As parents, community and staff were meeting as a committee to design a modernized Edison High School, MCPS staff was making changes behind the scenes. The committee saw a change to the building's design at the April 12, 2012 meeting, that was to have been the last of the series of design meetings. Below is an e-mail from an Edison High School parent about that change.
From: Theresa Defino
To: boe <boe@mcpsmd.org>
Cc: Joshua_Starr <Joshua_Starr@mcpsmd.org>
Sent: Thu, May 10, 2012 4:26 pm
Subject: follow-up on Edison/Wheaton designs
Thank you to the board members who spoke on behalf of Edison [High School] at your recent business meeting.
To provide further clarity on the issue, I have attached the presentation from the April 24, 2012 design meeting (our last). I ask that you spend a minute to look at pages 21-23, focusing on the area on the left where there is a flag.
Page 21 has the original design with the corner, which you can see altered in 22 and again on 23. As you know, the change was ordered by MCPS staff. We are still not in receipt of any detailed justifications for the change.
We believe the original design is cleaner and more attractive, and contributes to the "wow" factor that we all want a building to have that is unique in the county and will last for 50-100 years.
Keep in mind these designs are the result of multimillion contract with Grimm + Parker. This is a top-notch, highly-regarded firm that has done many projects for MCPS.
Overall, we are extremely pleased with their work and the plans for the schools. But staff, students, parents and the community we deserve a building that demonstrates the best that they have to offer, both professionally and creatively. We believe the angle should remain as proposed.
Thank you.
Theresa Defino
Edison Parent
Friday, May 11, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Leggett Finds $12,000, Pays Lease on Brickyard Middle School Property now Sub-Leased to MSI
Press Release from the Brickyard Coalition:
...In further violation of the public trust, Ike Leggett also directed David Dise, Director of Department of General Services, to prepay the Board of Education $12,000 to cover the entire remaining lease payments for the Brickyard property for the eight year period from April, 2013 through March, 2021, despite the lease requirement for only annual payments...PR _5-10-12_
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Pearson Forgot About Montgomery County, Maryland
In a May 7, 2012, Letter to the Editor in The New York Times, the Chief Executive of Pearson North America said:
Board of Education member Laura Berthiaume on the Pearson deal with MCPS:
Public officials define rigorous and accountable processes to buy services for public schools. States and districts publish open competitions with strict bidding and evaluation criteria. It’s highly competitive and transparent.Except in Montgomery County, Maryland where a deal to sell MCPS curriculum to Pearson; to have Pearson create all of the grade level assessments for the curriculum; and, to have Pearson prepare the teacher training was concocted completely behind closed doors without any public process or notice whatsoever.
Board of Education member Laura Berthiaume on the Pearson deal with MCPS:
"The board never took a vote to negotiate the contract with Pearson," Berthiaume said. "It was ‘Hey, we got this awesome deal, and we're going to do this.'"
Starr Infomercial for MCPS-Pearson Curriculum
One of the main goals of the MCPS curriculum deal with Pearson Education, Inc is that the curriculum will be marketed and sold to school systems all over the country under the MCPS "brand".
When sales go over a secret number (see page 20 of document at link) then MCPS will receive royalties on the sales!
It is important that MCPS use the curriculum and LIKE it! Liking the MCPS-Pearson Curriculum is good for sales!
Here's Superintendent Starr's infomercial on the MCPS-Pearson Curriculum:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/superintendent/mcpssuper/
Fingers crossed that sales will go above the secret number so MCPS can collect royalties!
When sales go over a secret number (see page 20 of document at link) then MCPS will receive royalties on the sales!
It is important that MCPS use the curriculum and LIKE it! Liking the MCPS-Pearson Curriculum is good for sales!
Here's Superintendent Starr's infomercial on the MCPS-Pearson Curriculum:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/superintendent/mcpssuper/
Fingers crossed that sales will go above the secret number so MCPS can collect royalties!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Public Comment Sparks BOE Discussion of Concussions
MontCo school officials look to stem student concussions
...Tom Hearn, a parent at Walt Whitman High School, urged the school board to consider Derek Sheely's case and the steps some colleges have taken toward preventing and treating concussions. National Football League players engage in only one full-contact practice each week during the regular season, and the league has banned two-a-days during training camp, while some college conferences also have banned two-a-days.
Concussions have been associated withchronic traumatic encephalopathy, an Alzheimer's-like disease. And last week's suicide of former NFL linebacker Junior Seau also reignited the conversation on concussions in football.
Hearn was also concerned about "subconcussive blows." The average high school football player is hit by 350 of them by graduation -- and as many as 2,200, depending on his position...Concussion Testimony to MCPS BOE 050712
Starr presentation on work in Stamford
Stamford? Starr's in Montgomery County now, but on the road talking about Stamford experience with a member of his transition team. Is Montgomery County their "next project"?
