Beidleman Moved to New Position with MCPS Office of Human Resources and Development

 

Staff Directory - Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, MD (montgomeryschoolsmd.org)

Blog posts about MCPS Principal Joel Beidleman. 

Fox 5 news: Parents say MCPS ignored complaints about principal for years @mcps @mocoboe

https://www.fox5dc.com/video/1264996

ROCKVILLE, Md. - Calls for accountability are intensifying among some Montgomery County teachers and parents who say they’ve complained for years about a principal’s harassment and bullying, but nothing was done. 

Jenni Coopersmith wants to know what took so long? 

She is a former Montgomery County Public Schools para-educator and parent who told FOX 5 she complained to school officials years ago that she and her daughter were harassed. That was back in 2016, and now six years later, that same principal faces 18 allegations of sexual harassment and bullying.

Jennifer Gross: “What the hell does employment have to do with sexual harassment and child abuse?” #BeidlemanInvestigation @mcps @mocoboe

...Bethesda-based licensed clinical social worker Jennifer Gross specializes in the field of child abuse and neglect and has conducted sexual harassment and abuse prevention trainings on a national level. Gross expressed extreme skepticism about the school district’s hiring of Jackson Lewis to conduct the investigation into itself and Beidleman.

MCPS has highlighted the firm’s specialty in education and employment law, to which Gross asked, “What the hell does employment have to do with sexual harassment and child abuse?”

“This principal was making lewd, sexual comments to children,” Gross said, in reference to allegations that Beidleman described middle school girls dressing and acting “like hoes and thots” during two 2018 Farquhar assemblies. “This move is akin to telling someone who has a broken leg to go see a dermatologist. Why? Because a dermatologist won’t know what they’re looking for, so who’s going to come out looking rosy on the other side?”..

McKnight pledges ‘open communication’ in Beidleman investigation (moco360.media)

MCPS reportedly hires law firm to handle investigation into principal accused of sexual harassment.

MCPS reportedly hires law firm to handle investigation into principal accused of sexual harassment

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (7News) — "It's the wrong firm, with the wrong focus," Janis Sartucci of the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland told 7News.

The longtime Montgomery County resident and former Montgomery County Public Schools parent is talking about Jackson Lewis P.C. law firm.

The Washington Post reports MCPS has hired the law firm to conduct the investigation into sexual harassment allegations against former Farquhar Middle School Principal Dr. Joel Beidleman.

"The firm is already working for MCPS. They received payments in fiscal year[s] 2023 and 2022," she said...

MCPS reportedly hires law firm to handle investigation into principal accused of sexual harassment | WJLA

MCPS parents react after high school principals' sexual harassment allegations uncovered

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (7News) — Long-time Montgomery County Public Schools educator Dr. Joel Beidleman received a warm endorsement from the Board of Education at a meeting on June 27.

Every school board member approved the promotion of Beidleman from Principal of Farquhar Middle School to Principal of Paint Branch High School despite numerous allegations of sexual harassment, threats, retaliation as well as workplace bullying...

...Former MCPS student and parent Jennifer Gross has worked to improve child abuse and neglect policies within MCPS.

“This situation that has come to light is not surprising,” Gross said.

Gross is pushing for full transparency from the school system and wants MCPS to release a full unredacted report once the investigation into the allegations is complete...

MCPS parents react after high school principals' sexual harassment allegations uncovered | WJLA

Breaking on Beidleman Matter: Board of Education Hires Firm that Represented them in Vaccine Litigation and sat in Closed Session with them in 2021. Firm Already Paid $110,674 to REPRESENT BOE/MCPS. Not an Independent, Outside Investigative Firm.

The Board of Education has not hired an independent, outside investigative firm to investigate the allegations surrounding Farquhar Middle School Principal Joel Beidleman.  

Instead, they have retained a firm that has already represented them in litigation involving their prior vaccine mandate.  The same lawyers that have now been hired to investigate the Beidleman matter have already sat with Board of Education members in a Closed Session meeting.

211026 Report of Previous Closed Session rev.pdf (boarddocs.com)

Federal litigation in 2021 shows the law firm of Jackson Lewis, PC and the same lawyer Donald English as representing the Board of Education in the vaccine litigation. 

The Montgomery County Board of Education's Funding Accountability and Transparency website shows payments to the Jackson Lewis, PC law firm in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 totaling $110,674.

