Balt. School System paid out $46 million in bonuses, overtime pay and accrued leave, pushing the earnings of many employees well into six figures

"The bottom line for taxpayers and parents, is they want money in the classroom...



http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-school-system-salaries-20150321-story.html#page=1

Anne Arundel delegates approve school cell tower moratorium

Anne Arundel delegates approve school cell tower moratorium

Why Does MCPS Oppose Improving School Food?

 ...Testifying against the Sugar-Free Schools Act were Kate Heinrich, president of the Maryland School Nutrition Association (MSNA) and Marla Caplon, chair of MSNA’s Nutrition Committee. Mrs. Heinrich is employed as the assistant director, Division of Food and Nutrition Services (DFNS) for the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). Mrs. Caplon is employed as the director of DFNS for MCPS. Mrs. Heinrich and Mrs. Caplon also testified against the Thirty Kids Act and the Chemical-Free Schools Act. MCPS is the largest school district in Maryland with over 150,000 students...

 http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2015/mar/18/letter-why-oppose-improving-school-food/

NBC News4 I-Team: Cold in the Classroom; Schools Need Repairs

http://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/Cold-in-the-Classroom-Schools-Need-Repairs-296965011.html

Leggett Lives on 5 Acres, But Wants 4 acres for Elementary Schools

Sardines

From the Sentinel article on County Executive Ike Legget's plan to develop the current MCPS Shady Grove bus depot for housing, we learn that the elementary school site for this future development will be just 4 acres of land!

4 acres? When did Montgomery County citizens decide that the 12 acre standard that they prefer should be trashed in favor of 4 acres?  They didn't.  The decision to smash our school children into the smallest sized lots possible is being made by our Apple Ballot elected officials without public input.

County Executive Ike Leggett lives in a single family house on 5 acres.  Can we invite 700-1,000 elementary school kids over to his house one day so that he can get a feel for what that many kids on 4 acres would feel like? (We can rope off the tennis courts to make the site smaller.)

Back in 1986, Montgomery County citizens actually participated in the formation of a Long Range Planning Policy for Montgomery County Public Schools.  In that Policy, the size of elementary school sites was to be 12 usable acres of land.

In 2005, the Montgomery County Board of Education shredded that Policy without input from the public.

Montgomery County parents and guardians are now left without a Policy that sets minimum school site sizes.  The size of our school sites is being set by elected officials and developers that seek to put as many children as possible on the tiniest parcel of land, smashing them in like they are sardines.

You can read the lost Long Range Planning Policy at this link and learn about what parents, guardians and citizens in Montgomery County wanted for a long range public school planning policy.

County still looking for a new MCPS bus depot

ROCKVILLE – As the county considers how to make room for smart growth in Shady Grove, the selected developer has not found a solution for a key part of the development: the current Montgomery County Public Schools bus depot on the site.

 http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1755:county-still-looking-for-a-new-bus-depot&Itemid=766

Cell Tower Company Wants School Cell Tower Meetings at "Neutral" Location

Wouldn't you think that if a private, for-profit commercial vendor wanted to build a HAZMAT facility on a public school playground the meeting to discuss the project would be held at the public school where the commercial compound would be located? 

When it comes to the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) partner, Milestone Communications, the meetings to discuss cell tower projects for public school playgrounds are intentionally held at places other than the actual public school where the cell tower will be built.

MABE's partner, Milestone Communications, only wants to hold community meetings to discuss cell tower playground projects at "neutral" locations.  Their word as seen in the e-mail shown in the image below. 

MABE's partner, Milestone Communications, certainly does not want to make meetings about playground cell towers accessible to actual public school parents!  No, they want to make the meetings as hard to attend as possible.  They want the least amount of participation. 

Remember that YOUR tax dollars pay to support MABE!

Yes, your Maintenance of Effort public school dollars go to keep MABE in business.  Every Board of Education in Maryland pays "dues" to be a member of MABE.  MABE then partners with no bid vendors like Milestone Communications.  The result?  Your local school gets a cell tower compound!  If you are in Prince George's County or Anne Arundel County your local school is getting 3 cell towers per playground.  And, the meetings to discuss these projects will be held as far away from your neighborhood as possible so that you can not attend. 

Next week a meeting will be held at a "neutral" location to discuss another public school playground cell tower project.  

The meeting will not be held at the actual public school where the cell tower compound will be built.  

   Corkran Cell Tower Flier by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Del. Luedtke's Bill 642 will lead employers and school personnel to hire and retain individuals with histories of sexual misconduct and violence against vulnerable populations

House Bill 642

CHILDREN - CHILD CARE FACILITIES, PUBLIC SCHOOLS, AND NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS - CONTRACTORS AND SUBCONTRACTORS 

Sponsored by: Delegate Luedtke

SUPPORT ONLY IF AMENDED

Submitted by Ellen Mugmon

Before the Maryland House Ways and Means Committee

March 12, 2015

HB 642 was prompted by the still unresolved sexual abuse scandal in the Montgomery County Public Schools. It adds certain contractors and subcontractors to the entities that must request fingerprint based federal and state criminal history records for their employees who work in schools and thus have access to children. This portion of the bill should receive the approval of the Committee.

The significant problem with the bill is related to the the definition of an “APPLICABLE OFFENSE.” The list of crimes is significantly under-inclusive and will lead employers and school personnel to hire and retain individuals with histories of sexual misconduct and violence against vulnerable populations. This would imply that if an offense is not applicable, it must not be a serious problem.

Moreover, one of the contractors who testified at the Senate hearing for the crossfiled bill, SB 508, did not acknowledge that his employee had been previously convicted of second degree assault for groping three women, a crime not considered an “APPLICABLE OFFENSE.” So one should rightly ask why second degree assault is not listed as an APPLICABLE OFFENSE in the bill. This technician worked in 58 Montgomery County schools and subsequently groped students. How does this list solve this problem? It does not. It makes it worse.

Section 14-101 of the Criminal Law Article has a very limited number of crimes that do not reflect all the other crimes that teachers and other personnel have committed against vulnerable students, although the name of the statute, “Crimes of Violence,” would lead one to believe that all violent crimes are listed. That is hardly the case. There is also another list of violent crimes in Section 5-101 of the Public Safety Article. Both lists are not the same. Moreover, merely adding Section 3-307 of the Criminal Law Article, which is a third degree sex offense, as well as section 3-602 of the Criminal Law Article, is grossly insufficient because the proposed legislation does not include other crimes particularly related to the protection of children. The absence of Section 3-308 of the Criminal Law Article in particular, is glaring. Pedophile activist groups in Maryland contend that a 4th degree sex offense involving a child, though now a crime, is not harmful to children and should eventually be legalized. Unfortunately, this list of crimes inadvertently sanctions their disordered, self-serving thinking.

In addition, Section 5-101 of the Public Safety Article lists second degree assault as a crime of violence. Generally, it is considered a Domestic Violence crime which is, of course, violent. But it is not a crime of violence in Section 14-101 of the criminal Law Article. Most importantly, it is a crime that is too often a plea bargain down from sexual crimes. A Rockville teacher was convicted of second degree assault, which has no sex- offense component to it. He was originally charged with child sexual abuse, a 4th degree sex offense, which again is not one of the “APPLICABLE OFFENSES”. So an employer or human resource director could hire or retain an individual who molests children under the assumption he did not commit a sexual crime. As a result this scheme does not protect children sufficiently. It never has and never will.

Other offenses which are deemed inapplicable include child pornography possession, distribution, and manufacture. This applies when certain educators collect child pornography or have taken explicit pictures of students, or photoshopped them and then distributed them on the internet. Moreover, a building service worker was retained by the Montgomery County School System after he was arrested for surreptitiously spying on little girls in school, and then was convicted of unnatural and perverted sex practices. Both crimes are not listed [in Bill 642].

