More Help Wanted

Did you ever wonder how Montgomery County Board of Education and Montgomery County Public Schools reach various decisions?

Here is your opportunity to find out AND get paid!

This popped into my mailbox - must be destiny!

Apply now (search supervisor budget) and you too can be considered to SUPERVISE the Department of Management and Budget.  Maybe you can help MCPS build more schools, or tell the BOE members to stop using credit cards.  The possibilities are endless.

And the most telling part- look at the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities section - its blank.  We always knew that the person(s) who held this job in the past did not have any particular skill or ability, and now we have it in print.

Supervisor, Management Budget Operations

Job Specific Information:  Please attach a resume and a letter of interest detailing how your educaiton and experiences have prepared you for this position. In addition, include three letters of reference. 

MCPS Official Job Description

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION:
Under general direction, the supervisor oversees daily operations of the Department of Management and Budget. Responsible for planning, budgeting, financial monitoring and operational and management analysis functions for a defined segment of MCPS. Analyzes and reviews unit goals, multiyear plans, budget requests, functions and operations. Monitors expenditure patterns and management practices. Provides training to new employees. Has chief responsibility for production of the printed budgets. Provides support to budget analysts for the more difficult and complex assignments and exercises considerable independent judgment and initiative in recommending to unit heads planning, budgetary, financial, or management strategies to improve efficiency and effectiveness. May represent the director at meetings as needed. Assists with the creation of the department's strategic plan.KNOWLEDGE ABILITIES AND SKILLSThorough knowledge of public administration principles and practices, with emphasis on budget concepts and organizational systems, practices and procedures and their application to various organizations and function. Thorough knowledge of statistical and other management analysis techniques. Considerable knowledge of Maryland school laws and regulations governing budgets and expenditures. Understands MCPS organization, operations, goals and priorities. Able to work effectively with other MCPS units and stakeholders. Good user knowledge of computerized information systems. Excellent communications and interpersonal skills. Ability to analyze complex organizational procedures and recommend solutions to budgetary or management problems.

CERTIFICATE LICENSE:
None 

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, and ABILITIES:


EDUCATION, TRAINING, and EXPERIENCE:
Graduation from an a accredited college or university with a major in public or business administration or related field; courses or experience in, accounting, auditing, budgeting or other fiscal areas. Master's degree in public or business administration or related field highly desirable. Experience in supervision preferred. Considerable, progressively responsible staff work in public sector planning, budget preparation and administration, and management analysis. Other combinations of applicable education, training, and experience which provide the knowledge, abilities, and skills necessary to perform effectively in the position may be considered. 

Job

:  Administrators  

Job Grade:  O 

Organization

:  Offices  

Primary Location

:  Rockville

Schedule

:  Full-time | 1.000 (80 hours bi-weekly)

Working Months:  12

Shift

:  Day Job

Job Posting

:  Sep 1, 2015, 12:09:29 PM - Sep 18, 2015, 11:59:00 PM

When does spending less really mean spending more?

Answer:  When your kids go back to school.

According to the New York Times, parents are spending less on certain school items - like clothing, because money is tight.  Sound familiar?  Its not just in our own Montgomery County Public School District.

However, one expense has increased - and that is school supplies.  When money is tight, schools try to do more with less, and often items we took for granted when we were in school - like scissors, paper, and glue - are in short supply, so parents are asked to chip in.

Montgomery County is not alone in facing more students who can't afford school supplies.  Is this a factor at your school?

The NYTimes notes:

 Of the more than one million K-12 students enrolled in New York City public schools last year, 74 percent came from “economically disadvantaged” households, meaning that they qualified for free or reduced-price lunches and other assistance programs, according to data from the education department.

About 84,000 homeless students attended school in New York City during the 2013 school year, up 25 percent since 2010, according to the Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness. A majority of those students do not live in shelters, which means they often miss the benefits of backpack drives and other fund-raisers aimed at low-income families, said Linda Bazerjian, a spokeswoman for the group.