6 Takeaways for Successful Professional Learning
6 Takeaways for Successful Professional Learning
...Initial attempts at creating professional learning communities in their first project in Stamford were inconsistent because the expectations weren’t clearly established....
Guest Post: One Family's Experience with Bullying
Dear Board of Education,
I am writing to provide my comments on your draft policy, JHF, Bullying, Harassment, or Intimidation.
I am making recommendations to you that are grounded in my own family's experience.
My son was bullied extensively at Kemp Mill Elementary School. He did not tell me about it. The school administration and higher ups in MCPS were aware of the unhealthy environment in the school and did not inform me. After I learned of how my son was being bullied, our pediatrician recommended that I take him out of that environment. I requested transfer on that basis, and it was denied. Following that denial, my son lost hope, became suicidal, and was subsequently hospitalized. With the resulting expenses for psychiatry, psychology, therapy; educational testing, educational consultant, and lawyer to get an appropriate emotionally therapuetic placement for my now severely emotionally disturbed son, I had personal expenses of well over $20,000 which forced me to declare personal bankruptcy. Throughout our ordeal, my family's situation was made far worse because I had not been informed by the school of acts and situations that they were aware of. As I talked to other parents, staff, and as my son began to respond to therapy and told me of things that had been done to him at school, I informed MCPS staff, expecting that once they understood, they would take action to investigate the school and correct the abuses. However, over the course of this "discovery" time, I learned that MCPS staff were well aware of the other cases in the same school, where more than one student was being extremely bullied, by some of the same bullies (and other children who became bullies to avoid being bullied), and other students who had also became suicidal and were also hopsitalized in psychiatric institutions -- and MCPS took no action to protect my child or the other children who suffered and were at risk.
Therefore, in my view, your policy as it currently stands is severely flawed because it expects that your staff will behave ethically and responsibly. In my personal experience, they will not do so.
* You must therefore have in place a system of checks and balances that ensure that strict oversight is provided - above the level of the principal.
* The bullying forms should not be reported to the principal, but to an independent oversight office, which has full power to report, investigate, and act for the safety of the children, even if it makes the school or the system "look bad".
* Reports should be required from the school counsellor and special education staff and teaching staff that bypass the principal (their boss) and go directly to an independent oversight office. If the staff are not sure if the incident is bullying, they should be required to report it. Even seemingly small incidents, when multiplied and repeated can be severely damaging.
* Every physical assault (including strangling attempts and sexual abuse) should be required to be reported to the police by school staff. These cannot continue to be swept under the rug, the consequences to our children are too severe.
*All of the above-recommended reporting needs to be fully transparent - especially to the parents of the victims - but also to the broader community. The parents need to be informed of every instance when their child is harmed physically or emotionally. We are not in the school and we do not see what is happening. Bullied children typically do not talk about being bullied, as they are deeply scared and ashamed. The school must inform the parents. This is more likely to happen if the reports are in the hands of an independent oversight office.
*Similarly the community must be informed. The current "school safety at a glance" pages do not give an accurate view of the actual safety in a school. Parents need to understand that just because a school looks "nice" and "safe" that it does not mean that their children will be safe.
* In addition to the staff development indicated in the draft policy, all staff need to be trained to recognize severe emotional reactions, and how to handle the children when such occur. It is totally wrong to punish the victims who are breaking down. I had been informed that my son was having "tantrums" at school. He was not having tantrums, he was breaking down emotionally. Either the staff did not understand the difference, or they purposely withheld information from me. Train the staff properly so that there is no question, and inform the parents immediately.
* When a child does report that he is being bullied, do not mock or ridicule him or blame the parents. Help him.
* When a parent requests transfer because their child is bullied, take it seriously. It is not a time to think about your transfer statistics. Again, take this out of the principal's hands. Keep statistics on transfer denials. If you see that a school has a large number of transfer requests and a large number of transfer denials, investigate. This is part of checks and balances. Do not leave the fox watching the henhouse.
In summary, MCPS needs to put less power in the hands of the principal, require greater transparency, require better education of the staff (so they understand the emotional responses and recognize the seriousness of it), immediately inform parents of the victimized children, and immediately take steps to protect the victims including removing them from the bullying environment.
I am not sure that MCPS is capable of providing oversight of itself. The oversight may need to come from the State level.
Best Regards,
Patricia Seabolt
Patricia Seabolt
Monday, May 7, 2012
Any contracts to go with $1.9 million to one company?
The Board of Education likes to spend money. Details just get in the way.
At the May 8, 2012, Board of Education meeting the following expenditures will be approved without discussion.
Details? None needed.