McKnight told the audience that counselors from the district’s employee assistance program were in attendance, in case leaders who were friends with Beidleman wanted to talk, attendees said.

 

MCPS hires law firm to investigate alleged misconduct of principal

...At Monday’s annual administrative and supervisory meeting for about 800 Montgomery supervisors, principals, assistant principals and other leaders, attendees reported that McKnight briefly acknowledged the report in The Post, referring to it as “the elephant in the room.” She said the school system would thoroughly investigate what she called “the allegations,” said four attendees who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on internal district matters...

https://wapo.st/3KF4NUM

Many MCPS teachers said a principal sexually harassed them. The Board of Education promoted him. @mcps @mocoboe Washington Post Interviewed 45 MCPS Staff Members.

Educators and others reported Joel Beidleman to Montgomery County Public Schools 18 times in seven years. It made no difference.

...In the living room, Beidleman told her: “You should just f--- me. Everybody thinks you should,” according to the complaint and two of those present. He turned to his co-workers and asked them: “Don’t you think she should just f--- me?” The teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she fears retaliation from Beidleman and MCPS, quickly left...

...These and other accounts detail a pattern of harassment, threats, retaliations, workplace bullying and other inappropriate conduct spanning at least 12 years across three campuses...

...Until last week, MCPS treated Beidleman as a rising star. Despite six staff members’ reports to MCPS about his conduct in 2023, officials promoted him in June to run Paint Branch High School...

...MCPS, which conducted Beidleman’s regular five-year performance review this year, did not answer any further questions about details in this story, including those asking how it tracks reports about misconduct, who is responsible for collecting them and whether the superintendent is ever informed...

...MCPS’s announcement of Beidleman’s new role was especially surprising to the social studies teacher, whose February sexual harassment, workplace bullying and retaliation complaint alleges Beidleman monitored the camera outside her classroom and grilled her when a male colleague visited...

https://wapo.st/3OuKn1Y

WSSC Water files lawsuit over 'forever chemicals'

The Montgomery County Board of Education and Montgomery County Council LOVE PFAS chemicals found in artificial turf football fields!  They can't get enough of them and are about to put down another plastic sheet at the new Woodward High School in Bethesda.  

***************

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - Maryland’s largest water provider is suing a number of companies, alleging they are polluting the water supply with toxins. 

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission's water serves almost two million people in Montgomery and Prince George's County.

 https://www.fox5dc.com/news/wssc-water-files-lawsuit-over-forever-chemicals

 

BREAKING: @mcps @mocoboe Electric Bus Contractor for Charging Stations Proterra Stuns Investors With Surprise Bankruptcy Filing - Sell

Proterra: Stuns Investors With Surprise Bankruptcy Filing - Sell

Summary

• After the close of Monday's session, battery systems and electric transit bus manufacturer Proterra Inc. stunned investors with a bankruptcy filing out of left field.
• Following the successful restructuring of the company's convertible notes earlier this year, the move comes as a surprise.
• Apparently, the company is looking to separate the legacy transit bus operations from the battery and charging solutions segment ("Proterra Powered & Energy") and pursue a recapitalization or sale.
• Regardless of the company pursuing a recapitalization or a sale, a recovery for existing equity holders looks highly unlikely at this point.
• Considering the very real risk of a wipeout, I would advise existing shareholders to sell existing positions and move on.

Proterra: Stuns Investors With Surprise Bankruptcy Filing - Sell (NASDAQ:PTRA) | Seeking Alpha

************************

Proterra Press Release

...Under the agreement, Highland and its project partners, including Thomas Built Buses, Proterra, and Annapolis-based American Bus, will electrify all five of MCPS’ bus depots, supplying the electric school buses and charging infrastructure along with services including managed charging. Highland will purchase buses manufactured in North Carolina by Thomas Built Buses, which will be supplied and serviced by American Bus. Both companies have been long-time trusted suppliers and partners for the MCPS Department of Transportation. Designed, engineered, and manufactured in the United States by Thomas Built Buses, the all-electric Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley school bus is powered by Proterra’s electric vehicle technology platform. The Jouley couples 226 kWh of total energy capacity with a Proterra Powered drivetrain to offer an industry-leading operating range of up to 135 miles on a single charge to meet the needs of school bus fleets...

 Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland: Under the agreement, Highland and its project partners... will electrify all five of MCPS’ bus depots [Even the Shady Grove Depot that is supposed to move one day?] (parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com)

FYI: Can the public record Montgomery County Government Open Meetings?

Montgomery County Governmen... by Parents' Coalition of Montg...

Juvenile Male Arrested for Shoplifting and Possession of “Ghost Gun”

 

For Immediate Release: Friday, July 28, 2023

Gaithersburg, MD – 4th District officers from the Montgomery County Department of Police have arrested and charged a juvenile male as an adult with theft related charges and illegal possession of a privately manufactured firearm, also known as a “ghost gun.” 

 

On Tuesday, July 25, 2023, at approximately 12:57 p.m., officers responded to the Dick’s Sporting Goods store in the 11100 block of Veirs Mill Road in Wheaton for the report of a shoplifting. 

 

When officers arrived at the location, they observed the suspects leaving the store with the stolen merchandise. Officers followed the suspects who ran to the Safeway store in the 11200 block of Georgia Ave. Officers entered the Safeway and observed the suspects in possession of the stolen items from the previous store.  

 

Officers arrested one of the suspects. A search of his person revealed a loaded Polymer 80 9mm handgun with no serial number. Officers also recovered some of the merchandise that was stolen from the Dick’s Sporting Goods store.  

 

The juvenile was transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit, where he was charged as an adult with theft and illegal possession of firearm related charges.  

Montgomery County Maryland (montgomerycountymd.gov)

MCPS students struggle with math and English proficiency, revealing deep-rooted disparities

by Mitch Blacher and Scott Taylor

Tue, June 13th 2023, 6:16 PM EDT

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (7News) — In a startling revelation, over 80% of Maryland students have fallen short on state proficiency tests in math and English language arts, according to scores reported by the state's Department of Education.

The statewide test scores indicate a mere 14.4% of students across all grades demonstrating proficiency in English language arts, with an even lower 13.2% proficiency in math...

...Among the 24 public school districts in Maryland, Montgomery County and Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS) find themselves somewhere in the middle of the pack...

Md. students struggle with math and English proficiency, revealing deep-rooted disparities | WJLA

How the Ultrawealthy Use Private Foundations to Bank Millions in Tax Deductions While Giving the Public Little in Return

by Jeff Ernsthausen

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

Series: The Secret IRS Files:Inside the Tax Records of the .001%

A massive trove of tax information obtained by ProPublica, covering thousands of America’s wealthiest individuals, reveals what’s inside the billionaires’ bag of tricks for minimizing their personal tax bills — sometimes to nothing.

Once a week, a little past noon on Wednesdays, a line of cars forms outside the wrought-iron gates of the Carolands mansion, 20 miles south of downtown San Francisco. From the entrance, you can see the southeast facade of the 98-room Beaux Arts chateau, which was built a century ago by an heiress to the Pullman railroad-car fortune. Not visible from that vantage point is the stately reflecting pool, or the gardens, whose original designer took inspiration from Versailles.

I was sitting just outside this splendor, idling in my rented Toyota Corolla, on a clear day last winter. Like the other people in the line of cars, I was about to enjoy a rare treat. Carolands is an architectural landmark, but it’s open only two hours a week. Would-be visitors apply a month in advance, hoping to win a lottery for tickets. Like most lotteries, this one has long odds. I had applied unsuccessfully for the three tours scheduled for February. Finally, I resorted to my journalist’s privilege: I emailed and called the director of the foundation that owns the estate, explaining that I was a reporter planning to be in the area for a few days. Could she help? Eventually, she called back and offered me a place on a tour.

It wasn’t supposed to be this difficult. When billionaire Charles Johnson sought a tax break in 2013 for donating his mansion to his private foundation, the organization assured the Internal Revenue Service and state officials that the public would be welcome. “The Foundation will fulfill its charitable and educational purpose by opening the Carolands Estate to the public,” it stated in its application for tax-exempt status, which included a pamphlet for a self-guided tour. The foundation later told a California tax regulator that the estate was open to the public every weekday from 9-5.

There was a lot of money at stake. Johnson, a Republican megadonor and part owner of the San Francisco Giants, had gotten an appraisal valuing the property at $130 million, a price higher than any publicly reported home sale in the U.S. up to that time, and five times the $26 million he and his wife, Ann, had reportedly paid 14 years earlier to buy and restore what then was a dilapidated property.

