Joshua Starr got a raise!

On July 16, 2013, the Board of Education had the following discussion in a CLOSED SESSION:

Discussed compensation for the superintendent of schools whose compensation is not covered by a salary schedule in any negotiated agreement, as permitted under Section 10-508(a)(1) of the State Government Article.

Looks like the Superintendent got a raise!  But, the discussion was in Closed Session so taxpayers will never know.  Well, that is, until we get the bill.

Here's Superintendent Joshua Starr's contract.  See Page 4, Section 4-B for the statement that it is "presumed the Board will grant an annual increase in the salary paid to the Superintendent..."

  Contract offered to Joshua Starr May 10, 2011 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

"The name Montessori is not legally protected, and unfortunately can be used by anyone without oversight."

Source of quote in title of this blog post:  Montessori International website. 

Neither Crossway nor the MCPS Community Montessori Charter School are registered with any Montessori chartering organization. 

Here are the 3 Montessori organizations:

• AMI (Association Montessori International):                http://www.amiusa.org/school-locator-2/
• AMS (American Montessori Society):   http://www.amshq.org/School%20Resources/Find%20a%20School.aspx
• NAMTA (North American Montessori Teachers Association ) School Directory list, with certification and class levels listed - USA and International. http://www.montessori-namta.org/School-Directory

Crossway and Community Montessori Charter School are not listed as members of any of these organizations.  

Why did the Montgomery County Board of Education approve the name of their one charter school to include the name "Montessori" if the school is not an accredited Montessori school?

Board wants to Condemn More Property. Remember last condemnation? What happened to swap?

On Monday, July 29, 2013, Board of Education Agenda:

Resolved, That the Board of Education authorizes initiation of condemnation proceedings to acquire Pulte Home Corporation’s interest in the parcel adjacent to the current William H. Farquhar Middle School site because the land is needed for the modernization of William H. Farquhar Middle School under Option Two, approved by the Board of Education on September 13, 2011, and the site’s owner and Montgomery County Public Schools have been unable to reach agreement with Pulte Home Corporation to convey its interest in the property...

Now, let's recall the last time the BOE went to court to condemn a property. What happened?  The BOE had to pay MORE than they had offered for the land. So, the BOE got the land, but at a huge cost to taxpayers!

Now, the BOE wants the Pulte property.  They have apparently made an offer and Pulte has said no.  So the Superintendent wants the BOE to go to court again! (Pulte is smart to say no. The land was set aside as part of open space for a housing development under construction.)

Remember also that the BOE had said they could just "swap" the Pulte property for the Farquhar property.  That was back when the BOE had been told that the Pulte property had already been transferred to Park and Planning.

Remember this bad information from MCPS staff?  The BOE used this bad information to make their decision.

http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2011/09/fact-check-board-got-fact-or-fiction.html

The BOE got bad information from MCPS staff, made a bad decision, and now the BOE is going to go to court.  Who is paying for the wrong information, bad decisions and litigation?  You are.

Washington Post: June’s final exams in math show more failure in Montgomery

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/grades-are-in-junes-final-exams-in-math-show-more-failure-in-montgomery/2013/07/26/6854692e-f577-11e2-9434-60440856fadf_story.html?hpid=z3

For another semester, Montgomery County high school students flunked their final exams in math courses in startlingly high numbers, according to new figures that show failure rates of 71 percent for Geometry and 68 percent for Algebra 1.

 [...]

 Board of Education member Patricia O’Neill said she found the scores disappointing and saw them as an indication that “our high-achieving students are doing pretty well, and our lower-achieving kids are doing terrible.”

Somebody please give Ms. O'Neill a bonus for that profound observation.

‘My trust is broken,’ mother says, by school under investigation

Gazette:  Rock Terrace parents express frustration over handling of work-study funds

...For Sara Sadeghi, the situation has been motivation enough to pull her son out of Rock Terrace, though he would have graduated in 2014.
“My trust is broken,” she said in front school system officials and fellow parents. “I don’t trust him to be in this school anymore.”...

