Petition Questioned Interim State Superintendent's Appointment

The Maryland State Board of Education is currently in the process of picking a permanent Superintendent for the State.  Legislators in Annapolis are proposing legislation that would let the legislature have a say in who is selected for this state position. 

Let's take a look at the current Interim Superintendent.  Here is the Petition that was created to request the Governor not permit the current Interim Superintendent be appointed.  The Petition failed and Jack Smith is currently serving as the Interim Maryland State Superintendent. 

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Prevent Dr. Jack Smith in becoming Maryland State Superintendent



Dr. Smith has created a major hole in the Calvert County community by his manipulation of weak minded board of education members back in 2010 that allowed him and his top staff to give him the ability to cash in leave and also have the school system pay his 403B and health benefits for life. Now his role is at the state level as temporary State Superintendent of Schools.

This is what Jack did while at Calvert.

Article dated Friday, March 14, 2014.
Titled:  Former Calvert County superintendent’s pay scrutinized 
Smith claims all contracts were ‘approved and signed by board members’.

When the former superintendent of Calvert County Public Schools Jack Smith left his job unexpectedly last July, then-new school board member Joe Chenelly and other local officials expressed their surprise.
Smith’s employment contract with the Calvert County Board of Education, which began July 1, 2010, was scheduled to run through June 30, 2014 — the end of this current school year.
On May 23, 2013, Smith and the school board amended this contract, stating Smith could resign from his position after giving at least 45 days of written notice to the board. On June 19 last year, Smith announced his resignation as Calvert County superintendent. He took a job less than a week later with the Maryland State Department of Education as chief academic officer for the state.
But before Smith’s departure, newcomers to the board Chenelly and Kelly McConkey began asking questions regarding Smith’s compensation and did not like what they found.
“During my campaign, I felt I was looking at the budget, and it didn’t make sense to me,” Chenelly said. “[The central office] seemed to be a top-heavy system, and it didn’t seem like there were an abnormally large number of people working at the central office, but it did seem like there was more spending at the central office than I knew why.”

 https://www.change.org/p/govenor-of-maryland-prevent-dr-jack-smith-in-becoming-maryland-state-superintendent

Elrich told Fani-Gonzalez that the ideas were “BS” after the hearing Tuesday night.

As Westbard Plan Hits Council, Marc Elrich Says Affordable Housing Promises Are Excuses For Overdevelopment

...council members remained quiet and listened as 34 speakers—about half who spoke in opposition to the level of redevelopment proposed for the area around River Road and Westbard Avenue—made their points during a two-hour session.

After the meeting was a different story...

 http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/Web-2016/As-Westbard-Plan-Hits-Council-Marc-Elrich-Says-Affordable-Housing-Promises-Are-Excuses-For-Overdevelopment/

"We have no questions." Council Sticks to Plan of Not Asking Questions at Public Hearings

In keeping with their plan, Montgomery County Councilmembers did not ask any questions of the public during the Tuesday evening public hearing on the Westbard development plans. 

Senior Education official collapses after heated four-hour hearing on Hill

...The lawmakers’ concerns centered on an inspector general’s investigation that found Harris ran an after-hours car-detailing and home-theater-installation business that employed two subordinates from his agency and also allegedly accepted payments from other subordinates for the work.
The hearing also examined Harris’s effort to help a relative find work at the department and his close friendship with an agency vendor whose company has been awarded about $10 million in contracts to perform work that falls under the purview of his office.
Harris also failed to report an estimated $10,000 in income from his outside activities on federal disclosure forms and to the Internal Revenue Service, according to federal officials...

...They were also infuriated to learn that Harris was not subjected to disciplinary action and received regular $17,000 annual bonuses on top of his yearly salary of $180,000 even as he was being investigated by the inspector general. The bonuses also came during a period when Harris’s department failed to meet federal goals concerning data security.