Please note also that the following crimes are inapplicable

crimes [not included] according to this bill;

• sexual relationships with high school students off-campus off time: 
• indecent exposure; 
• statutory rape; 
• sex trafficking; 
• stalking: 
• trespass (Trespass is associated with stalking, peeping Tom, and malicious destruction of property. Children have been the victims of these crimes.); 
• sexual solicitation of a minor; 
• child physical abuse in the first and second degree and child neglect; 
• sexual and physical abuse or neglect of a vulnerable adult; 
• harassment; 
• false imprisonment; 
• presence of a minor in sight and hearing of a crime of violence; 
• allowing or encouraging a child to engage in obscene photography, films, poses, or similar activity; 
• reckless endangerment; 
• indecent, lewd conversations and texting with minors; 
• illegally carrying a concealed firearm on school property; 
• and animal cruelty which in the literature is specifically correlated with child abuse; and as mentioned above 4th degree sex offense and unnatural and perverted sex practices.

I am aware that sections 2-206.1 and 6-113 of the Education Article are current law. But the public policy of picking and choosing crimes in this way in legislation has clearly turned out to be a dangerous mistake when evaluating individuals in positions of public trust concerning vulnerable children. In fact, it serves to protect certain offenders rather than school children. Therefore, I respectfully request that the Committee amend out of the bill the two sections above, and instead ask MSDE to develop guidelines in consultation with national experts on screening. If the Committee wishes to continue with a list, it should at least add to the meaning of “APPLICABLE OFFENSES” the additional crimes listed above for the safety and well-being of Maryland’s children The Committee must know, however, that while this approach is an improvement, it is still inadequate because the list in this testimony is incomplete.

In my view, these cases need to be examined individually. Employers need to ask for charging documents and an explanation from employees concerning their convictions. This procedure acknowledges plea bargains and lenient way the court system handles sexual crimes against children, as the Committee can see from the attached articles and summary prepared by a member of the Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County.

As a longstanding child advocate, I therefore ask that you give HB 642 a favorable report only if amended. Thank you for considering my views.

VA Gov. signed new law that reins in the use of seclusion and restraint as methods of controlling children in public schools.

...The measure was prompted by complaints from parents about their disabled children being restrained by several adults, strapped into chairs and locked away in segregated rooms, sometimes emerging with bruises and broken bones...

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/governor-oks-regulating-seclusion-restraint-in-va-schools/2015/03/16/6858a4a2-cc27-11e4-8730-4f473416e759_story.html

Search Underway for Dog Who Bit First Grader Outside Flower Hill School

A Rockville mom is looking for the dog who bit her son as he arrived at Flower Hill Elementary School in Gaithersburg March 9, to make sure her son was not exposed to rabies.
Rakiya Grant says her six-year-old first grader was outside the front of the school on March 9 when a medium-sized brown, black and white dog jumped up on him and nipped his cheek. Grant said her son went to the nurses’ office to report the bite. There, she said the nurse cleaned the wound and called her. But, she said she believes the school should be doing more...

 http://www.mymcmedia.org/search-underway-for-dog-who-bit-first-grader-outside-flower-hill-school/

Do Parents Want To Be Notified of All Arrests or Only Some?

Delegate Eric Luedtke is the lead sponsor of a House Bill that was filed on February 13, 2015.

House Bill 1033 appears to be an attempt on the part of a number of Montgomery County Delegates to respond to the many arrests of public and private school teachers and staff for incidents involving sexual abuse, pornography, rape, and related crimes involving students over the last 3 years. 

The goal of HB 1033 appears to be to create a law that would require that parents be notified after school employees or other specified adults are arrested for child sexual or physical abuse.

The concern about this legislation is that in it's rush to address serious incidents does it help or hurt student victims?

• HB 1033 appears to create reporting requirements that would supersede existing Maryland child abuse reporting law in a way that could negatively impact criminal investigations.
• HB 1033 creates a "contact person" in the local school system or the nonpublic school for reporting of incidents of abuse that may be related to the arrest.  "Contact persons" have been the problem with existing policies and procedures.  Any suspected child abuse should be reported directly to the police or child protective services.  Creating layers of "contact people" or "liaisons" circumvents existing law and threatens to prevent reports of child abuse from being handled by the appropriate authorities.
• HB 1033 limits the types of offenses where reports would be made to parents and guardians by limiting the list of crimes included.  Do parents and guardians only want to be notified when school staff are arrested for certain crimes involving child sexual abuse or for all crimes involving child sexual abuse?

HB 1033 appears to have a goal that parents and guardians would support, that of notification of staff arrests, but the devil's in the details.  

To Do Today: Let's Find that Dog - Flower Hill Elementary School Community

On March 9, 2015, at the Flower Hill Elementary School morning drop off a 1st grader was bitten by a dog.  The dog was on a leash and was being walked by an adult bringing another very young student (possibly a kindergartener) to school.

A dog bite report was made to Montgomery County, but no action was taken to find the dog.
The Flower Hill Elementary School Principal has not alerted the community and has not asked for help in finding the dog. Flower Hill Elementary School is in Gaithersburg.

It's been a week. If the dog is not found by Wednesday the victim of the dog bite will need to get rabies shots.  Someone in this school community knows who walks a dog to school.  Let's find that dog today!   

When a Superintendent Signs a Contract without Board Approval

Judge’s decision pending regarding Calvert school board, executive team contracts

...“Who do you believe the contract was between? You and [Superintendent] Mr. Smith? Or you and the county board?” Chandlee asked Welsh.
“I believe Dr. Smith was actually operating for the Board of Education in terms of implementing the contract,” Welsh answered Chandlee.
“… I just don’t see in Calvert County where that authority would come from. That’s why I’m asking this question. Is it superintendent Smith’s contract with you?” Chandlee again asked Welsh.
“If it’s not him as an individual, it’s him as superintendent, and any superintendent that would have been in that position would have continued,” Welsh answered, adding that Smith’s affidavit submitted on the record said he met with the county board every year since 2009 when the contracts were put in place and discussed the contracts with board members...

Pearson monitoring social media for security breaches during PARCC testing

Pearson, the world’s largest education company, is monitoring social media during the administration of the new PARCC Common Core test to detect any security breaches, and a spokeswoman said that it was “obligated” to alert authorities when any problems were discovered.
The superintendent of a New Jersey school district wrote an e-mail to colleagues (see below) about the monitoring, saying that she found the practice “a bit disturbing.”
Students in New Jersey are now taking the PARCC, a Common Core test created by the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, one of two multi-state consortia given $360 million in federal funds to design new standardized tests that align with the Common Core State Standards. PARCC testing is underway in several other states amid a growing opt-out movement by parents who are refusing to allow their children to take the test. Pearson has a contract of more than $100 million to administer the PARCC in New Jersey.
News of the monitoring of social media was revealed in a message that Superintendent Elizabeth C. Jewett of Watchung Hills Regional High School District in New Jersey sent to colleagues about a disturbing episode that she was made aware of by her district’s testing coordinator. It was posted on the Web site of Bob Braun, a former reporter, education editor and senior columnist at the Star-Ledger, who called the monitoring of social media nothing less than “spying.”...

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/03/14/pearson-monitoring-social-media-for-security-breaches-during-parcc-testing/

PARCC Testing - It is more than merely about the Content of the Test

Just like Target was hacked and your personal information was stolen.... it is a privacy (and security) breach of your information.  Now our kids are required to fill out personal information, BEYOND their name and grade (for example: Special Educational needs) in order to take the PARCC test, and instead of waiting for the server to be hacked, MCPS has granted permission to PEARSON (PARCC test vendor) to SELL the student personal information.   Nothing in their Agreements prohibit such selling.  Don't believe me?  Read the links below.  The NY Times piece published yesterday is a good start:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/12/technology/learning-apps-outstrip-school-oversight-and-student-privacy-is-among-the-risks.html?emc=eta1&_r=0

IT IS TIME COUNTY PARENTS CREATE A PARENT TECHNOLOGY GROUP B/C TECHNOLOGY IS HERE TO STAY. WE SHOULD NOT STAND BY THE SIDELINES THINKING MCPS HAS TAKEN CARE OF PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN'S PRIVACY AND SECURITY MATTERS.  PLEASE LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS AREA IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN CREATING SUCH A WORKING GROUP.

