For the first time ever, there will be a special live broadcast of the Inauguration made especially for students and families.
— Dr. Jill Biden (@DrBiden) January 19, 2021
You can tune in live at 10am ET on #InaugurationDay. To learn more, go to https://t.co/CcOwVmBgd5.
I’ll see you there!
pic.twitter.com/uPVicubxR2
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
For the first time ever, there will be a special live broadcast of the Inauguration made especially for students and families.
Court Tosses Conviction Of One Defendant In Murder Of Teens
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland appeals court has overturned the convictions of one of four men who were found guilty in the killings of two Maryland high school students on the eve of their graduation.
The Court of Special Appeals ruled Thursday that a trial judge erred in preventing attorneys for Rony Galicia from eliciting evidence to show that statements that codefendant Edgar Garcia-Gaona made to his girlfriend after the killings implicated other suspects in the case but not Galicia.
Authorities have said that 18-year-old Artem Ziberov and 17-year-old Shadi Najjar were lured to a residential neighborhood in Montgomery Village in June 2017 on the belief that they’d be selling an extra ticket to their graduation ceremony for Northwest High School...
Monday, January 18, 2021
COVID-19 Vaccination Virtual Town Hall, Montgomery County Council, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m.
Virtual Community Town Hall with Public Health Leaders Focused on COVID-19 Vaccinations Hosted by the Montgomery County Council on Jan. 19 at 7 p.m.
For Immediate Release: Thursday, January 14, 2021
ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 14, 2021—The Montgomery County Council will hold a virtual town hall meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. focused on the COVID-19 vaccination program in our community. County Executive Marc Elrich will join the meeting along with Montgomery County Deputy Health Officer James Bridgers, Montgomery County Latino Health Initiative Senior Manager Sonia Mora, Latino Health Steering Committee Co-Chair Monica Escalante, African American Health Program Executive Commitee Co-Chair Beatrice Miller and other public health representatives.
This town hall will provide the latest information on the vaccine rollout plan in Montgomery County, describe the priority order for vaccinations mandated by the state government based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and give residents a forum to get their specific questions answered directly by public health representatives.
“Vaccine distribution has begun across the country and we are all eager to get vaccinated quickly and protect the most vulnerable in our community,” Council President Hucker said. “Still, there is a lot of confusion about vaccine rollout plans. The Council, along with our county's top health officials, will provide clarity on Montgomery County’s vaccine distribution plan and answer all your vaccine-related questions during this important town hall. We hope you can join us.”
“Across the country, our state, and our county, the distribution of vaccines has finally begun. Vaccinations serve as a vital tool to help protect and mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 in our community,” Council Vice President Albornoz said. “As we navigate the next critical phase of this epidemic, we are working hard to address the challenges the vaccine rollout currently presents and ensure public health is protected for all.”
The members of the Montgomery County Council include: Council President Tom Hucker, Council Vice President Gabe Albornoz and Councilmembers, Andrew Friedson, Evan Glass, Will Jawando, Nancy Navarro, Craig Rice, Sidney Katz and Hans Riemer.
The virtual town hall will be held through a Zoom webinar. Councilmembers and staff from the Department of Health and Human Services will have breakout rooms for community members to attend and ask their questions and voice their concerns. One breakout room will be dedicated to community members who speak Spanish.
Community members must register ahead of time to participate in the virtual town hall through Zoom by clicking here. The Council must receive your registration by Jan. 18 at 5 p.m. Residents will receive an email confirmation with the appropriate Zoom information to participate. Residents without internet access can call 240-777-7931 and leave a message to register.
The virtual town hall meeting will be televised on County Cable Montgomery on channels 30 (Fios), 1056 (RCN) and 996 (Xfinity). The meeting will be streamed on Facebook (MontgomeryCountyMdCouncil) and YouTube (MoCoCouncilMd). Residents also can listen to the virtual town hall meeting by calling 240-777-3333.
For more information or questions contact Juan Jovel at Juan.Jovel@montgomerycountymd.gov or call 240-777-7931. If you need assistance to participate in this meeting or in any Council activity, please contact the Council as far in advance as possible at 240-777-7900 or send an email to County.Council@montgomerycountymd.gov.
###
The same Zoom link for the meeting can also be found at: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcocuysqzksH9SwGtSnEFlRQ8dr-bpFdNRx
Release ID: 21-012Media Contact: Sonya Healy 240-777-7926 , Juan Jovel 240-777-7931
As U.S. Capitol attack unfolded, some Hill staffers remembered their school-shooting drills
As the word spread via email alerts and social media that a violent mob had breached the U.S. Capitol last week, workers in offices throughout the complex locked and barricaded their doors, turned out the lights, stayed low to the ground, silenced their phones and sat quietly in the dark hoping the danger would not come to them.
For many of the Hill’s younger staff members, the decision to take those actions wasn’t instinct — it was training. An entire generation of Americans who grew up during an epoch of horrific school shootings have learned since kindergarten what to do when an outside threat enters the building...
Friday, January 15, 2021
State set to settle with Jordan McNair’s family for $3.5M #artificialturf
...The settlement between the University of Maryland, College Park, and the family of Jordan McNair is believed to be one of the largest college athletics-related settlements in the state.
McNair, a Baltimore County resident, was 19 when he collapsed while participating in spring drills with the Terps football team. He was hospitalized and died two weeks later...
https://thedailyrecord.com/2021/01/15/state-set-to-settle-with-jordan-mcnairs-family-for-3-5m/
Thursday, January 14, 2021
2013: Calvert County school superintendent leaves a year before contract ends [Jack R. Smith]
June 19, 2013 Calvert County’s schools chief is leaving the Southern Maryland school system of 16,000 students in early August, officials announced Wednesday. Superintendent Jack R. Smith, 55, will step down after seven years in the top job and nearly a year before the end of his second four-year contract, officials said. His departure culminates a 14-year career in Calvert, including three years as deputy superintendent. In a letter to the school community, Smith talked about spending time with a new grandson and “some potential opportunities . . . that look intriguing.”..
Breaking: @MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith announces he’s retiring June 1. @mymcmedia
Breaking: @MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith announces he’s retiring June 1. @mymcmedia
— Deirdre Byrne (@DeirdreByrneMCM) January 14, 2021
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Why Aren’t We Wearing Better Masks? Cloth masks are better than nothing, but they were supposed to be a stopgap measure.
If you’re like most Americans, there’s a good chance you’re going to wear a cloth mask today. Doing so makes sense. It remains the official recommendation in the United States, and it is something we’ve both advocated since the beginning of the pandemic. Both of us wrote articles as far back as March urging people to wear homemade cloth masks. We’re also the authors (along with 17 other experts) of a paper titled “An Evidence Review of Face Masks Against COVID,” which was just published in peer-reviewed form in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. But it’s past time for better solutions to be available to the public.
We first released the paper as a preprint back in April, and it took nine months to go through peer review. We’re happy that it’s published but, to be honest, we’re also deeply disappointed that it’s still relevant. We’d hoped that by 2021 supply chains would have ramped up enough to ensure that everyone had better masks. Cloth masks, especially homemade ones, were supposed to be a stopgap measure. Why are so many of us still wearing them?..
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/01/why-arent-we-wearing-better-masks/617656/
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Balt. Sun: Maryland’s educators are a top vaccine priority. But health officials say getting them shots could take months.
Despite a push to move teachers toward the front of the vaccination line so that school buildings can reopen more quickly, many teachers aren’t likely to complete their inoculation for months unless larger quantities of vaccine are shipped to the state.
Superintendent Smith to brief Montgomery County Annapolis Delegation Friday Jan 15, 10am
The agenda for the Montgomery County House Delegation Meeting on January 15 at 10:00 a.m. has been revised. The meeting will be livestreamed on the Delegation’s YouTube page. Please note that the meeting may take a few minutes to show up on the YouTube page after livestreaming has started, but you will be able to go back and view the meeting from the beginning.The agenda has been posted to the calendar page of the Delegation website: January 15th Montgomery County House Delegation Meeting Agenda.
The bill hearing for MC 19-21 will be held during the meeting. Please click here or email RStryer@house.state.md.us for information on how to testify.
Rebecca Stryer
Montgomery County Delegation Administrator
Maryland House of Delegates
Lowe House Office Building
6 Bladen Street, Room 219
Annapolis, MD 21401
301-957-6332
www.montgomerycountydelegation.com
Monday, January 11, 2021
Tues. Jan. 12th: Superintendent Jack Smith Will Hide $1.3M in Gifts to the City of Gaithersburg from the Board of Education.
On Tuesday, January 12, 2021, Superintendent Jack R. Smith will present the Montgomery County Board of Education with a memorandum demanding that they vote to pay for gifts to the City of Gaithersburg. Superintendent Smith will tell the Board of Education that they MUST give these gifts to the City in exchange for the City handing over land for a new elementary school.
But, the City of Gaithersburg has already handed over the Deed to this land "free of charge."
On December 3, 2020, the Board of Education already voted to accept the Deed without having to pay anything for the land.
Yet, on January 12th, Superintendent Jack Smith will tell the Board of Education they now must buy gifts, specifically an artificial turf football field and baseball field bleachers, for the City of Gaithersburg in order to get the Deed to the City of Gaithersburg land for the new elementary school.
Why did Superintendent Jack R. Smith hide these gifts from the Board of Education when they voted to accept this "free" land?
Further, why does Superintendent Jack R. Smith's January 12th memo only list the cost for two of the seven gifts he has already promised to the City of Gaithersburg in exchange for this Deed?
Here is what Superintendent Jack R. Smith committed to buy for the City of Gaithersburg according to the Land Acquisition Agreement that he signed:
- County Board must pay for the cost and expense of all off-site easements. (Unknown total cost)
- County Board must pay for design and construction of an artificial turf field up to $800,000.
- County Board must pay for the rough grade of the field, storm drainage and a sub base for the artificial turf field. ( average cost of grading, storm drainage and sub base in 2020 is $320,000)
- County Board is required to pay up to 25% for the future replacement of the artificial turf field (Unknown cost – Average cost of artificial turf football field surface in 2021 is $400,000. 25% of that cost in 2021 would be $100,000. Future cost of artificial turf surface is unknown at this time.
- County Board must pay for new, additional bleachers for the City of Gaithersburg. $26,000
- County Board must pay for 5 parking spaces dedicated to the City park visitors. (Approximate cost could be $10,000.)
- County Board must pay for a City tot lot. [Approximate cost $100,000 based on cost of recent City of Gaithersburg tot lot project.
The approximate current and future cost of the items that the Board of Education must pay in exchange for the "free" Deed from the City of Gaithersburg is $1,356,000.
How does $1,356,000 = free of charge?
Where is Superintendent Smith getting $1,356,000 from in the MCPS Operating Budget to pay for these gifts to the City of Gaithersburg?
MD State Board of Education Rules on Land for Gaithersburg ES #8: "...conveyance of ownership of the parcel is free of charge."
On October 27, 2020, the Maryland State Board of Education issued an Opinion to an Appeal of the Land Acquisition Agreement relating to the construction of Gaithersburg Elementary School #8, brought to the Board of Education by Superintendent Jack R. Smith. The Appeal was filed by interested parties that are concerned about the loss of their only local park. The interested parties would like to preserve their local park and have encouraged the Board of Education to build a new elementary school on existing Board of Education land that is currently vacant.
It is notable that in their Opinion the Maryland State Board of Education has referred to this land deal as "free of charge," while at the exact same time Superintendent Jack R. Smith is demanding the Board of Education expend almost $2 million in gifts to the City of Gaithersburg in exchange for this park.
The Maryland State Board of Education concluded their Opinion by stating:
Regardless, the land agreement specifies that the conveyance of ownership of the parcel is free of charge. As no funds were exchanged in the agreement, this argument lacks merit.
The Maryland State Board of Education denied the Appeal, however, four MD State Board of Education members dissented from the decision, and two members abstained.
Saturday, January 9, 2021
Thursday, January 7, 2021
Friday, Jan. 8th: Watch Board of Education Virtual Retreat. Bd of Ed Retreats are OPEN Meetings and the Public Can Attend
Fri, January 08 11:00 AM Board Retreat (virtual)
Agenda
Webcast
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=BWZMBQ594006#
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
COVID-19 Outbreak at MCPS Elementary School - College Gardens ES in Rockville. Still on MSDE Dashboard.
The Maryland Outbreak-Associated Cases in Schools database does not give any details about the COVID-19 outbreak at College Gardens Elementary School in Rockville, but we know that the elementary school is one of the privately run Equity Hubs being sponsored and paid for by MCPS, the Board of Education and Montgomery County Government.
Who oversees these Equity Hubs? How were these locations selected? Were changes made to the ventilation for these select schools? How are COVID-19 outbreaks in Equity Hubs being supervised and handled? Is this the first outbreak at one of these "hubs" or is this just the first one being reported?
Will MCPS put out a notification on this outbreak?
St. Mary's High School Anne Arundel County 5 01/06/21
Ohr Chadash Academy Baltimore City 2 01/06/21
Bais Yaakov Eva Winer High School Baltimore County 31 01/06/21
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Baltimore County 3 01/06/21
Rosedale Baptist School Baltimore County 6 01/06/21
Talmudical Academy of Baltimore Baltimore County 36 01/06/21
Torah Institute of Baltimore Baltimore County 6 01/06/21
College Garden Elementary Montgomery County 2 01/06/21
Esperanza Middle School St. Mary's County 3 01/06/21
Heritage Academy Washington County 2 01/06/21
Wicomico Day School Wicomico County 2 01/06/21
As a reminder, the Maryland Dashboard uses the following criteria for reporting COVID-19 cases. Not all cases are reported, only those that satisfy the following criteria.
Note: This dataset reflects public and non-public K-12 schools in Maryland that have COVID-19 outbreaks. Data are based on local health department reports to MDH, which may be revised if additional information becomes available. This list does not include child care facilities or institutes of higher education.Schools listed meet 1 or more of the following criteria:
1) At least two confirmed COVID-19 cases among students/teachers/staff within a 14-day period and who are epidemiologically linked, but not household contacts; or
2) Three or more classrooms or cohorts with cases from separate households that meet the classroom/cohort outbreak definition that occurs within 14 days; or
3) Five percent or more unrelated students/teachers/staff have confirmed COVID-19 within a 14 day period (minimum of 10 unrelated students/teachers/staff).
Cases reported reflect the current total number of cases. Schools are removed from the list when health officials determine 14 days have passed with no new cases and no tests pending. Archival data is available through the COVID-19 open data catalogue.
These data are updated weekly on Wednesdays during the 10 a.m. hour. MDH is continuously evaluating its data and reporting systems and will make updates as more data becomes available.
https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/school-resources
MARYLAND STATE SUPERINTENDENT FORUM Thursday, January 7, 2021 6:00 PM 7:30 PM
The Maryland State Board of Education has launched a national search for the next State Superintendent of Schools. They are soliciting input to assist in the search process.
MARYLAND STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
STATE SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH
VIRTUAL COMMUNITY FORUMS
The Maryland State Board of Education (State Board) has scheduled virtual community forums to gather public input regarding the next State Superintendent. Working with search firm Greenwood/Asher & Associates the State Board of Education is seeking public input to help identify a leadership profile and characteristics necessary to help lead the State’s education system.
A copy of the guidelines and procedures for the public comments can be found here.
The Board of Education and Greenwood/Asher have also provided an online survey to receive feedback. The survey will take no longer than fifteen minutes to complete. Click here to complete the survey.
The forums will be facilitated by Greenwood/Asher & Associates virtually via Zoom on:
DAY 3 - MARYLAND STATE SUPERINTENDENT FORUM
If you would like to make public comments for Day 3 please register here.
Monday, January 4, 2021
Wed. Jan. 6th Public Meeting: Vendor Wants to Move Cell Tower on MCPS School Site without Board of Ed. Approval. Back Property Taxes Owed on Cell Tower = $4,699.
Design Development for Cell Tower Relocation at Charles W. Woodward High School Project Community Work Session (Tilden Middle School site on Old Georgetown Road)
Date: Wednesday, January 6th, 2021
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Zoom Meeting
Meeting #: 919 2973 6178
Passcode: 534386
Additional Zoom link information for this meeting at this link.
------------------------
2. The cell tower that this vendor wants to move owes back taxes of $4,699. This is not the first time this cell tower has had a vendor owe back taxes. In fact, the Parents' Coalition has been tracking this cell tower for years and property taxes are frequently not paid on this site.
3. When did the Board of Education approve a new location at this school site for a cell tower? Board of Education decisions require a public vote. The Board of Education is the land owner for this property. In order for a private organization to construct a structure on Board of Education property, the Board of Education would have to authorize a Lease with the private company. Has that been done? When? Who signed the Lease?
Notice of Community Meeting by Parents' Coalition of Montg...
Notice of Community Meeting... by Parents' Coalition of Montg...
NYC Ousts 12,000 Students From In-Person Class Over Virus Test Forms
About 12,000 New York City students who signed up for in-classroom learning must receive remote lessons because parents failed to sign consent forms for weekly random testing, school officials said.
“Due to the extensive efforts of our staff, 91% of students who need a consent form have one on file,” said Nathaniel Styer, a spokesman for the city Department of Education. “Students without consent forms, and who do not have approved exemptions, are transitioned to remote instruction.”..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)