Senior Fees - Still Illegal and Still at Blair HS

The Administration at Blair HS must be slow learners.

Several years ago, I know I told the administration at Blair that you can't charge students to participate in graduation.

Yet, charge away they do.  For buses, programs, and flowers.  With a convenience fee if the student pays by credit card.

Last time I checked, Blair HS had great access to public transportation.  Why the bus?  Why ask students to come to school and ride a bus downtown.  Can't they carpool or go with their parents? What if they only want to travel one way?  Do they get a discount?

Flowers?  Flowers in DAR Constitution Hall?  Can't the school share with the other schools using the facility?

Here is information for MBHS Seniors, class of 2015.

SENIOR FEES TO INCLUDE BUS
TRANSPORTATION/PROGRAMS/FLOWERS
All students are required to ride the bus from MBHS to Constitution Hall. $20
The last day to pay for graduation expenses is December 12, 2014.
Make checks payable to MBHS. The money will be collected by Ms. Fus in
the attendance office and Ms. Norris in Room 232 during 5th and 6th
period. Please have exact change.
*There are no additional fees for graduation.
Credit Card Payments can be made online at:
http://osp.osmsinc.com/montgomeryMD/ (3.75% convenience fee added)
*Order forms may be found in the main office, Rm. 232, and online.

And the cap/gown rip off?  The school makes money off every cap/gown they sell to you.  How many other schools use RED gowns?  Black is so much simpler, and easy to recycle.

Parents at Blair and other MCPS high schools remember - your child is entitled to a free public education.  Use public transportation and skip the flowers.   But - don't let the school administrators shake you down for additional cash.

New Trend for High School Neighborhoods

Montgomery Blair HS in Silver Spring has always demonstrated its leadership among schools in Montgomery County.

What's the latest leadership trend?

Blair HS is so lucky to have a "HEAD FIRST" concussion care facility located right across University Boulevard from the school.

Now if your child plays football at Blair - no worries about whether an athletic trainer is onsite.  Your Head First concussion facility can take care of your child.

And, its not only the football team kids who may find themselves at Head First.  You never know what other challenges face your child at Blair.  This surely beats the emergency room at Holy Cross Hospital for convenience! 

Way to go Blair!

Joshua Starr wants a cell tower at another Red Zone School #celltower #loiedermanmiddleschool

The arrows show where Superintendent Starr
wants to add cell towers to red zone school playgrounds.

Superintendent Joshua Starr does love cell tower compounds on public school playgrounds!

Here's another one he wants to build. This is at least the 6th cell tower he has tried to put on a school playground and the 4th one on a Red Zone school playground.

What has the Board of Education said about these projects?  Absolutely nothing.


