Kennedy High Student Found with Trace Amounts of Cocaine at School, Officials Say

Kennedy High Student Found with Trace Amounts of Cocaine at School, Officials Say: Five staff members checked out at the hospital after exposure to powder

Apple Ballot Endorsed BOE Member Docca Uses "R word" at Public Meeting, Giggles, and Wants to Be Re-Elected

Board of Education member Judy Docca has just filed to run for another 4 year term on the Montgomery County Board of Education.

Judy Docca is an Apple Ballot (Teachers' Union - MCEA) endorsed candidate.

Is this the type of language the Apple Ballot wants to hear from our public officials in our public school system in 2017?

Rockville Residents Want Lower Student-Poverty Levels When Elementary School Opens Next Year

Rockville Residents Want Lower Student-Poverty Levels When Elementary School Opens Next Year

Incident at Varsity Football Game

From: Mildred Charley-Greene <noreply@mcpsmd.org>
Date: Sat, Nov 4, 2017 at 3:50 PM
Subject: Incident at Varsity Football Game
To: Northwood High 

Good Afternoon Gladiator Families,

I am contacting you to make you aware of an incident that occurred at last night’s varsity football game against Springbrook High School played here at Northwood. During the first quarter, an on-field altercation between players led to spectators on the sidelines and in the stands coming onto the field. Springbrook Principal Art Williams and I, working with the athletic directors from both schools, made the decision to end the game due to public safety concerns. With the support of Montgomery County Police and administrators and security from Northwood and Springbrook, spectators from both teams were separated and the stadium was cleared. We are working with MCPS athletics to conduct a full investigation, including the review of game film, to identify the cause of this incident and to address unsafe and unsportsmanlike behavior. 

I regret that our senior athletes and their families who were to be presented at half time were not recognized due to this incident. We appreciate the hard work of student athletes who uphold our core values of respect and responsibility. I will be working with the athletic director, Mr. Fuggitti, and student athletes to determine a venue for celebrating these Gladiators.

Thank you for your support.

Best,

M. Charley-Greene

Casey Anderson Putting 3 Cell Tower Installations on Park Land

Correction to Parks Notice Below:  One of the new cell tower projects is being put on an empty pole.  It is the light pole on the Blair High School baseball field.  It is not an existing cell tower, it is a light pole. Adding working cell tower equipment to a light pole is a new installation.  But, as you will see below, Casey Anderson wants to trick the public by calling it a "colocation."  

Parks, playgrounds and ballfields are not for children in Montgomery County. 

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

Please be advised that the Montgomery Planning Board Meeting to hear the applications on three telecommunication applications seeking to colocate equipment in existing park facilities to improve the wireless system in the Montgomery County area has been rescheduled to Thursday, November 16, 2017. 

The public is encouraged to post comments on the Montgomery Parks.org Open Town Wall web page prior to the November 16, 2017 Planning Board date.  Please share the following notice with resident and community groups.

Any questions, please contact the M-NCPPC Montgomery Parks Office of Public Affairs and Community Partnerships.

Best,

Alex

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Alex Girr-Borrayo

Public Outreach Specialist

Public Affairs Community Partnerships

MNCPPC-MC | Parkside Headquarters

9500 Brunett Avenue | Silver Spring, Maryland 20901

Office: 301-495-2497 | Fax: 301-495-9340

www.montgomeryparks.org

   TEMPLATE- PUBLIC NOTICE-telecom. Notice. Rescheduled.11.16.17 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

Parents Concerned After Man Arrested for Hiding Camera in Children's Gym

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Man-Arrested-for-Hiding-Camera-in-Bathroom-of-Childs-Gym_Washington-DC-454606083.html

Docca To Run for Fourth Term on Montgomery County School Board

Docca To Run for Fourth Term on Montgomery County School Board: Retired principal said she doesn’t plan to run again in four years

School Advocates Want ‘Pause’ on Potomac Elementary Project, Push For Auditorium at Loiederman Middle

School Advocates Want ‘Pause’ on Potomac Elementary Project, Push For Auditorium at Loiederman Middle

SOMERSET ELEM. COMMUNITY BLAST POLICE FOR DELAYING NOTIFICATION OF OLDALE INVESTIGATION

CHEVY CHASE — Parents of children from Somerset Elementary School blasted Montgomery County Police officials Wednesday evening for not informing them of a months-long investigation which culminated in the arrest of a man with deep community ties for allegedly hiding a camera in a bathroom at a local children's gymnastics center...