Starr Skips Rock Terrace School Meeting, Then Leaves for 2 Week Vacation

“We’ve lost all trust in the school system and this administration,”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/rock-terrace-parents-want-answers-apologies-transparency-say-theyve-lost-trust-in-school/2013/07/26/a994fc2a-f570-11e2-aa2e-4088616498b4_story.html

Rock Terrace School Parent: "Principal ate Lobster Tail"

Rock Terrace Parent question to MCPS Chief Operating Officer Larry Bowers at July 25, 2013, Rock Terrace School meeting:  "In the past the kids, most of the class would go to Ocean City... A 3 day weekend... I know that most of the kids couldn't spend more than $5 on lunch and they had to go to McDonalds while the principal ate lobster tail. My question is  when they went to England and only 5 students could afford to go but about 12 staff members went didn't that raise some red flags somewhere?"

Analysis: Federal audit questions state spending on several programs

Analysis: Federal audit questions state spending on several programs

WTOP: 'Trust broken' as Rock Terrace School investigation continues

http://www.wtop.com/41/3401237/Trust-broken-as-Rock-Terrace-School-investigation-continues

Maryland 2013 Grade 8 Reading MSA Scores by County

LEA Name	Grade 8 Reading 2013
Worcester	91.56118143
Howard	90.78525641
Carroll	90.54192229
Calvert	89.82785603
Queen Anne's	89.2733564
Montgomery	88.14655172
Frederick	87.73234201
Washington	85.75721154
Anne Arundel	85.44292562
Harford	85.24766691
Garrett	84.46601942
Caroline	83.68983957
Kent	81.75675676
Talbot	81.02893891
All Public Schools	81.02877303
Saint Mary's	80.26101142
Wicomico	79.57746479
Baltimore County	79.3404847
Charles	78.23807027
Allegany	77.2046589
Cecil	76.84391081
SEED	76.31578947
Somerset	75.75757576
Prince George's	71.39382145
Dorchester	70.91503268
Baltimore City	62.04718558

Math:  http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2013/07/maryland-2013-grade-8-math-msa-scores.html

What does your out of office message say?

Its 10 pm on a Thursday night, and I just sent an email to Dr. Starr.

I'm fairly confident that Dr. Starr is not in the office today, so I was surprised to get the following response back within seconds of hitting "send."

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

Joshua Starr

10:05 PM

Thank you for writing. I appreciate you taking the time to contact me. I
do read all messages that are sent to me and share them with the
appropriate staff so that they may respond to you soon. Due to the volume of email I receive, I am not able to personally respond to each one.

Josh Starr

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

Thanks Josh for the prompt response - I am looking forward to the appropriate staff's equally prompt response.

PUBLIC SCHOOL IS FREE IN MARYLAND, THAT INCLUDES MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Today's article in The Washington Post puts out more bad information from Montgomery County Public Schools.

One more time, PUBLIC SCHOOL IS FREE in Maryland.  Anything that is directly related to the curriculum must be available to all students without charge!  The law is set by the Maryland Constitution and the Maryland Legislature.

The Montgomery County Board of Education does not make the law that governs how our public schools are run.

Note that in the statement below from today's Post article the Board of Education attorney does not use Maryland law to justify curricular fees.  What she says it that the Board of Education charges fees because they decided to do it on their own.

The following was included in today's Washington Post article:

"In a written response to The Washington Post’s inquiry about parent concerns, Montgomery schools attorney Judy Bresler wrote: “With regard to FAPE and special education, the school system is allowed to charge incidental fees that are normally charged to non-disabled students, unless—and this is important—it is specifically outlined in their Individualized Education Program (IEP). Generally, we can—and do—charge fees to non-disabled students to defray costs when the item they are using or getting becomes their property. This is consistent with the MCPS Policy on curricular expenses.”
Bresler gave an example of a student building a birdhouse for woodworking class. If the student takes the birdhouse home, the school can charge for the wood. Same for a student in a culinary arts class. If a student is using ingredients to prepare a meal, and will then eat that meal or take it home, the school can charge a fee.
“The same scenario would apply to a special education student, although it could vary depending on the specifics of the child’s IEP,” Bresler said."