The minutes from the November 2013 Loiderman Middle School PTA meeting show the PTA was fed some very bad information about cell towers on MCPS land, but whatever! (Loiderman MS would never "own" the cell tower.  The money isn't distributed 50-50! MCPS takes 30%! The base of cell towers comes with a warning to stay away! And  did anyone talk about where the Wheaton HS tower is now? Bet not.)

~~~~~

From the Loiederman Middle School November 2013 PTA meeting minutes:

The meeting began with a presentation by Drew Montgomery from AT&T Cell Phone Services on
the proposed cell phone tower at Loiederman Middle School. Mr. Montgomery stated that the tower
would serve the immediate neighborhood within one square mile of Loiederman, which has a current
service “hole.”. He began his program with a PowerPoint presentation of current cell phone towers
on select MCPS campuses – some were high school football fields that took advantage of the towers
to place lights for night-time play. The tower would be placed in a 50 x 50 foot compound with
board-on-board fencing and a gated gravel access road. The 100 foot-high monopole would have a 
12 x 12 foot equipment shelter, with space for up to two additional shelters for other cell phone 
carriers. The tower would be owned by Loiederman and AT&T (and potentially two other carriers)
would pay monthly rent. The money, paid into the MCPS would be distributed, with 50% going 
directly to Loiederman and 50% going to feeder schools (e.g. Weller Road and other area
elementary schools). Use of the money is unrestricted and therefore desirable to Loiederman. Mr.
Montgomery fielded questions from parents. When the issue of radiation was brought up, he stated
that radiation was higher by putting a cell phone to one’s ear than standing next to a tower. Other
concerns were the location of the gravel road. One parent proposed installing lights for the tennis
courts. The next step is for AT&T to hold a community meeting away from Loiederman, probably in
January. Ms. Sosik will continue to welcome feedback from the Loiederman community. The
anticipated installment will occur in 6-8 months.

Gazette: Youth group says busy roads around Northwest aren’t safe

Gazette: Students look to school board for help with walking, busing issues

...Ruthanne Stoltzfus, a retired teacher who lives in Germantown, said she often stands near Seneca Valley High School after school gets out to help student pedestrians navigate the roads.
Christina Morris-Ward, a sophomore at Seneca Valley, was struck while crossing Md. 118 on her way to school in 2012. She died from her injuries.
Stoltzfus — who said she sees both distracted walkers and distracted drivers — questioned the location of the high school.
“We plant them in between Wisteria [Drive] and Middlebrook [Road] in this great, big, busy block and have them walk all over this congested area,” she said.
Last school year, two Richard Montgomery High School students were hit by cars in separate incidents. One student was struck as she walked in a crosswalk on Rockville Pike. Another student was hit while he was crossing Wootton Parkway where there was no crosswalk.
Montgomery Blair High School sits near University Boulevard and Colesville Road, an area that has seen a high number of traffic accidents, said Therese Gibson, the school’s parent, teacher, student association leader. At the beginning of each academic year, Gibson said, the school will talk to the students about pedestrian safety and the school’s closed-campus rule tied to the area’s dangerous walking conditions...

Blair HS Now Has Same Number of School Days for All Students

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has made Montgomery Blair High School cancel its freshman-only day in the upcoming 2014-15 school year to avoid confusion with starting dates among Blair students and students around the rest of the county. Blair is requiring that all students come to school Aug. 25...

 ...Blair had been the only school in the county which had the first day of the school year dedicated to allowing only ninth graders to go to school. Former Blair principal Phillip Gainous created the freshman-only day in the 1998-99 school year...

http://silverchips.mbhs.edu/story/12532

Open Meetings Act Board can improve transparency

Board can improve transparency

MCPS ended FY 14 with a year-end surplus of $17.04 million.

Montgomery County Council's Education Committee will meet on Monday, September 15th at 9:30 AM to discuss MCPS' Fiscal year 2014 year end surplus.

Details at this link:

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/Resources/Files/agenda/cm/2014/140915/20140915_ED2.pdf

Ross said his chapter is teaming up with NAACP chapters in Montgomery and Anne Arundel counties to call for a cell phone tower moratorium as they study the issue.

Gazette: Prince George’s NAACP calls for cell tower halt on school property

Cell tower fires on high school sports field #HAZMAT #wheatonhighschool #kennedyhighschool #celltowerfire

Superintendent Joshua Starr wants cell towers on public school playgrounds and fields because why?

Reminder:  Cell Tower compounds are HAZMAT locations and must register with the Montgomery County Fire Department.  

This September 13, 2014, story from Oregon shows a cell tower on fire on a high school sports fields.

If you spot smoke near 62nd & A St., it appears a cell phone tower at Thurston High School caught fire. @KEZI9 pic.twitter.com/GQKidKZwIB
— Jessica Debbas (@JessicaDebbas) September 13, 2014

And here is a story from this summer about a cell tower fire on another high school sports field.

Fire and police crews responded about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 15, to Anderson Field at Bobcat Stadium in Grandview Heights after one of its light poles caught on fire.
The fire began while a crew from Sprint was upgrading a cell tower located on top of the light pole, according to an email blast issued by Superintendent Andy Culp.

Board of Education Spent $112,569 in One Month on Law Firm Reviewing Credit Card Expenditures - Bethesda Beat

Board of Education Spent $112,569 in One Month on Law Firm Reviewing Credit Card Expenditures - Bethesda Beat

...Why would the board spend more than $128,000 in legal fees for advice on an issue in which they were criticized for improper spending in the first place?
According to Board President Phil Kauffman, who responded to a Bethesda Beat email about the issue, the board thought it was important to have an independent counsel “thoroughly examine the records to ensure that taxpayer dollars were being used appropriately.”...

 ...“Our goal always is to have reasonable legal costs and to get good advice from experts to help us make the best possible decisions,” Kauffman wrote. “I am confident that we did that here and I believe that our new processes and procedures will ultimately serve the board and public well.”...

Exclusive: Parents' Coalition Releases Cell Tower Deal Documents from Across the State

Daly Elementary School playground
Germantown, MD
The PTA and neighbors opposed
the construction of this cell tower.
The MCPS Board of Education
built the tower anyway.

The Parents' Coalition has conducted Maryland Public Information Act requests in all of the 9 public school counties in the State of Maryland that have entered into deals with the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) partner Milestone Communications.

These never before seen documents are available now only through the Parents' Coalition.  Even the local public school systems that have entered into these deals have not made all of these documents available to their parents and citizens.

The Parents' Coalition does not believe that these public school documents should be a secret.

When compared, we immediately see that there are only two Boards of Education, Anne Arundel and Prince George's, that have entered into the unruly and overreaching "Master Agreement" that purports to turn over virtually all county Board of Education property to Milestone Communications for use as cell tower sites.

The "Master Agreements" attempt to eliminate the ability of all parents and citizens countywide to participate and be heard in decisions regarding construction on their local public school playground.

Parents in Anne Arundel County and Prince George's County are just now finding out the surprising news that their local public school playground is on a list of potential cell tower sites being marketed to telecommunications companies.

Under these "Master Agreements" each public school playground is available for the construction of up to three cell tower compounds!  Yes, THREE per playground!

Click the link below for all of the MABE partner Milestone Communications documents that we have obtained.

Documents: Milestone Communications - Cell Towers on Public School Land in Maryland

ABC7: MCPS Board of Ed. spends $140K in legal fees amid Board of Education credit card scandal

"We shouldn't be paying for that," Rosanne Hurwitz said. "It's not my fault there was a failure of leadership."
Hurwitz, a member of the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, is appalled that hardworking citizens are being forced to defend the financial faults of certain elected officials.
"It's a lot of money when we [the Parents' Coalition] gave them the same advice for free ... [Taxpayer insight] is a lot cheaper than hiring an attorney from a downtown law firm," Hurwitz added.

Read more: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/09/mcps-spends-140k-in-legal-fees-amid-board-of-education-credit-card-scandal-107081.html#ixzz3DBwXY8jY

“Zoning is not by plebiscite,” Dalrymple told the commission.- Maryvale ES gets Storage Facilty Next Door

Gazette:  Despite objections, Rockville commission OKs storage facility

...Critics also argued that it would create a risk to the students at Maryvale, through increased traffic from customers or potential criminal activity by people storing items at the facility...

Balto. Co. schools' song and dance [Editorial]

If Baltimore County residents had any doubts about the wisdom of moving toward a hybrid appointed/elected school board rather than the all-appointed version we have now, they were likely erased last week when the board voted to hand Superintendent Dallas Dance what amounts to a $27,000 raise. Not only did the board employ what is at best linguistic sleight of hand to provide Mr. Dance a bigger raise than his contract would allow, but it also shut down any public discussion of whether the raise was warranted. Critics of the system have contended for years that the board's all-appointed structure makes it unresponsive to the public. Last week's meeting appeared designed to prove the point.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-dallas-dance-salary-20140819,0,5012930.story#ixzz3BnpaRt2N

Proposed bill would require those who don’t provide apprentice training to pay more

Gazette: Montgomery County Council wants contractors to fund apprenticeship program

...A bill, co-sponsored by Councilman Hans Riemer and Councilwoman Nancy Navarro, would require county construction contractors and subcontractors to provide apprenticeship training for workers or pay a fee to support the Building and Construction Technology Program operated by Montgomery College...

MCPS Mom Files Complaint with US Dept of Ed, Gets Transportation for Child to Magnet School

A Kensington boy is being bused to school after his mother filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education saying Montgomery County Public Schools discriminated against her son when the system did not provide him transportation to a magnet program...
...“I worked smarter because I know that federal government provides funds to schools, and you are supposed to be following federal law to get those funds,” she said. “I took it a different route.”
In response to Diaz-Cooper’s complaint, the county school system decided to enter into a resolution agreement, according to a May 28 letter to Diaz-Cooper from an education department attorney...

http://www.gazette.net/article/20140910/NEWS/140919803/1070/kensington-boy-bused-to-school-after-complaint-with-federal-office&template=gazette

BOE Spent $128,125 Defending Use of MCPS Credit Cards and $158,477 Expense Account #Venable #KarlRacine

Fager's Island Restaurant Receipt

Montgomery County's Board of Education members really, really, really like their $158,477 expense account.

They like it so much that they paid $128,125 to have the Venable law firm and partner Karl Racine defend their use of MCPS credit cards.

Yes, that was $128,125 the BOE spent just to defend their use of credit cards.

Absolutely no students benefited from this "education funding." No teachers were hired and no classrooms were stocked with school supplies.  How many Montgomery County homes paid property taxes to supply those "education" dollars to the BOE for this use?

$128,125 spent just on 8 BOE members demanding the right to spend "education" dollars on their own meals and entertainment. $112,569 of those dollars were spent in ONE MONTH.  



The Venable bill for May 2014 totaled $28,888. The largest amount was for financial matters ($15,556), all of which was related to the review of expense reimbursements.

The Venable bill for June 2014 totaled $112,569, all of which was related to the review of expense 
reimbursements

Next month: the July 2014 Venable bill will be revealed.

County Wants Bigger Cell Tower Next to Nix Elementary School Without Public Hearing

UPDATE: 9/10/2014 The Montgomery County Board of Appeals in an unanimous decision without discussion Granted the petitioner's request for a public hearing on this construction project.  

We will follow up with an announcement of the date and time of the public hearing before the Board of Appeals when that information becomes available. 

Roscoe Nix Elementary School is shown on the right side of this Google Street image. 
All of the parking in this photo belongs to MCPS.
Access to the abandoned pool and cell tower site on the left is through MCPS property only. 

Would you send your child to an elementary school next to a commercial HAZMAT site located on an abandoned pool property?

Gazette March 26, 2014 article and photo

Check out what the property on the left of this above image looks like up close.  The Gazette photo on the left shows you what the area to the left of the red circle above looks like.

The swimming pools have been abandoned and are now filled with brown/green water and who knows what else. The property is in extreme disrepair and the barbed wire fencing to keep kids out is no longer in place. Any child from the elementary school across the parking lot could easily climb into this abandoned swimming pool property and explore the open waters.

Right now, Montgomery County wants to allow the cell tower on the pool property to grow.  They want to permit a larger cell tower compound and higher cell tower without addressing the condition of the underlying property! The Board of Appeals has granted the request to enlarge the cell tower compound without hearing from the public.

Montgomery County and MCPS are totally ignoring the incredibly dangerous situation that has been created by the abandonment of this property right across the parking lot from Nix Elementary School in Silver Spring.

Here's the question: Should a property owner be allowed to expand a commercial use of a property while allowing the property to decay to the point of becoming a hazard to neighborhood children who might decide to explore these abandoned pools?

Would Board members Patricia O'Neill and Shirley Brandman  permit this dangerous condition to exist on the parking lot of any Bethesda elementary school?  
Would they sit by and watch as the commercial HAZMAT use of abandoned property was increased next to a Bethesda elementary school?  

We know the answer to the above questions is NO!

But, Silver Spring? This is where you can send your kids to school. 

This matter is before the Montgomery County Board of Appeals on September 10th. See Agenda Item #15 below.  The issue is that there has been NO public hearing on the request to expand the cell tower on the abandoned pool property.   

A request has been made to the Board of Appeals for a public hearing to permit the public to discuss the request to build on this property.   

Will the Montgomery County Board of Appeals permit the public to be heard?   

Will anyone from the Board of Education speak up on behalf of this elementary school community and advocate for this property to be made safe before any further construction or expansion is allowed? 

  2014 Sept 10 BOA Agenda by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Maryvale ES Parents Petition to Stop Construction of Storage Facility

I oppose the construction of a 4-level, 800-900-unit self-storage facility in the neighborhood adjacent to Maryvale Elementary School, less than 250 feet from school grounds, and within the legally designated school zone. The City of Rockville Planning Commission, Mayor, Council, and Planning Department must keep the promise of the East Rockville Neighborhood Plan and support our effort to "retain our existing sense of identity as a quiet, secure, residential neighborhood" and "reduce the impacts of industrial properties on the East Rockville community." Please do not approve the EZ Storage Facility.
Click here to read and sign the Petition.

Council's Education Committee to meet on Sept. 15th

ED 9:30 AM - 7th floor
Montgomery County Council
Sep 15, 2014

 • Briefing - ACES Program (Ferber)
 • FY14 Year-End MCPS Financial Report and Categorical Transfer (McGuire)
 •To be determined