...Outraged parents told District 2 Police Commander Paul Liquorie if only they had known Oldale was under investigation, they could have kept their children away from him for the last five-and-a-half months...

...Parents said at the meeting Oldale was also a class parent as well as the school photographer and he often hosted camp events at his house during the summer months...

http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/news/local/item/6016-somerset-elem-community-blast-police-for-delaying-notification-of-oldale-investigation

Blair Students Dismiss Role of Student Member of Board of Education

MCPS students have a full voting student member on the the Montgomery County Board of Education. Students vote on their representative. Why is it that Blair's students now say the decision to drop Edline was a surprise for them? Their student Board of Education member was at the Board of Education table for all of the discussion and votes on this change. Students were fully represented during the entire years long process. 

Oct. 26, 2017

MyMCPS: A decision we had no say in

MCPS faces major problems due to implementation issues in a decision without student input

From middle school to high school, many students had a best friend named Edline, who knew everything about them from their daily attendance, to the grades they received on assignments. But when school started this year, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) told them that Edline was no longer being used. With no recollection of giving input into the decision, students found themselves crashing head-first into a new system with almost no warning.

http://silverchips.mbhs.edu/story/13623

Meeting Video: Zoning Change for Small Cell Tower Community Information Meeting

Parents Blast Police on Chevy Chase Man’s ‘Constant’ Access to Children for Months After Hidden Camera Found

Parents Blast Police on Chevy Chase Man’s ‘Constant’ Access to Children for Months After Hidden Camera Found: Jonathan Oldale was arrested last week on visual surveillance charges

Full Video of Police Press Conference Held Prior to Child Safety Meeting in Chevy Chase on Nov. 1st

Montgomery County Police did not allow videotaping or audio recording of the meeting they held on November 1st concerning the arrest of Chevy Chase parent Jonathan Oldale.  However, prior to the community meeting the police held a press conference in the hallway outside the auditorium.

Below is video of the press conference taken by a member of the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD.   

Concerned Md. parents wonder why they weren't notified sooner about illegal recording investigation

CHEVY CHASE, Md. - Montgomery County police spoke to worried parents at a meeting Wednesday night to answer some tough questions after a parent was recently arrested and accused of illegally recording at his children’s Silver Spring gymnastics studio...



http://www.fox5dc.com/news/local-news/concerned-md-parents-wonder-why-they-werent-notified-sooner-about-illegal-recording-investigation

Police ask those who had contact with Silver Spring videotaping suspect to share details

CHEVY CHASE, Md. — Members of the Montgomery County Police Special Victims Investigation Division say it will be an extensive and time-consuming investigation into the suspected videotaping in a bathroom at a Silver Spring gymnastics studio.

Police say they have connected Jonathan Oldale, 54, of Chevy Chase, to a key fob camera found in a backpack in a bathroom at Silver Star Gymnastics in Silver Spring on May 5. But detectives have not located any videos of victims from the gym. Oldale’s children took classes at the gym.

Concerned parents whose children came in contact with Oldale have been asked by police to email investigators (oldaleinvestigation@montgomerycountymd.gov)...

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2017/11/police-seek-details-contact-silver-spring-videotaping-suspect/

NYT: Why Does Verizon Care About Telephone Poles?

Sam Liccardo is the mayor of San Jose, Calif., and a member of the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Development Advisory Committee.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Like every other 8-year-old whom I tutored at a local school, Omar didn’t know anything — and didn’t care much — about high-stakes disputes over net neutrality, free speech and privacy that have consumed much of the news coverage of the telecommunications industry in recent years. Yet the inability of Omar’s parents to afford broadband internet access lies at the heart of a battle that will have a far greater impact on his future: the fight over street poles.