. . . 

The gap between rich and poor, private school and public school, can be evident in lists for school supplies, and who comes prepared. Mr. Schulist says that one of his school lists requires students to bring 100 pencils, which helps compensate for children whose families can afford no pencils at all.

Underfunded schools are a problem nationwide.   Think about what your school provides, and whether all children are able to come to school prepared to learn.  And whether the gap just gets bigger instead of smaller with each new school year.

School System Approves Addition Project for Fast-Growing Bethesda Middle School - Bethesda Beat - Bethesda, MD

School System Approves Addition Project for Fast-Growing Bethesda Middle School - Bethesda Beat - Bethesda, MD

Found Cash to Defy Resolution: $45,410 for Somerset Elementary School's Artificial Turf Field Consultant #perks #surplus

UPDATE 9/8/2015 at 3:00 PM:  The Board of Education will approve this spending despite their earlier resolution "because" the parents at Somerset Elementary School want to start the project before they have finished raising the total funds needed for the project.  

In addition, MCPS' Director of Construction claims that the $45,410 will be included in the funds raised by Somerset ES parents, even though MCPS does not know what type of field will actually be put down or the actual final cost.  Usual pie in the sky planning by MCPS administrators that leaves taxpayers on the hook for the final bill.  See Wootton High School artificial turf purchase for proof that MCPS spends without a plan and taxpayers pick up the excess tab in the end.  

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

Isn't it great when Larry Bowers "finds" cash in a drawer?

Once again, Larry Bowers has found cash to pay for a perk for a Green Zone school.  This time he found $45,410 for a no bid "consultant" for the artificial turf field that is going in at Somerset Elementary School.

Now, the actual resolution that the Board of Education voted on back in May of this year stated that no "design and construction activities" would begin until the funds had actually been raised. But, who pays attention to Board of Education resolutions anyway?

Let's be clear on this cash, this consulting fee is over and above the cost of the artificial turf field.  Supposedly, the Somerset Elementary School parents are going to raise $550,000 to pay for the plastic grass, but that money doesn't cover the consultant's fee of $45,410.

And, we remember how that Wootton High School fundraiser for plastic grass went, the taxpayers ended up paying for part of that plastic field.   

Meanwhile, no one needs any classroom teachers in MCPS, right?  Good thing, because there goes the salary for another teacher, off to pay an outside, no bid consultant for a perk at one school.  They do not call it the Green Zone for nothing! 

   Consult Appt Civil Eng Servcs Somerset ES Turf by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Today: What MCPS School(s) is/are Getting New Plastic for their Field?

From today's Board of Education Agenda we see the expenditure of $550,000 for an "athletic surface system."  Since the Board of Education intentionally hides these purchases, it is impossible to tell what this $550,000 will pay for and what school or schools will receive this construction on their playground or athletic field.  Stay tuned!


5-13

Athletic Surfacing Systems Maintenance and Construction**

Awardee

American Tennis Courts, Inc.

$550,000

Highland View ES: Help us obtain reading instruction materials

Mrs. Tiemann and Mrs. Seaman of Highland View Elementary School in Silver Spring are requesting funding for materials to help teach reading.

"Nestled against a green hillside, Highland View Elementary School has been a neighborhood school since 1953 and was modernized in 1994."

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is matching each contribution to Mrs. Tiemann's projects.

Click here for details about the requests from Highland View Elementary School

Surprise! MCPS 4th-graders and middle-schoolers get Chromebooks after all.

...in June, school officials in Montgomery County decided they could not afford the computers and delayed the second phase of a major technology initiative that ranks among the nation’s largest school laptop programs. Then, shortly before school started, the district said it had found money to purchase 20,000 new Chromebooks...

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/surprise-fourth-graders-and-middle-schoolers-get-chromebooks-after-all/2015/09/07/e6d1ecd0-51a1-11e5-8c19-0b6825aa4a3a_story.html

Would Thornton Put a Cell Tower on a Bethesda High School Roof?

