REMINDER: Board of Education Work Session, 8/6/12

CCPS Press Release
July 24, 2012

The Board of Education of Charles County is holding a work session at 6 p.m., Monday, Aug. 6, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building in La Plata. The meeting will be aired live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and streamed on the school system website at http://www2.ccboe.com/boe/live/. The agenda is as follows:

Executive session – 5:30 p.m.

Call to order – 6 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance

Public Forum

Work Session

• Redistricting/New high school

Adjournment

Maryland education board gives preliminary approval to student-discipline reforms

Donna St. George
The Washington Post
Published July 24, 2012
 

BALTIMORE — The State Board of Education overwhelmingly approved regulations Tuesday intended to cut back on suspensions, keep students in class and create a less-punitive culture in public schools.

The changes place Maryland among states and school systems at the forefront of a national movement to rethink how students in trouble are punished and whether too many are suspended and expelled for offenses that could be handled in other ways.
But the Maryland action goes further than most initiatives, requiring that the state’s 24 school systems track data to ensure that minority and special education students are not unduly affected by suspensions, expulsions and other disciplinary measures. Disparities would have to be reduced within a year and eliminated within three years.
“It could well be the largest governmental unit that has made this strong a commitment to addressing racial disparities in discipline,” said Russell Skiba, a professor at Indiana University who does research on race and discipline. He called the action “a tremendous step forward.”
The new regulations require local school boards to adopt a rehabilitative philosophy toward discipline and teach students positive behavior. Zero-tolerance policies with automatic consequences would be banned, and long-term suspensions and expulsions are referred to as a last resort.
Read more HERE.
Please note:  With Tuesday’s vote (July 24, 2012), the discipline regulations are considered “published” but require a state review and a 30-day period for additional public comment. The board will then vote on final adoption.

Andrew Hacker, CUNY Professor, Questions Whether Algebra Is Necessary In Schools

Huffington Post
Posted: 07/30/2012 2:08 pm

In a July 28 New York Times op-ed titled “Is Algebra Necessary?” Queens College political science professor emeritus Andrew Hacker questions the role of algebra in American high school education.
He cites the subject as being the main impediment to graduation. According to recent data, one in four ninth graders fail to finish high school. In 2008-09, this number was closer to 34 percent in South Carolina, and 45 percent in Nevada. Hacker writes that most of the educators he has corresponded with identify algebra as the major academic reason for these failures.

READ MORE HERE

Board begins yearlong redistricting process for high schools

CCPS Press ReleaseJuly 24, 2012

When the Board of Education meets on Monday, Aug. 6, it will be the beginning of a yearlong process to review redistricting policies, develop alternatives for redistricting of high school attendance zones, create an attendance zone for the new St. Charles High School and reduce overcrowding in the six existing high schools.

The Board of Education meets at 6 p.m., Aug. 6, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building in La Plata. The agenda includes discussion on redistricting policies and suggested policy changes developed by a Board committee. Additionally, the Board will begin discussion on which grades are to be included in St. Charles High School when it opens in August 2014. Possible alternatives include opening it as a full high school with grades 9-12; limiting grades to 9-11; limiting grades to 9-10; or opening as a combination middle/high school with grades 7-9. A complete agenda is posted on the school system website at www.ccboe.com.

Redistricting, said Superintendent James E. Richmond, is essential to create an attendance zone for St. Charles High School and to balance enrollments at the six other high schools. St. Charles High School is scheduled to open in August 2014. The school opening was first planned for 2011, but construction has been delayed twice due to economic and funding issues. State and local funding for the $64 million high school has been finalized and construction on the building is set to begin next month.

A Board subcommittee met during the summer to review and develop suggested changes to policy guiding the redistricting process. The Board will review the suggestions as an information item on Aug. 6. When the Board changes policy, it is scrutinized over three meetings: first as an information item, second as a report and third as an action item for a vote. Rule changes are developed by the Superintendent, and provide the process staff follows to implement the Board's policy. Proposed changes to the Board policies include the addition of a third public information session/hearing. The Superintendent has proposed changes to the composition of the redistricting committee. Complete policy change suggestions will be posted with the agenda on BoardDocs July 30.