"Let me tell you what you’re conveying to the American people and, more importantly, to the 4,000 employees of the Department of Education,” said Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.). “You can bend the rules — it’s just a matter of who you are.”...

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/senior-education-official-collapses-after-heated-four-hour-hearing-on-hill/2016/02/02/a799572e-c9dd-11e5-88ff-e2d1b4289c2f_story.html

Melting Snow on the Flat Gym Roof Leaked into RM’s Gym and Warped the Floor

Richard Montgomery High School is in a new building that was completed in 2008.

Water damage leaves RM gymnasium out of commission

Winter Storm Jonas and its 30 inches of snow not only canceled MCPS schools for a week, it also closed Richard Montgomery High School’s main gymnasium for the foreseeable future. The melting snow on top of the flat gym roof leaked into RM’s gym and warped the wood playing surface in two places.
MCPS contractors will arrive this week to identify the exact location of the leak, and efforts are already underway to repair the gym’s playing surface.
“When water sits on wood, it soaks it up and then it expands. And when it expands, there’s no room for it to expand, so the wood just rose. It either warps or it bubbles up,” RM athletic director Chamy Wijeratne said.
Part of RM’s wooden floor warped while another part of the floor bubbled up. MCPS employees have applied heated blankets that absorb the moisture, and dry the wood. Certain parts of the floor were irreparable and will be cut out and replaced, the athletic director further explained. The recovery period has been estimated to last for three weeks.

Winter sports teams at RM will not be able to use the gym during the rehabilitation process. Wrestling, cheerleading, and POMs all cannot compete at home. For the varsity basketball teams, all games have been moved to the away high schools until the gym is done, which depends on how long it takes the moisture to leave the wood. JV basketball games at RM have simply been canceled...

 http://www.thermtide.com/2016/02/03/water-damage-leaves-rm-gym-out-of-commission/

Photo by Tide photographer Kevin Pan

Thurs: BOE Meeting on Conditional Appointment of the Superintendent of Schools

3.1 Conditional Appointment of the Superintendent of Schools

 http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=A6SV856B209E

Tonight: BOE Turning Classrooms into Offices for Administrators. Who needs Classrooms? Not MCPS Students. #ClassroomTrailers #portables

Once again we see that the use of classroom trailers is a CHOICE by our elected Board of Education.  

Here is another empty school building that will not be used for public school students.  The Board of Education is planning on using this entire empty public school building as offices for administrators.

MCPS is holding a meeting THIS EVENING (February 3, 2016) 

to announce this plan to the community.  

The Board of Education is planning on using English Manor Elementary School for administrator offices.  English Manor was previously under the control of Montgomery County Government, however, Montgomery County is now apparently turning this school building back over to the Board of Education for their use.
 
The English Manor Elementary School is located in Rockville on 8.25 acres.  The building is 57,575 square feet of space with 28 classrooms.  According to MD State public school guidelines, 28 classrooms could provide interior classroom space for up to 644 students, thus eliminating 28 classroom trailers.  But, our Board of Education would rather put administrators in these classrooms.  It's a choice that has kept MCPS public school students in trailers outside of school buildings for over 30 years. 

The Board of Education would rather put your child in THIS 
(Yes, that is an actual MCPS classroom trailer. No windows on the side.)

than THIS:

English Manor Elementary School

"Absolutely" Seat Belts Would Make School Buses Safer

To support Maryland State Senator Jim Brochin's legislation to put seat belts on school buses, contact him at this link. 