The plan worked. The IRS granted the foundation tax-exempt status. That allowed the Johnsons to collect more than $38 million in tax savings from the estate over five years, confidential tax records show.

But the Johnsons never opened Carolands to the public for 40 hours a week. Instead, the foundation bestows tickets on a few dozen lottery winners, who receive two-hour tours, led by docents, most Wednesdays at 1 p.m. Self-guided tours, like the ones described in the attachments to Johnson’s IRS application, are not offered. “It sounds like a vanity project with little to no public benefit,” said Roger Colinvaux, a professor of law at The Catholic University of America who specializes in the tax law of nonprofit organizations. (Experts also questioned Carolands’ $130 million valuation — which turbocharged the Johnsons’ deduction — while acknowledging that as long as it’s based on a qualified appraisal, which it was, the IRS is unlikely to challenge the size of the deduction.)

For the ultrawealthy, donating valuables like artwork, real estate and stocks to their own charitable foundation is an alluring way to cut their tax bills. In exchange for generous tax breaks, they are supposed to use the assets to serve the public: Art might be put on display where people can see it, or stock sold to fund programs to fight child poverty. Across the U.S., such foundations hold over $1 trillion in assets.

But a ProPublica investigation reveals that some foundation donors have obtained millions of dollars in tax deductions without holding up their end of the bargain, and sometimes they personally benefit from donations that are supposed to be a boon to the public. A tech billionaire used his charitable foundation to buy his girlfriend’s house, then stayed there with her while he was going through a divorce. A real estate mogul keeps his nonprofit art museum in his guesthouse and told ProPublica that he hadn’t shown it to a member of the public since before the pandemic. And a venture capitalist couple’s foundation bought the multimillion dollar house next to their own without ever opening the property to the public.

Unlike public charities, private foundations are typically funded by a single donor or family, who retain a high degree of control long after receiving a tax break for ostensibly giving their possessions away. “This is the classic problem with private foundations: Substantial contributors can see it as their thing,” said Philip Hackney, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh and former IRS attorney. “There’s generally not a coalition who cares, other than the family, so there’s nothing to ensure that the assets are used for a particular purpose,” he added.

In theory, it’s illegal to fail to provide a public benefit or to make personal use of foundation assets. But the rules defining what’s in the public interest are vague, according to tax experts; for example, Congress has never defined how many hours a museum would need to be open to be considered accessible to the public. And with the IRS depleted by a decade of budget cuts, enforcement has been lax. The agency examines an average of 225 returns among the 100,000 filed by private foundations each year, according to agency statistics.

Peter Kanter, an attorney representing the Carolands Foundation, told ProPublica that “we believe pretty strongly that the foundation is serving its purpose of preserving and showcasing this historic and unique property to the public.” He said that tours are limited because the foundation has only a few volunteer docents who are knowledgeable about the home, and because significantly higher traffic might compromise the foundation’s ability to preserve its unique architecture. Kanter also emphasized the public value of free charitable events that the foundation occasionally hosts for other nonprofits at the estate.

At the Carolands, guides didn’t emphasize benefits to the public — just the opposite. A docent told my tour group that the foundation prefers lotteries to holding regular hours and charging admission. This, he explained, preserves the home for those who “really want to see it.” Indeed, exclusivity and rarefied taste were a theme of the tour, which included tales of the exacting specifications of Harriett Carolan, the Pullman heiress, a Francophile who imported an entire salon that had been built in France on the eve of the revolution. (For their parts, when Ann and Charles Johnson unveiled the restored chateau at a costume party, they dressed as Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI.)

Before the tour, one of the docents asked how many of us had ever visited a nearby historical mansion, called the Filoli estate, built in the same era as the Carolands. Many hands shot up among the tour group. When he asked if any of us had visited the Carolands before, no one raised their hand.

Curious, I popped by Filoli the following afternoon. It is run by a public charity and is open from 10 to 5 every day. In contrast to the Carolands, I was able to simply show up, pay admission and enter. Inside, I encountered dozens of employees who provided helpful information and watched over the manor and its gardens while more than a hundred visitors wandered about. Photography, which had been prohibited inside the Carolands, was permitted at Filoli.

