Emily's Lessons for Writing Curriculum

Did you ever wonder what goes in to Montgomery County Public Schools decision to write curriculum?

Special ed parents, science families, parents with family members who are academically advanced - wouldn't you like the ability to write some of your child's lessons? Take note from Emily and Mitch Rales.

In addition to seeking MCPS assistance in getting a sewer line put in to their Potomac/Gaithersburg property, they write curricular matters too! What a resource. Invite Dr. Starr and the County Council to your house, and you can have a say as to what is in your child's classroom.

But you better hope that those with other types of political agendas get there first. Just think if the sex ed folks invited Josh and the Board of Education to tea. We might have an entirely different high school health class.

Get on the schedule early. Who knew that this was easier than trying to get testimony in public comments before the Board of Education?

Here's the documentation:

2012 Glen Stone 5

Dude, Put Some Elbow Grease on That Thing!

by Joseph Hawkins 

After one year on the job, one thing is clear about Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr: He never misses the opportunity to preach the importance of MCPS students mastering “21^st century” skills. Here is a typical Starr 21^st century drumbeat on the issue: 

"True, the schools must teach hard skills—math, science, reading—but it's what he calls ‘21st-century skills’  that need to be emphasized as well. Problemsolving, understanding complex problems and working in groups are skills that will allow us to compete on the global landscape. These are the skills that lead to innovation.” ...

Rockville Patch article continues here.

Guest Post: LTISD pays Fieldturf $779k / MCPS pays Fieldturf $1.1mil for same thing

...The field turf is a separate project and was $779,307, with a total of five bids coming in for the project with FieldTurf winning the bidding...

http://laketravisview.com/2012/08/01/new-turf-baseball-lights-press-box-projects-complete-at-lake-travis/

Note - the 779k is a turnkey price.  Includes the sub-base and turf field.  It is also for FieldTurf's new upgraded "Revolution" product...

Where did the extra $300k go?  This is what happens when you circumvent a proper competitive bid process.

Here's a closer example!   

...As per the motion, the board entered into contracts with Field Turf to install the artificial surface ($699,000)...

http://www.tnonline.com/2012/feb/14/turf-field 

just 187 miles north of Montgomery County but they pay $400k less...

--------------

The Parents' Coalition received this Guest Post on the issue of MCPS' sole source arrangement for purchases of artificial turf.  The Montgomery County Council has already held their "hearing" on artificial turf procurement. Cost is not an issue for the Montgomery County Council.

MCPS implements new athletics heat policy

Silver Chips Online:  New precautions are taken for fall tryouts to avoid heat and health issues

Schools Matter: Public Education Being Set on Fire

Schools Matter: Public Education Being Set on Fire: Colleges of education can no longer hide the truth about what's in store for future public school teachers. Barbara Madeloni at UMASS Am...

“I don’t think we are ever going to balance our budget on the back of student fees

School fees a growing burden for families

Audio: County Council Hearing on Artificial Turf

Remember when Councilmember Roger Berliner decided that the previously scheduled video feed of the Montgomery County Council's artificial turf hearing on September 26, 2011, should be turned off? 
The Parents' Coalition obtained the AUDIO of the Council's hearing and the Power Point Presentation.

It is a sad day when an elected official decides to restrict the access of the public to a discussion of the spending of millions of dollars of public funds. So much for transparency and open government in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Therefore, for your information, the Parents' Coalition has obtained and uploaded the audio of the September 26, 2011, Montgomery County Council artificial turf hearing to Dropbox and made it available to public. We have also uploaded the Power Point Presentation from the hearing to Scribd. 

Questions for today:  Did Councilmember Riemer ever obtain the results of the Lead Testing? Did the Council ever obtain results of any ground water samples? 

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Not listed on the Work Group Power Point is the FieldTurf Representative John McShane. However, we know that Mr. McShane was on the Artificial Turf Work Group e-mails. 

September 26, 2011

Montgomery County Council

Joint Hearing on Artificial Turf

Audio at this Dropbox link.

Berliner (intro):  we will do our due diligence - informal staff working group

3:00 will study it more

3:32 primarily education committee

5:40 Joe Lavorgna will "MC" the meeting

6:15 Joe Lavorgna introduces panel including staff from Soccer Plex

9:35  Park Departments says Laytonia Park will have an artificial turf field. They will have NikeGrind for infill. NikeGrind is in FieldTurf's new product.  And artificial turf for old Wheaton outdoor ice rink.

25:00 low risk to human health

39:00 Berliner met with Working Group

50:00 Berliner who but a parent cares more about their kids

50:44 Dr. Kathleen Michaels response

1:11:00  Levchenko - environmental costs to using natural fields

1:16:11 Rice - friends who played in NFL - players tend to favor natural grass

1:22:00 Berliner - we need to be doing the kind of testing we are going to do on ground water - our county is not EPA - we are not State of California

1:23:00 Riemer - who do I follow up about lead testing? James Song will provide results as they become available...

T&E 9 26 11 AT slides

MCPS Would Have Sacked Tebow

Parents in Montgomery County have to be ready to hire a lawyer and fight their public school system for special education services.  The Montgomery County Board of Education has outside law firms on open (no bid) contracts to litigate against any and all families that seek special education services.  How would the Tebow's have fared if they had lived here and enrolled their son in MCPS? 

New York Post:  Dyslexia could never sack Jets' Tebow

Lets do lunch - and please have your boss sign a letter supporting my sewer

To be fair, its not clear whether Linda Adams had lunch with Emily Rales or whether she just got her own private tour of the mansion posing as an art museum.

But - what is clear from reading the emails provided in a request under the Maryland Public Information Act, is this:

1. Linda Adams, the MCPS Supervisor for Arts visited Glenstone with Elizabeth Stuart, another MCPS staff member (see March 16 2012 email)

2. She was so excited that she shared this information with Brian Edwards (on March 19 email from Adams)

3. The Glenston-MCPS collaboration is exciting, but

4. Could Josh Starr please help out and write a letter (March 19 email from Emily Rales)

Note that the collaboration at this time simply involves a visit between Linda Adams and Emily Rales. No student visits, no teacher visits, nothing but a promise.   Unless you count the September party Mitch Rales held to welcome Josh to the County.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if any MCPS parent could get a simple request before Dr. Starr by simply inviting him or someone from MCPS over for a cup of coffee?

Lesson to MCPS parents and staff.  Next time you have a request, invite Josh or one of his staffers to your home for a visit, and you can ask for anything.
2012 Glen Stone 4

Where are County Elected Officials this week?

They are at the Maryland Association of Counties Summer Conference. 

Follow their activities on Twitter by using #MACoCon.

And, don't forget to thank the sponsors of this conference.  First, and foremost, you the taxpayer, and then...

http://conduitstreet.mdcounties.org/2012/08/13/thank-you-to-the-sponsors-of-the-2012-maco-summer-conference/

Bethesda: Outdoor classroom for you!

Silver Spring? Tricked and gets parking lot instead.  Maybe the Board of Education will make it up to the Silver Spring school by giving them a nice cell phone tower.

Gazette:  Westbrook Elementary in Bethesda to gain new gym, classrooms

...The $13 million expansion, which is being managed by HESS Construction and Engineering Services, also will more than double on-site parking at the school, modify the bus loop to accommodate more buses, and replace aging playground equipment.
To facilitate outdoor classes, the courtyard will feature a tiered seating area built into the ground, said Principal Rebecca Jones. Construction began about three and a half months ago...

WBAL - Roll Call Votes on SB1 Gaming Expansion Bill

WBAL:  House Roll Call Vote [Showing only members of the Montgomery County Delegation below.]

...On Tuesday Night, August 14, the House of Delegates voted 71-58 to approve SB1 "Gaming Expansion-Video Lottery Terminals and Table Games"...

Voting Yes

Sam Arora

Kumar Barve

Bonnie Cullison

Kathleen Dumais

Brian Feldman

Bill Frick

Sheila Hixon

Anne Kaiser

Ben Kramer

Eric Luedtke

Kirill Reznik

Jeff Waldstreicher

Craig Zucker

Voting No

Charles Barkley

Jim Gilchrist

Arianna Kelly

Susan Lee

Heather Mizeur

Shane Robinson

Luiz Simmons

Aruna Miller

Delegates Absent

Alfred Carr (D)

Ana Sol Guttierrrez (D)

Tom Hucker (D)

Senate Roll Call

On Wednesday morning , August 15, the Maryland Senate voted 32-14 to approve SB1 "Gaming Expansion-Video Lottery Terminals and Table Games"