As you review the PARCC pros and cons, here are some articles expressing many issues, such as:

1.     The lack of applicability to non-STEM subjects (such as language, arts, music, entrepreneurship, etc…)

(STEM:  Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)

2.     Privacy – test company Pearson asks for personal information beyond name, age, and grade.  Special education needs, health issues, etc…  Data mining.

3.     The cost of test

4.     The ability to administer the test

5.     The lack of typing skills of the students will impact their ability to type within the time frames provided.

(For instance: Typing teaching was not part of preparation for the test.  The test requires students to write sentences and reasoning, in the math section, on how they arrived at the answer.)

Links:

PBS Newshour:  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/students-refusing-take-common-core-test/

Politico:  http://www.politico.com/morningeducation/0315/morningeducation17299.html

Privacy issues:  http://www.bethesdanow.com/2015/02/26/mcps-says-parents-have-no-need-to-worry-about-classroom-chromebook-privacy/#disqus_thread

Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/opting-out-of-tests-in-maryland-virginia-and-dc/2015/03/09/3d80554e-c683-11e4-a199-6cb5e63819d2_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/opting-out-of-tests-in-maryland-virginia-and-dc/2015/03/09/3d80554e-c683-11e4-a199-6cb5e63819d2_story.html

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/skipping-the-test/2015/03/08/38011cce-c387-11e4-ad5c-3b8ce89f1b89_story.html

 

Educator: http://iamaneducator.com/2015/02/18/10-reasons-to-refuse-the-parcc-test-for-your-child-maryland-parent-launches-an-opt-out-movement/

 

For comic relief, watch this PARCC parody video by BCC high students on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twv2VHYKKss&t=72

 

Board denies Costco request at Wheaton mall

...Numerous area residents have opposed the station, saying the fumes from idling cars would be a health hazard to nearby residents, users of the Kenmont Swim & Tennis Club and students at Stephen Knolls School.
The school teaches about 100 special-needs and disabled children who are bused there from Takoma Park, Silver Spring and other areas. Their disabilities include chronic lung disease, asthma, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome. Some students use oxygen tanks...

 http://www.gazette.net/article/20150311/NEWS/150319712&template=gazette

Time for a Moratorium on Cell Tower Compounds on Public School Playgrounds

Daly Elementary School, Germantown, MD cell tower

A Maryland Delegate in Anne Arundel County has filed a Bill that would put a one year moratorium on the construction of cell towers on public school playgrounds.

The video clip below shows Delegate Herb McMillan presenting his Bill (HB 727) to the House Ways and Means Committee on March 12, 2015.  Supporters of the HB 727 speak first and then the opponents of HB 727 respond.  The opponents of HB 727 are the lobbyist for Milestone Communications Gerry Evans, the president of Milestone Communications Management III, Inc. Len Forkas, and a lobbyist for the cell tower industry in Maryland. 

   2015 March 12 HB 727 Public Comment by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

How much of what MCPS puts out is Astroturf and manipulation of media?

Rock Creek Conservancy Opposes MCPS Bus Depot at Ewing School site

Oppose the Relocation of a Bus Depot in Montgomery County

The Montgomery County Council is now considering legislation to proceed with work on a Montgomery County Public Schools plan to relocate a bus depot to a site on Avery Road. This site now houses the Blair G. Ewing School and is only a few hundred feet from Rock Creek.  The depot lot would contribute significant amounts of polluted stormwater runoff to Rock Creek and put our creek and park at risk of fuel spills from underground tanks and fueling stations.  To take action, contact your representative on the County Council.

 http://www.rockcreekconservancy.org/get-involved/take-action/speak-out

Maryland Maryland State Department of Education Disciplinary Actions 2008-January 2015

The record of disciplinary actions for Maryland teachers from 2008 through January 2015, are listed on the document below.
This document was obtained by the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD through a Maryland Public Information Act request filed December 2, 2014.

 

   Maryland State Department of Education Disciplinary Actions 2008-January 2015 PDF by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland