Board of Education Considers Cutting 143 Teaching Positions

Montgomery County councilmembers were told Thursday morning that Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is considering laying off 143 teachers to make its budget work, according to Councilmember Will Jawando.

Board of Education members also are considering not hiring 177 people who were offered contracts as long as they graduated college, although they were not told which school they would be assigned. Those positions may be rescinded, Jawando said in a statement following the council’s approval of a $7.1 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2025, which begins in July...

https://www.mymcmedia.org/board-of-education-considers-cutting-143-teaching-positions/

Thousands of computers missing from DCPS, hundreds of others from Alexandria Schools. @mcps @mocoboe is still working on its list.

WASHINGTON (7News) — Multiple school districts in the DMV are missing thousands of pieces of school technology.

Property that tax dollars paid for and it’s turned up lost or stolen. Even more concerning, it could open up school districts and students to cyberattacks.

Right now, DC Public Schools has the most lost or stolen equipment out of four school districts 7News investigated in the DMV.

DCPS has had 16,125 items come up missing or stolen over the past four years...

https://wjla.com/features/i-team/thousands-of-laptops-missing-dc-public-schools-computers-equipment-alexandria-city-public-schools

MD Grade Changing Investigation: Balt. City Schools Alerts 90,000 Students That Records Subpoenaed

BALTIMORE (WBFF) - Baltimore City Public Schools is in the process of alerting thousands of parents that their children’s grades have become part of a state grade changing investigation.

On January 25th, North Avenue sent a letter to thousands of Baltimore families. More letters are scheduled to go out in the coming days. The letters explain how City Schools was served a subpoena in a grade changing investigation, and their children's records are now involved. The subpoena was issued by Maryland’s Inspector General of Education, Rick Henry...

https://foxbaltimore.com/news/project-baltimore/grade-changing-investigation-city-schools-alerts-90000-students-that-records-subpoenaed?fbclid=IwAR3Grp9vyF4JuYJx24hDUTFWPiRxrzLQWm2jEkU43sTlTLlsMNA3upaTFSg

MARYLAND OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR EDUCATION

Richard P. Henry, Inspector General (appointed by Governor, Attorney General & State Treasurer to 5-year term with Senate advice & consent), 2025

100 Community Place, 4th floor, Crownsville, MD 21032
(410) 697-9692
e-mail: richard.henry@maryland.gov

To report educational fraud, waste, & abuse: 1-844-OIGETIP
e-mail: oige.tips@maryland.gov

https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/25ind/html/47inspect.html

.@mocoboe @MoCoCouncilMD another day, another dumpster with artificial turf heading to a landfill in Brunswick, Virginia [Now 16 Tons to Landfill]

.@mocoboe @MoCoCouncilMD another day, another dumpster with artificial turf heading to a landfill somewhere. The #ParadeOfPollution continues! (Bonus clogged drain photo too!) @Rockville411 pic.twitter.com/Pu8Sefso4V

— Lyda Astrove (@LydaAstrove) August 3, 2018

TODAY: Board of Ed. Slips $1.45 MILLION Plastic Football Field in BCC Construction Contract as Change Order #artificialturf #landfill #nobid

FYI: $1,450,000 for an artificial turf football field is an outrageous price! 

But, this is on the Board of Education's Consent Agenda for today's meeting.

Here's how this will go:

• One Board member chosen in advance will ask that this Consent Agenda item be removed from the agenda for discussion.   
• A MCPS staff member will then take a seat at the Board table and give a predetermined statement to cover for this outlandish price.  
• There will be no explanation of why the purchase of this artificial turf field is being slipped into the Hess Construction Contract.  
• There will be no explanation of why this purchase is not going to be bid out separately. 
• There will be no discussion of the useful life of this plastic field or how in 10 years it will join other plastic fields in Brunswick, Virginia to sit for the next 1,000 years.
• There will be no discussion about where the MONEY for this ONE artificial turf field is coming from.  Based on previous statements by MCPS COO Andrew Zuckerman, MCPS does not have enough money in the budget (Capital or Operating - depending on which one Mr. Zuckerman discusses) to pay this much for ONE artificial turf football field.  Spending at this level on ONE field is not sustainable based on the existing funds for new artificial turf fields. 
• Board members will be silent.  They will nod their heads.  They will not ask questions or demand documentation. They will unanimously vote for this exorbitant expenditure without ever seeing contracts or any details about the plastic field to be installed.

$1,450,000 should have been enough money to pay for 3 new artificial turf football fields.  

