This evening the City of Gaithersburg will hold a Worksession on their plan to buy plastic grass for a field. City staff claim they will be asking for "bids". But, the same staff is already quoting an inflated "cost" for the plastic grass field.
Why will the City of Gaithersburg pay double what a plastic grass football field actually costs? Sounds like another No Bid plastic grass field for Montgomery County!
http://www.gaithersburgmd.gov/sirepub/cache/2/sobj4prnaiwimv5b4vpuuma3/11002061020130244077.PDF
Monday, June 10, 2013
Ed Notes Online: Parents Present Pearson With $38 Million Invoice for Use of Child Labor for Field Tests
Ed Notes Online: Parents Present Pearson With $38 Million Invoice for Use of Child Labor for Field Tests
Saturday, June 8, 2013
The yearbook class at Springbrook may have lacked guidance...the class was being run by a long-term substitute...
MCPS and the use of long-term substitutes (long-term substitutes do not have to be certified teachers and can exist in MCPS classrooms for years without parents ever knowing their status):
Springbrook students told to return yearbooks over bullying page
Principal apologizes to his school community for lack of oversight
Friday, June 7, 2013
New Budget Process Relies on Signing Up to Be on a Focus Group
MCPS is forming parent focus groups as part of the budget process.
Please contact Julie Hall's office to express your interest or to ask any questions.
The groups are as follows:
June 5 larger / general focus group
June 6, focus group for parents of elementary school students
May 30 middle school
June 3 high school
If you are interested, contact MCPS TODAY. Sorry for the late notice.
Julie_Hall@mcpsmd.org
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Rapid transit in Montgomery County
Rapid transit in Montgomery County: could "Bus Rapid Transit" be the answer to Montgomer County's traffic nightmares. Dr. Paula Bienenfeld and Dan Reed join us in the studio to shed some light on the proposed plan. Allison Seymour reports
Gazette: Some Montgomery school staff unhappy with health care changes
Some Montgomery school staff unhappy with health care changes
By Jen Bondeson, Gazette, 6/5/13
Excerpts:
(...)
To read the whole article, CLICK HERE.
By Jen Bondeson, Gazette, 6/5/13
Excerpts:
To save money on administrative fees, the school system is dropping UnitedHealthcare and adding Cigna, effective Jan. 1, 2014, Richard C. Johnstone, director of benefits for the school system, told members of the Montgomery County Board of Education Thursday.
(...)
The school system did not want to tell anyone of the change before the school board approved it, Johnstone said. The school system met with the three unions that represent employees prior to deciding on the change, and they were supportive, he said.
To read the whole article, CLICK HERE.
City to settle student bullying suit for $45K
The Baltimore City Board of Estimates is slated to approve the settlement of a lawsuit filed by a mother who said her daughter was assaulted and verbally harassed by another classmate.The settlement, which is on the agenda for Wednesday’s board meeting, calls for the mother, Bessie Pearson, to receive $45,000.Pearson filed her lawsuit against the city’s school board in Baltimore City Circuit Court on Oct. 7, 2011. She alleged that another student kicked her daughter, Nichelle Greene, in the head, face and body on Oct. 10, 2008, while Greene was attending Carver Vocational Technical High School...http://thedailyrecord.com/2013/06/04/city-to-settle-student-bullying-suit-for-45k/
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
D.C. Public School Students Get It! Graduation Fees are "Highway Robbery"
What's wrong with MCPS seniors? How come they don't get it that Graduation Fees are wrong and illegal?
NBC4: Graduation Fees Rack Up in District Schools
NBC4: Graduation Fees Rack Up in District Schools
Tonight: Forum on Montgomery County Code Rewrite Project
The Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board (SSCAB) and the President’s Council of Silver Spring Civic Associations (PREZCO) are holding a public forum on the Montgomery County Zoning Code Rewrite Project on June 5 at 7 p.m. in the Silver Spring Civic Building. Montgomery County’s Planning Department recently completed a process to rewrite the County’s Zoning Code. The Planning Board approved the final draft and now awaits the first public hearing before the County Council on June 11.
The SSCAB and PREZCO are sponsoring the June 5th forum to discuss the zoning code rewrite from civic and government perspectives. The forum will be held at the Silver Spring Civic Building and will include featured guests:
- Farncoise Carrier, Planning Board Chair
- Pamela Dunn, Planning Department Project Manager
- Meredith Wellington, civic activist and former Planning Board Commissioner
- Julie Davies, community member fo the Zoning Advisory Panel
Learn more about the Montgomery County Zoning Rewrite Project by visiting the Montgomery Planning website.
Can law enforcement investigations be "shut down" for "partisan reasons" in Montgomery County?
That's the allegation from former Montgomery County Inspector General Thomas Dagley in today's WUSA9 story:
If Mr. Dagley's allegation is true then that would explain a lot about why investigations in to MCPS procurement and spending never result in reports to the public.
In May, Montgomery County's former Inspector General Thomas Dagley wrote to Kanstoroom, alleging that law enforcement investigations into the matter had been "shut down" for "partisan reasons."
If Mr. Dagley's allegation is true then that would explain a lot about why investigations in to MCPS procurement and spending never result in reports to the public.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
$695,000 to Reclaim Rock Creek Hills Park
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| From Save Rock Creek Hills Park Facebook page |
The Parks Department wants $695,000 for the park. A sign posted at the site asks for comments from the public about this plan. Apparently, the County only takes comments for 10 days so the comment period ends at the close of business on June 6th.
Note: The cost of acquiring this site is the kind of important information that is never included in MCPS site selection reports.
Here is the contact information for the person that is taking comments on behalf of the County Executive.
Bernie Fitzgerald
Real Estate Specialist
Department of General Services
Office of Real Estate.
101 Monroe Street, 9th Floor
Rockville, Maryland 20850
240-777-6076
240-777-6011 Fax
Bernie.Fitzgerald@montgomerycountymd.gov
Save Rock Creek Hills Park!: The Top Ten Reasons to Preserve Rock Creek Hills P...
Save Rock Creek Hills Park!: The Top Ten Reasons to Preserve Rock Creek Hills P...: [an email response to a request for public comment] Date: Tue, Jun 4, 2013 Subject: The top ten reasons to preserve Rock Creek Hills P...
Starr Putting Another Cell Tower Compound on a Red Zone Playground - Meeting This Evening
Superintendent Joshua Starr is allowing VERIZON to make a presentation this evening, JUNE 4, 2013 at 7 PM on his plans to permit another cell tower compound to be built on a Red Zone playground.
The next Red Zone school will be Neeslville Middle School in Germantown. See the orange arrow on the map.
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| The yellow dots on this map show the locations of the existing cell towers on MCPS playgrounds. |
Starr's "Social Emotional" isn't a Curriculum, it's a Mindset
This comment that we received sums up Superintendent Starr's response perfectly:
AnonymousJune 4, 2013 at 10:32 AM
So no longer 'social emotional LEARNING' [insert multiple @mcpssuper tweets here calling it 'SEL'], but "competency development, not a curriculum" [timestamp 0:52] because development is different from learning, as in professional development (PD) which is training, not learning b/c there are PD courses part of a PD curriculum - or not. AND -not OR- social emotional [fill in the blank] is a 'mindset', an attitude that come from within, and not learned; "you can't force it" [timestamp 1:13], but you can force other types of development, er,learning, er training -except when it's not? Is that different from social emotional tricks which are presumably learned, as in "a trick in your repertoire, not a curriculum" [timestamp 1:42]? Are those tricks learned from individual courses part of PD curriculum/not curriculum, or are the tricks a mindset. I get so confused...
Monday, June 3, 2013
Graduation Day!
Taking a look at the Montgomery County Council
As we slowly inch forward into another election cycle, we at the Montgomery County Sentinel thought it would be wise to take a look at the current county council: where they fall on issues; how constituents can reach them and what they think of themselves versus their campaign promises and achievements.
Observations were made of the council members in public meetings and we also assembled information on how quickly the council members responded to our requests.
Otherwise we offer no grade, but here is the report card on our county council. Voters can supply their own grade:
Read more at this link: The Sentinel
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