Voting Yes

Jennie Forehand

Rob Garagiola

Nancy King

Richard Madaleno

Roger Manno

Democrats Voting No

Brian Frosh

Karen Montgomery

Jamie Raskin

Fairfax Co. schools to repay feds $1m after falsifying grant application

Lisa Gartner 

Fairfax County Public Schools is repaying $1 million to the federal government after forging signatures on an application for grant money the school system used to help at-risk students prepare for college and careers.The U.S. Department of Education wanted a multimillion-dollar fine and other penalties under the False Claims Act, but after more than eight years of discussions the Justice Department settled with the Northern Virginia school system...

 Examiner: http://lite.washingtonexaminer.com/?p=20071

Judge Halts Plan for Soccer Fields on Potomac Organic Farm

A Circuit Court judge Tuesday nullified a lease agreement between Montgomery County and Montgomery County Public Schools that would give the county the right to build soccer fields on an organic farm in Potomac...
...Circuit Court Judge Robert Greenburg today granted a stay, halting plans for Montgomery County to take back organic farmer Nick Maravell's farm on the land, as appeals of school board decisions play out. The decision came hours after Gov. Martin O'Malley issued a statement on the controversy in favor of the organic farm.
"It effectively means that the county does not have a lease until the stay is lifted," said Maravell's attorney, Jim Parsons of Rockville...
...Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett had no comment as of Tuesday afternoon, according to county spokesperson Donna Bigler...

Read PATCH article at this link.

PATCH: O'Malley: Killing Potomac Organic Farm for Soccer Fields 'Big Mistake'

It's an election year, and so we have the following news:

PATCH article:  http://potomac.patch.com/articles/breaking-governor-o-malley-soccer-fields-on-brickyard-a-big-mistake

Letter to Governor O'Malley here.

Governor O'Malley's response to the Montgomery County Board of Education is below:

08-12-12 Brandman CE Leggett Final Letter

Unless two pending court cases stay the county's scheduled move onto the Brickyard site, Nick's Organic Farm will be evicted Thursday.

PATCH:   Nick's Organic Farm, Brickyard Educational Farm Set to Close Doors Thursday

...The Open Government ControversyThe county’s plan was an unwelcome shock to the community as well.  It is widely alleged by citizens groups including the West Montgomery County Citizens Association, the Brickyard Coalition and others that the plan resulted from backroom deals. County Executive Isiah Leggett was accused by citizens groups of false practices and political motives but he has firmly denied the allegations.
Montgomery County has been found in violation of open government mandates multiple times throughout the controversy. County discussion of plans to put soccer fields at the Brickyard site has been reported as far back as 2009, with closed meeting discussions continuing through 2010,according to Gazette reports.Email messages from February 2011 between county officials and Montgomery County Public Schools indicate that the school board was aware that the Potomac community would heavily oppose a decision to lease the land to the county for soccer fields but that both parties went along with the lease agreement anyway. The emails also urge the county to begin the public notification process as quickly as possible.
A Feb. 3, 2011 message from Cynthia Brenneman, director of the county's real estate office in the Department of General Services, to DGS Director David Dise states that BOE was hesitant to sign a lease without having notified the public. In an email dated two weeks later, on Feb. 14, 2011, Brenneman reiterated the BOE's issue with public process to Dise.
"They [the school board] really do have a concern that we haven't notified the community yet. I think they believe the outcry will be so overwhelming that we won't proceed," Brenneman wrote.The first record of public notice of the county's intentions for the land came a month later, when the BOE informed Maravell that his lease to farm the land would not be renewed. At the March 8, 2011 BOE meeting the board heard comments from the public and ultimately decided to sign a lease with the county.
The first public hearing on the Brickyard soccer field project was held in April of 2011.
The Maryland Open Meetings Law Compliance Board stated in July of 2011 that Montgomery County residents were not made sufficiently aware of the proceedings. In July of this year, three citizens' groups won a lawsuit alleging Montgomery County failed to turn over documents the residents sought in a campaign to keep the organic farm from being turned into soccer fields.
The Montgomery County Circuit Court sided with the West Montgomery County Citizens' Association, the Civic Association of River Falls and the Brickyard Coalition in ordering Leggett to repeat a search for public documents related to the county’s planning for the soccer field project...

Throw me a party and I'll Sign Your Letter

A few weeks ago, this blog posted about a letter drafted by Dr. Starr concerning Mitchell Rales's request for a public sewer line to his estate in Potomac.

This looked sort of silly - after all, why would a Superintendent of Schools care about the state of the septic system at Glenstone?

More than we even knew. Apparently, all it takes is a few cookies to get Dr. Starr's attention.

When Dr. Starr was new in town, Mitch Rales thought he could do some partying with a purpose. His goal - "introduce him to arts-academic-business people who might not get to meet him otherwise." See August 12, 2012 email from his PR guru, Charlie (all references are to documents at the end of this post).

Funny - but looks as if Dr. Starr probably knew most of the folks who showed up.

-Three Board of Education members - Laura Berthiaume, Shirley Brandman, and Pat O'Neill
-Four County Council members (Andrews, Berliner, Ervin, and Riemer)
-At least two MCCPTA officers
(I thought you folks interviewed him for the job?)

-Six MCPS staff members
(Mr. Edwards - don't you and the rest of these folks see Dr. Starr at work?)

And the rest of the crowd?

Montgomery County Economic Development (two persons), MoCo Planning Board (three members), higher education reps in Montgomery Co (five), state representatives and delegates (two), and a few family members, staff, and friends (at least four by my count).

Can you locate the "business people who might not get to meet [Dr. Starr]?" I had trouble identifying them, perhaps someone else can help out.

I am sure everyone at the party had a great time.

Here is my question.  Is this a new way to conduct business by the Board of Ed, the County Council, and the Planning Board?   Looks to me like a way to make some deals, out of the public view.

Or is sharing a few cookies and drinks and then signing a letter to support the Rales's application for a sewer line no big deal, among friends?

After all, think of the great parties we can have after the Rales get their sewer line. But - if you go, remember, no blogging, because Mr. Rales prohibits bloggers from visiting his premises.
Glenstone

MCPS FY12 Year End Surplus Report

3.3.1 FY 2012 Op Budget Year-End Finan Rpt

The world of big-dollar school construction in D.C. is pretty cozy.

From Loose Lips (Alan Suderman) at the City Paper.

The world of big-dollar school construction in D.C. is pretty cozy.

How cozy? Two private firms are effectively awarding school contracts to their partners on other construction projects. That’s like two judges on American Idol having side-gig bands with some of the contestants.

For the next six years, the city is set to spend about $300 million a year on school renovation and construction projects. Two private construction management firms, McKissack & McKissack and Brailsford & Dunlavey, are helping the District government oversee all that spending. The firms’ responsibilities includes evaluating proposals and picking winners for city contracts with construction companies and architecture firms.

The two firms have had this job since 2007, when they won a contract ultimately worth tens of millions from the newly created Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization. That office, headed by Allen Lew, had a virtual blank check to fix up the city’s broken schools. When Vince Gray was elected mayor, he made Lew his city administrator and Lew created the Department of General Services, where McKissack and Brailsford continue in their role as contract pickers.

How does that role work? In one instance last December, a three-member panel met in private to decide how to dole out more than $50 million in school renovation projects. The panel, according to records filed with the D.C. Council, included Philip Artin, a senior vice president at McKissack who is a close friend of Lew’s; Will Mangrum, a senior vice president from Brailsford; and a District government project manager, Eupert Braithwaite.

To read the entire article go here.

MCPS can't install 1 dishwasher, FCPS renovates an entire kitchen

In Montgomery County Public Schools a group of students have been advocating for a dishwasher in their school cafeteria for over 3 years.  The Board of Education has said no to their dishwasher pilot project.  But, over in Fairfax County Public Schools...a whole new school kitchen is being piloted.  

The Washington Post: Fairfax schools push for more healthful food

...Students at George C. Marshall High School will have access by next year to a commodity not available to most of their peers in Fairfax County: a made-from-scratch school lunch......Most school kitchens across the county are equipped only to warm pre-cooked meals, not to cook them from scratch. The board told the food division to set aside $100,000 to test whether and how schools might prepare meals fresh on site.
The money will go toward renovating the kitchen at Marshall High next June, officials decided recently. Parent advocates and school officials are working to figure out what kind of equipment they need to buy and what kind of menus they can realistically offer...