   Chg Order Bethesda Chevy Chase HS Add Proj Artificial Turf Football Field by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

Among the approved cuts was the $25 million that Leggett recommended trimming from Montgomery County Public Schools’ $2.5 billion annual budget.

Question:  How would County Councilmember Craig Rice know whether or not there is "fat in the central office" of MCPS?  The MCPS Operating Budget documents do not even disclose the over $8 million in Capital Budget funds that are used to fund the Operating Budget.  How can he say that there is no "fat" in the multi-millions of dollars in no bid purchases that are made every year?  What about travel, gift, and food budgets for administrators?  No fat? 

...The cuts were focused on reducing funding for the central office and administrative functions, according to the school system.
“The savings and reductions will focus more on the central office and not hit our classrooms,” Rice said. “I want to caution people out there who think there is still fat in the central office—there is not.”...http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2018/County-Council-Approves-Budget-Cuts/

A Crisis of Confidence In Maryland Schools: Is An Investigator General The Solution?

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has said that parents’ confidence in public schools is waning. Now, the Republican governor is proposing an office of an independent investigator with the power to subpoena to look into corruption allegations in Prince George’s County ––as well as complaints of mold and broken heating systems around the state. Is his move politically motivated? And will it pass in a General Assembly controlled by the Democratic Party? Guest host Brendan Greeley discusses with local parents and education advocates...

https://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2018-01-16/a-crisis-of-confidence-in-maryland-schools-is-an-investigator-general-the-solution

Hogan Appointed State Board of Education Hires Controversial Former HoCo Superintendent

Renee Foose, who resigned in May as Howard County’s school superintendent after months of publicly feuding with members of a politically divided school board, was hired Tuesday by the Maryland State Department of Education...

...A power struggle between Foose and the school board erupted last spring after three new board members were elected on a platform opposing her. She was left her with a minority of the board’s support. Foose eventually sued the school board claiming, among other things, that they were trying to usurp her authority. Under a settlement reached with Howard County and signed May 2, Foose agreed to drop her lawsuit and both sides agreed to cease making disparaging comments about each other. The terms of the settlement were criticized by legislators and parents at the time as being excessive and a waste of taxpayer money. Her opponents had said she was dictatorial and ignored issues that were important to parents.

The hiring of Foose by the state education department angered state Del. Warren Miller, a Howard County Republican.

“She received well over a million dollars. Now we are rewarding her with a state job?” he said. “I think the biggest issue is that this is someone who sued the taxpayers of Howard County. We never found out in court what would have happened. ….I think this is a tremendous liability for the state taxpayers.”...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/bs-md-foose-hire-20170919-story.html

Leggett not supportive of funding artificial turf fields. ICB drops oversight of MCPS spending of funds.

From the minutes of the March 2016, meeting of the Interagency Coordinating Board (ICB) the public learns that the ICB has a fund balance of an unknown amount, and that County Executive Ike Leggett was not supportive of spending any of that fund balance on artificial turf fields.

The public also learns that at this meeting the ICB decided to drop reviewing how MCPS spends ICB funds allocated to schools.  Instead, the ICB voted to transfer that oversight to the already overworked MCPS internal auditors.  The ICB decided that MCPS would now be on the "honor system" to spend ICB funds as per policy.  

   2.0 Final Minutes March 16 2016 Final Version by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

Ho Co BOE Wants BOE Staff to Report to BOE and Internal Audit, So Superintendent Sued Them.

...The complaint states one of the first resolutions passed by the newly sworn-in board on Dec. 5 sought to " misappropriate the superintendent's lawful authority."
At that first meeting with the new board member, Delmont-Small and Ellis passed eight resolutions, including a move to give the board responsibility over school board staff, such as the board administrator, secretarial staff and internal auditor, to increase transparency.
This change, which was passed despite opposition from board members Christine O'Connor and Sandra French, states that staff will report directly to the board rather than the superintendent. The board would then handle any staff terminations.
Another passed motion, introduced by Delmont-Small, instructed and authorized the board's internal auditor to review operations of the transportation department and all current and existing sole-source contracts.
According to state law, the complaint read, the superintendent is responsible for school administration, including discipline and terminations; therefore, deeming the board's actions illegal...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-ho-cf-foose-suit-boe-0119-20170112-story.html

Despite Failures, San Diego Unified Just Can’t Quit FieldTurf

San Diego Unified had at least six Fieldturf fields fall apart before the warranty was up, and two were replaced with the same defective product. Still, district officials have such confidence in the company, no other turf manufacturer has been allowed to compete for jobs within the district.