The tentative high school redistricting timeline is:

August 2012

• Board reviews committee recommendations on redistricting policy; discusses, makes decisions on grades to be included in new high school.

September 2012

• Principals submit redistricting committee nominations
• Board public hearing/information session on high school redistricting

October 2012

• Superintendent selects redistricting committee
• Redistricting committee meets and is given the task

November 2012

• Redistricting committee meeting to develop two alternatives

December 2012

• Redistricting committee meeting to develop two alternatives

January 2013

• Redistricting committee meeting to develop two alternatives

February 2013

• Redistricting committee finalizes two alternatives

March 2013

• Redistricting committee's report presented to the Superintendent's operations group
• Redistricting committee's report publicized and available to the public

April 8, 2013

• Redistricting committee's report presented to the elected Board at the board meeting

April 2013

• Public hearing on committee's alternatives

May 2013

• Superintendent presents his recommendation to elected Board
• Public hearing on Superintendent's recommendation

June 2013

• Elected Board takes action on Superintendent's recommendation
• Redistricting decision occurs one year prior to the opening of St. Charles High School in August 2014. Students affected by the redistricting will change schools in August 2014.

The Board meeting is open to the public and is also televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12 and streamed live on the school system website at www.ccboe.com. The meeting is rebroadcast throughout the week. Schedules for Channel 96 are available on the Charles County Public Schools website at www2.ccboe.com/publicinfo/channel96/schedule.cfm.

Information about the redistricting will be available throughout the process. All information will be posted on the school system's website, www.ccboe.com, and information flyers will be sent home with elementary students and mailed to middle school parents.

Community input is essential to a successful redistricting. The Superintendent welcomes comments from the public. Comments and suggestions may be shared at public hearings, through e-mail or by letter. E-mails should be sent to redistrict@ccboe.com. Mail letters to Charles County Public Schools, Redistricting, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, MD 20646.

Study Shows US Students Not Gaining On International Peers

Education NewsTuesday, July 24th, 2012

Although improving academic outcomes of American students compared to their international peers has been the focus of educational efforts of the last two presidential administrations, according to a new study released by Harvard University’s Program on Education Policy and Governance, the efforts haven’t yet produced encouraging results. Over the past two decades, the American education reform movement gave birth to voucher programs, school choice, charter schools and new teacher evaluation systems that link student test results to tenure and salary decisions, but the PEPG study conclusions seem to indicate that none of these measures have had an impact on student achievement.

On top of the bad news for the US, which the study ranks at about the middle of the pack out of the 49 countries covered by the researchers, the data shows that students from countries both above and below the US are improving at double — and sometimes triple — the rate of American students.

READ MORE HERE

Work-life Balance and Our Outdated School Schedule

Huffington Post
Posted: 07/19/2012 5:08 pm
Jennifer Davis.Co-Founder & President, National Center on Time & Learning


Last weekend, as I balanced spending time with my five-year-old daughter and completing numerous work-related projects, I read "Why Women Still Can't Have it All", the cover article in The Atlantic by Anne-Marie Slaughter that is generating lots of buzz. I felt like I was reliving my own life through her words.

Having worked in my early career to advance women in politics and for 10 years in the education policy world of Washington, D.C. -- my last position serving as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Education in the Clinton Administration -- I am a member of the generation of women who were determined to prove that women can have it all.

READ MORE HERE

School is too easy, students report

By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
Millions of kids simply don't find school very challenging, a new analysis of federal survey data suggests. The report could spark a debate about whether new academic standards being piloted nationwide might make a difference.

The findings, out today from the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank that champions "progressive ideas," analyze three years of questionnaires from the Department of Education's National Assessment of Educational Progress, a national test given each year.

Among the findings:

•37% of fourth-graders say their math work is "often" or "always" too easy;

•57% of eighth-graders say their history work is "often" or "always" too easy;

•39% of 12th-graders say they rarely write about what they read in class.

Read more HERE

Club 2012: Black parents who made sure their sons succeeded in school

The Washington Post
Post Local
By Michael Alison Chandler
Published: June 14, 2012

For six years, their parents had nagged and prodded and pressed them to perform.
Now these African American seniors in Loudoun County were marking the end of high school with a private ceremony organized by their parents, who had banded together back in middle school to make sure their sons made it successfully to graduation day.
“For the last six years, we’ve told you to do more, do better. We’re never satisfied, right?” said John Johnson, an Ashburn father addressing the 18 students in dress shirts and suit jackets in the auditorium at Lunsford Middle School in Chantilly.
“Well, tonight,” he declared, “we are satisfied.”
He flashed through a slide show of the core members’ accomplishments: 100 percent graduation rate, 92 percent enrollment in Advanced Placement classes, a cumulative 3.7 grade-point average and a combined $1.3 million in college scholarships.
Then he estimated, only half jokingly, how much volunteer time the parents seated behind them had invested in their success: 1,173,266 hours.
Read more HERE.

The technology mistake: Confusing access to information with becoming educated

The Washington Post
Post Local
The Answer Sheet, by Valerie Strauss
Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 06/18/2012

This was written by Larry Cuban, a former high school social studies teacher (14 years, including seven at Cardozo and Roosevelt high schools in the District), district superintendent (seven years in Arlington, VA) and professor emeritus of education at Stanford University, where he has taught for more than 20 years. His latest book is “As Good As It Gets: What School Reform Brought to Austin.” This appeared on his blog.

By Larry Cuban
“There won’t be schools in the future …. I think the computer will blow up the school. That is, the school defined as something where there are classes, teachers running exams, people structured in groups by age, following a curriculum—all of that…. But this will happen only in communities of children who have access to computers on a sufficient scale.”

That’s Seymour Papert, cognitive scientist and designer of software application Logo, writing in 1984 about dramatic changes in schooling with the advent of the desktop computer. Nearly 30 years later, the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, spoke at the Association of American Publishers Annual Meeting in 2010 on the national plan for technology. “We have the opportunity to completely reform our nation’s schools. We’re not talking about tinkering around the edges here. We’re talking about a fundamental re-thinking of how our schools function and placing a focus on teaching and learning like never before.”
Claims about the power of new electronic devices to “revolutionize” schooling are a dime a dozen. Yet, if they are nearly worthless, why have smart people said them over and over again?
The answer is deeply embedded in American culture: a love affair with technology as the elixir of everlasting improvement in all things personal and institutional. In the past quarter-century, quasi-miraculous changes have occurred in communication, information accessibility, business and commercial activities, combat operations, medical diagnosis and treatment, and so many other activities. Why not schooling?
Read more HERE.

U. Va. research: Arguing kids could have benefits

Monday - 6/18/2012, 7:57am  ET

By SAMANTHA KOON
The Daily Progress 
WTOP Local VA 

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Though parents have been teaching their children not to argue with adults for generations, new research from the University of Virginia shows that young teenagers who are taught to argue effectively are more likely to resist peer pressure to use drugs or alcohol later in adolescence.
"It turns out that what goes on in the family is actually a training ground for teens in terms of how to negotiate with other people," said Joseph Allen, a U.Va. psychology professor and the lead author of the study, results of which were published in a recent edition of the journal Child Development.
Allen said that parents are often "scared to death about peer pressure," but also frustrated by argumentative children.
"What we're finding is there's a surprising connection between the two," he said. Allen noted that teens "learn they can be taken seriously" through interactions with their parents.
"Sometimes, it can be counterintuitive to tell parents to let their teens argue with them," said Joanna Chango, a clinical psychology graduate student at UVa who worked on the study. In fact, learning effective argumentation skills can help teenagers learn to "assert themselves and establish a sense of autonomy," she said.
Read more HERE.

Overcrowding at Ballou Graduation Forces Out Some Parents

AND THIS IS JUST ONE OF MANY REASONS WHY WE DON'T HOLD OUR GRADUATIONS OUTDOORS!

View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.

Due to bad weather, the ceremony was moved indoors -- but security offers [sic] thought there wasn't enough room for everyone.

Notes from Board of Education Meeting 6/12/12

The Board of Education Meeting on Tuesday, June 12 will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . 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.

Call to order – 1 p.m. - Pledge of Allegiance – Westlake High School's JROTC Unit

• Swearing-in of new Student Board member

Superintendent's update - See update

Correspondence/Board member updates

• Wade - Picnic Building Service Workers
• Bowie - Graduate congratulations; Thank you to teachers & staff; Library in Waldorf opening
• Pedersen - Congratulations to graduates
• Lukas - Thank you to all who support Project Graduation

Education Association of Charles County update

Student Board Member update - See report

Adult Independence Program staff recognition

• Wise - & Cook attended the AIP graduation.  Largest class in history (16)
• Cook - Spoke of how moving the program was and has attended it for many years.  Thank you to staff

CIP update - See report

JROTC - See report

LifeStyles of Charles County - See report; summer meals; bring children to the meals

Budget update - Governor's proposals on budget and county retirement obligations.  On target to reach fund balance.  Funding OPEB is still an issue.

Breakfast participation program - See report; grab & go breakfast; second chance breakfast

Unfinished business - None

New business - None

Future agenda items

• Abell - Research high school start times and see if delaying them based on teenage sleep studies and study habits would be more beneficial to our students

Recognition - 4:30 p.m.

• Students - Hunter Youngblood, 7th grade, Piccowaxen Middle School, first place winner in Major League Baseball's Breaking Barriers essay contest
• Outstanding vice principal award - Caroline Timmons, Vice Principal: T.C. Martin Elementary School
• Outstanding support staff awards - Donald "Bruce" Elliott, food service manager, Westlake High School; LaVerne Hicks, special education instructional assistant, Berry Elementary School; Michael Mickey, network engineer, Jessie L. Starkey Administration Building; Hubert Robey, HVAC mechanic II, Radio Station Road Annex; Connie Bannister, secretary, Mt. Hope/Nanjemoy Elementary School
• Resolution – Charles County Teacher of the Year – Kerrie Seberg, third-grade teacher, William A. Diggs Elementary School
• Employee retirement resolution

Reappointment of Eric Schwartz

Motion to accept the reappointment by Cook; Second by Lukas

Yes = Abell, Bowie, Cook, Lukas, Pedersen, Wade, Wise

Public Forum – 6 p.m.  - None
Action items

• Minutes
Motion to accept Minutes by Cook; Second by Pedersen
Yes = Abell, Bowie, Cook, Lukas, Pedersen, Wade, Wise
• Personnel
Motion to accept Personnel by Pedersen; Second by Wade
Yes = Abell, Bowie, Cook, Lukas, Pedersen, Wade, Wise
• Educational facilities master plan
Motion to accept Educational Facilities Master Plan by Cook; Second by Pedersen
Yes = Abell, Bowie, Cook, Lukas, Pedersen, Wade, Wise

Adjournment

Ex-Commissioners Point of View on DRRA's and School Allocations

Below you will find a letter submitted to the Charles County Board of Commissioners and copied to the Board of Education by Ex-Commissioner, Murray Levy who is now a Government Relations Consultant with ALEXANDER & CLEAVER, PA. 

Please review and leave your thoughts.


Murray Levy Letter to Commissioners regarding DRRA

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting, 6/12/12

The Board of Education's next monthly meeting is Tuesday, June 12, 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 Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Schedules for Channel 96 are available on the Charles County Public Schools website at www2.ccboe.com/publicinfo/channel96/schedule.cfm.

Executive Session – 12 p.m.

Call to order – 1 p.m.
Pledge of Allegiance – Westlake High School's JROTC Unit
Swearing-in of new Student Board member

Superintendent's updateReports of officers/boards/committees

• Correspondence/Board member updates
• Education Association of Charles County update
• Student Board Member update
• Adult Independence Program staff recognition
• CIP update
• JROTC
• LifeStyles of Charles County
• Budget update
• Breakfast participation program

Unfinished business

New business and future agenda items

• New business
• Future agenda items

Recognition - 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Employees
• Outstanding vice principal award
• Outstanding support staff awards
• Resolution – Charles County Teacher of the Year – Kerrie Seberg, third-grade teacher, William A. Diggs Elementary School
• Employee retirement resolution

Public Forum – 6 p.m. Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel
• Educational facilities master plan

Adjournment

Board of Education announces public meeting TODAY

The Board of Education of Charles County is holding a public meeting at 5 p.m. today, Tuesday, June 5, in the faculty lounge at North Point High School. The meeting is being held to approve a contract for the guaranteed maximum price to the construction manager at risk (CMR) for St. Charles High School.

CCPS seniors receive nearly $52 million in scholarship offers

Charles County Public Schools honored 2,192 seniors on June 4 and June 5 during graduation ceremonies for six high schools. Students in the Class of 2012 were offered nearly $52 million in scholarships.
Valedictorians and salutatorians were announced last week at awards ceremonies. These positions are determined by students' grade point averages and represent the top academic achievers at each school.

Henry E. Lackey High School's valedictorian is Emily Macri of Nanjemoy and the salutatorian is Crystal Dionisio of Marbury. Macri plans to attend the University of Maryland College Park to study architecture. Dionisio plans to study psychology at Mount St. Mary's University.
La Plata High School's valedictorian is Raleigh Joyner of Charlotte Hall and salutatorian is Casey Rollins of La Plata. Joyner plans to attend the University of Maryland College Park and major in linguistics. Rollins is headed to the University of Virginia where she will major in engineering.

Erica Richardson of La Plata is Maurice J. McDonough High School's valedictorian. She is attending the University of Maryland College Park in the fall to study political science. McDonough has two co-salutatorians – Katie Turner of Newburg and Matthew Haldeman of La Plata. Turner, who has not declared a major, plans to attend the University of Maryland College Park and Haldeman will study physics at Marshall University.

North Point High School has two co-valedictorians – Cayley Dymond and Natalie Griffin, both of Waldorf. Salutatorian is Christopher Hartline of La Plata. Dymond plans to attend Purdue University and major in aerospace engineering. Griffin will attend the University of Maryland College Park and plans to major in journalism and international relations. Hartline plans to major in cellular and molecular biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Representing Thomas Stone High School are Jemm Excelle Dela Cruz of Waldorf as valedictorian and Daryllee Hale of Waldorf as salutatorian. Dela Cruz will attend Georgetown University and plans to study science, technology and international affairs. Hale has not declared a major, but will attend Towson University.

Westlake High School's valedictorian is Felicia Dillard of Waldorf and salutatorian is Misha Stone, also of Waldorf. Dillard plans to major in neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University. Stone will attend Brown University in the fall and plans to study economics.

2012 graduation numbers by school – (unofficial data as of 6/5/2012)

Henry E. Lackey High School
•Total graduates: 284
•Total scholarship money offered: $5,500,000
La Plata High School
•Total graduates: 341
•Total scholarship money offered: $6,937,688

Maurice J. McDonough High School
•Total graduates: 287
•Total scholarship money offered: $6,502,277

North Point High School
•Total graduates: 542
•Total scholarship money offered: $13,978,586

Thomas Stone High School
•Total graduates: 380
•Total scholarship money offered: $10,396,000
Westlake High School
•Total graduates: 358
•Total scholarship money offered: $8,651,552

Charles County Public Schools Totals
•Total graduates: 2,192
•Total scholarship money offered: $51,966,103

It’s time to drop the college-for-all crusade

Robert J. Samuelson
The Washington Post
Opinion Writer
Published May 27, 2012

The college-for-all crusade has outlived its usefulness. Time to ditch it. Like the crusade to make all Americans homeowners, it’s now doing more harm than good. It looms as the largest mistake in educational policy since World War II, even though higher education’s expansion also ranks as one of America’s great postwar triumphs.
Consider. In 1940, fewer than 5 percent of Americans had a college degree. Going to college was “a privilege reserved for the brightest or the most affluent” high-school graduates, wrote Diane Ravitch in her history of U.S. education, “The Troubled Crusade.” No more. At last count, roughly 40 percent of Americans had some sort of college degree: about 30 percent a bachelor’s degree from a four-year institution; the rest associate degrees from community colleges.
Starting with the GI Bill in 1944, governments at all levels promoted college. From 1947 to 1980, enrollments jumped from 2.3 million to 12.1 million. In the 1940s, private colleges and universities accounted for about half. By the 1980s, state schools — offering heavily subsidized tuitions — represented nearly four-fifths. Aside from a democratic impulse, the surge reflected “the shift in the occupational structure to professional, technical, clerical and managerial work,” noted Ravitch. The economy demanded higher skills; college led to better-paying jobs.
College became the ticket to the middle class, the be-all-and-end-all of K-12 education. If you didn’t go to college, you’d failed. Improving “access” — having more students go to college — drove public policy.
We overdid it. The obsessive faith in college has backfired.
Read more HERE.

Notes from Board of Education Meeting, 5/8/12

The Board of Education Meeting on Tuesday, May 8 will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . 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.

Call to order – 1 p.m. - Pledge of Allegiance, North Point High School's JROTC unit

Recognition of student liaisons

Superintendent's update - See report
Correspondence/Board Member updates

• Bowie - NSBA Conference highlights
• Pedersen - NSBA Conference highlights
• Cook - NSBA highlights
• Lukas - DI Competition - congratulations
• Wise - Every 15 Minutes program - support

Education Association of Charles County update - see report
Student Board Member update - see report

CIP update - see report

• Wade - asked Wineland if he is comfortable with the progress of the new high school.
• Wineland - will come back with an answer next month; opening is not in jeopardy at this point

Educational facilities master plan -see report
Title I homeless and dental care projects, partnerships - see report

Unfinished business

• Wise - RFP's for consulting firms research presentation; thinks we should go with MABE.
• Abell - reason MABE is so much cheaper?  due to membership dues and it is a non-profit
• Lukas - can we ask a broad range of companies a list of questions?
• Wade - What are the steps we HAVE to do?
• Cook - What does piggyback mean?
• Balides - ride behind the current RFP; valid way to get things done
• Hettel - it needs to be a consultant for the board and should be kept out of central office and should be kept confidential; recommends a consultant
• Pedersen - concerns on cost in the long run; person who will lead our school system for a very long time; sometimes you have to spend the money to get the cream of the crop.
• Cook - applicants pool change with which consultant is used?
• Lukas - timeline to have consultant confirmed?

Motion to hire MABE as consultants for the Superintendent search by Abell; Second by Cook

Yes = Abell, Bowie, Cook, Lukas, Pedersen, Wade, Wise

• Abell - K9 dogs in schools?
• Richmond - waiting on a response from Coffey

New business

• Wise - 3 members to work with staff on redistricting policy; Abell, Lukas, Pedersen

Future agenda items - none
Recognition – 4:15 p.m.

• Ruth Ann Hall awards
• Students - Aashka Pate, 5th grade, Academic Achievement, T.C. Martin Elementary School; Lauren O'Neil, 5th grade, Academic Achievement, Walter J. Mitchell Elementary School; Tolani Olaosebikan, 5th grade, Personal Responsibility, Mary B. Neal Elementary School; Emily Rawson, 8th grade, Academic Achievement, Mattawoman Middle School; Shannon Gravette, 12th grade, Career Readiness, North Point High School; Brandon Paulin, 10^th grade, Henry E. Lackey High School, winner in the 2012 National Voice of Democracy’s Audio-Essay Competition
• Employees - Kathryn Stapleson, gifted education resource teacher, Martin; Melissa Walter, instructional specialist, Mitchell; Laurie Silk, secretary, Neal; Andrea Hoover, social studies teacher, Mattawoman; Linda McLaughlin, world language teacher, North Point

Public Forum – 6 p.m.

• Derrick Terry - Superintendent search -- must have a vested interest in students and county and not someone who is an exorbitant spender, have a lavish lifestyle, or interested only in furthering their own career.  Keep public involved.  No consulting firms; use online survey with the public; should be an educator, home grown.  Get rid of perks; promote from within.
• Lourdes Saigon - Relocating -  stop allocating seats we don't have available.  Concerned about high school rezoning and whether Board is going to have the public involved. 
• Roseman Dai - Students moving from Davis to Henson -- concerned that Henson will be at state rated capacity next year and new developments are being built in that vicinity.  What's going to happen next year?  Been attending meetings with commissioners and planning commission.  Please talk to citizens/parents and use them to communicate and communicate with the other boards as well.