Contracts? Why do things differently than in the past? (Just because the Agenda items "says" there are contracts, doesn't mean there actually are contracts. Don't be fooled!)
9161.3 Athletic Field Renovation—Extension**
Awardee
Walker Willis/T/A Custom Masonry $750,000
9697.1 Safety Rails—Work Platforms Projects—Extension**
Awardee
Walker Willis/T/A Custom Masonry $550,000
9701.1 Specialty Cementitious Coatings at Various Locations—Extension**
Awardee
Walker Willis/T/A Custom Masonry $600,000
"Are we prepared to hand over our children, our teachers, and our definition of knowledge to Pearson?"
By Diane Ravitch
Ever since the debacle of Pineapplegate, it is widely recognized by everyone other than the publishing giant Pearson that its tentacles have grown too long and too aggressive. It is difficult to remember what part of American education has not been invaded by Pearson’s corporate grasp. It receives billions of dollars to test millions of students. Its scores will be used to calculate the value of teachers. It has a deal with the Gates Foundation to store all the student-level data collected at the behest of Race to the Top. It recently purchased Connections Academy, thus giving it a foothold in the online charter industry. And it recently added the GED to its portfolio
With the U.S. Department of Education now pressing schools to test children in second grade, first grade, kindergarten — and possibly earlier — and with the same agency demanding that schools of education be evaluated by the test scores of the students of their graduates (whew!), the picture grows clear. Pearson will control every aspect of our education system....Ravitch: Pearson’s expanding role in education
Starr to update BOE on Pearson-MCPS Curriculum without mentioning Pearson
How to hide an elephant (pineapple) in the Board of Education meeting room.
3.0 Update on Curriculum 2.0 Implementation
3.0 Update on Curriculum 2.0 Implementation
Sunday, May 6, 2012
How safe is your child's school?
From the Montgomery County Police Weekly Crime Summary of May 3, 2012 (courtesy of Connected Communities)
http://connectedcommunities.us/showthread.php?t=49710A robbery occurred at Northwood High School, Silver Spring on Wednesday, 4/18 at 10:30 a.m. A juvenile male was robbed by suspects from whom he arranged to purchase sneakers in a restroom. The victim said that he was grabbed by the suspects who snatched his cash. The victim, fearing for his safety, fled to the cafeteria where a teacher rendered assistance. Three fellow students were identified by the victim and arrested at the school.
Arrested: Male, age 15, from Silver Spring; Male, age 16, from Aspen Hill; Male, age 16, from Silver Spring.
An attempted robbery occurred in a restroom at Paint Branch High School, 14121 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville on Tuesday, 4/17 at 1:00 p.m. The victim advised that the suspects grabbed him, searched him and attempted to remove his property. A struggle ensued and one suspect removed a chain from the victim which the victim was able to retrieve. The suspects fled the restroom and one was arrested in a class room. A second suspect was identified; no probable cause for arrest based solely on this document.
Arrested: Male, age 18, from Burtonsville;
Suspect: B/M, 15.
From the Rockville City Police Reports, week ending April 23, 2012
http://connectedcommunities.us/showthread.php?t=49677
200 block of Richard Montgomery Drive, a male juvenile age 16, was arrested for possession of a deadly weapon (knife) on school property on 04/25/12 between 9:30 a.m. and 9:45 a.m.
200 block of Richard Montgomery Drive, the complainant reported that an unknown subject(s) removed an Ipod, a pair of ear phones and U.S. currency from an unlocked locker in a locker room at a school on 04/26/12 between 2:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
From the Montgomery County Police Weekly Crime Summary of April 26, 2012
http://connectedcommunities.us/showthread.php?t=49601A robbery/assault occurred at the Highland Elementary School, 9010 Providence Avenue, Silver Spring on Tuesday, 4/17 at 6:03 p.m. The suspect assaulted the victim and obtained property.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
State to check erasures for standardized test cheating
Gazette: In wake of Baltimore scandals, technology will bring scrutiny to all schools
From now on, when Maryland students take the state’s standardized tests in the spring, it won’t be just their answers that are tallied — their eraser marks will be, too.
The Maryland Board of Public Works on Wednesday approved a $75,292 contract modification to have NCS Pearson, Inc., perform an annual in-depth analysis of pencil erasure marks on all third- through eighth-grade test booklets in the state to root out possible cheating by teachers, students or administrators.
Friday, May 4, 2012
This was done by somebody who was barely literate
The latest New Yorker Magazine has an interview with author Daniel Pinkwater regarding the furor over the Pearson test question that has been the subject of a few posts on this blog. The header quote comes directly from Mr. Pinkwater. Apparently the original tale did not include a pineapple at all, but instead had an eggplant as one of the main characters. According to Pinkwater, "If a pineapple were funnier, I would have written a pineapple in the first place.". Read the whole article here.
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