This is Part Three in our four-part series. Here’s where to find Part One and Part Two. 
Twenty artificial turf fields that once gleamed in the San Diego sun have quickly fallen apart over the last decade thanks to a defect.
The field failures have created dilemmas for school districts that tried to get replacements from FieldTurf USA under the manufacturer’s eight-year warranty. Often, schools were faced with the option of choosing a free replacement with the same defective material, or paying thousands of dollars more to upgrade to a non-defective product that would hold up as originally promised.
San Diego Unified – the region’s largest FieldTurf buyer – had at least two defective fields replaced with more of the same turf that failed...

Voice of San Diego scoured thousands of San Diego Unified documents and sought an interview with district officials to discuss the district’s FieldTurf history. Officials declined multiple interview requests and instead made defensive, misleading and at times outright dishonest claims by email.
For starters, Reed-Porter said district fields were replaced for free under warranty before they actually failed as a preventative measure.
“The FieldTurf fields in San Diego Unified did not fail. It would be inaccurate for you insinuate or report in your story,” she wrote Sept. 21. “According to FieldTurf at the time, the fields were beginning to show signs of wear, and might not last though (sic) the entire warranty period.”
That’s not quite what district and FieldTurf officials said in emails when $1.5 million worth of FieldTurf Duraspine turf installed in 2010 at Mira Mesa, San Diego and Morse high schools needed replacement after only four years...

 ...The district has had such confidence in FieldTurf over the years, no other manufacturer has been allowed to compete for the turf job. Public officials continue to argue FieldTurf’s superior product and warranty allows them to skip competitive bidding normally required by state law for public works projects.

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/news/despite-failures-san-diego-unified-just-cant-quit-fieldturf/

Reminder: Zero Coverage of State Audit of MCPS, No Oversight from County Council

Today is November 3, 2016.

On May 19, 2016, the Maryland State Office of Legislative Audits released their 6 year audit of Montgomery County Public Schools.

As of today, the full Board of Education has not discussed this audit, the Montgomery County Council's Education Committee has not taken up this audit, and no commercial media outlet has reported on this audit.   

That's how we cover up bad news in Montgomery County.  Remember to vote for all the incumbents in Tuesday's election because it takes a lot of elected officials to keep a public audit of a $2.5 billion dollar public school system quiet.  

Not one single local or state elected official dares to make a public statement about the results of this public audit. All of them must be under a gag order to keep this audit from reaching the public.  If just one spoke up, it would be in the news, yet none have said a word.

Our current elected officials want another term to keep covering up waste, fraud and abuse in Montgomery County Public Schools.  Look at the great job they are doing now!

Here are links to the only coverage you will find of the 2016 State Audit of Montgomery County Public Schools: 

http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2016/05/audit-mcps-paid-vendors-approximately.html

 http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2016/05/breaking-state-releases-mcps-audit-day.html

 http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-account-and-password-controls-over.html

 http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2016/07/exclusive-boe-spends-75600-fighting-1.html

 http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2016/05/approximately-300-routes-were-below-50.html

   2016 State Audit Montgomery County Public Schools by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

Construction Crews Scrambling to Finish Julius West MS Renovations

The first day of school is Monday, August 29, 2016 and many are wondering if Julius West Middle School will really be ready.
On Wednesday morning, a Rose Hill resident, out for her morning walk, commented about the sudden last-minute construction on the driveways which she said, “Didn’t start in earnest until three weeks ago. They were even out on Sunday working.”

During this week of preparation she noticed teachers parking in her neighborhood. “I don’t blame them.” she said...

http://www.rockvilleview.com/construction-crews-scrambling-to-finish-jwms-renovations/

A Look at the MCPS Trailer Dump at the Historic Lincoln High School

How would you feel about old rusting tractor trailers gracing the entrance to your neighborhood? The residents of Lincoln Park have been forced to deal with it for decades.
At the June 16, 2016, Montgomery County Planning Board meeting on the County Executive’s purchase of the Westmore property for a bus depot, residents of Lincoln Park testified about their current situation. They explained that for years, over 130 rusting trailers have decayed around the historic Lincoln High School.
Many on the Planning Board expressed surprise that the neighborhood had been dealing with such a situation for years and the MCPS system was responsible...

 http://www.rockvilleview.com/a-look-at-the-mcps-trailer-dump-at-the-historic-lincoln-high-school/

approximately 300 routes were below 50 percent of MCPS’ bus capacity

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

BOE Successfully Withheld 2015 State Audit of MCPS through Budget Process #waste #fraud #abuse #accountabilityfail

MCPS has had the 2015 State Audit for months.  The Board of Education has even been told about the 2015 State Audit. (Click on the link below.)  But, the 2015 State Audit has not been made public as of this morning when the County Council finalized the Board of Education's budgets.

That's a big win for county "values!" 
Montgomery County "values" secrecy, waste, fraud and abuse in budgeting.  

It's "historic" as it is history repeating itself. 
We know the 2015 State Audit is going to show areas where MCPS could improve in their management of public funds, but who wants that? 

Now, which taxpayer funded credit card is going to be used to take the Council and BOE out to dinner tonight to celebrate?

Another Bad Audit for MCPS. 2015 State Audit of MCPS Shows SAME Findings as in 2009.

How Would Charity Navigator Rate MCPS Spending on Hotels, Conferences, Food, Travel, "Team Building" and Perks?

View More: Live News|More News Videos

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/former-wounded-warrior-employees-accuse-charity-of-wasting-millions

Peter Franchot: MCPS has "enormous ways to do better"

On November 9, 2015, Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot spoke at the Montgomery County Civic Federation meeting.

As part of his opening remarks, Comptroller Franchot called out Montgomery County Public Schools for spending almost twice per square foot what Alexandria spends to build school buildings.

Here is what Comptroller Franchot had to say: 

"...We're paying almost $500 a square foot to build schools in Montgomery County.  They just completed one that looks like the National Museum of Art, it's so beautiful, in Alexandria, for $250 a square foot.
  
I asked the folks well why are we building them so expensively?  And they said, well you don't understand. We have to build them to last for 100 years. What happens if the kids bang their heads against the walls in the hallway?  Quote, from the head of the construction, said what happens if the kids bang their heads, we have to build them, we have no choice. 

I said, what about the kids? What are we going to do for them? 
I mean it has become ludicrous, is what I am saying. There are enormous ways to do better ..."

"...the same old acting like a panhandler holding your hat out in the streets asking for money, how pathetic is that?” Franchot said. “Do your job.”

Franchot rebukes Kamenetz for panhandling for school air conditioning
A call by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz for more money for air conditioning for some schools was met with sharp criticism from state Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot.
Maryland’s tax collector and one-third of the board that approves funding requests for school construction and renovation funding rebuked the county executive and compared him to a beggar.
“I certainly feel very strongly that the some old tired excuses, the same old acting like a panhandler holding your hat out in the streets asking for money, how pathetic is that?” Franchot said. “Do your job.”
Kamenetz and county school officials came under heated attack from Franchot and Gov. Larry Hogan because of a lack of air conditioning in some schools.
The two-term county executive responded by saying that the county was engaged in a plan of systemic renovations to its schools, which collectively are the second oldest in the state behind Baltimore City, and said the state could help by putting its money where its mouth was.
“If the state gives us more money then I am sure we can reduce the number of schools without air conditioning more quickly,” Kamenetz said. “This year we got less under Governor Hogan than the years under Governor O’Malley.”
For his part, Kamenetz is dismissive of Franchot’s remarks.
“He does this to tweak me,” Kamenetz said on the Midday with Dan Rodricks show on WYPR. “It’s ok, it’s what he does.”
Kamenetz went on to call Franchot’s solution of purchasing window air conditioning units a “band-aid” approach.
“Some people like to lead by grandstanding,” Kamenetz said on the radio program. “Others lead by example and I think our position in Baltimore County is to lead by example.”
Hogan Wednesday said he would call on Kamenetz to appear before the board, possibly as early as Oct. 7, to answer questions about the lack of air conditioning in some schools. The governor said the state could play hardball with the county and threatened school construction funding.
“The fact that they can’t get the air conditioning situation straight is really unacceptable,” Hogan told WMAR television. “If we have to cut off funding, if we have to play hardball, we’re going to make sure that Baltimore County takes the steps that’s necessary.”

http://thedailyrecord.com/2015/09/18/franchot-panhandling-kamenetz-air-conditioning-schools/

Education Leaders Announce MCPS Administrator Expense Accounts Have Been Spared!

Well, they must have been spared because the only thing that MCPS and the Board of Education are going to cut are teachers.  
BOE and administrator expense accounts, travel budgets, and club dues are all entact and will remain in next year's budget. 
Why cut their perks when they can just cut teachers? 

Montgomery County Education Leaders Urge Hogan To Release Funding

http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2015/Montgomery-County-Education-Leaders-Urge-Hogan-To-Release-Funding/