Fairfax County schools seek power to tax

WTOP.com
Saturday - 10/26/2013, 1:53pm  ET
Dick Uliano

WASHINGTON - With a $140 million budget deficit, Fairfax County Public School leaders are hoping they'll be able to shake the money tree.
The Washington Post reports the school board has voted overwhelmingly to ask the General Assembly to give it and other school boards the power to tax residents.
The school board complains that the Board of Supervisors doesn't provide the money the schools need.
Earlier this week, School Superintendent Karen Garza presented School Board members with a budget outline that includes possible furloughs, increasing class sizes and eliminating popular programs.

*Note the issues driving the deficits in a related The Washington Post article:  Fairfax County school board faces tough choices in budget shortfall (T. Rees Shapiro, Antonio Olivo, 10/21/2013)

Carroll County school officials concerned about proposed state school discipline regulations

SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED AS WELL?  DAMN STRAIGHT!

Posted: Sunday, October 20, 2013 12:00 am

By Alisha George Times Staff Writer, Carroll County Times

 

The Carroll County Board of Education is concerned that the Maryland State Board of Education’s proposed school discipline guidelines and regulations would take away local control of discipline and have negative educational impacts for students.

 

The Maryland State Board of Education is proposing new student discipline regulations that, if adopted, would apply to every public school system in Maryland. Student disciplinary policies and regulations currently fall under the sole authority of each county’s Board of Education.

 

Screen Name or EmailNow I remember!

The proposed discipline regulations and guidelines are out for public comment until Nov. 4. The state board is then scheduled to adopt the regulations and guidelines Dec. 10. If approved, they would likely go into effect next school year.

 

Its adoption would philosophically change how students are disciplined in Carroll County, according to Dana Falls, director of student services for Carroll County Public Schools.

READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE HERE

HISTORY

This is the second time the state board has published such regulations. In 2011, the first set of regulations were published and saw much opposition.

 

The Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review got involved and postponed the vote on the first set of regulations. The state board then pulled the regulations. Afterward, the state established work groups to study the regulations, and now they are back for public comment and possible approval.

 

The new set of guidelines and regulations were published in the Maryland Register Oct. 4 and are out of a 30-day comment period. These regulations similar to the regulations seen in 2011.

Source: Jonathan O’Neal, Assistant Superintendent of Administration for CCPS

 

CARROLL COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION CONCERNS

• Disciplinary policy should remain under the total authority of the local Board of Education, not the State Board of Education.
• Under the draft Student Code of Conduct and the proposed student discipline regulations, our schools will be less orderly and less safe as repeated disruptive offenders will be more likely to remain in school. Examples include:
• Repeated and deliberate harassment of a peer – Currently the student could receive a 10-day out-of-school suspension. Under the draft Student Code of Conduct, possible consequences could be that the offender writes an apology, is offered mediation with the victim, visits the school counselor, or in extreme cases receives in-school suspension up to 4 days.
• Second drug possession offense – Currently the student would receive a 10-day out-of-school suspension with a recommendation to the superintendent for an extended suspension and is ineligible for extra-curricular activities. Under the draft Student Code of Conduct, a second drug possession offense could receive one of the following consequences: community service, in-school suspension, mentoring program referral, or short term in-school suspension (1-3 days).
• Repeated classroom disruption (harassment, class cutting, insubordination, classroom disruption) – Currently the student could receive a 10-day out-of-school suspension with a possible request to the superintendent for an extended suspension. Under the draft Student Code of Conduct, this offense could receive one of the following consequences: community service, in-school suspension, mentoring program referral, or short term in-school suspension (1-3 days).
• Repeated verbal threats to staff – Currently the student would receive a 10-day out-of-school suspension with a possible request to the superintendent for an extended suspension. Under the draft Student Code of Conduct, this offense could receive one of the following consequences: community service, in-school suspension, mentoring program referral, or short term in-school suspension (1-3 days).
• Weapon violations – Currently the student would receive a 10-day out-of-school suspension with a possible request to the superintendent for an extended suspension. Under the draft Student Code of Conduct, this offense could receive one of the following consequences: community service, in-school suspension, mentoring program referral, or short term in-school suspension (1-3 days).

The draft Student Code of Conduct is not yet publicly available, the proposed state school discipline guidelines and regulations can be viewed in the Maryland Register by visiting: www.carrollk12.org/Assets/file/CCPS%20News/MdRegisterDiscRegs.pdf

The Carroll County Board of Education’s letter to the Maryland State Board of Education can be viewed at www.carrollk12.org/Assets/file/CCPS%20News/StateBoardLetter-DisciplineRegs.pdf

Source: Carroll County Public Schools

HOW TO GIVE FEEDBACK

 

To send comments to the State Board of Education, contact to Robert A. Murphy, Specialist, School Completion, Discipline, and Alternative Programs

By mail: Maryland State Department of Education, Division of Student, Family and School Support, 200 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201
 

By email: rmurphy@msde.state.md.us
 

By phone: 410-767-0305.
 