Congress and the IRS have never clearly defined what qualifies as a “public benefit.” By contrast, identifying a private benefit is much simpler. Decades ago Congress prohibited what it called self-dealing by insiders. The laws are designed to keep them from using or profiting from foundation assets. Among other things, the rules bar leases between a donor and their foundation. Violations can incur a penalty known as an excise tax.

At least one billionaire appears to have run afoul of those real estate rules, according to tax experts. Since 2009, Ken Xie, CEO of a cybersecurity company called Fortinet, has gotten more than $30 million in income tax deductions for contributing shares of his business to a private foundation that he started to support various charitable causes.

In 2017, Xie’s foundation (whose sole officers are Xie and his brother) spent $3 million to purchase a home in Cupertino, California, from his new girlfriend while he was going through an acrimonious divorce. After the foundation purchased the home, Xie allowed his girlfriend to continue living there; he also stayed there for a time. These details emerged in a lawsuit filed by the now-ex-girlfriend, who was permitted to file the suit anonymously, in county court. (The suit is ongoing.) According to leases filed in the case, the foundation charged her rent, but Xie agreed to pay half of it.

Xie himself appears to have been aware that he risked violating the rules. In a December 2019 text message to his girlfriend that was included in the court case, Xie wrote, “I covered some house part but also try not creat issue related to foundation and tax, believe will make some progress next few months by transfer house out of foundation, may need 2 step by first transfer to other entity.” The next month, his foundation transferred the property to an LLC.

In an email to ProPublica, Gordon Finwall, a lawyer for Xie, said the foundation is “fully committed to complying with all applicable rules and regulations.” He acknowledged that Xie “spent some time at the Cupertino property in 2017 and 2018,” but asserted that the sublease was never in effect and Xie never paid his ex-girlfriend any rent.

Two days after I emailed Finwall in April inquiring about the Xie Foundation’s purchase of the house, the foundation filed records with the California attorney general’s office, stating that it had “discovered a self-dealing event” and including a federal tax return with the word “amended” handwritten at the top. In his email to ProPublica, Finwall said that, after amending its returns, the foundation “paid some excise taxes related to Mr. Xie’s stay at the property.” Finwall also said that Xie had planned to file the amended returns months earlier but didn’t do so because his accountant mailed the IRS forms to Xie at an outdated address.

Despite the blurriness of many rules relating to foundations, the issue of public access has given rise to controversy in the past. After a New York Times article in 2015 exposed the limited hours of many private museums, the Senate Finance Committee, under then-chairman Orrin Hatch, launched an investigation. Hatch expressed concerns about museums that require advance reservations and maintain limited public hours. He questioned instances where “founding donors continue to play an active role in management and operations of the museum” and “museum buildings are adjacent to the donor’s private residence.”

But no meaningful rule changes followed the investigation. And absent new laws, cracking down on abusive foundations would require the IRS to put scarce resources into an area that many experts said simply isn’t a priority, particularly after the agency’s previous attempt to police abuse by political nonprofits a decade ago caused a conservative firestorm.

The agency doesn’t appear likely to increase oversight any time soon. A recently published budget blueprint outlining IRS priorities for the $80 billion in new funding it received from the Inflation Reduction Act made no mention of increasing audits of private foundations.

“The IRS protects the public interest by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all,” the agency wrote in a statement to ProPublica. The statement cited a compliance program that “focuses on high-risk issues” among tax-exempt organizations, and it asserted that the program “deploys the right resources to address noncompliance issues.” The IRS also pointed to a recent tax court case that it won against a foundation that, among other things, kept a collection of African artifacts in a basement with no public access. And an agency spokesperson highlighted a rule stating that foundations can lose their exempt status if they operate in a manner “materially different” than what they claimed they would do in their initial application.

Despite the attention spurred by the Hatch investigation, some foundations seem to have continued undeterred. Consider the Lijin Gouhua Foundation. Collecting Chinese paintings and sharing them with the public was the stated mission of the organization, which was launched by Bay Area venture capitalists J. Sanford “Sandy” Miller and his then-wife, Vinie Zhang Miller, in 2006. Since then, the couple generated $5.6 million worth of income tax write-offs largely from donating shares of tech companies like Twitter and Snapchat to their private foundation.

When the couple cashed in the foundation’s stock to buy a potential museum space for the art in 2017, they opted against a high-traffic location where lots of people could easily access it. Instead, they chose the $3.1 million house adjacent to their own estate in Woodside, an exclusive enclave outside of San Francisco.

