Sunday, November 30, 2008

Open Thread Sunday!

"Open Thread" is a place for you to tell me what you would like to see on this site. What can I do to make it more user-friendly, topics you would like to see discussed in the future, questions or concerns. If I missed your questions on another thread, please direct me to them here.

So here you go, give me your feedback.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Open Thread Sunday!

"Open Thread" is a place for you to tell me what you would like to see on this site. What can I do to make it more user-friendly, topics you would like to see discussed in the future, questions or concerns. If I missed your questions on another thread, please direct me to them here.

So here you go, give me your feedback.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Legislative Breakfast...NOT

The Board of Education, Commissioners, Delegates, and Senators, will NOT be meeting for their annual legislative breakfast this year because it is too difficult to accomodate everyone's busy schedules. So if your thinking we will all be on the same page when legislative issues come up for the next year...think again.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

NOTES: Board Meeting, 11/18/08

The Board Meeting Tuesday, October 14th will be re-broadcast on Channel 96 on Wednesdays at 6 p.m.; Fridays at 9 a.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

Executive session - 12 p.m. (Closed to the public)

Call to order - 1 p.m.

  • Pledge of Allegiance, Thomas Stone High School's JROTC unit

REPORT - Superintendent's Update to the Board

  • All high schools have met AYP & the system at every level
  • Bridge Plan woking well
  • Transfers into our system in senior year remains a problem
  • North Point graduation ceremony to take place at the school per the principal. She believes it can be accomodated. (I believe this to be a mistake) All others will remain at Show Place Arena for this year. Roads will be an issue because the county has not completed them.
  • Working with CISCO for telepresence
  • JROTC Military Ball 6-11 p.m. on 12/5. at North Point, formal

REPORT - Board Member Updates

  • Pedersen - MABE draft legislative positions
  • Carrington - Barnhart for Freedom day; construction going well
  • Wise - Jenifer Elem DARE graduation last year; Mudds was yesterday
  • Pedersen - Middleton's Freedon Day event impressed her
  • Carrington - Mt Hope Nanjemoy senior luncheon outstanding

REPORT - Education Association of Charles County Update

  • Met with commissioners about funding
  • Retained independent financial analyst to review county budget
  • Still waiting for response to the 11/5 questions submitted via email
  • legislative packet; labor relations board - supports; asks for us to delay position

REPORT - Student Board Member Update (no link available)

  • Students from Thomas Stone HS and La Plata HS attended the MASC High School Leadership Conference South River High School on Saturday -Students attended workshops on diversity, public speaking, ethical decision making, student advocacy, and environmental affairs
  • November 7 meeting for Safe driving successful. Viewed Alive@25 presentation and Sheriff Coffey spoke
  • Requested 10 minutes at December Board meeting for presentation

REPORT - Deputy Superintendent Update - Personal Responsibility; Student Behavior

  • See Report

REPORT - Supporting Service Update - CIP update ; Enrollment Analysis

  • Barnhart on target; completion expected early
  • Gale-Bailey and TC Martin - state has approved contract award
  • Effective 12/1/08 - Scotland Heights Div. will be assigned to a middle school by Superintendent for the Spring semester until redistricting can be completed for the 09/10 school year
  • Town Center South middle school will be assigned
  • CCPS will seek approval for leftover funds from all day kindergarten projects to secure and install 8 relocateables at North Point and Davis
  • Redistricting committee to be formed for 09 fall enrollment for the areas
  • Bailey - asked for additional information to be provided in update
  • Pedersen - absolute number of students North Point can hold
  • Wineland - doesn't want to answer and set a limit because building is very versatile
  • Pedersen - exhausting current energy supply; how would we produce more
  • Wineland - purchase transformer from SMECO
  • Pedersen - Referred to Policy 1700; do we adhere
  • Wineland - yes

REPORT - Human Resources Update - Teacher Recruitment

  • See power point
  • Hired 110 new experienced teachers; 117 new graduates (38 from U of MD)(15 from Towson)
  • Lots of statistics; very informative; highgy recommend viewing this document

REPORT - Instruction Update - Health Curriculum Report; Curriculum

  • See report
  • Abell - on committee; want to remind board members that this is a high school curriculum and is an opt-in only. Students must have parents signture. Teachers must be comfortable speaking and presenting the sex education portion. They are not forced to teach if they are not.
  • One board member proposed changes. Consensus of board to accept those changes (link not available yet)

REPORT - Finance Update - Food Services Update; Presentation

  • See report - lots of statistics and information
  • Pedersen - crowded schools; more lunch shifts; part-time employees - how are we dealing
  • Staff - case by case basis
  • Abell - do certain schools prepare food and transport to others for warming before serving or do ALL schools prepare their own food
  • Staff - ALL schools prepare their own food
  • Abell - Discrepancies on food options from school to school. We need to ensure that students are aware of side dishes that are already included in the price of the meal. Not all know they are available without additional charges.
  • Cook - Whats on the menu is not always what is actually served; nugget and fries days - lines are too long 2 get lunch
  • Pedersen - People losing jobs - can families enroll in free/reduced lunch mid year
  • Staff - Yes

REPORT - Legal Update - Legislative Issues

  • Abell - Seat belts on school buses and labor relations - consider removing Opposition opinion on these until further information
  • Schwartz - seat belts do not mean safer
  • Pedersen - labor board too expensive for state at this time
  • Pedersen - not sure if she supports or opposes
  • Abell - exactly why we shouldn't oppose; Ms. Pedersen stated she was undecided
  • Wise - doesn't think this is a productive measure and supports the opposition

Motion to accept positions on legislative matters by Wise
Second by Pedersen
Yes - Bailey, Carrington, Cook, Pedersen, Wade, Wise
No - Abell

REPORT - Communications Update - School Locator

  • Abell - great; thank you
  • Pedersen - new subdivisions added
  • Staff - added and updated at midnight

UNFINISHED BUSINESS -

  • Wade - Student Recognition in clusters per semester as opposed to quarterly
  • Wise - Time to try something new due to poor attendance
  • Consensus is yes

NEW BUSINESS -

  • Richmond - porposal on school calendar change for inauguration day; 20th off for students; liberal leave for teachers; 23rd would be a regular school day

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS -

  • Abell - Alternative schedules requested report and analysis that Mr. Cunningham referred to at the December 07 board meeting. This item was brought up Jan 07, Dec 07, July 08 requested via email by a member of the public; 8/08 requested via email by Pedersen; 10/08 requested via email by a member of the public; and now I'm requesting.

RECOGNITION - 4:30 p.m. - November Recognitions

PUBLIC FORUM - 6 p.m. (Rules)

  • None

ACTION - Minutes October 14, 2008; Motions October 14; Minutes October 27, 2008; Minutes November 10, 2008

Motion to accept minutes by Wise
Second by Pedersen
Yes - All

ACTION - Personnel

Motion to accept Personnel by Bailey
Second by Wise
Yes - All

ACTION - Parental Involvement Policy Title 1 Part 1; Part 2

Motion to accept by Wise
Second by Pedersen
Yes - All

No fooling: Experts bemoan loss of kids' play time

By DAVID CRARY
AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - In one classroom, a group of preschool teachers squatted on the floor, pretending to be cave-dwelling hunter-gatherers. Next door, another group ended a raucous musical game by placing their tambourines and drums atop their heads.

Silly business, to be sure, but part of an agenda of utmost seriousness: To spread the word that America's children need more time for freewheeling play at home and in their schools.

"We're all sad, and we're a little worried. ... We're sad about something missing in childhood," psychologist and author Michael Thompson told 900 early childhood educators from 22 states packed into an auditorium last week.

"We have to fight back," he declared. "We're going to fight for play."

Read more HERE

Charles County Announces Temporary School Assignment Changes

Superintendent James E. Richmond has temporarily changed school assignments for students moving into new developments in the Theodore G. Davis Middle School and North Point High School areas and asked for a longer-term plan from a redistricting committee.

The Superintendent told the Board of Education at its Nov. 18 meeting that Davis and North Point are overcrowded and need relocatable classrooms to accommodate both existing enrollment and relief from future growth.

Effective Dec. 1, Richmond has reassigned all new high school and middle school students in an area called Block 3782, which includes the new Scotland Heights development opposite Davis Road on Route 228 in Waldorf. Scotland Heights has 450 building lots; however, no houses have been built. Middle school students moving into Scotland Heights will attend Matthew Henson Middle School, and high school students will attend Westlake High School.

Read more HERE

Charles County School System, All High Schools Meet State Benchmarks

All six Charles County public high schools met their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) school performance benchmarks for 2008, according to school officials. Charles County Public Schools, as a system, also met AYP at each level -- elementary, middle and high school -- for the 2007-08 school year.

The Maryland State Department of Education released results Friday. The high school AYP is based on the results of grade 11 students' scores on the Maryland High School Assessments. Information released Nov. 14 is only for high schools; the state released AYP data for middle and elementary schools in August.

AYP is the gain that schools, school systems, and states must make each year in the proportion of students achieving proficiency in reading and math. To make AYP, schools and school systems must improve in reading and mathematics for all students as well as for nine student subgroups including each of five racial/ethnic groups, students receiving special education services, Limited English Proficiency services and Free and Reduced Meals services (FARMS). AYP also includes graduation rates for high school and attendance in elementary and middle school. A high school's AYP status is based on its performance on the English and Algebra/Data Analysis 2008 High School Assessments (HSAs), the school's participation rate in the assessments and its graduation rate.

Read more HERE

Study of Reading Program Finds a Lack of Progress

By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 19, 2008; Page A06

Students in the $6 billion Reading First program have not made greater progress in understanding what they read than have peers outside the program, according to a congressionally mandated study.

The final version of the study, released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Education, found that students in schools that use Reading First, a program at the core of the No Child Left Behind law, scored no better on comprehension tests than students in similar schools that do not get the funding.

Read more HERE

School Calendar Change

Charles County Public Schools will be closed for students on Jan. 20, 2009, for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.

The Board of Education on Tuesday agreed to change the school calendar, moving the semester break for students from Friday, Jan. 23 to Jan. 20. Schools will be closed for students on Jan. 20 and teachers and staff will be allowed to take liberal leave. Schools are now open on Jan. 23.

Superintendent James E. Richmond told the Board that Maryland law requires schools to be open for a minimum of 180 days in a 10-month period and he needed to adjust the school calendar to make up the day prior to the end of the school year. “The state superintendent of schools does not have the authority to waive the 180-day rule for anything other than an emergency closing,” Richmond said.

The unanimous action by the Board changes the January calendar to the following:

  • Jan. 19 – Schools and offices closed, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday observed;
  • Jan. 20 – Semester break, moved from Jan. 23. Schools closed for students; staff allowed liberal leave;
  • Jan. 21 – School in session for students and teachers; High School Assessment, government makeup;
  • Jan. 22 – School in session; High School Assessment English makeup; and
  • Jan. 23 – School in session (changed from closed). High School Assessment for algebra and biology makeups.

The end of the second marking period is moved from Jan. 22 to Jan. 16.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Open Thread Sunday!

"Open Thread" is a place for you to tell me what you would like to see on this site. What can I do to make it more user-friendly, topics you would like to see discussed in the future, questions or concerns. If I missed your questions on another thread, please direct me to them here.

So here you go, give me your feedback.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

REMINDER: Board Meeting, 11/18/08

Reminder... there is a Board Meeting Tuesday, November 18th. Can't attend...you can watch it live on Channel 96. It will also be re-broadcast on Wednesdays at 6 p.m.; Fridays at 9 a.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

Executive session - 12 p.m.

Call to order - 1 p.m.

  • Pledge of Allegiance, Thomas Stone High School's JROTC unit

REPORT - Superintendent's Update to the Board
REPORT - Board Member Updates (no report available)
REPORT - Education Association of Charles County Update
REPORT - Student Board Member Update (no report available)
REPORT - Deputy Superintendent Update - Personal Responsibility; Student Behavior
REPORT - Supporting Service Update - CIP update ; Enrollment Analysis
REPORT - Human Resources Update - Teacher Recruitment
REPORT - Instruction Update - Health Curriculum Report; Curriculum
REPORT - Finance Update - Food Services Update; Presentation
REPORT - Legal Update - Legislative Issues
REPORT - Communications Update - School Locater

UNFINISHED BUSINESS -

NEW BUSINESS -

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS -

RECOGNITION - 4:30 p.m. - November Recognitions

PUBLIC FORUM - 6 p.m. (Rules)

ACTION - Minutes October 14, 2008; Motions October 14; Minutes October 27, 2008; Minutes November 10, 2008
ACTION - Personnel
ACTION - Parental Involvement Policy Title 1 Part 1; Part 2

NOTES: Board Work Session, 11/10/08

The Board Meeting Tuesday, October 14th will be re-broadcast on Channel 96 on Wednesdays at 6 p.m.; Fridays at 9 a.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

6:00 pm - Board Meeting begins with Public Forum

PUBLIC FORUM - Rules

  • No one for public forum

WORK SESSION - MABE "What Counts" Results & Signs of a Quality School

  • Pederson - wants discussion and feelings
  • Wise Results show we're doing a good job. Shocker was "teachers who care about their students."
  • Cook - Questions disseminating results, but they are already on BoardDocs, ensure they are given to school leadership, possibly visit the PTA's & talk.
  • More discussion

Motion by Wise to work towards a presentation for a program to be presented to teachers and students.
Second by Pedersen.

  • Bailey - clarification of motion?
  • Abell - yes clarification? Are we preparing a presentation on the results for us to give when visiting sites?
  • Wise - No. Motion is for the same program we just went through, the What Counts, to be presented to a student and teacher audience.
  • Abell - Isn't that what we just did. It was a very diverse group. What is the time frame for results of all these meetings. I mean is it before the end of our term?
  • Wise - Yes

Yes - Bailey, Carrington, Cook, Pedersen, Wade, Wise
No - Abell

  • Pedersen - Blue Ribbon Commission Monday 11/17 at 10:00 breakfast...Wise, Pedersen, Wade attending

WORK SESSION - Committee Suggested Changes to Policy 8000

  • Draft presented; minor discussion

WORK SESSION - Committee Suggested Changes to Policy 9000

  • Draft presented; minor discussion

WORK SESSION - Discussion on Public Forum at Work Sessions (no report available)

  • I guess this was removed from the agenda; never discussed

WORK SESSION - Draft minutes of the October 14, 2008, regular Board meeting; Motions
Draft minutes from the Q & A on the new high school

  • Richmond - Governor appointed Richmond to committee on principalship for the 21st century.
  • Abell - Will we be having a legislative breakfast
  • Wade - hard to get on the commissoners schedule
  • Abell - Are you saying the commissioners are too busy to meet with us?
  • Wade - I didn't say that
  • Abell - You didn't have to, I did. Legislative breakfast is held annually to discuss the BOE's position on upcoming legislative items. I would like to see us pursue this further.

Money Fears Become Real For Md., Va. Public Schools

By Michael Alison Chandler and Daniel de Vise
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, November 11, 2008; Page B01


Leaders of the region's two largest school systems outlined yesterday their grimmest scenarios to date for how looming budget shortfalls could play out in classrooms, with Fairfax County facing an average increase of 2 1/2 students per class and Montgomery County forced to renegotiate teacher pay increases or cut positions.

Fairfax Superintendent Jack D. Dale sketched a proposal to close a $220 million projected shortfall for the fiscal year that begins in July by eliminating summer school, except for certain special education students, and cutting more than 1,000 positions, including custodians, office workers and teachers.

"It will take decades to recover" from such cuts, Dale said in an interview. "We hope this is the worst-case scenario."

Read more HERE

Abell to Hold Q & A

Charles County Board of Education member Jennifer Abell will hold a question & answer session for interested residents the second Thursday of every month from 6:00-8:30 p.m. at Unique Sports Academy, 109 Post Office Road, Waldorf. The next scheduled meeting is November 13th.
Call Jennifer Abell 301-659-4112 or e-mail abell4edu@verizon.net .

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

BoE need not be present to win! Phoning it in!!!!!

RECEIVED THIS VIA EMAIL REGARDING MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION...PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.
---------------------------------------

Actually, after Tuesday it is going to be BoE members need not be present to VOTE!

That's right sports fans. After Tuesday, MCPS Board of Education members need not attend BoE meetings. So you turn on Channel 34 or your computer to watch a live BoE meeting and seats can be empty! MCPS BoE members will be able to participate and VOTE via speaker phone! What a great way to avoid those nasty votes when you really don't want to have to sit in front of the Superintendent and raise your hand! Now they will just be able to phone it in!

Here is what is happening: On Tuesday, the BoE will vote on a new Operations Handbook. In the handbook is a new section that will be voted into effect on Tuesday if all goes according to plan. Forget about the rule that says policy matters have to lay on the table for 10 days. This major change to the BoE is set to be discussed AND voted on in one meeting. (That keeps a lid on public comment to major changes like this.) The change will allow up to 3 BoE members per meeting to participate and vote via speaker phone. Here is the text of the change.

Members of the public: Do members of the public get to "phone in" public comment from now on?

You have less than 24 hours to comment on this proposed change to the MCPS Board of Education.

###

PROTOCOLS FOR ABSENTEE PARTICIPATION

Members of the Board may participate in a regular or special meeting of the Board of Education, including any closed session thereof, by means of a telephone conference call, pursuant to the following protocols:

1. The absent Board member may participate in the meeting by telephone conference only when a family, work, or other bona fide emergency prevents the Board member from attending the meeting in person. Board members are expected to attend meetings in person; this provision is not to be used as a mechanism for Board members to cease attending meetings in person.

2. The absent Board member who wishes to participate in the meeting, or
a portion of the meeting, by telephone, must make his or her request known
to the Board President and the Board Office at least 24 hours prior to the
scheduled commencement of the meeting, along with the direct telephone number at
which the absent Board member will be reachable for the item(s) on the agenda
he or she wishes to participate.

3. To comply with the Open Meetings Act, the absent Board member may participate in the open session of a regular or special meeting only if the telephone call can and will be broadcast over a speaker phone or other similar technology capable of allowing the absent Board member to hear, and be heard by, the attending Board members and members of the staff, public, and press present at such meeting, or a portion thereof.

4. Any member of the Board who participates in a Board meeting by telephone conference call will not count toward the number of members necessary to constitute a quorum at such meeting.

5. However, any Board member who participates in a meeting by telephone conference call will be permitted to consider, discuss, and vote upon any matter properly before the Board in the same fashion and with the same effect as if such member were physically present at the meeting. The minutes of any meeting at which such absent Board member participates in this manner will reflect that such member participated by telephone conference call and was not physically present during such meeting.

6. For open sessions of the Board meeting, the absent Board member will
call in at an appointed time on the open session's meeting agenda into a
predesignated phone number to staff or staff will call the absent Board member, after which the Board member will be advised to wait until the Board President invites the absent member to join in the dialogue. Concurrently, the Board President will be notified by staff as to the name(s) of the Board member(s) who is (are) holding on the telephone line to join in the dialogue. The absent Board member should not speak until called upon by the Board President.

7. For closed sessions of the Board meeting, at which an absent Boardmember wishes to participate by telephone, a multi-directional speaker phone shall be placed on the conference room table and utilized so that the absent Board member(s) can hear, and be heard by, the attending Board members and staff, and to participate fully in the closed session of the meeting. Staff present at the closed session will make the call to the absent Board member(s)designated phone number to get them on the telephone at the desired portion of the closed session agenda.

8. To avoid dropped calls and to preserve confidentiality of any calls during closed session deliberations, calls from absentee Board members are strongly encouraged to be made from land line telephones.

9. To avoid either electronic interference or multi-second time delay, the absent Board member should undertake all efforts to mitigate any noise in his/her proximity, including but not limited to turning off any sound of the cablecast or webcast of the Board meeting while participating by telephone.

10. Due to the limitation on the number of outside telephone lines running to the control booth and Board Room, and to ensure the presence of a quorum, no more than three absentee Board members may participate by telephone conference call concurrently.

Legal Reference: Section 10-501 et seq., State Government Article, Annotated Code of Maryland

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/agenda/2008-09/2008-1111\
/Policy%20committe%20resolution%20-%20handbook2.pdf


Here is what they cite as a Legal Reference:
Article - State Government § 10-501.
(a) It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that, except in special and appropriate circumstances:

(1) public business be performed in an open and public manner; and

(2) citizens be allowed to observe:

(i) the performance of public officials; and

(ii) the deliberations and decisions that the making of public policy involves.

(b) (1) The ability of the public, its representatives, and the media to attend, report on, and broadcast meetings of public bodies and to witness the phases of the deliberation, policy formation, and decision making of public bodies ensures the accountability of government to the citizens of the State.

(2) The conduct of public business in open meetings increases the faith of the public in government and enhances the effectiveness of the public in fulfilling its role in a democratic society.

(c) Except in special and appropriate circumstances when meetings of public bodies may be closed under this subtitle, it is the public policy of the State that the public be provided with adequate notice of the time and location of meetings of public bodies, which shall be held in places reasonably accessible to individuals who would like to attend these meetings.

Graduating ASAP, if Not on State Timeline

Some Latino Students Fit School in as Life Allows

By Theresa Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 11, 2008; Page A01


An hour and a half after his night shift ended at the grocery store, Jefferson Lara is sitting in art class, sketching warriors -- strong and armored.

Lara's education has never been neatly laid out in class schedules that flow into extracurricular activities. A former gang member, he was expelled from ninth grade, spent time in Peru with his father and entered Arlington Mill High School Continuation program his junior year. He took the night job so his mother could quit one of hers.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

New St. Mary's School Helps Students Navigate 9th Grade

Year-Long Academy Designed to Lift Graduation Rate

By Jenna Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 10, 2008; Page B01


Teacher Rebecca Cline was walking her ninth-grade class through the intricacies of scientific notation when, in the back of the room, a student rested his head on his desk. Another instructor quickly stepped in to get him back on task, which was no surprise. Classes at the newly opened Fairlead Academy in St. Mary's County match two teachers with about 10 kids.