Send comments to the Carroll County Board of Education by email at feedback@carrollk12.org

Notes from Board of Education Meeting, October 8, 2013

The Board of Education Meeting on Tuesday, October 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 – Westlake High School’s NJROTC Unit

Superintendent’s update - see report

Correspondence/Board member updates

• Pedersen - County fair exhibit was exceptional, thank you to staff; college fair was very well attended and thank you to parent volunteers; MABE conference, networking session was an excellent opportunity, other counties speak with their commissioners more than we are able to; school safety session was also excellent.
• Cook - MABE conference, parnterships with community college and school systems
• Wise - MABE conference, Students Leading Students program in Calvert County - we should look at, Superintendents Evaluation session by Anne Arundel County
• Abell - Requests board/staff meeting with CSM board/staff to discuss and see a presentation on a program called Middle College allowing students to graduate not only with a high school diploma but also an associates degree.

Education Association of Charles County (EACC) update - See report

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSME) update - See report

Student Board Member update - See report

School Administration update - See report

CIP update - See report; adding request for elementary and middle school property; condensing other CIP requests

• Abell & Pedersen concur based on APFO Committee meeting
• Abell - requests that CCBoE staff stop altering our plans and requests before the Commissioners can review them;  there have been instances where local government staff do a preliminary review, and direct CCBoE staff to remove items before the Commissioners' review.  The Commissioners never see the initial requests; we should submit as we see fit.

School bus red light camera program - See report

• American Traffic Solutions representative presented mind-blowing statistics of traffic violations involving motorists neglecting school bus lights and signs.

Bridge to Excellence/Race to the Top (RTTT); Principal and teacher evaluations - See report

FY2013 Independent financial audit - See report; Clean audit report

Human resources update - Employee Recruitment and Retention - See report

2014 Legislative positions - See report

Unfinished Business

• Abell - Update on progress of Health Curriculum Review; in progress of selecting members
• Pedersen - APFO Committee update, thanks to staff

New business - none

Future agenda items - none

Recognition - 4:30 p.m.

• Students:

Sahana Venkatesh, 5^th grade; Gale-Bailey Elementary School; Personal Responsibility; Principal: Toni Melton-Trainor

John (Jack) Glassman, 5^th grade; Mary H. Matula Elementary School; Academic Achievement; Principal: Carrie Richardson

Gregory Griffith, 5^th grade; Arthur Middleton Elementary School; Academic Achievement, Principal: Sabrina Robinson-Taylor

Theodore (Teddy) Hoxie, 8^th grade, Milton Somers Middle School; Career Readiness; Principal: Stephanie Wesolowski

Bridget Cunningham, 12^th grade, Maurice J. McDonough High School; Personal Responsibility; Principal: Bradley Snow

• Employees:

Patricia Graff, first grade teacher, Gale-Bailey
Stephanie Sullivan, first grade teacher, Matula
Sandra Peed, kindergarten teacher, Middleton
Ernestine Swann, guidance secretary, Somers
Vonda Hicks, math teacher, McDonough

Resolutions:

American Education; Accepting: Amit Patel, Student Member of the Board and student liaisons; Elizabeth Brown, EACC; William McLaughlin, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

American Freedom Week; Accepting: Gunnery Sergeant Clive Bailey, USMC, instructor, La Plata; Cadet Henry Giroux, senior, La Plata; Cadet Brandon Lee, junior, La Plata

Public Forum – 6 p.m.

• Yvonne Jones - Has a sophomore at Westlake - According to manager, CCPS did not provide Books A Million with a reading list this year.  As a member of the Westlake Advocates,  Commissoners discussed on 10/1 for new liquor store locations to contact Board of Education.
• Elton Stokes - grandchildren at JP Ryon and Gustavus Brown; community relations portion of the website, referred to Katie O'Malley Simpson

Action items

• Minutes

Motion to accept the Minutes from 9/10/13 by Cook; Second by Pedersen

Yes= Abell, Cook, Pedersen, Wise

Absent=Bowie, Lukas, Wade

• Personnel

Motion to accept Personnel by Abell; Second by Cook

Yes= Abell, Cook, Pedersen, Wise

Absent=Bowie, Lukas, Wade

• FY 2014 Comprehensive Maintenance Plan

Motion to accept the Comprehensive Maintenance Plan by Cook; Second by Pedersen

Yes= Abell, Cook, Pedersen, Wise

Absent=Bowie, Lukas, Wade

Adjournment

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting & Agenda, October 8, 2013

The Board of Education’s next monthly meeting is Tuesday, October 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 Public Forum is at 6 p.m. All Board meetings are televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and rebroadcast throughout the week. Viewing schedules are available on the Charles County Public Schools website at www.ccboe.com.

Executive session – 12 p.m.

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

Superintendent’s update

Correspondence/Board member updates

Education Association of Charles County (EACC) update

Student Board Member update

School Administration update

CIP update

School bus red light camera program

Instruction update

FY2013 Independent financial audit

Budget update

Human resources update

2014 Legislative positions

Unfinished business

New business

Future agenda items

Recognition - 4:30 p.m.

• Resolutions – American Education Week; and American Freedom Week

Public Forum – 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel
• FY 2014 Comprehensive Maintenance Plan

Adjournment