to MCPS land, Maryland law mandates that the BOE will set the public school budget.  But, in Montgomery County our BOE doesn't do that anymore.  They used to, but they stopped around 2006.  Apparently, they found it boring.  We don't know.  The BOE never voted to stop creating the MCPS budget.

Here's the "new" process.  Good luck guessing what's changed.

  2013 New Budget Process by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Montgomery taxpayers league grills president of countywide parent group

Please note, the MCPS Secret Budget Meetings are held in secret. The public is not permitted to attend these meetings. The MCCPTA President's statements can not be verified by reviewing video or minutes of these meetings. MCCPTA and the Unions sign CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENTS in order to attend these meetings. The public will never, ever know what goes on at these budget meetings.

Gazette:  Members want $2.2 billion school budget spent efficiently

Only a handful of people from outside the school system take part as schools superintendent Joshua Starr draws up his budget.
Montgomery County Taxpayers League President Joan Fidler thinks more leaders of civic groups could be included to ensure efficiencies.
“It could be us,” Fidler said. “But it doesn’t have to be.”
On Thursday, the league grilled one of those people allowed inside Starr’s inner circle: Janette Gilman, president of the Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations. League members wanted to know just how involved she is when it comes to school system budget talks.
The MCCPTA president, along with a few other MCCPTA members, and leaders of the county’s three school-based unions are the only people outside of school system staff allowed in the private budget meetings before the superintendent’s request is released publicly. Not even school board members are included in these talks...

1981: Board of Education Reviewed 600 Page Budget Page By Page

In 1981, the MCPS Budget was discussed, debated and set at the Board of Education table in front of the public. 
Today, the MCPS Budget is set by a Secret Committee that meets behind closed doors.  Which way do you prefer? 

The Washington PostJan 15, 1981
Montgomery School Board Begins 1982 Budget Reviewby Kathryn Tolbert
The Montgomery County Board of Education began its painstaking review of the school system's budget last week, calling staff members before the board to answer questions, page by page , about the 600-page document detailing $339 million of expenses expected in fiscal year 1982...
...The budget adds six positions for art, music and physical education teachers; 10 positions in the gifted-and-talented program;and two career preparation and four counselors' positions in high schools...
Officials expect countywide enrollment to drop by another 1,500 students, so the budget eliminates 140 jobs, most of them elementary and junior high school teachers', with a corresponding reduction in monies for textbooks and instructional materials, for a savings of $2.3 million...

The article goes on to discuss budget issues in detail.  You can read the full article in The Washington Post archives, or on the Montgomery County Libraries newspapers site.

Tom McMillen on Open Meetings Act and Confidentiality Agreements

Thomas McMillen is a former member of the House of Representatives (D-Md.), and serves on the University of Maryland Board of Regents. He played on the school’s men’s basketball team from 1970 to 1974.  Mr. McMillen writes about violations of the Maryland Open Meetings Act and about confidentiality agreements that kept stakeholders from participating in the decision to move the school from the ACC to the Big 10. 

The MCPS $2.2 billion dollar Operating Budget is set each year by a secret committee that meets in violation of the Maryland Open Meetings Act.  The secret committee requires the participants (MCPS staff, Union representatives and the MCCPTA President) to sign confidentiality agreements so that they will not disclose what goes on in these meetings.  

It's an outrage when the University of Maryland Regents violate the Maryland Open Meetings Act in deciding to move the school from the ACC to the Big 10, but when the exact same violations occur with regard to setting a $2,200,000,000 annual public school budget, no one cares?

Big Ten. Big mistake.

...I believe we need new legislation — the Stakeholder Right-to-Know Act — that would prohibit universities that receive federal funds from executing confidentiality agreements on behalf of their intercollegiate athletic programs, which limit information regarding transactions that should be provided to important stakeholders.
Right now, universities and their boards are captive to a process controlled by the commissioners of the various athletic conferences. Commissioners managing hundreds of millions of dollars are extorting what they need from the universities, and the schools are powerless to stand up to them. We need a national solution to end this practice... 

Does the teachers union ignore some teachers?

Apparently, some MCPS music teachers do not think that the MCPS music education curriculum is sufficient and there are things that they would like to add or change.  According to one comment we received on this blog, those music teachers went to their union to advocate for music education funding.

As a MCPS music teacher who has tried to bring our concerns to MCPS/union leadership, the response is usually "your constituency (i.e. the number of MCPS music teachers) is too small for us to worry about your concerns." ...

Keep in mind that the MCPS Operating Budget is prepared by a secret committee that includes representatives from the teachers' union.  The music teachers were going to the people that represent them on the secret MCPS Operating Budget Committee - their union representatives.  

And, their union representatives declined to advocate for them. 

Wouldn't it be better then for front-line classroom teachers if the MCPS Operating Budget were prepared at the PUBLIC Board of Education table, as it should be under Maryland education law?  


If the MCPS Operating Budget was prepared at the public Board of Education table classroom teachers and parents could advocate together for classroom and curriculum needs.  And, when the budget was finalized everyone would know what was being funded and what the trade-offs were in the final budget. 

Updated: [60] Electric Guitars for Students or Travel for Board of Ed. Members

On another posting on this blog you can read about a fundraiser that, according to the comments, is attempting to raise funds for items like electric guitars.  It's not clear if this fundraising is for MCPS or for an outside program, but the comments allude to a deficit in the MCPS music curriculum and a need for musical instruments.


Meanwhile, today at least two three four Montgomery County Board of Education members and the Superintendent are in Boston, Massachusetts at a 3 day convention.  


We don't know how many Board of Education members attended the conference in total.  [Update:  Laura Berthiaume, Shirley Brandman and Chris Barclay are at Boston Convention. That's the equivalent of buying 36 Electric Guitars for students.] 
[Update: Superintendent Starr is also at the Boston Convention.  That's 12 more Electric Guitars!] 
[Update:  Event the Student Member of the Board of Education is in Boston! 12 more Electric Guitars.

But for the two four  five that did attend, the cost of travel, limo to airport, hotel, food and conference fees would buy about 25 50 60 electric guitars for public school students.  

It's a choice. 


And the people that sit at the secret MCPS Operating Budget table have chosen conferences over classrooms. 


That includes the MCEA - the teachers' union - because they are equal partners in the preparation of the MCPS Operating Budget. 


Teachers, why do you chose conferences over classrooms? 

From MCPS Bulletin:"The proposed FY 2011 budget was developed in full partnership with our three employee associations—MCAAP/MCBOA, MCEA and SEIU Local 500—and with the Montgomery County Council of PTAs (MCCPTA), who all share the goal of providing a world-class education to all MCPS students." 
“MCEA’s involvement in the budget process is key—it allows the educators of MCPS a direct means of influencing the formulation of the budget,” says Doug Prouty, president of MCEA. “This helps to ensure that resources are directed where they will be most beneficial for students, teachers, and those who support their work.”

Exclusive: MCPS Secret Budget Meeting Agendas Revealed

The Parents' Coalition has obtained copies of Agendas from the MCPS secret budget meetings.


While Maryland law says that a public school system Board of Education is to "prepare" the school systems budget, we know that here in Montgomery County that doesn't happen.  The MCPS budget is prepared by a committee that meets in secret, off camera and without notice to the public. 


We have known about the existence of the secret budget meetings for years.  In August of 2009, the teacher's union president announced he was attending the secret budget meetings.  In May of 2011, Superintendent Jerry Weast thanked the secret committee for their hundreds of hours of work on the MCPS budget.


This is the first time that the public has seen an Agenda for these meetings.  
Below are the Agendas for the meetings that were held to prepare the FY 2013 MCPS Operating Budget.  According to these documents, meetings were held on September 15, 2011; September 22, 2011; September 27, 2011; October 4, 2011; October 6, 2011; October 12, 2011; October 14, 2011; and October 18, 2011.


In attendance at these meetings were MCPS staff, Union leaders and MCCPTA officers.
Wonder what went on at these meetings? What budget decisions were made? What did MCCPTA advocate for?  What trade offs were made? 

According to MCPS Public Information Officer Dana Tofig, no minutes were taken at any of these meetings, so this is all the public can know about what took place at these meetings. 
FY2013SecretBudgetMeetings

PEAR = PROGRAM EFFICIENCY, ABANDONMENT, AND REDIRECTION

Exclusive: MCPS Confidentiality Agreement Exposed

The "public's right to know."

PTA members, parents, and citizens have been forced by MCPS staff to sign "Confidentiality Agreements" in order to participate on Board of Education and MCPS committees for the last couple of years.

Committees such as the MCPS (secret) Operating and Capital budget committees, Site Selection Advisory Committees, Superintendent Selection Committees and curriculum committees have utilized these documents to silence members of the public from discussing public business with the public. 

The Parents' Coalition has obtained a copy of one of these "confidentiality agreements." To our surprise, the document isn't worth the paper it is printed on.

The MCPS "Confidentiality Agreement" references the Maryland Open Meetings Act, as if that act somehow binds participants to a Closed Meeting and to secrecy.  The Maryland Open Meetings Act does neither of these things. 

The Maryland Open Meetings Act only provides exceptions when a meeting can be closed, it does not mandate that a meeting must be closed. That is why a public vote of the meeting participants to go in to a Closed Session is so important.  The participants can vote to keep a meeting open, even if it could be closed under the Maryland Open Meetings Act.  


The public has the right to witness the meeting participants vote to go in to a Closed Session. 

A participant can't be told in advance that meetings will be Closed. It is the decision of the meeting participants, by a public vote, to close a meeting. It is possible that the committee will vote to hold the entire process in full view of the public!


Below is a copy of one of these MCPS "Confidentiality Agreements."

Note:  The Open Meetings Act itself also doesn't prevent participants in a Closed Meeting from walking out the door and discussing what went on in the meeting.  The "not divulge to another person" phrase in the MCPS Confidentiality Agreement is, well, just bullying.

XXXXX COMMITTEE
CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT


I have agreed to be a member of the XXXX Committee to XXXXXX and participate in making a recommendation to the Superintendent of Schools. In carrying out this task, I understand that I will be given access to confidential information and participate in meetings that are closed to the public in order to maintain confidentiality.
I agree that I will not divulge to another person any confidential information or any information discussed or otherwise a part of any closed meeting. I understand that Section 10-508 of the State Government Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, permits closed meetings by the XXXXXXXXX and I recognize and will honor my obligation to maintain the confidentiality of the meetings and materials.
_________________________
Signature
__________________________
Print Name
__________________________
Date