Public street poles may not look like much, but to wireless service providers, they’re valuable real estate. Companies like Verizon want low-cost access to them to install equipment to handle the rapidly growing demand for mobile data. But poles are owned locally, and cities and counties aren’t eager to give away access at below-market rates. Doing so would essentially subsidize an already wealthy industry — nationwide, as much as $2 billion a year, money that could otherwise go to expanding low-cost broadband access for people like Omar’s family.

As a result, the industry is waging a war for those poles, at all levels. Big Telecom and its allies in the White House have quietly carried out a campaign to secure rapid and cheap access to those poles, at taxpayer expense. Here in California, state legislators recently advanced a bill introduced by Senator Ben Hueso that would allow wireless service providers to install their equipment on public street poles at below-market rates — and to do so nearly wherever and whenever they choose — all in the name of “streamlining” local permit approvals.

We’ve seen similar efforts in Texas, Florida, Washington and dozens of other states, where telecommunications industry lobbyists spent more than $24.5 million in campaign contributions last year, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics. At the federal level, Trump administration appointees to the Federal Communications Commission have publicly cheered these proposals, while releasing their own draft regulations to carry out additional industry-friendly rules nationally...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/opinion/wireless-verizon-telephone-poles.html

MAN ARRESTED FOR VIDEO SURVEILLANCE MAY HAVE LINKS TO PTA AND CUB SCOUT TROOP

A Chevy Chase man arrested in October for conducting nonconsensual visual surveillance in a private place may have ties a local elementary school parent-teacher association, according to two PTA newsletters from September 2016.

Police arrested Jonathan Oldale, 54, Oct. 18 concluding a nearly five-month-long investigation, according to an Oct. 27 police press report. Police began investigating Oldale in May after an employee of the Silver Star Gymnastics and Fitness Club reported finding a backpack containing a concealed camera under a "wet floor" sign on the floor of a bathroom...

http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/news/local/item/5996-man-arrested-for-video-surveillance-may-have-been-a-pta-and-cub-scouts-rep

Today: No Discussion of Sexual Abuse of Students by MCPS Staff

Today is the annual meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Education and the Montgomery County Delegation (State Senators and Delegates). 

Below is the Agenda for the meeting. 

Noticeably absent from the Current Issues Agenda is any mention of the recent arrests of MCPS staff for sexual abuse of MCPS students in schools. 

The safety of public school children while under the supervision of MCPS staff is not even on the Agenda.

Apparently, these dozens of arrests and convictions are not of concern to our elected leaders. 

These are your elected representatives. 

Gates Foundation to Shift Education Focus

Marking a new chapter in education philanthropy, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will step back from its traditional education reform agenda to instead invest close to $1.7 billion over the next five years on new initiatives that include a focus on building networks of schools...

https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2017-10-19/gates-foundation-pledges-17-billion-to-k-12-education-will-focus-on-building-school-networks

Attn Parents: Montgomery County Police Child Safety Meeting Wednesday November 1st, 7:15 PM

Child Safety Meeting

Since the arrest of Mr. Jonathan Oldale, many parents have expressed concern about his interaction with children in the community. The Montgomery County Police Department will be hosting a community meeting this Wednesday, November 1, 2017 at the National 4H Center, 7100 Connecticut Ave, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 at 7:15 p.m. to provide residents with information and resources available to discuss the situation with their children. We will have representatives from the Special Victims Investigations Division (SVID) available to respond to questions.  The National 4H Center has ample parking and is located between Bradley Blvd and East West Highway on the western or southbound side of Connecticut Avenue.   

SVID is now conducting the investigation of Mr. Oldale.  If you should have an immediate concern about your children, please email Lieutenant Sheila Sugrue (sheila.sugrue@montgomerycountymd.gov) and she will respond to you.  Due to fact this is an active investigation, it may not be possible to comment on certain specifics of the case.  The Police Department will do its best to provide what information it can, help the community understand the process moving forward, and provide contact information for members of the community if they suspect their child may be a victim of a crime.

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ABC7 broke this story:  http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2017/10/police-father-hides-pinhole-spy-camera.html