“A private museum is usually by appointment only,” Vinie Miller said when asked about the out-of-the-way location. “We wouldn’t hold long showing hours. It’s usually people we have a relationship with.” She said that the main way for the public to access the collection was through loans of artwork the foundation has made to universities, other museums and galleries. (In an email, Sandy Miller wrote: “Please be advised that I am not married to Vinie and that I have no involvement with the Lijin Gouhua Foundation.” Public records show Vinie filed for divorce from him in 2019; Sandy ceased to be listed as president of the foundation on IRS filings that year as well.)

The museum that was purchased with the foundation’s tax-exempt funds never actually opened. Vinie Miller said the plan was “hypothetical” and that the foundation held the home as an investment instead. That’s at odds with the foundation’s publicly available tax returns, which have listed the property as being used for charitable purposes. (Miller did not respond to a follow-up question asking about the discrepancy between her statements and the foundation’s tax returns.) As Colinvaux, the specialist in nonprofits, put it, “If it’s an investment asset, then it’s not a charitable use asset, and they shouldn’t be counting it as such” on their IRS filings.

In one similar instance involving another foundation, the IRS expressed hesitation about the organization’s plans, then backed off. In 2006, San Diego real estate magnate Matthew Strauss sought a $4 million write-off for the guesthouse that held part of his contemporary art collection. An IRS employee wrote that it appeared Strauss and his wife “are using the assets of the Foundation (the guest house gallery) as a facility for housing and displaying a large portion of their personal art collection for their enjoyment and benefit as well as the enjoyment and benefit of invited guests.” The employee wanted to know when actual art would be donated, what kind of access the public would have to the gallery, and how the couple planned to inform people that they could visit, among other things.

The couple’s lawyer assured the IRS representative that she’d gotten the wrong impression. The Strausses would host no personal events there and the public would have access to view the collection “upon request.” The couple anticipated donating “substantially all” of their $50 million collection to the foundation. They couldn’t say when, but the couple planned to make donations “in a fashion that minimizes income taxes.”

As 2006 turned into 2007 with no sign that the IRS would bless its museum tax deduction, the couple sought political help. In January, the head of the IRS’ tax-exempt division received a letter from the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D.-Calif.), inquiring about the delay in approving the application from the couple, who’d given her more than $15,000 over the past few election cycles. That June, their application was approved. (“The senator was not advocating in support of the constituent’s application, but instead requested clarification on the case after nine months of an inability to resolve the case,” a spokesperson for Feinstein said, noting that her office frequently sends such letters on behalf of constituents).

As of 2021, 15 years after the Strausses’ lawyer told the IRS they would donate $50 million in art, the foundation holds $6 million worth. The rest remained in a private trust.

To learn more about Strausses’ gallery, I tried to schedule a visit earlier this year. As with Carolands, I was able to get in, but it took some effort. The foundation’s website doesn’t list an address or hours of operation. A contact form available for visitors to inquire about tours wasn’t working when I tried it repeatedly. I ultimately had to pester employees of Strauss’ real estate company for a couple of weeks before someone responded and asked me to submit a biography for their boss to review. (My bio described me as a reporter with ProPublica, with the first coverage area listed as “tax policy.”)

Soon after I sent in my biography, I received a call from Matthew Strauss himself. After a brief conversation, he declared me “worthy” of the first tour he said he’d given in three years and sent along directions to the museum.

I didn’t see any signs outside the couple’s estate, nicknamed Rancho Del Arte, that indicated a museum could be found anywhere on the premises. From the outside, their guesthouse seemed relatively unassuming, its multimillion-dollar value betrayed only by the horse stables and privacy hedges of the nearby mansions I passed on the way in. A path wide enough for a golf cart wound its way through a grove of palm trees, past oversized sculptures and a private tennis court, to the Strausses’ own sprawling abode a hundred yards or so away.

The inside was more remarkable. The Strausses remodeled the building in the early 2000s with custom fixtures to illuminate works from their collection of contemporary art. Sounds and music from dueling audiovisual works on the main floor flooded the space, while the click-clack of a never-ending ping pong game echoed up from a conceptual piece in the basement. These noisier forms shared space with paintings on canvas and metal and with textured mixed-media compositions.