HERE'S THE TRUTH.  

THE ACTUAL LAW AS STATED BY THE MARYLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE.

If your child is charged a fee for anything directly related to the curriculum, just say no! MCPS cannot legally force you to pay an illegal fee! 

  KameenOAGLetter by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

“To me it is unconscionable...that they would...charge parents for something that should be free to them on the outset.”

As Montgomery County schools and state officials continue to investigate allegations of financial mismanagement at a school for disabled students, special-education advocates say parents should also be asking themselves whether their children were denied a “free and appropriate public education” as required by federal law.
It is a question parents will likely confront district officials with Thursday night at a meeting to discuss allegations of financial mismanagement at Rock Terrace School in Rockville.
“Asking parents to contribute to part of what is considered the curriculum violates the ‘F’ part of free,” said Leslie Seid Margolis, a managing attorney for the Maryland Disability Law Center. “To me it is unconscionable in the guise of this program that they would set this up and use the money for community outings and still charge parents for something that should be free to them on the outset.”

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/questions-remain-over-rock-terrace-investigation/2013/07/25/f38870d4-e7fe-11e2-aa9f-c03a72e2d342_story.html

The Sentinel: Parent Protests Classroom Trailers

...Cory Siansky, father of two Gaithersburg Elementary students, attended the Board of Education’s meeting on Tuesday to object to the construction plan and to offer alternative solutions.
“We’re wasting money, and you’re putting student safety at risk in the process, and it’s 100 percent avoidable,” Siansky said in his prepared remarks. Noting that nearby Washington Grove Elementary, which also feeds into Gaithersburg High School, was projected to be under-enrolled by 204 students, Siansky proposed Gaithersburg’s fourth and fifth grade classes be transferred to Washington Grove, or boundaries be changed to bring some students from all grades at Gaithersburg Elementary to Washington Grove.  He urged the board to adopt one of these proposals before the start of the new school year...

The Sentinel

Breaking News: Vendor Protests MCPS Bid Award

A vendor appealed the award of a contract by the Montgomery County Board of Education to the State Board of Education.  The vendor can now appeal the decision below. 

Because the Maryland legislature is so protective of decisions of local Boards of Education the appeal period for these decisions is just 30 days.  Not many people, vendors or citizens will even realize that a Board of Education has made a decision within 30 days.  That extremely short time frame protects Maryland Boards of Education from many legal challenges. 

  Vend Natural,Inc. v. Board of Education by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

WTOP: Prosecutors investigate mishandling of disabled student stipends

WASHINGTON - The record keeping was admittedly sloppy, but was a crime committed?
That's the focus of a two-track investigation into the financial dealings at a Montgomery County public school for students with disabilities...

http://www.wtop.com/46/3399335/Prosecutors-investigative-mishandling-of-disabled-student-stipends

Acting principal named for Rock Terrace School

http://www.gazette.net/article/20130724/NEWS/130729566/1124/acting-principal-named-for-rock-terrace-school&template=gazette

Rock Terrace School 2011 Audit

WTOP reported on June 22, 2013, that the Rock Terrace School was audited in 2011.  Below is a copy of that audit.

From the WTOP report:

The audit covering the period from August 2008 to September 2011 also found:

• Payments for gift cards were found, but there was no record of the recipients.

• A PlayStation, a Nintendo 3DS, and nine iPod Shuffles were paid for with school funds, but there was no record of who received them.

• A form used to reconcile ticket sales for the prom or the SGA dance wasn't prepared for FY 2010.

• The school collected money from more students than invoiced by MCPS for Outdoor Education.

• An advance was given to the sponsor of the senior trip with all expenditures documented, except for cash given to chaperones in the amount of $410. The memo went on to say, "All expenditures from an advance need to be documented with receipts or invoices and any remainder returned to the school."

  2011 Rock Terrace by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

State BOE: Starr's Statements were not "disrespectful, prejudicial, or hateful"

  Maryland State BOE Opin. No. 13 40 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland