Notes from Board of Education Work Session, 3/28/22

The Board of Education Work Session on Monday, March 28, 2022 was streamed live on ccboe.com and aired live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOs Channel 12.  The meeting will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ .  CCPS also will post the meeting on its YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/ccpsmd.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. Individual names are spelled to the best of my ability.

Executive session – 5:30 p.m.

Call to order – 6 p.m.

Public forum – 6 p.m.

• Deron Tross - Citizen Waldorf; FOIA request for information was not an easy process and was met with resistance.  

School construction update - Presentation

• McGraw - last page second bullet refers to P3's managing and operating the school.  This is concerning.
• Wilson - feasibility study to begin regarding public private partnerships.  Legislation reads like pushing for privatization.

COVID-19 staff leave update

• Lukas - If employee was not vacinated and stayed home while awaiting test results, they were charged leave.  If they were vaccinated and exposed, they weren't required to stay home.  Can request additional leave if they have exhausted leave.

Legislative update

• SB and HB on P3's Partnerships
• SB640/HB1426 - decrease in enrollment would not affect maintenance of effort.
• SB617/HB547 - Access for digital tools for students
• SB136/HB299 - Seizure action plan requirements
• SB119/HB84 - Criminal offense to disrupt educational setting; would remove students from this 
• Hancock - Bill introduced for 0 emissions school buses by 2024

Action items

• Policy series 2000 and 7000; Policies 5116.5, 5117 and 9123

Motion to accept Policy 2000 revisions by Wilson; Second by Herd

Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Herd, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson

Motion to accept Policy 7000 revisions by Hancock; Second by Brown

Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Herd, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson

Motion to accept Policy 5116.5 revisions by Brown; Second by Wilson

Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Herd, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson

Motion to accept Policy 5117 revisions by McGraw; Second by Hancock

Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Herd, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson

Motion to accept Policy 9123 revisions by Herd; Second by Brown

Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Herd, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson

Adjournment

Notes from Board of Education Meeting, 3/8/22

The Board of Education Work Session on Monday, February 28, 2022 was streamed live on ccboe.com and aired live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOs Channel 12.  The meeting will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ .  CCPS also will post the meeting on its YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/ccpsmd.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. Individual names are spelled to the best of my ability.

Executive session – 11:30 a.m.

Call to order – 1 p.m.  

Superintendent’s update

Board Member correspondence

• Wilson - Chess tournament at Lackey; Piccowaxen Black History Month Celebration with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; St. Charles vs McDonough Basketball with McDonough Dance Team; PTSO meeting at Stone; Craik and Diggs visit; National Technical Honor Society event and Washington Post Teach Recognition at St. Charles HS; good to see student liaisons.
• Herd - great to see student liaisons; filinfg process for student board member is opening up soon, press release on ccboe website.
• Hancock - good to be back and maskless; Picco Assembly for Black History Month; Read Across America at Higdon
• Brown - glad to see all of the students; Westlake African American Male Program kick off; Stethem National Technical Honor Society; Picco Program; Afritcan American Task Force at Stone, Stone PTO meeting,; Ryon doors kids decorated
• Battle-Lockhart - North Point, Davis, Diggs visits and all of CTE programs; African American Employee Task Force at Stone; 
• McGraw - grateful to attend in person events; Teacher of the Year; Spelling Bee; Stone vs Westlake basketball game; Charles County Scholarship fund meeting;
• Lukas - Live events are great; PTSO meeting at Stone; Spelling Bee; African American Male Program Kick-Off; Teacher of the Year; National Technical Honor Society Induction

Education Association of Charles County (EACC) update

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) update

Overview of special education due process

• Lukas - Disproportionate suspension rate for race and gender but not Special Needs.
• Battle-Lockhart - Accommodations are identified through the process
• Hancock - Enough support?  Psychologist etc.....NO

Academic assessments update

Textbooks: “Principles and Practices of Barbering” and “Illustrative Mathematics”

Project status update

Legislative update

• SB916/HB739 - Study group Public/Private Partnerships
• SB640/HB1426 - Maintenance of Effort Minimum by County; increase for us
• HB1450 - changes dates in Blueprint; increases deadline for local boards 
• SB617/HB547 - Digital tools and access to students
• SB119/HB84 - Crimes on School grounds and disrupting school activities

Policy series 2000 and 7000; policies 5116.5, 5117 and 9123

Unfinished business 

• Abell - Inclement Weather Plan submitted to MSDE; YES. It was approved

New business

• Public forum discussion - continue virtual

Motion to continue virtual option to public forum by Abell; Second by Battle-Lockhart

Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Herd, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson

Amendment to the motion to allow in-person sign ups up until public forum begins and virtual sig

n ups by 4 pm the day before by Abell; Second by Herd

Yes = Abell, Brown, Hancock, Herd, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson; Abstain = Battle-Lockhhart

Future Agenda items

• Hancock - COVID Relief for exhausted leave
• Lukas - Requests people that have no leave and go back two years to see if they took leave due to COVID
• Abell - Request Budgetary implications; legislation ended July 2021 protecting leave; cannot be arbitrary; possibility of letting staff go into the negative on their leave and pay back in coming year with a signed contract.
• Battle-Lockhart - clarification
• McGraw - efforts already put in place by central office
• Navarro - less staff have exhausted leave post COVID than there was pre COVID
• Acton - 62 have exhausted leave; 33 or certificated.; low compared to previous years

Recognition – 4:30 p.m.

• Resolutions
• Month of the Young Child: Accepting: Marisa McDaniel, kindergarten teacher and Brynlee Sorsby, kindergarten student, Mary B. Neal Elementary School
• National Library Week: Accepting: Carmen Belanger, librarian (media specialist), La Plata High School and Timothy Steelman, librarian (media specialist), Theodore G. Davis Middle School
• National Student Leadership Week: Accepting: Ian Herd, student Board member, La Plata High School  
• Students
• Sabrina Hussein-Echaverria, Grade 12, Academic Achievement, La Plata High School, Principal: Douglass Dolan
• Jean Rodriquez-Perez, Grade 8, Academic Achievement, Piccowaxen Middle School, Principal: Wualanda Thenstead
• Arynn Brooks, Grade 5, Personal Responsibility, Berry Elementary School, Principal: Louis D'Ambrosio
• Drake Maloney, Grade 5, Academic Achievement, Dr. Thomas L. Higdon Elementary School, Principal: Shannon Finnegan, Ed.D.
• Timothy Brown, Grade 5, Career Readiness, Eva Turner Elementary School, Principal: Gary Lesko
• Staff
• Nicholas Andrews, mathematics teacher, La Plata
• Michael Hicks, building service manager, Piccowaxen
• Brooke Proctor, first-grade teacher, Berry
• Stephanie Campbell, learning resource teacher, Higdon
• Latrice Chase, fourth-grade teacher, Turner

 

Public forum – 6 p.m. - Preregistered speakers only

• James Hayes Barber - 1727 ad recited about Dr. Brown and his slaves.  Dare To Be Great non-profit.  Several schools in CCCPS are named after slave owners and should not be honored.
• Mr. Barber (Dad) - same concerns regarding schools being named after slave owners and has a petition.  Board should change name of schools.
• Melissa Carpenter - Teacher.  Special Education presentation today.  Her class has lost 39 hours of SE time just this year where she has tried to cover.  Open positions still unfilled.  First strategy was to reach out for support.  To who?  There is no one else to reach out to. Too many tests and testing.  Assessments bring out stress and overwhelmed behavior.  Suspensions will continue to rise unless more support is given to staff.

Action items

• Minutes

Motion to approve Minutes from February 8th Executive Session by Wilson; Second by Abell

Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson

Motion to approve Minutes from February 8th Board Meeting by Abell; Second by Brown

Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Herd, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson

Motion to approve Minutes from February 8th Board/Commissioner Meeting by Brown; 

Second by Abell

Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Herd, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson; Abstain = Hancock

Motion to approve Minutes from February 28th Board Work Session by Hancock; Second by Brown

Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Herd, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson

• Personnel

Motion to approve Personnel by Wilson; Second by Abell

Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson

• Board policy 6330 

Motion to approve Board Policy 6330 by Hancock; Second by McGraw

Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Herd, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson

• Herd - Requested that we add renaming of schools to a future agenda. Consensus was ye

Adjournment