RM High School Field Infill is 96% SAND (not the zeolite MCPS claimed would be infill)

The field test report for the new Richard Montgomery High School {RMHS) artificial turf football/soccer field shows the infill used on the field is 96% SAND and only 4% Zeofill.

When the RMHS artificial turf football/soccer field was being replaced, MCPS administrators claimed the infill was going to be zeolite.  The specifications for the project claimed the infill was going to be zeolite/sand.  However, the final infill that is actually on the field is 96% Sand and only 4% Zeofill, more of a sand/zeolite infill as SAND is the predominate infill on the surface of the plastic.

This new information as to the content of the RMHS infill may explain why RMHS athletes were getting injured on the new artificial turf surface.

Richard Montgomery HS ASTM ... by on Scribd

Is Vaping an Epidemic in MCPS?

Surgeon General Warns Youth Vaping Is Now An 'Epidemic'

Vaping by U.S. teenagers has reached epidemic levels, threatening to hook a new generation of young people on nicotine.

That's according to an unusual advisory issued Tuesday by U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams about the the dangers of electronic cigarette use among U.S. teenagers.

"I am officially declaring e-cigarette use among youth an epidemic in the United States," Adams said at a news conference. "Now is the time to take action. We need to protect our young people from all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes."..

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/12/18/677755266/surgeon-general-warns-youth-vaping-is-now-an-epidemic

MoCo Connect: Magruder student threatened over reporting a security mishap

By Abby Matson

Magruder High School is located in Derwood Maryland (Montgomery County).

Chloe Appel, a current 10th grader gave a testimony to the Board of Education, regarding a security mishap and testified that she was allegedly threatened by school security staff after going to the county for help.

Full story at:
https://www.mococonnect.net/single-post/chloeappelstory

"Emerging evidence suggests that mobile device and social media uses have an unfavorable relationship with attention, memory, impulse control, and academic performance"

Cut back on screen time in 2019

Children between the ages of 8 and 11 who spend more than two hours a day looking at screens were associated with lower cognitive function than those who engaged in less screen time, according to researchers who published a study in The Lancet in September.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/27/opinions/cut-back-on-screen-time-in-2019-alaimo/index.html

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) Community Meeting Sat Jan 19 10am - noon

Wondering how changes to allow more 'Accessory Dwelling Units' (which can also be an unattached second house on a lot, added to a yard) will affect street parking availability, school crowding and other issues?

Councilmember Hans Riemer (At-large) is holding a Community Policy Forum on Jan 19th at the County Council Building, 100 Monroe Street, Rockville in the council hearing room, 10am to noon.

Location:
Council Office Building - 3rd Floor Hearing Room
100 Maryland Ave
Rockville

To RSVP go here.

Below is text from an email sent out by Councilmember Riemer:

What is an Accessory Dwelling Unit?

Picture an apartment over a garage, or a basement apartment ("English basement"), or a "tiny house" on a side lot. An Accessory Dwelling Unit has a full kitchen and a bathroom and a separate entrance. It is a second unit in a house or on a lot.

Why are ADU's [sic] beneficial?
ADU's [sic] are an important housing solution because they provide

• Housing for children or grandchildren to live separately but close by.
• Housing for parents or grandparents to live separately but close by.
• Additional income for retirees or young families to make housing more affordable.
• More affordable housing in areas of the County that have become prohibitively expensive.

Why do we need to change the rules for ADU's? [sic]
Montgomery County's current zoning code views ADU's [sic] more as a nuisance to be prevented than a beneficial solution to be encouraged. ADU's [sic] are not allowed unless an expensive driveway is built, or if there is another ADU down the block, or if the house is newly constructed. We need to look at ADU's [sic] as desirable housing and align our policies to support them.

San Diego School District Hacked, Thousands of Employees and Students Possibly Affected

The personal information of San Diego Unified students, former students, and employees may have been compromised in a data breach that officials believe happened in January, the school district announced Friday.

The breach could affect as many as 500,000 students who attended San Diego Unified schools as far back as the 2008-2009 school year, officials said.

The breach may have affected personally identifiable student and staff information such as addresses and dates of birth, as well as discipline, health, scheduling, and grade information, according to an email sent to school families on Friday. Social Security numbers were also affected.

About 50 staff members’ accounts are known to have been compromised and have been reset, according to the district...

https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/12/26/san-diego-school-district-hacked-thousands-of.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EducationWeekWidgetFeed+%28Education+Week%3A+Free+Widget+Feed%29

Damascus HS football player sentenced to community service in alleged rape case, sources say

Anne Arundel school board halts Shady Side cellphone tower

The Anne Arundel County Board of Education voted 6-3 last week to halt the proposed cellphone tower project at Shady Side Elementary School...