Montgomery delegate seeks voting in school board elections for immigrants, students

The Montgomery County House Delegation Education committee approved a proposal that could allow legal aliens and 16 and 17 year old students to vote in local school board elections.
Del. David Moon, a Takoma Park Democrat and sponsor of MC 25-16, said that with Montgomery County's rise of legal immigrants, non-citizen parents should have the right to vote in county school board elections. The state bill would give the Montgomery County Council control over local voter qualifications, including whether legal immigrants who are not citizens and minors ages 16-17 could vote in school board elections.
The motion passed 5-1 at the delegation committee meeting Friday, with Del. C. William Frick, a Bethesda Democrat, the only one opposed.
The proposal faces some critics on a conservative website who say that non-citizens should not be permitted to vote for constitutional reasons...

 http://marylandreporter.com/2016/02/01/montgomery-delegate-seeks-voting-in-school-board-elections-for-immigrants-students/?platform=hootsuite

"fees are one of the many barriers in these children’s lives that keep them from accessing experiences to be successful" And that's the way we like it in MCPS!

This article is about an Ohio public school system. The majority of Montgomery County voters do not care about this issue.

...Low-income students already face issues such as lack of support at home and lack of job opportunities. “Life is hard, and we’ve made the mountain a lot steeper if we don’t start to knock down some of these barriers,” Husted said. “These fees are one of the many barriers in these children’s lives that keep them from accessing experiences to be successful.”...

 http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/01/21/pay-to-play-bill-not-happening-for-now.html

Some Wootton HS seniors and families planning trip to Mexico

http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/local/rockville/2016/02/02/some-wootton-hs-seniors-and-families-planning-trip-mexico/79717510/

Gaithersburg Heroin Dealer Linked to Overdose Sentenced

Gaithersburg Heroin Dealer Linked to Overdose Sentenced: The 58-year-old man admitted to selling heroin in Gaithersburg, Rockville and Germantown

Two BOE races uncontested with one day left before deadline

With the February 3, 2016 campaign filing deadline just one day away, two Board of Education races are uncontested as of 5:00 p.m. on February 2, 2016.  

Board of Education

Board of Education District 002

Smondrowski, Rebecca Non-Partisan Jurisdiction Montgomery County Status Active - Filed Regular - 01/04/2016 Email rsmondrowski@gmail.com Website www.rebeccaonboard.org Facebook Rebecca On Board Twitter @rebeccaonboard

Contact Information 101 Short Street GAITHERSBURG, MD 20878- (301) 325-6246

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Board of Education District 004

Evans, Shebra Non-Partisan Jurisdiction Montgomery County Status Active - Filed Regular - 12/08/2015 Email shebra4boe@shebraevans.com Website www.shebraevans.com Facebook Shebra4BOE Twitter @shebraevans

Contact Information P.O. Box 9712 SILVER SPRING, MD 20916- (301) 284-8976

County School System Begins Boundary-Drawing Process for New Bethesda-Chevy Chase Middle School

County School System Begins Boundary-Drawing Process for New Bethesda-Chevy Chase Middle School: Monday’s first public meeting on process drew about 80 parents

MCPS Bus Slides Off Icy Road in Rockville

A Montgomery County school bus slid off an icy road in Rockville, Maryland, Tuesday morning. 

Police say the accident happened on Avery Road near Norbeck Road at 7:30 a.m. 

No one was injured when the bus slid into a guardrail along the icy road. The bus did suffer some damage, according to police...

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/School-Bus-Slides-Off-Icy-Road-in-Rockville-367336161.html?_osource=SocialFlowTwt_DCBrand

A Teacher Speaks: Costly one-to-one computer program diverts money from school priorities

Our local school system, Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS), is undertaking a 270 million dollar technology initiative (once entitled the Instructional Digital Conversion, but rebranded as the catchier STAT, (Students and Teachers Accessing Tomorrow,) with the goal of setting up a one-to-one computer tablet and online learning program for its 110,000 students. The program reaches from first grade to twelfth, though the complete rollout has occurred only in the elementary grades thus far; the middle school and high school program has been slowed due to implementation issues. Its stated goal is to offer “personalized learning” for every student and to “equip every student with the critical 21st century skills to be globally competitive.” As attractive as this sounds, however, there is limited evidence about the effectiveness of a system-wide one-to-one tablet program; no input has been garnered from parents, and the expectation is that teachers will fully embrace the program without question (not only were technology teachers left out of the conversation, their positions were eliminated from the BCPS system altogether). This is taking place in a school district that is in desperate need of improvements to infrastructure, transportation, class size reduction, and social programs, issues that have been financially pushed to the side in favor of STAT.