Dressed in sweats and sporting a Bentley baseball cap, Strauss personally led my solo tour, meandering from one prized possession to the next. He exhibited an uncanny memory for how he obtained each piece, likening the acquisition process to the thrill of a hunt. (“Once you get the fox, it’s not as much fun.”) He spoke of one painting as “my poor man’s ‘Mona Lisa’” and another as “my victory piece.”

Halfway through my visit, we stopped to take in the view from the museum’s balcony. “At this point, you can see why I had to buy this property,” he told me, explaining that he’d bought the guesthouse from his neighbor in the late 1990s to keep anyone else from moving in. “Anybody here, they would have knocked it down, and you know, really ruined our privacy.”

As the tour continued from room to room, Strauss leaned into his persona as a friendly professor. He asked probing questions about each modern piece before delving into centuries of art history. “I really show [people] how to look at art, I don’t just tell them ‘This is So-and-So,’” he said, recalling the tours he used to give to college students.

Before the pandemic, the foundation would conduct a dozen or two dozen tours each year, drawing a total of about 400 visitors to the gallery, according to the foundation’s website. But even as California’s other museums welcomed guests back in the spring of 2021, the foundation remained dormant.

Strauss acknowledges the tax benefits of having the foundation and maintained that he had made efforts to make his art available to the public. “I feel like I have an obligation to show it, but it’s got to be under favorable conditions,” he said. He’d told me he’d like to get tours going again, but only when schools and universities stop requiring masks and start treating COVID-19 “like normal.”

Strauss said he gets requests from individuals to see the collection “all the time.” But, he added, “to show one or two, it’s not worthy. It’ll wear me out.” Letting people come on their own was out of the question (they might damage the art), as was having regular public hours (it’s a zoning issue, he said, and the neighbors would never go for it). Strauss declined to respond to a list of follow-up questions that I sent after the tour.

A couple months from turning 90, Strauss was more focused on the big picture. Sooner or later, he said, he plans to give away most of the collection, which he estimates to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Most of his personal collection will go to the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, while the foundation’s assets will go to the University of California, San Diego under a deal that is in the process of being finalized.

As we made our way through the gallery, Strauss paused before a reproduction of a Life magazine cover featuring the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. Did anything catch my eye about it, he asked.

I stared for a moment.

“Why don’t you knock on it,” he suggested. “Maybe that’ll help you.”

Strauss sensed my hesitation to touch the art — he wanted me to see it was made of metal — and tried to put me at ease.

“You’re not supposed to,” he chuckled. “But this is my museum!”

For this story, ProPublica reviewed a nationwide database of parcels provided by the real estate data analytics firm Regrid to find homes owned by private foundations.

WYANDOTTE, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Parents and residents in the city of Wyandotte have raised concerns over a 5G antenna at an elementary school.

 Judges issues preliminary injunction on controversial 5G Wyandotte antenna - CBS Detroit (cbsnews.com)

MySchooBucks Lawsuit

 

Story v. Heartland

This case is a class action on behalf of, possibly, millions of parents at more than 30,000 schools. alleging that Heartland Payment Systems—a private company that contracts with school districts to allow parents to pay for their children’s school lunches and other school fees online—defrauded parents into believing that the extra fees Heartland charges were going to their children’s school, when in fact they were going straight into Heartland’s pocket.

Not long after this lawsuit was filed, Heartland undertook a series of dubious procedural maneuvers with the explicit goal of trying to prevent this lawsuit from going forward—and prevent any other parents from ever being able to file another one.  First, Heartland used the named plaintiff’s account information—information the company only had because the named plaintiff is a parent who used Heartland to pay for school fees—and attempted to deposit $40,000 into his bank account, without permission. In other words, Heartland attempted to buy off the named plaintiff—without even asking him. The named plaintiff rejected this attempt. Nevertheless, Heartland has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit anyway, arguing that the case is now somehow moot simply because it tried to pay off the named plaintiff. We disagree that a failed attempt to buy off a named plaintiff is sufficient to moot a class action.

Second, Heartland set about trying to prevent other parents from participating in this lawsuit—or filing a lawsuit of their own. Soon after this lawsuit was filed, Heartland updated the terms of service on its  website to include a retroactive arbitration provision and class waiver, which purport to prohibit anyone who uses Heartland to pay for their kids’ school lunches, from ever bringing claims against Heartland in court or ever participating as a class member in a lawsuit brought by someone else . Heartland’s new terms specifically state that this prohibition applies to lawsuits that have already been filed—including this one. There is no way for parents to reject these new terms, and, in fact, Heartland has said that if parents don’t like the new terms, their only choice is to stop using Heartland—i.e. stop using the only company their school contracts with to pay these fees online. Courts have repeatedly rejected similar attempts by defendants to force potential class members to give up their rights. We’re fighting Heartland’s efforts to do that here.

Not only is this case important to the millions of parents who use Heartland to pay their schools, it’s important to the preservation of access to justice more generally. We’re seeing with alarming frequency companies like Heartland resort to, essentially, dirty tricks to try to avoid being held accountable in court—attempts to end a class action by buying off the named plaintiff, even against the named plaintiff’s will or to force new terms of service on customers or employees, who have no way of rejecting them, that purport to prohibit them from participating in a lawsuit that’s already been filed. We hope that the court in this case, and courts seeing these same tactics in other cases, will recognize the threat these efforts pose to access to justice and to the integrity of the judicial system.

Public Justice attorneys Jennifer Bennett and Stevie Glaberson are co-counsel in the case with Varnell & Warwick.

Story v. Heartland | Public Justice

FYI: 2019 Lawsuit alleges lunch payment service used by @mcps @mocoboe defrauded parents

Families in D.C., Maryland and Virginia could be pulled into a class-action lawsuit that’s been filed against an online lunch payment service being accused of pocketing money parents believed was going to their children’s schools.

Heartland Payment Systems, which owns and operates MySchoolBucks, is the subject of the lawsuit filed in the spring by Florida resident Max Story. He says Heartland misled him into believing program fees associated with the service were going to his child’s school.

With the lawsuit, families are “seeking damages and remedies to get back the money they paid that they shouldn’t have had to based on the fraud,” said Jennifer Bennett, Story’s attorney. “It turns out that it was Heartland, itself, that was charging fees, and none of the money was going to schools.”..

...D.C. Public Schools, as well as Prince George’s, Montgomery, Fairfax and several other counties in Maryland and Virginia, use MySchoolBucks. The service is optional in many schools, but families who opt in use it to pay for meals and before- and after-school programs.

The lawsuit revolves around a $2.49 program fee that took effect in 2017 and accompanies every MySchoolBucks transaction. The fee is lower in Montgomery County Public Schools, where users pay $1.95, according to the district’s website.

Heartland, in its Terms of Service agreement, told parents their schools may charge them a fee to use the service, according to the lawsuit filed in May...

https://wapo.st/3OfFDwT

Opinion U.S. surgeon general: I am concerned about social media and youth mental health

 

Vivek H. Murthy is the surgeon general of the United States.

“It’s a different kind of love, the love you have for your children,” my father would often say when I was growing up. When I became a parent and found myself hovering over my children’s cribs late at night to make sure they were okay, I understood. Nothing is more important than keeping our kids safe and giving them every chance to grow and thrive. As they reach adolescence, this means paying attention to how social media can affect their health and well-being.

When I travel around the country talking with parents, the No. 1 question they ask me has to do with social media: “Is it safe for my kids?” Nearly 70 percent of parents say their job is harder now than it was for parents 20 years ago, mainly because of technology and social media...

Opinion | U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy warns of social media for kids - The Washington Post

Howard County Schools gives $81 million contract to 'green' bus company that uses diesel buses

Howard County, Md. — Howard County public schools is facing criticism for awarding a contract worth $81 million to a bus company out of California.

The move is raising concerns among local companies who worry their school bus drivers will be forced off the road and out of a job.

“It hits pretty hard. It's taken a lot out of us,” said Jared Defibaugh, who owns Blue Horizons, a local transportation company.

Defibaugh says his family-owned company has been driving Howard County students to and from school for 52 years. But he’s not sure if there will be a 53rd year...

 Howard County Schools gives $81 million contract to green bus company that uses diesel | WBFF (foxbaltimore.com)

MCPS Electric School Bus Company Leaves Maryland

 

Remember when Superintendent Jack R. Smith told the Board of Education they were contracting with an electric school bus company with an Annapolis address?  

ADOPTED Cont Apprv RFP 9462.1 Electrification Sch Buses.pdf (boarddocs.com)

That company has left Maryland now.  They got their Maryland Energy Administration Grant and moved to Massachusetts.