Cell tower on roof of Baltimore City school.

Baltimore City Superintendent Gregory Thornton used to work for MCPS and back in 2011 his was one of the names being circulated to replace Superintendent Jerry Weast.

  

Thornton is currently the superintendent of the Baltimore City Public Schools and busy putting cell towers on the roofs of public school buildings.

  

If Thornton had become the MCPS superintendent in 2011, or becomes the superintendent in the future, will he be putting a cell tower on Whitman High School's roof?  

OPEN LETTER TO Superintendent Gregory Thornton and the Baltimore City Board of Education regarding his plan to put a cell tower on the roof of another public high school in Maryland:

Honorable Members of the Baltimore City Public Schools Board and CEO Gregory Thornton,

Please DENY the request before you today, which asks your approval for Wireless Communication Lease Agreement with Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless for the City School site known as Digital Harbor High School #416 (1100 Covington Street, 21230). The action requested would not be consistent with your trust obligations under Section 4-114 of the Maryland Education Article, and would therefore be illegal.

If you doubt our warnings, then please table the matter to seek the Maryland Attorney General’s opinion. Consistent with several previously issued Maryland Attorney General’s opinions and advisories, we are confident that you will receive guidance that your entering into the Cellco/Verizon lease agreement would be illegal.

Maryland Coalition to Halt Cell Towers at Schools 

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


For background on Digital Harbor High School, take a look at the Maryland Report Card information.  Digital Harbor High School is a Strand 4 school in Maryland (Strand 1 is the top of the strand rating scale, Strand 4 is not good news).  Scroll down for more information on Digital Harbor High School.


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

From the Baltimore City Public Schools Board Agenda for Tuesday, September 8, 2015:

Meeting

Sep 08, 2015 - Public Board Meeting

Category

PROCUREMENT - CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Subject

Cellco Partnership - Verizon Wireless Telecommunication Lease Agreement - The Chief Operating Officer requests the Board’s approval of a Wireless Communication Lease Agreement with Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless for the City School site known as Digital Harbor High School #416, located at 1100 Covington Street, 21230.

Type

Action

Cellco Partnership - Verizon Wireless

Telecommunication Lease Agreement

Request of the Board

The Chief Operating Officer requests the Board’s approval of a Wireless Communication Lease Agreement with Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless for the City School site known as Digital Harbor High School #416, located at 1100 Covington Street, 21230.

This Lease provides for Verizon Wireless to operate 12 wireless communication antenna panels and associated equipment on the rooftop of Digital Harbor High School, to accommodate increased wireless voice and data demand for those residents living in the Harbor East, Federal Hill and Key Highway sections of Baltimore City. 

Annual rent for the first year will be $35,138.40, with annual increases of 4% thereafter throughout the original and renewal terms.

Community notifications in support of this proposed lease were submitted to the following neighborhood groups: Federal Hill Neighborhood Association, Key Highway Community Association, Riverside Neighborhood Association, the Federal Hill South Neighborhood Association and Friends of Federal Hill Park, without any negative feedback received from any community group.

The Baltimore City Board of Municipal & Zoning Appeals, after providing public notice, reviewing the zoning records and holding a public hearing on February 11, 2014, by unanimous consent of the Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals, approved Verizon’s request to install a new telecommunications facility consisting of 12 antennas and equipment on the rooftop of Digital Harbor High School.  The Resolution of approval was granted on February 24^th, 2014.

FCC compliance testing for RF Frequency Exposure has also taken place and the Pre-Installation Assessment shows that the equipment is compliant with FCC and OSHA standards and regulations.

Feedback from the school Principal was also requested, with no negative feedback coming from the Principal of Digital Harbor High School.  

Selection Methodology

Contract Types:          Wireless Communication Lease Agreement

Contract Term:            5 years, commencing upon School Board approval                         

Renewal Term:            3 renewal periods of five (5) years each       

Vendor & Amount:       Cellco Partnership (d/b/a Verizon Wireless)

Funding Source:         N/A

Solicitation Process:   N/A

MBE/ WBE Results:   N/A

Evidence of Effectiveness

Approval of this Lease Agreement will provide for increased wireless coverage to accommodate increased digital demand for those residents [Editor note: NOT FOR BENEFIT OF STUDENTS!] living in the areas of Harbor East, Federal Hill and Key Highway.  Baltimore City Schools benefits from the additional lease revenue that it receives from Verizon Wireless throughout the term of the lease

 Author: Paul Turner

   416 DigitalHarbor Profile by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Preparing for the first day

Ms. C, who teaches grades 3 to 5 at Maryvale Elementary School in Rockville, writes:

My students need protecto contact paper to write on their desks. They need nameplates they can also use as a math tool. They also need 3 chalkboard erasers, a chalk holder, a pencil sharpener, 3 pairs of bookends, and 4 magnet clips.

My Project

These materials will help my student in the fluency of the day. You can't write on a board with broken erasers. The bookshelf would become a mess without bookends. Lastly, what is a student expected to do if they can't do something as simple as sharpen their pencil. Many of these items are not directly tied to students learning, but they help the classroom run smoothly and enable students to focus on the larger tasks at hand.

A child should not be expected to use broken, disorganized materials in school.

That is why we need things like erasers and pencil sharpeners to maintain an environment suitable for learning. These items will help maintain a functioning classroom for students learning.

Click here to help Ms. C's students

Local first year teacher looking for classroom donations

Hello everyone!

My dreams came true when I was hired as a Kindergarten teacher. I work in an extremely low income area [Georgian Forest Elementary School in Silver Spring, MD] and a large percentage of the students receive free and reduced lunch. I am loving my new job and all of my students. I want to make sure my students have the materials they need to be successful. I have spent a significant amount of [my own] money on classroom materials but still need more supplies. I'm hoping some of you are willing to help out. I have set up a page on donors choose and my project is halfway to being completed! If you chip in to help my students, you'll get awesome photos and our heartfelt thanks. This means the world to me and I appreciate donations of any amount! Thank you!

P.S. If you know anyone who may want to help my classroom, please pass this along. 

Help Kindergartners Learn To Read!, a project from Ms. Simmons

County and MCPS Find $250,000 to give Brandman Busy Work #paybacks #perks

The County’s Fiscal Year 2016 operating budget includes $250,000 for the Children’s Opportunity Fund, with the Department of Health and Human Services and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) each contributing $125,000, which will be leveraged by the fund to attract additional private investment. The fund is a public/private effort to provide services and supports for children at risk of not succeeding in school, and their families. Early partners in the effort include MCPS; County agencies such as Health and Human Services and Recreation; the Collaboration Council for Children, Youth and Families and the Community Foundation for Montgomery County. Brandman will be responsible for developing the framework for this effort and supporting the policy leaders in setting its strategic direction, according to a news release.

http://www.mymcmedia.org/former-school-board-member-named-interim-director-for-childrens-opportunity-fund/

Standardized Testing Chipping Away at Teaching

According to the Maryland Reporter, a growing number of educators worry that standardized tests "chip away at education", limit teacher autonomy, cause lost time in the class room, stress students and teachers, and limit valuable learning experiences such as field trips and access to computer labs during testing. The negative impact of standardized tests such as PARCC was discussed yesterday at a meeting sponsored by the Maryland State Education Association with participation by two state delegates, teachers, administrators and parents at Roland Park Elementary and Middle School in Baltimore. The discussion will be broadcast Friday, Sept. 4, 2015 at 10 a.m. on The Marc Steiner Show on WEAA-FM. A second town hall will be held on Nov. 4, 2015 in Montgomery County. http://marylandreporter.com/2015/09/03/testing-chipping-away-at-teaching-educators-say/

MCPE Student With Special Needs Left Alone at Wrong Bus Stop

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Student-With-Special-Needs-Left-Alone-at-Wrong-Bus-Stop-323798251.html

Officials urge tax increases for schools

State Sen. Nancy King and County Executive Ike Leggett joined speakers who touted Montgomery County Public Schools’ achievements and then urged community participation — in the forms of increased taxes.

Leggett said one reason that MCPS needs money is to decrease the student-teacher ratio.
MCPS cannot continue to operate as it does now if its funding remains at the current level, he said.

http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2464:officials-urge-tax-increases-for-schools&Itemid=766

Man Attempted to Pick Up Female Student Walking From Bus Stop Near Tilden Middle School - Bethesda Beat - Bethesda, MD

Man Attempted to Pick Up Female Student Walking From Bus Stop Near Tilden Middle School - Bethesda Beat - Bethesda, MD

.@mocoboe Plans to Spend $625,000 Fighting Families of Kids w/Disabilities

In an unsurprising move on August 20, 2015, the Montgomery County Board of Education voted to allocate $625,000 for upcoming special education legal fees to be paid to their outside counsel.

Despite the fact that MCPS employs multiple lawyers on staff, apparently they don't consider any of them qualified enough to undertake the distasteful work of fighting families who are seeking services for their children with disabilities.

Parents or guardians of students with disabilities should be aware that the latest tactic by MCPS outside counsel is to subpoena the student themselves to the due process hearing.

Not satisfied with the allocation of over a half million dollars to fight families, instead of actually providing needed services to children, the Board of Education then received the "Legal Fees Report" showing FY2015 year-to-date special education legal expenses of $244,000. Despite dissembling by Acting Superintendent Larry Bowers upon questioning by a board member, the facts remain that the year-to-date total of $244,624 is $49,364 (25.3 percent) more than the same period in the previous year.


Should $625,000 be spent on a lawyer that bills the taxpayers $6,000 a day? or should that money be allocated to provide direct special education services to children that need them?

Contact the chairman of the County Council Education Committee, Craig Rice, at Councilmember.Rice@montgomerycountymd.gov and let him know what YOU think.

Fourteen million absences — or one-third of all missed school days — are due to asthma

Report: Chronic school absenteeism is contributing to academic gaps

Massachusetts Parent Speaks on Wi-Fi Health Risks to State Lawmakers

County Owes MCPS $1.4 Million. MSDE Finds Error in Budget Calculations

State Superintendent warns Montgomery County that local income tax revenue will be intercepted to enforce law

Does your local school need another teacher? 

Well, good news! On July 1, 2015, the Maryland State Superintendent wrote to County Executive Ike Leggett and notified him of an error that had been made in the MCPS budget calculations.  Discovery of this error means that MCPS is entitled to an additional $1.4 million under Maryland State law.

The Parents' Coalition has obtained a copy of the letter and is making it public.  See the document below.

If County Executive Ike Leggett got this letter a month ago, why hasn't he made it public?  What about the Board of Education, why haven't they discussed this additional funding that is coming to MCPS?

https://www.scribd.com/doc/277671775/Montgomery-County-MOE-Letter-7-31-15

Montgomery County MOE Letter 7.31.15 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Breaking News: MCPS finally has an EMPLOYEE Code of Conduct.

Finally, after years of arrests and disciplinary actions, MCPS has a Code of Conduct for EMPLOYEES.  Students have had a Rights and Responsibilities document for decades, but MCPS staff have not had a Code of Conduct.  That meant that what was acceptable behavior by staff varied from school to school and from staff person to staff person.

Here are some examples of what is contained in the brand new MCPS EMPLOYEE Code of Conduct.  Note that many of these activities have occurred in the past and the staff member involved was allowed to retain their job.  In fact, some of these activities were not considered to be a problem at all by MCPS or the Board of Education.  Look at what MCPS is now stating is prohibited behavior in the following excerpts from the brand new MCPS EMPLOYEE Code of Conduct. The complete Employee Code of Conduct is available below these screen shots.

  MCPS Employee Code of Conduct by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland