Student Strip Search Illegal

School Violated Teen Girl's Rights, Supreme Court Rules

By Robert Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 26, 2009

Arizona school officials violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old girl when they strip-searched her on the suspicion she might be hiding ibuprofen in her underwear, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday. The decision put school districts on notice that such searches are "categorically distinct" from other efforts to combat illegal drugs.

Read more HERE.

REMINDER: Board Work Session 6/22/09

The Board of Education's next work session is Monday, June 22, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 6 p.m. with public forum. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and rebroadcast throughout the week. Program schedules for Channel 96 are available at www2.ccboe.com/publicinfo/channel96/schedule.cfm . The agenda and reports can be found on BoardDocs.

Public Hearing on Federal Stimulus Funding

Work Session
• FY 2010 Budget
• Discussion of dates to meet with Commissioners in the fall to discuss funding for the operating costs of the new high school
• Information Item: Code of Student Conduct/sexual offenses
• Information Item: Safety in schools
• Discussion on changing Board meeting dates for April and Sept., 2010 (April 13, 2010 is
NSBA and Sept. 14, 2010 is Election Day)

Action Item
• FY2010 Budget
• Policy #5117 – Bullying
• Policy #3411-Inventories: Furniture and Equipment

REMINDER: Board Meeting, 6/9/09

The Board of Education's next monthly meeting is Tuesday, June 9, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 1 p.m. and recognition begins at 4:30 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and rebroadcast throughout the week. Program schedules for Channel 96 are available at www2.ccboe.com/publicinfo/channel96/schedule.cfm. The agenda and reports can be found on BoardDocs

Executive session  11:30 a.m.

Call to order  1 p.m.

La Plata High School's JROTC unit
Swearing-in of new Student Board member

Reports of officers/boards/committees

Superintendent's update
Correspondence/Board member updates

Action item
EACC/AFSME contract and signing

Reports of officers/boards/committees
Education Association of Charles County update
Student Board Member update
CCPS homeless student update
New high school
Adult education
Dual and concurrent enrollment
CIP update
2010 budget
Policy 3411, inventories: furniture and equipment
Policy 5117, bullying and harassment

Unfinished business

New business and future agenda items

New business  contract award for Mt. Hope/Nanjemoy Elementary School kindergarten addition

Future agenda items

Recognition  4:15 p.m.
Ruth Ann Hall Awards
Students
Employees
Outstanding vice principal award
Outstanding support staff awards
Resolutions  Charles County Teacher of the Year  Janet Jones, reading resource teacher, General Smallwood Middle School; Employees' retirement; and Washington Post Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher award  Samantha Shelton, Life Skills teacher, Milton M. Somers Middle School
Recognition of Charles County Teacher of the Year nominees  Joy Thompson, language arts teacher, Milton M. Somers Middle School; and Brenda Wagner, Special Education teacher, William A. Diggs Elementary School
Recognition of Washington Post Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award nominees  Maria Arevalo, language arts teacher, General Smallwood Middle School; Charna Brooks, third-grade teacher, William A. Diggs Elementary School; Nancy Burch, physical education teacher, Thomas Stone High School; Laura Kelly, art teacher, Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Elementary School; and Deborah Taylor, mathematics teacher, Mattawoman Middle School

Public Forum  6 p.m.

Action items

Minutes
Personnel
Educational Facilities Master Plan
Out-of-county tuition fees
Policy 1000 series
Superintendent's redistricting recommendation

Adjournment

Charter Schools Provide Good Model On Teacher Pay

The Washington Post
Jay Mathews
June 1, 2009

It is hard for me to find a school leader with a track record for raising student achievement who does not admire almost everything Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee is doing with the D.C. schools. Yeah, I said almost. One important item on her agenda is not so popular -- merit pay for teachers.

Rhee is right when she says that the standard way of assessing and compensating teachers is a mess. It drives talented people from the field or leads them to avoid teaching in the first place. It deprives principals of vital tools for improving schools. Rhee learned this the hard way, creating the New Teacher Project to recruit and train teachers for urban schools. That nonprofit organization is releasing today a study of 12 districts that backs Rhee's point -- administrators shrink from assessing the relative quality of their teachers and tend to give nearly everybody a good evaluation.

Read more HERE.

Students Crave a Break on Cellphone Ban

Md. Teen's Idea to Allow On-Campus Use at Lunch Faces Strong Opposition

By Daniel de Vise
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 1, 2009

Juan Hendrix, an earth science teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, knows that when it comes to cellphone use in schools, looks can deceive.

"A classroom can appear quiet and orderly, but it may be abuzz with chatter," Hendrix said.

Text messaging has spawned an era of uninterrupted contact among friends, especially young people. Students often tap out silent conversations beneath their desks, even though most Washington area public schools forbid them to use cellphones on campus during school hours.

To defuse the conflict, a Montgomery County student leader has proposed a compromise: Let students text while they eat.

Read more HERE.

46 States, D.C. Plan to Draft Common Education Standards

By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 1, 2009

Forty-six states and the District of Columbia today will announce an effort to craft a single vision for what children should learn each year from kindergarten through high school graduation, an unprecedented step toward a uniform definition of success in American schools.

The push for common reading and math standards marks a turning point in a movement to judge U.S. children using one yardstick that reflects expectations set for students in countries around the world at a time of global competition. Today, each state decides what to teach in third-grade reading, fifth-grade math and every other class. Critics think some set a bar so that students can pass tests but, ultimately, are ill-prepared.

Led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, the states, including Maryland and Virginia, are aiming to define a framework of content and skills that meet an overarching goal. When students get their high school diplomas, the coalition says, they should be ready to tackle college or a job. The benchmarks would be "internationally competitive."

Read more HERE.