The 60 students enrolled at the public school this year were quiet underachievers in middle school. Although they didn't warrant placement in special education programs, they tended to score consistently lower than their peers on standardized tests. Their teachers worried that they might fall behind as freshmen and eventually drop out of school.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Bullying, Brawling and Bringing Weapons

Md. Students Discuss Realities of School Life

By Nelson Hernandez
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 6, 2008; Page PG01


As about 200 students from across Maryland took their seats at a summit to discuss the problem of school violence, the stereo played an instrumental version of a song familiar, questionable and yet somehow appropriate: "Gangsta's Paradise."

Coolio's elegy to gang violence (sample lyric: "You better watch how you talking, and where you walking/Or you and your homies might be lined in chalk") perhaps didn't speak to the experience of the students from rural Garrett County in western Maryland, but the causes and tragic outcomes of school violence haven't changed much since the hit song was released in 1995.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Open Thread Sunday!

"Open Thread" is a place for you to tell me what you would like to see on this site. What can I do to make it more user-friendly, topics you would like to see discussed in the future, questions or concerns. If I missed your questions on another thread, please direct me to them here.

So here you go, give me your feedback.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

State's teacher shortage appears to be easing

Physics, math and special ed vacancies remain difficult to fill

By Liz Bowie
November 4, 2008


Maryland's perennial teacher shortage may be easing for the first time in several years, a result of increased emphasis on producing better-trained teachers from the state's colleges and universities and a steady enrollment trend, according to state officials.

And state educators predict the trend will continue because of a worsening economy.

"Guess what one of the recession-proof professions is?" said Donna L. Wiseman, dean of the College of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. "Teacher shortages always shrink during recessions."

Despite the improvement, schools remain in need of special education, math, chemistry, physics and foreign language teachers. The state has designated those as shortage areas in its report released Friday.

Baltimore Sun

REMINDER: BOARD WORK SESSION 11/10/08

Reminder... there is a Board Work Session Monday, November 10th. Can't attend...you can watch it live on Channel 96. It will also be re-broadcast on Wednesdays at 6 p.m.; Fridays at 9 a.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

6:00 pm - Board Meeting begins with Public Forum

PUBLIC FORUM - Rules
WORK SESSION - MABE "What Counts" Results & Signs of a Quality School
WORK SESSION - Committee Suggested Changes to Policy 8000
WORK SESSION - Committee Suggested Changes to Policy 9000
WORK SESSION - Discussion on Public Forum at Work Sessions (no report available)
ACTION - Draft minutes of the October 14, 2008, regular Board meeting; Motions
Draft minutes from the Q & A on the new high school

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

National Institute of Vehicle Dynamics - Drive to Survive

The National Institute of Vehicle Dynamics (NIVD), a Maryland Nonprofit, was founded to address the issues of “driver error” in teen-related driver fatalities, which is the leading cause of teen driver deaths for the age group 15-21 years old.

NIVD’s Drive2Survive® curriculum teaches teen drivers life saving techniques not being addressed in basic Driver’s Education.

Currently, our Drive2Survive® curriculum is the first approved and licensed Advanced Safety and Collision Avoidance Teen Driver Training Program by the Maryland Department of Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA).

NIVD’s curriculum is 8 hours of in-car practical application with a state certified Law Enforcement Emergency Response Operation Instructors. One of the most important subjects being covered, removing “panic” in emergency situations with the proper response to the vehicles controls, through our intensive in-car training program on a closed course driver training facility.

We are asking that parents help our organization partner with local community groups to create more awareness about our life saving program “Drive2Survive®”. Together, we can jointly host each others logo and web link to our home pages to let parents know your organization is concerned about reducing the leading cause of death of 15-21 year old drivers “Driver Error”.

For more information, click HERE

DEMO VIDEO

Monday, November 03, 2008

Email to Commissioners

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION

From: MacDonald, Meg [MD]
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 3:54 PM
To: 'Wayne Cooper'
Cc: 'Deborah Hudson'; 'rjpellicoro'; Fisher, Bill [MD]
Subject: Budget questions

Dear Wayne,

I talked to Deborah Hudson after the budget presentation Tuesday, and she suggested we route our questions through you. That presentation by county’s fiscal services department raised a lot of questions for me, and I would appreciate your explaining the derivation of some of the numbers that were cited.

First, I want to make sure I am correctly identifying the source of the “$9 million shortfall,” which is not specifically identified. The report shows no loss in property taxes and no loss in income taxes, so can we assume that the loss is only the recordation tax loss ($8.4 Million) plus the loss in interest income ($600,000)?

The report says there’s “not enough data” about income tax receipts. What is the budgeted (projected) income tax revenue for the next quarter? We’d like to be able to compare that against the actual you receive in November when you get the first major distribution.

Similarly, the report says that property tax is “performing as expected” but it doesn’t say how much you’ve received to date is, nor what the expected amount is. Can we have the exact figures?


In the report, the current amount of the county’s fund balance is never expressly given. Page 8 of the presentation implies that the Unreserved Fund balance is $22.3 million; however, as I was able to clarify by talking to Deborah after the meeting, the $12.1 Million “estimated loss” had not been deducted yet. That $12.1 million would reduce the fund balance only if all projected shortfalls were deducted from it. In fact, Deborah said the current fund balance is $50-$51 million, and that the county had used about $3.5 million out of it for this year’s budget.

This leads to another question -- why is the “estimated loss” $12.1 million on page 8, when the anticipated loss from recordation tax and interest income described on page 3 is only $9 million? Where does the other $3.1 million in losses come from? Page 8 also shows $20.3 million in “Reserves and Designations,” but none of them are listed. Can you tell me what expenditures make up that $20.3 million dollars in Reserves? Aren’t some of those items discretionary? Deborah said they will be listed in the audit, but that the audit will not be available until next month, between November 15th and 30th.

On page 4 of the report, under “additional Revenue concerns,” it states that there will be “greater cash demands for capital projects.” What projects are these, and how much are they expected to cost? Should the county be increasing capital projects when adequate funds for necessary operations are under pressure?

With regard to the bond rating, it was stated several times that it was the county’s “policy” to keep 8% of funds as a fund balance. Was there ever a formal vote or public discussion about that figure? If so, when was it?. Can you show me the data that the commissioners used to determine that keeping 8%(or any other percent, for that matter) of the budget as fund balance positively impacts the bond rating? Because as you know, Bill and I gave you some information from our fiscal consultant, RJ Pellicoro Associates last March that specifically addressed the bond rating/fund balance relationship, and there was virtually no correlation. The information was written by the actual Bond rating agencies (Moody’s and Standards & Poore); I will be glad to send that information to you again if you want. I did see that your own report cited jurisdictions that had a higher bond rating and yet a lower percent of their budgets in surplus.

You asked the Human Resources department to determine the cost of paying county employees for each day, but you stated at the meeting that furloughs were not being considered, Then what is the purpose of having that data?

With regard to Board funding -- on page 11 of the report, it says the Board of Education has 50% of the budget (at $154.4 million). I guess that figure must include funding for the community college, since the Board got only $144 million this year. Still, the Board is supposed to get 52.4% of revenue, yet page 11 shows them receiving less than 50% (if 50% is $154, then $144 is less than 50%) of the funds distributed as expenditures. Why is that?

It does seem odd to me that this “shortfall” came up, when just two weeks ago, the newspaper (Maryland Independent October 10, 2008 “Officials Calm in Face of Economic Jitters”) quoted the commissioners as saying that Charles county’s economy was “steady.” Did something happen to change that? Was there a distribution or a projection that came in between then and now, and if so, can you tell me what it was? Absent that, you know, one could conclude that the commission is using the very recent, federal- level economic situation -- and our citizens’ fretfulness about it -- to cut county expenses when there is really no need to do so.

Considering that 82% of county revenue sources are stable (according to the report, property taxes and income taxes are 54% and 28% of revenue respectively) , and considering there is a $51 million dollar fund balance, it certainly seems that any cuts to the county, let alone to the board of education, would be premature. There are numerous factors that could compensate for a loss of less than 3% of the budget, even if that loss does materialize. For example, the Maryland Association of Realtors just announced that the sales of existing homes are up last month, to the highest rate since 2003. Here is a link to their web site, showing Charles county having an 11.8% increase in units sold over this same period last year: http://www.mdrealtor.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=ebhqG8B%2fZxE%3d&tabid=161&mid=543

Certainly, the increase in units sold could help revive the recordation tax receipts, right?

You know that we had a lot of debate last year about the county’s long history of underestimating revenue, through which they acquired a $73 million fund balance and shorted the Board about $40 million in revenue in the course of five years (based on 52.4% of actual receipts). The Pellicoro report we presented to you last year showed that the county underestimated general fund revenues for 5 of the last 6 years, by an average of about $17 Million per year. Students and teachers are hurt when funding cuts are made based on overly grim speculation about budget revenues. Maybe this year truly is different -- but if the county commissioners want the citizens to believe that this time there really, really is a wolf, I think they should present a better explanation of the situation than the one we were given on Tuesday.

I hope the county is not asking the Board of Ed to impact students and teachers unnecessarily. There are ways of getting money back – the federal government just banked $700 billion of tax payer money on that premise – but it’s much harder for a child who gets behind in school to recover that year of quality instruction. Class sizes are already bigger this year, thanks to last year’s budget cuts, and clearly any further overcrowding will negatively impact students. I’m sure you’ll agree that our ability to grow commercial business (suggestion number 10 on page 14 of the report) depends on having an educated work force.

We would like a copy of your FY 2008 audit as soon as it is available, but in the meantime, I’d appreciate your explaining what the $17 Million in “Transfers Out” of the general fund comprises in the FY 08 Estimate (page 38 in the FY 2009 Budget Book). I can see that $6.8 million of it was the PayGo for capital projects (page 177), but what was the other $11 million used for?

Finally, can you tell me the amount of county dollars expended to date on the following items (operating costs and capital budget costs):

  • Blue Crab Stadium
  • Capital Clubhouse
  • Expansion of the County Government Building ($12 million set aside last spring)
  • The value engineering study for the Rosewick Road construction
  • Land acquisition and purchase, if any, and feasibility study for the new Waldorf Library

Thanks. Please feel free to contact me if you need any clarification on these questions. I’d appreciate any information you can provide.

Meg MacDonald
UniServ Director
EACC/MSTA

Online Grading Systems Mean No More Changing D's to B's

Washington Post By Staff Writer Daniel de Vise

Parents and students in a growing number of Washington area schools can track fluctuations in a grade-point average from the nearest computer in real time, a ritual that can become as addictive as watching political polls or a stock-market index.

The proliferation of online grading systems has transformed relations among teachers, parents and students and changed the rhythm of the school year. Internet-based programs including SchoolMAX and Edulink are pushing midterm progress reports into obsolescence. Prospective failure is no longer a bombshell dropped in a parent-teacher conference. A bad grade on a test can't be concealed by discarding the evidence. A student can log on at school, or a parent at work, to see the immediate impact of a missed assignment on the cumulative grade or to calculate what score on the next quiz might raise an 89.5 to a 90. Report cards hold little surprise.

Across Md., a call for classrooms with walls

Baltimore Sun by Nicole Fuller

As the students in Mr. Incorvati's fifth-grade math class solved a word problem, the hum of more than 20 voices carried past the low-slung partitions. Not far away, Ms. Mulfry unfurled a United States map and told her class about shoreline sediment. Mr. Peddicord described a rudder to his students.

And Ms. Graham was going over math problems on an overhead projector. With sound coming from all directions in this corner of Crofton Woods Elementary, she relied on a microphone to be heard.

Crofton Woods Elementary is one of 34 Anne Arundel County schools without walls separating its classes. Now, county school leaders are planning to spend millions of dollars to construct real classrooms - joining school systems across the state in a multimillion-dollar mission to put to rest the '70s-era experiment of "open-space" schools.

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Open Thread Sunday!

"Open Thread" is a place for you to tell me what you would like to see on this site. What can I do to make it more user-friendly, topics you would like to see discussed in the future, questions or concerns. If I missed your questions on another thread, please direct me to them here.

So here you go, give me your feedback.

Saturday, November 01, 2008

New Federal Rule to Make School Buses Safer

New Federal Rule to Make School Buses Safer, Allow Districts to Use Federal Funds to Pay for Seat Belt Installations, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters Announces
New federal rules will make the nation’s 474,000 school buses safer by requiring higher seat backs, mandating lap and shoulder belts on small school buses and setting safety standards for seat belts on large school buses, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced today.

“Even though riding in school buses is the safest form of travel in America today, any accident is still a tragedy,” said Secretary Peters. “Taken together, these steps are designed with a single purpose, making children safer.”

Secretary Peters said the new rule requires all new school buses in America to be equipped with 24-inch-high seat backs, instead of the 20-inch-high seat backs required today. Higher seat backs will help prevent taller and heavier children from being thrown over the seat in a crash, decreasing the chance of injury to them and the children in front of them.

She added that all new school buses weighing less than five tons will be required to have three-point seat belts. She noted that the lap and shoulder belts better protect children in small buses, adding that smaller school buses are more vulnerable because they don’t absorb shock as well as larger buses.
Read more HERE