...“What I still fail to understand is why we, Anne Arundel County Public Schools, is in the cell tower business,” Schallheim said. “I don’t understand how it supports our mission to elevate all students, eliminate all gaps. Other jurisdictions have banned cell towers from school grounds.”

District 33 board member Eric Grannon has been sympathetic to cell tower opponents, said Mike Shay, vice president of South Arundel Citizens for Responsible Development. Grannon introduced the Wednesday motion to pause the project that won over the majority of the board...

https://www.capitalgazette.com/news/schools/ac-cn-cell-tower-halted-20181221-story.html?fbclid=IwAR1oVfg08UP7tAI3Zw6Lsh9J06DlClP9lAnilTwUNT88N8MzRuoOTLk8K-Y

https://www.capitalgazette.com/news/schools/ac-cn-cell-tower-halted-20181221-story.html?fbclid=IwAR1oVfg08UP7tAI3Zw6Lsh9J06DlClP9lAnilTwUNT88N8MzRuoOTLk8K-Y

Breaking: "Dangerous" Artificial Turf Issue Closes Richard Montgomery High School Field

The Parents' Coalition has learned that the brand new Richard Montgomery High School artificial turf field was closed in November due to "dangerous-turf" issues.  

The Richard Montgomery High School (RMHS) replacement artificial turf field opened on August 24, 2018, and by the end of November the field was closed for "dangerous-turf" issues.  For those following the many issues surrounding the replacement of this plastic field the "dangerous-turf" issues come as no surprise.

To date, we have documented the following issues surrounding the replacement of the RMHS artificial turf field:

• In 2014, we saw that the RMHS artificial turf field was already failing.

• In 2016, the RMHS artificial turf field had failed. Yet, the Board of Education continued to keep the field open and put students on the field for athletic events. 

• MCPS did not have the RMHS plastic grass field replaced under warranty.  Instead, they allowed the defective field to be used and did not require the vendor to replace the field under warranty.  

• MCPS did not have any funding to replace the RMHS plastic grass football field.  Money was taken from the Operating Budget (teacher salaries and classroom supplies) to replace a plastic football field.  Initially, the Superintendent's office said money for new artificial turf fields was going to be used for the RMHS replacement field, but later said the money was coming from the Operating Budget.   The original MCPS-FieldTurf-County Council scheme hatched in 2011 was that the rental fees from the artificial turf fields would pay for the replacement of the fields.  Rental fees from these fields have not come anywhere close to paying for the replacement costs. 

• The Superintendent's office did not reveal the supplier of the infill for the RMHS replacement field.  Where the zeolite is mined and how it is tested is important with regard to the quality and safety of the rock, but that information was not revealed.

• The used RMHS artificial turf plastic field and the 120 tons of crumb rubber were not recycled as MCPS had promised.  Instead, the football field of plastic and 120 tons of crumb rubber were dumped in Baltimore County and in a Virginia landfill.   The Superintendent's office called the discussion of the plastic grass and 120 tons of crumb rubber pollution a "distraction from core mission." 

• The infill for the replacement RMHS plastic grass field was to be crushed volcanic rock known as zeolite.  Zeolite is commonly used as kitty litter because it is a pourous rock that absorbs moisture and odors.  Zeolite has not been evaluated for its safety as an athletic surface for children or adults.  The new RMHS plastic grass surface with the zeolite infill generated immediate complaints from athletes who said their skin was being repeatedly cut and gashed from the RMHS plastic grass surface. 

• Despite the numerous red flags and warnings concerning the Board of Education's decision to require zeolite as the infill in all MCPS plastic grass fields, the MCPS Superintendent's office continued to claim that the RMHS plastic grass would be "state of the art" and would "ensure student health and safety."

If the RMHS artificial turf replacement field is state of the art and would not harm students, why was the field closed in November, three months after installation? 

Damascus HS holds meeting for JV football players, parents to discuss locker room sex assault case

DAMASCUS, Md. - Nearly two months after an alleged locker room sexual assault that led to five Damascus High School junior varsity football players to be charged, a meeting was held between school administrators, members of the junior varsity team and their parents at the school Tuesday night.

Investigators say the sexual assault happened at around 2:30 p.m. on Halloween inside a school locker room just before football practice. The alleged victim told police the lights were turned off and he was held down and... 

http://www.fox5dc.com/news/local-news/damascus-hs-holds-meeting-for-jv-football-players-parents-to-discuss-locker-room-sex-assault-case

E-Mail from MCPS Re: Damascus High School

Email released yesterday by
Andrew M. Zuckerman, Ed.D.
Chief Operating Officer
Montgomery County Public Schools

Dear Damascus High School Community,
The past seven weeks have been a very trying time for the... https://t.co/vryBZR2yQz

— Everything Damascus (@EverythingDamas) December 20, 2018

"...voter dissatisfaction is why the citizens of Burlington, Vt., repealed ranked-choice voting in 2010"

Should Montgomery County voters get to rank their second-choice candidates?

...But researchers studying the system in San Francisco, where ranked-choice voting has existed for more than 20 years, and in Maine, which has used ranked-choice voting for some local contests since 2010 and tried it for a congressional race for the first time this year, say the benefits of ranked-choice voting are limited.

“Changing the rules isn’t going to necessarily change the outcomes,” said Jason McDaniel, a political science professor at San Francisco State University. “People should be aware of the limits and weigh those with the possible negative consequences.”

Ohio State University professor Vladimir Kogan studied four races in which the system was used, including the 2010 Oakland, Calif., mayoral race. He found that candidates struggled to win majorities and that huge numbers of ballots had to be discarded in the redistribution process.

In a few other races, the first-place finisher won a plurality of votes and was defeated because the next runner-up collected more votes in the runoff rounds, causing voters to question the election’s legitimacy, experts said.

In Maine, Republican congressional candidate Bruce Poliquin won the popular vote but lost to Democrat Jared Golden after ­second-choice votes were counted.

Poliquin challenged the voting rules in court as unconstitutional, but the judge tossed the case. Poliquin is appealing.

University of Maryland professor James Gimpel, who testified on Poliquin’s behalf, said voter dissatisfaction is why the citizens of Burlington, Vt., repealed ranked-choice voting in 2010.

“They wound up with a result where the candidate with the most first-choice votes didn’t win,” he said. “They felt like the wrong person had won.”..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/should-montgomery-county-voters-get-to-rank-their-second-choice-candidates/2018/12/18/2682518c-0250-11e9-9122-82e98f91ee6f_story.html?utm_term=.5c9f6bcee69a

Ranked Voting: Voters are not required to select multiple options, so ballots with only one candidate are simply removed if that selection falls out of the running.

...There’s no indication that it actually does [benefit voters],” Eberly said. “Advocates for it see it as this beautiful cure-all, that people wouldn’t waste their vote, they would feel more comfortable voting for third parties, there would never be a plurality winner. Ranked choice voting comes with its own set of flaws that our plurality system has.”..

State legislature to consider proposal that could give Montgomery County new ranking system for local races

Detectives Investigate Report of Inappropriate Touching of Child at Rockville Memorial Library

Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Department-Special Victims Investigations Division (SVID) are investigating the report of a man inappropriately touching a five-year-old girl at the Rockville Memorial Library.

The incident occurred at the Rockville Memorial Library located at 21 Maryland Avenue on Saturday, December 15, at approximately 6:00 p.m.  The suspect, described as a white male with a possible thin goatee and a medium build, approached the child in the children’s section of the library, pulled down the girl’s pants, and touched her inappropriately.  The child screamed and went and told her parents, who then called police.

Investigators reviewed library video surveillance and observed a possible suspect lingering in and around the children’s section for approximately thirty minutes before this incident occurred.

Anyone who was in the library on the date this incident occurred and observed any part of this incident or believes he/she may have information pertinent to this investigation is asked to call detectives at 240-773-5448.

Rockville City Council studying options that would not stifle development but could crowd school

In an emerging debate over economic growth and school crowding, Rockville City Council members seem split on a proposal that would allow hundreds of additional students at Richard Montgomery High School.

New enrollment-growth projections for the school could trigger a moratorium on residential building and Rockville City Council member Mark Pierzchala has suggested increasing a cap so development could advance.

At a Monday night public meeting, the idea drew concerns...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/rockville-proposal-to-allow-more-students-at-richard-montgomery-high-questioned/

Under director of schools Dr. Shawn Joseph, the lawsuit says Lindsey began to encounter what it calls "a policy and practice ... of selective enforcement of Metro rules and protection of certain individuals."...One of those investigations involved former Metro Schools administrator Mo Carassco, a longtime friend of Joseph.

New lawsuit filed in MNPS sexual harassment scandal

...Under director of schools Dr. Shawn Joseph, the lawsuit says Lindsey began to encounter what it calls "a policy and practice ... of selective enforcement of Metro rules and protection of certain individuals."

"There appeared to be a pattern, not just a pattern, but a practice of improper investigations -- investigations that were improperly influenced presumably because of certain persons who were favored in one way or another," Blackburn said.

One of those investigations involved former Metro Schools administrator Mo Carassco, a longtime friend of Joseph.

The lawsuit claims that the number two person in the HR department, Sharon Pertiller, "threatened" Lindsey when a victim came forward with a formal complaint against Carassco.

"She told Mr. Lindsay that the director of schools, Mr. Joseph, was aware of this and that he expected it to 'turn out right' and there would be difficulties for him if it didn't turn out right," Blackburn said.

NewsChannel 5 Investigates has previously reported that school board member Amy Frogge had informed Joseph a few months before that there was an unnamed woman who had come to her with a complaint of being sexually harassed by Carassco.

Instead of ordering an HR investigation, Joseph went to Carassco to let him know about Frogge's allegation.

The lawsuit claims that when the victim, Vanessa Garcia, finally made an official complaint, Joseph ordered HR staff to keep the investigation quiet...

Former BOE member Jill Ortman-Fouse exposes clueless staffer who thinks that putting data online can allow people to change the data

Posted on Facebook by Jill Ortman-Fouse

I think you’d be surprised at how outdated the systems are and how little people there know about how things are done in other places. 

I pleaded to one of the staffers, who has a law degree from a prestigious university but has been working with MCPS a very long time —like many, many of the people in central office, to help me advocate to get our data online. She responded that then people could change the data. She seriously didn’t understand how it worked. In her position I couldn’t imagine that she hadn’t looked at databases on-line and done reports to inform her decision-making. 

Look, if I told you all the processes that I found out about that are still done on paper instead of submitted on-line, you would be shocked. This is one of the first thinks [sic] Dr. Smith picked up on when he came to Carver. The explanation that was given was we invest as much money and focus as possible on classrooms, so systems got left behind.

Former BOE member Jill Ortman-Fouse exposes extremely dysfunctional staff

Posted on Facebook by Jill Ortman-Fouse

Do you have any idea how many processes there are? From changing bus routes for road work to turning in hours for home teaching staff—both done on paper. What is your obsession with names? There are around 800 people in central office. Many have been working there decades. They are unfamiliar with the processes used by outside institutions including other school systems. Humans fear change. 

You don’t change processes by bullying. It takes time and energy. You commit to the work to make it happen. You can’t pass a resolution if you don’t have the votes. You don’t get the votes if staff don’t trust your idea and aren’t supportive to your colleagues. I started to write a response to your other question I can’t find now, but my phone died. 

There are two ways to get questions answered. One, board members ask follow-up questions at the board table, if staff don’t answer it at the table, board staff record it and eventually you get a staff response. Two, board members submit questions to the chief of staff of the board office, that person “bucks the question”to the appropriate department. You may or may not get an answer eventually to your question as it was asked. 

I recommended that we have a tracking system like other school systems use where all board members questions are openly recorded so that all board members can see what questions their colleagues are asking, and ensure that those questions were answered. Our chief of staff did not implement that process while he was serving our office as they had other processes I guess he preferred. 

Also, as I have posted here previously, I requested for years that all of those answers to board questions be posted online so constituents could see the answers. Apparently it was a very laborious process for staff to figure out how to do that. There were questions around keeping the documents secure so that people could not manipulate them (which I couldn’t understand), And I also requested that they be searchable so constituents would not have to know the title of the response to be able to find it. Apparently this was another big challenge. 

Some of the staff answers were quite substantive and detailed to commonly asked questions. I believe that constituents would benefit by seeing these comprehensive answers. Some answers opened up the doors to more questions, and I thought constituents should be able to see those responses as well. They were able to post all the memos back to June of this year. But there are likely hundreds more responses that would give excellent historical context to a lot of issues if they were able to post them. I hope that happens eventually.

MCPS Bus Driver Takes Child with Autism to Baltimore Instead of Delivering to Bus Stop in Silver Spring

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/bus-mishap-lands-dc-area-child-with-autism-in-baltimore/2018/12/13/3b253c12-fedb-11e8-a17e-162b712e8fc2_story.html?utm_term=.793e0f795452

Councilmember Riemer's austerity in 2018

One bedroom, deluxe suite, two nights.  $900.35 of taxpayer money.