Action items

• Minutes
Motion to accept the Minutes by Abell; Second by Pedersen
Yes = Abell, Bowie, Cook, Lukas, Pedersen, Wade, Wise

Personnel

Motion to accept Personnel by Pedersen; Second by Lukas

Yes = Abell, Bowie, Cook, Lukas, Pedersen, Wade, Wise

2013-2014 calendar

Motion to accept 2013-2014 Calendar by Pedersen; Second by Wade

Yes = Abell, Bowie, Cook, Lukas, Pedersen, Wade, Wise

Budget amendment FY 2012

Motion to accept Budget Amendment FY 2012 by Lukas; Second by Wade

Yes = Abell, Bowie, Cook, Lukas, Pedersen, Wade, Wise

Board Goals

Motion to accept Board Goals FY 2012 by Pedersen; Second by Wade

Yes = Abell, Bowie, Cook, Lukas, Pedersen, Wade, Wise

Adjournment

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting, May 8, 2012

The Board of Education's next monthly meeting is Tuesday, May 8, 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 student and staff recognition starts at 4:15 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12 and is rebroadcast throughout the week. The meeting is also streamed live on the Charles County Public Schools website. Visit http://www2.ccboe.com/boe/live/ to watch the meeting.


Executive session – 12 p.m.


Call to order – 1 p.m.


Pledge of Allegiance, North Point High School's JROTC unit


Recognition of student liaisons


Superintendent's update
 Correspondence/Board Member updates


Education Association of Charles County update


Student Board Member update


CIP update


Educational facilities master plan


Title I homeless and dental care projects, partnerships


Unfinished business

New business


Future agenda items


Recognition – 4:15 p.m.

• Ruth Ann Hall awards
• Students
• Employees

Public Forum – 6 p.m.


Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel
• 2013-2014 calendar
• Budget amendment FY 2012

Adjournment

CCPS Press Release: Health department, school system investigating tuberculosis case

Posted on May 4, 2012 at 3:19 PM

The Charles County Department of Health has confirmed that a North Point High School student has been diagnosed with Tuberculosis (TB) disease. The school system is working with the health department to ensure there is no further risk in the school.
Tuberculosis is a bacterial illness that responds well to proper medical treatment. It is spread through the air, usually by coughing or sneezing. Generally, a person must have prolonged exposure to the person with TB in order to breathe in a sufficient number of TB germs to cause a TB infection. The disease cannot be transmitted by touching someone or by sharing eating utensils.
The health department is working with the school and school system to identify those who should receive TB testing. Classmates, teachers and staff members at North Point who may have had prolonged exposure to the student diagnosed with TB will receive an exposure letter and a TB testing consent form by e-mail and regular mail early next week. The health department will provide free TB tests at North Point to those people identified. North Point parents/guardians who do not receive an exposure letter or e-mail do not need to have their children tested at this time.
Today, North Point is sending home an information letter to all parents as well as a TB fact sheet. Questions can be directed to your family physician or the Charles County Department of Health's Communicable Disease Control Program at 301-609-6900, ext. 6025, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Additional information about tuberculosis is available on the Department of Health website www.charlescountyhealth.org. A fact sheet is also available on the school system website at www.ccboe.com.
Charles County Public Schools provides 26,700 students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with an academically challenging education. Located in Southern Maryland, Charles County Public Schools has 35 caring community schools that offer a technologically advanced, progressive and high quality education that builds character, equips for leadership and prepares students for life, careers and higher education.

The Charles County public school system does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices. For inquiries, please contact Dr. Patricia Vaira, Title IX Coordinator and Section 504 Coordinator (students), or Keith Hettel, Section 504 Coordinator (employees/adults), at Charles County Public Schools, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, Maryland 20646; (301) 932-6610/870-3814. For special accommodations call (301) 934-7230 or TDD 1-800-735-2258 two weeks prior to the event.