NBC4: Part-time school board buys thousands of dollars in dinners at restaurants near office @NBC4ITeam at 6pm

YOUR TAX $: Part-time school board buys thousands of dollars in dinners at restaurants near office @NBC4ITeam at 6pm pic.twitter.com/CgRVh7dXXY
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) October 8, 2014

Support for Cell Towers on MCPS Playgrounds: Henry Hailstock, Mark Uncapher, Robin Uncapher, Cynthia Rubenstein and Casey Aiken

Montgomery Community Media: This episode of “21 This Week” with host Casey Aiken (commercial real estate attorney) and his panel includes a discussion of ... whether cell phone towers should be located on public school grounds ...

The show’s panel of political observers includes Henry Hailstock (Past NAACP-MC President), Mark Uncapher (Former Chair of Mont. Co. Republican Central Committee and Director, Regulatory and Government Affairs Telecommunications Industry Association), Robin Uncapher (Republican Activist) and Cynthia Rubenstein (Education Activist and MCPS Partner/County Funding).

Go to minute 12:55 of the video for the discussion of cell towers on MCPS playgrounds.

Video: Board of Education Candidates Forum

Montgomery County Board of Education Candidates
Good Governance Forum

Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Rockville Memorial Library
21 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, MD 20850

Speakers: Larry Edmonds, Shebra Evans, Laurie Halverson, Jill Ortman-Fouse, Kristin Trible

As we are aware of the views of the School Board incumbents, here is an opportunity to hear from the challengers. We will send them 3-5 questions ahead of the meeting. However, most of the forum will be open to questions from the floor - from you.

Co-sponsored by the Montgomery County Taxpayers League, the Montgomery County Civic Federation, and the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD

Gazette: Montgomery school employee retirement plans undergo changes

http://www.gazette.net/article/20141001/NEWS/141009792/1009&template=gazette

...Several speakers, including leaders of two providers the school system currently uses, testified against the changes before the board’s vote.
One such leader, Ed Forst, president and chief executive officer of Lincoln Investment, said that using a single provider for a 403(b) plan is not common.
“You’re basically ready to move into uncharted territory,” he said.
DeGraba said that moving to a single provider 403(b) plan is new among kindergarten through 12th grade education systems, but “very common” in higher education.
Forst also said that moving from multiple providers to a single provider could lower plan participation among school employees.
Tom Hendershot, president and CEO of the Hendershot Financial Group — one of the current nine vendors — also opposed the move to a single provider.
The change will sever “long-term financial relationships,” he said.

Exclusive: Parents' Coalition Releases Over 200 Pages of Cell Tower Planning Documents

Daly ES cell tower

Parents have the right to know what construction projects are being planned for their child's school.

Boards of Education constantly claim that they want parents to be involved in their child's education and school. 

It's time for Maryland Boards of Education to step up and prove they want parent involvement. 

It's time for Maryland Boards of Education to make public their plans for cell towers on public school playgrounds before the construction begins.

In an effort to shine some light on the construction plans for 5 Prince George's County Public School playgrounds the Parents' Coalition obtained and is making public over 200 pages of planning documents.  Even if these documents don't relate to your local school, they are a fascinating look inside the planning that goes on for the construction of a cell tower on a public school playground. 

Has the Montgomery County Board of Education ever made any of these documents public for the 13+ cell towers they have constructed on public school land?

How about the 6 cell towers that Superintendent Joshua Starr has tried to build on public school playgrounds? Has Superintendent Starr made any of these documents public?

~~~~~~~~~~

Flowers High School , Springdale, MD:  cell tower  application

Part 1:  Pages 1-50

• Please note in this application there is NO authorization to build from the Prince George's Board of Education or PGCPS.  We did see authorization in other files, but not in this one.
• Please see page 15 of the PDF shows that Milestone Communications provided refreshments for a neighborhood event.
• Starting on page 40 of the PDF are the lists of elected officials and HOAs that were notified of this project.  The principal was notified March 31, 2014. The PTSA at this school did not find out about the upcoming construction until the middle of September.  Why did it take 6 months to let parents know about this upcoming construction project at their local public school?

https://www.scribd.com/doc/241833577/2014-Flowers-HS-Tower-Committee-Part-1

Part 2: Pages 51-100

• These pages continue with the lists of HOAs that were notified and then there are additional pages about the actual cell tower compound.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/241835827/2014-Flowers-HS-Tower-Committee-Part-2

 

Tasker Middle School, Bowie, MD

 

https://www.scribd.com/doc/241839504/2014-Tasker-Middle-School-Tower-Committee

 

Green Valley Academy, Temple Hills, MD

 

https://www.scribd.com/doc/241838953/2014-Green-Valley-Tower-Committee

 

Kenmoor Middle School, Landover, MD

 

https://www.scribd.com/doc/241838279/2014-Kenmoor-Middle-School-Tower-Committee

 

Carroll Middle School, New Carrollton, MD

 

https://www.scribd.com/doc/241838105/2014-Carroll-Middle-School-Tower-Committee

 

 

 

Items jettisoned from the lunch menu included gummy fruit snacks, Doritos chips and ice cream.

Advocates Honor Bethesda School For Healthy Food Changes

Real Food for Kids – Montgomery named the school “most improved” thanks to a flurry of changes and educational activities prompted by parents. RFKM’s Lisa Mandell — a member of the school PTA’s Wellness Committee — worked with Principal Sandra Reece to remove snack items on the school’s a la carte menu that more than half of parents disapproved of.
Items jettisoned from the lunch menu included gummy fruit snacks, Doritos chips and ice cream. The changes came after Mandell and PTA member Aimee Aronson met with Reece and MCPS Food and Nutrition Services Director Marla Caplon.
According to RFKM, MCPS agreed to remove the items after the meting. It followed a 2012-2013 parent survey the PTA put out about school food.

Parent says no mush for his first-grader

...“Notice what’s missing,” Petrilli said. “Proper nouns. Which historical figures will he study? Time periods? Which countries or continents? People who study education for a living understand what’s going on — this is straight out of the standards promulgated by the National Council for the Social Studies, a professional organization that has long prized such ‘conceptual understanding’ over ‘rote facts and figures.’ ” He had found the kindergarten fare similarly mushy...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/parent-says-no-mush-for-his-first-grader/2014/10/05/6ce09484-4a9b-11e4-b72e-d60a9229cc10_story.html

Three High School Football Players Die in One Week

http://www.nbcnews.com/watch/nightly-news/three-high-school-football-players-die-in-one-week-337152579904

Long Island school official calls one of the deaths, of Tom Cutinella,  a "freak" accident.  Was it, though, given that studies have shown that a high school football player sustains 650-1,000 blows to the head in a season--either direct hits to the head or hit to the body that transfers energy to the head? Purdue University--Study suggests concussions caused by a series of hits

Studies comparing functional MRI of high school football players brains before and after a season show altered brain function--even in players who were not diagnosed with a concussion.  And normal brain function can take months to return to normal.  Even in players not diagnosed with concussions.

Repetitive head blows in football, season after season, are suspected in the causing a dementia-like condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).  Boston University scientists have been performing autopsies of the brains of deceased football players and recently announced that, of the 79 brains they examined, 76 showed signs of CTE.  link

And CTE has been found in the brains of young men who only played college football (read the tragic story of Owen Thomas at U. Penn link) and even in the brain of a high school-aged boy. 

Could repetitive head blows also be causing the "freak" deaths in youth and high school football?  And what are the repetitive hits doing to the brains of boys who don't die? 

The NFL and mommy bloggers who enable it claim that football can be made safe by: (1) teaching "safer" Heads Up tackling; (2) teaching concussion awareness; and (3) installing helmet sensors that ID "big" hits.

If these interventions get Moms to continue to allow their sons to play youth and high school football, it protects the 32 NFL owners' $10 billion per year business plan.  But do they keep sons safe from repetitive head blows?

Some say Roger Goodell and the 32 NFL owners showed their cynicism about domestic violence in their handling of Ray Rice and other players involved with hitting their wives or other partners. 

Were Goodell's and the NFL owners' shameful actions on domestic violence just "freaks" or does the same cynicism underlie their "safer" football efforts?

Oct 13th BOE will be Off Camera - MEETING NOW MOVED

UPDATE: LOCATION CHANGED! 
 
Monday, October 13

• Work Session on Board's Self Evaluation-Location changed to CESC, Room 127

 For those that aren't "in the know" the CESC abbreviation on the Board of Education website refers to Carver Educational Services Center located at 850 Hungerford Drive in Rockville, MD. 

 http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Montgomery County Board of Education will be hiding again on October 13, 2014.  They don't want the public to observe their discussions so they will meet off site in a room without a camera. 

What will they discuss? Their self-evaluation! 

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/boe/meetings/agenda/2014/agenda_10132014.pdf

Associated Press picks up story of MD Coalition to Halt Cell Towers at Schools!

Md. group forms to fight cell towers at schools : News

Scientists Dissected the Brains of 79 NFL Players. What They Found Is Disturbing.

From Mother Jones:  To read the full story go here.

The latest data from Boston University researchers is more bad news for the reeling league.

—By Sam Brodey Wed Oct. 1, 2014 5:41 PM EDT

Yesterday, the country's leading investigators of sports-related brain injuries released what could be their most shocking finding yet: Of the 79 deceased NFL players examined, 76 showed evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. The researchers at the Boston University CTE Center have examined, in total, the brains of 128 people who played football at all levels—from high school to the pros—and 101 showed evidence of CTE. The numbers buttress a growing body of evidence that suggests that playing football at any level can lead to grave health consequences.

In case you haven't been following the story, here's how CTE works: When the brain is subjected to repeated trauma—from the severe (and rare) concussion-causing hits to the repetitive, smaller impacts a lineman might absorb thousands of times in his career—its tissue starts to deteriorate. That causes the buildup of abnormal tau proteins, which interfere with a whole host of critical brain functions. In the short term, it can lead to memory loss and impaired judgment; in the long term, it can lead to severe depression and dementia. Ex-players describe its symptoms as crushing, and in many cases, the pain, unpredictable outbursts of rage, and memory loss becomes too much to bear.

 

Three images of brain tissue, with tau protein in brown. The left sample is from a nonplayer subject, the middle comes from a football player, and the right belongs to a boxer. Courtesy of the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy.

Breaking News: PG Cell Tower Deal Collapsing? #mabe #franceshglendening #celltowers #milestone

Hook, line and sinker.

The hook for the Prince George's County Board of Education in 2010 was that if they built cell towers on public school playgrounds they would get tons of cash.  Here's the exact quote from the BOE resolution back in 2010:

"Potential revenue generation is estimated at approximately $2.5 million over a five (5) year period, and the initiative will also provide broadband service for the school system."

Four years later the Prince George's Board of Education hasn't made a dime from this deal.  Apparently, the cell tower company is now trying to incentivize the deal and offer quick cash up front for each tower that PGCPS let's them build.

Here's the new offer obtained by the Parents' Coalition from a Maryland Public Information Act request: 

"At PGPS’s election, and to provide additional incentive, Milestone offers to accelerate rental
payments for the “big four” wireless carriers (Verizon/AT&T/Sprint/T-Mobile) and to pay to PGPS a total of $100,000 per carrier at the time the carrier installs at the site in lieu of recurring ground rent for years 1-10 and the site access fee. For years 11 to 30 of the carrier lease, the ground rent payments would then revert to 40% of carrier rental revenues."

So $100,000 up front and then no rental payments for 10 years, instead of $25,000 up front and 40% of revenues for 10 years? Is the Prince George's County Board of Education taking the bait for this revised deal?

WPost: Report: Large racial, ethnic gap between students, educators in Montgomery schools

Students of color make up two-thirds of Montgomery County’s public school enrollment, but most educators in the county’s schools are white, and the district does not track whether they speak Spanish or other languages, according to a county report released Tuesday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/montgomery-schools-show-gap-in-race-and-ethnicity-of-staff-report-says/2014/09/30/1a99c7c6-4597-11e4-b47c-f5889e061e5f_story.html

NAACP-PG is Speaking Out for Children. Support their Oct 19th Fundraiser.

Annual Hester V. King Freedom Fund Gala

 

Keynote Speaker:

 

Honorable Laura D. Blackburne

NYS Supreme Court Justice, Retired

 

The Prince George's County NAACP, Branch stands on the front lines of the struggle to educate, enlighten, and preserve the rights of all people. The Hester V. King Freedom Fund Gala supports the major programs of this Branch.

 

With your support

 

Dine on the Delicious Cuisine Created by the World Renown, Wolf Gang Puck

at the Beautiful National Harbor Sunset Room.

 

Master of Ceremonies - Frank Ski 

Mistress of Ceremonies - Mo (Moraima) Ivory 

 

Event Info

October 19, 2014

 

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM  

 

Sunset Room at National Harbor,

by Wolf Gang Puck

137 National Plaza

Oxon Hill, MD  20745

 

http://www.naacppgc.org/#!freedom-fund/cez1

Who Sponsored the $5,000 Reception Going on Now in Ocean City? @mabe_news

It's Thursday, October 2nd at 6:30 PM. 

We know that Montgomery County Board of Education members and staff are in Ocean City for their annual vacation with Board members from across the State of Maryland. 

We don't know how many of our BOE members and staff are there, they never announce who is attending this annual vacation paid for by the MCPS Operating Budget.

We know that at 6:30 PM today is the annual "President Reception" sponsored by one of the MABE (Maryland Association Boards of Education) partners.

We know that the cost to sponsor just the reception is $5,000.

Which one of the MABE "partners" (shown to the right) is sponsoring the reception right now? 

What other no bid contracts with our Board of Education bring back to MCPS next week? 

The BOE is at the Beach! #lobster #surfandturf #expenseaccount

From Board of Education member Christopher Barclay's Twitter feed confirmation that Montgomery County
Board of Education members and staff are in Ocean City this week at the annual BOE party.  This event was
the reason for the lobster and steak dinners revealed in the BOE credit card records.

MCPS used as example in Forbes article: How Taxpayers Get Fooled On The Cost Of An Artificial Turf Field

Towns all across America are struggling with their budgets. The nation remains stuck in the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression. In states like New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts household income actually fell last year. And retirees everywhere living on their savings are being hurt by near zero interest rates.
So why are some municipalities still spending big bucks to install artificial turf fields? Main reason: taxpayers have been getting hoodwinked by bogus analysis into thinking artificial turf fields are cheaper than natural grass.
But the reality is that non-partisan studies have shown the exact opposite–natural grass fields are a bargain compared to artificial turf due to the huge costs taxpayers get stuck with to maintain and replace artificial fields after their warrantees expire. One of the artificial turf industry’s selling points is that an artificial turf field will last eight-to-10 years, even though the usual warranty runs for only eight, and that the initial exorbitant cost of installation is recouped in no time from tens of thousands in savings from no longer maintaining a natural grass field...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2014/09/28/how-taxpayers-get-fooled-on-the-cost-of-an-artificial-turf-field/

Gazette: Coalition forms to oppose cell towers on school ground

Several Montgomery County groups have joined or are interested in the efforts of a statewide coalition that stands opposed to cell towers being placed on school grounds.
The recently formed Maryland State Coalition Against Cell Towers on Schools, with a mission to stop the towers’ construction at schools, ties together a variety of groups that also include those from Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties and the Baltimore area....

...David Keaton, a member of the Julius West group, said he thinks Montgomery is facing a different situation than the ones Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties are experiencing. While the two other counties are looking at more centralized leasing agreements for cell towers, he said, Montgomery residents must keep an eye out for tower proposals at each school.
If a dozen schools are considering cell towers — “that’s a dozen different fights,” he said...

http://www.gazette.net/article/20140929/NEWS/140929402/1022/coalition-forms-to-oppose-cell-towers-on-school-ground&template=gazette

Auditors allege extensive misuse of student funds by Northwood HS principal

MCPS auditors are reporting that the Principal of Northwood High School, Mrs. Mildred Charley-Greene (or her immediate predecessor), unlawfully collected curricular fees from students and then used the funds to purchase meals for the football team, a practice that is explicitly prohibited in the MCPS Athletic Handbook.  

In addition, Mrs. Charley-Greene (or her immediate predecessor) used over $2500 of student money to purchase smartphone services for staff members, a violation of MCPS procurement rules.

Adding to the misuse of student funds, Mrs. Charley-Greene (or her immediate predecessor) improperly spent over $60 per staff member on "staff refreshments". 

The complete audit report, which lists numerous rule-breaking spending actions by the current principal or her immediate predecessor, is available at:

http://audits.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/school/northwoodhs

Update: This blog post has been updated to recognize the fact that the audit covers a period of time where both the current and former principals had control over the Independent Activity Fund.   The audit does not distinguish between improprieties attributable to the current principal and improprieties attributable to the former principal.   In any case, there is nothing in the audit that indicates that the current principal has issued refunds to students for the illegally collected curricular fees.   Furthermore, there is nothing in the audit that indicates that the current principal has reimbursed the IAF accounts for funds improperly used for staff refreshments, meals for the football team, or smartphone service.

MCPS formerly required that an audit be conducted whenever the administrator of an IAF (the principal) changes. However, MCPS no longer reliably conducts IAF audits when there is a change of principal. Many IAF audits are more than a year overdue.

Pursuant to MCPS Regulation DIA-RA, "Independent Activity Funds (IAF) are funds that, unless otherwise specifically designated, belong to the student body currently in attendance and must be used solely for the benefit of the student body."

Video: MCPS is Off Limits for Candidates [teachers] of Color

Exclusive video of the Montgomery County Council and Board of Education breakfast meeting on September 30, 2014.  The two elected bodies met in a small conference room that does not provide more than 2 seats for the public and press. The meeting is not recorded and no minutes are taken. This video is the only record of this public meeting of these two elected bodies.

Around minute 40 is a discussion of diversity of MCPS teachers.
Minute 50 is the quote about MCPS being "off limits."

Topics discussed at the Montgomery County Council and Board of Education breakfast included School Resource Officers, Start Times, Pearson Curriculum 2.0, ESOL programs, White Flint development, School overcrowding, and PARCC.