A series of Baltimore County Public Schools blog posts, press releases, and promotional videos preceded the rollout of the STAT program, which officially began in August 2014 in a small number of test schools; anecdotal evidence of the benefits to students of a one-to-one computer program was emphasized throughout, and numerous “partnerships” were quickly established with educational technology companies. The school superintendent and other key administrative personnel participated in several speaking opportunities and conference appearances, often sponsored by those same technology companies; almost immediately the STAT program received praise, starting with awards from online media organizations, also backed by corporate interests. The program had been in place for less than a full school year and was still in a limited testing phase, yet was getting national and even international attention, with the superintendent traveling to a technology symposium in South Korea to discuss the implementation...

 http://patch.com/maryland/dundalk/teacher-speaks-out-dr-dances-program-0

Feb. 2, 2016 Hearing: Seat Belts on School Buses

Entitled:	School Vehicles - Seat Belts - Requirements
	Sponsored by:	Senator Brochin
	Status:	In the Senate - Hearing 2/02 at 1:00 p.m.

Summary Documents History

Synopsis:	Prohibiting specified persons from allowing pupils to stand in a school vehicle while the school vehicle is in motion; requiring school vehicles in the State to be equipped with seat belts; prohibiting a person from operating a specified school vehicle unless the person and each occupant under 16 years old are restrained by a seat belt; providing for a delayed effective date; etc.

State senator calling for mandatory seat belts on school buses

A push to require seat belts on school buses is gaining momentum nationally and in the Maryland legislature — but the pushback from school systems likely will be over how to fund such a mandate.
State Sen. Jim Brochin said he plans to introduce a bill to make seat belts mandatory on school buses statewide to safeguard children, because, "Without seat belts, these kids become projectiles — literally crash test dummies."

Brochin is advocating such a law at a time when the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is recommending that all school buses are equipped with three-point seat belts.
"The position of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is that seat belts save lives," NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said last month, according to published reports.

According to the NHTSA, 327 school-age children died in school transportation-related accidents between 2004 and 2013, the most recent year for which data is available. Fifty four of those were passengers on school transportation vehicles.

 Six states — California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, and Texas — now require seat belts on school buses. In Maryland, only buses that weigh less than 10,000 pounds have mandatory seat belts, because that is required but federal law, said Leon Langley, director of pupil transportation for the Maryland Department of Education. But buses under 10,000 pounds are few and far between in the state, Langley said. Some buses for special education students also have seat belts, but that is up to individual school districts, Langley said...

 http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/ph-tt-brochin-legislative-agenda-1209-20151209-story.html

Bill to allow non-citizens, minors to vote in Montgomery County

Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row: Bill to allow non-citizens, minors to vote in MoCo...:

 Residents who are not U.S. Citizens - as well as 16-and-17-year-olds - could gain the right to vote in Montgomery County School Board elections, should a bill moving forward in the Maryland General Assembly become law. On Friday, members of the Montgomery County Delegation’s Education Committee, including Bill Frick (D-District 16) who represents Bethesda, voted in favor of Bill MC 25-16. The full MoCo delegation will consider the bill at its meeting this Friday, February 5.

The bill would allow the Montgomery County Council to change the rules on who was eligible to vote.

Critics of the bill say it would violate the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Maryland Constitution, and give those who haven't taken on the responsibilities of citizenship the same privileges as those who have. 

Supporters say it would have a positive impact. Former Takoma Park City Councilman Seth Grimes says a similar change that municipality made in 2013 has worked out well. 16 and 17-year-olds had a 44.8% turnout rate in the city's 2015 elections, and 71 non-citizens voted as well, Grimes said.

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

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