Incident at Lackey High School

Yes there was an incident of alleged sexual assault at Lackey High School. A student has been charged. I cannot release specifics of the incident, but here is a news report.

Teen Arrested for Sexual Assault at Lackey High School

LA PLATA, Md. (Feb. 5, 2009) -- Serious violence in the public schools seems to be Charles County's latest social issue. In early January, a 16-year-old female student was stabbed in the back by a like-aged male student at Maurice McDonough High School in Pomfret. Yesterday, a student at Henry Lackey High School in Indian Head says she was sexually assaulted in an empty classroom around 2 pm. Anthony Hansley, 18, of White Plains, was arrested today and charged with second-degree rape and second-degree assault in connection with the incident.

Read more HERE

Interesting Statistics

Below is some statistics sent to me by a reader. I've taken out the commentary, just statistics comparing Lackey to Paint Branch HS in Montgomery County (designation as the school in the U.S. with the highest percentage of African American students passing an AP exam)...interested in seeing what my readers think.

Teacher Qualifications

Lackey ---Paint Branch

31.4------- 34.6 Standard
50.0 -------56.8 Advanced Professional
0----------- 0 Resident
10.--------- 2.5 Conditional
12.3 --------6.3 % of classes not taught by HQ teachers

STUDENT MOBILITY

11.9 --------7.4


STUDENT POPULATION

1521 -------1784 Total Enrollment

876---------- 829 African American
568 ----------401 White
25 -----------189 Hispanic
28 -----------357 Asian

769 ----------883 Male
752 ----------901 Female


FREE/REDUCED PRICE LUNCH
2008 -25.6 ------22
2007- 22.5 ------20.1
2006 -20.3------ 18.7
2005 -18.1 ------14.8
2004 -19.3 ------12.9
2003 -22.3 ------12.9
2002 -22.9 ------11.3
2001 -24.4 ------11.3
2000 -24.8------ 11.8

SPECIAL EDUCATION

2008 -8.6------ 8.4
2007 -7.7 ------8.6
2006 -8.0 ------8.8
2005- 8.2 ------8.8
2004 -9.0------ 8.8
2003- 8.1 ------9.7
2002 -9.4 ------8.6
2001 -11.0 -----9.2
2000- 14.9 -----7.6
1999 -12.4 ------8.5

LIMITED ENGLISH

2008 -.6-------- .9
2007 - *-------- .8
2006 - * --------1.0
2005 -*--------- 1.0
2004 -* ---------.7
2003 -*--------- .5
2002- .4 ---------1.1
2001-- .5 ---------1.0
2000 --*---------- 1.3
1999 --* -----------.4


SECTION 504

2008- .9 -------.8
2007 -.8 -------2.0
2006 -.9 -------2.4
2005- 1.4 ------2.7
2004- .8 -------2.6
2003- .5------- 1.8

REMINDER: Board Meeting, 02/10/09

Reminder... there is a Board Meeting Tuesday, February 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.

Items that may be of interest:

• Action - Health Curriculum
• Action - Budget 2010

**Please see the link to the agenda above. I will no longer be rewriting the full agenda on this blog due to time constraints on my part. If any reader really uses my agenda postings, please contact me and we can see what I can work out. Otherwise, click on the link above for the complete agenda and review my items of interest.

Maryland Takes First Place in AP Exams

By Daniel de Vise

For the first time, Maryland ranks first among states for the share of graduating seniors who passed at least one Advanced Placement exam, a measure of college preparation that has become the new standard for accelerated instruction in high school. [Wash. Post]

Five T. Stone Wrestlers Charged With Hazing

By Katie Carrera

Five Thomas Stone varsity wrestlers have been charged by the Charles County Sheriff's Office with misdemeanor hazing for their involvement in an incident on the team bus last month. All five have been suspended from school indefinitely, and first-year coach Michael Larson has been removed from his position for at least the remainder of the season. [Wash Post]

Survey: College increasingly important but pricey

By JUSTIN POPE

The number of Americans who think a college degree is essential for success has risen dramatically in recent years, a new survey shows, but two-thirds of them also believe that higher education is priced out of reach for some qualified students.

The survey, released Wednesday by the groups Public Agenda and the National Center on Public Policy and Higher Education, underscores the uptick in public anxiety about college affordability during the current recession. [AP]

Could stimulus make your kids fat?

By ERIKA LOVLEY

There’s been plenty criticism of the hefty economic stimulus package. But here’s a new one: Could it make your kids fat?

The American Heart Association warns that confusing language in both the $819 billion-plus House and Senate stimulus bills could dissuade some schools from spending money on gymnasiums and stadiums and other shovel-ready projects that combat childhood obesity.

With the slumping economy curtailing family funds for expensive gym memberships and traveling soccer teams, health lobbyists say the school gym is vital to keeping students healthy. [Politico]

First Lady Visits Department of Education

By Maria Glod

In the first stop of a planned series of visits to federal agencies, first lady Michelle Obama went to the Department of Education today to energize workers by announcing: "I am a product of your work."

During a 10 minute speech with a pep rally atmosphere, Obama plugged the president's stimulus plan, which would pay to renovate thousands of schools, add funding for preschool for disadvantaged children and increase federal dollars for Pell Grants for college students. She said the infusion of cash would prevent teacher layoffs and help children in poverty and those with disabilities. [Wash. Post]

Enrollment in faith-based schools down nearly 20 percent

By Leah Fabel

Urban faith-based schooling options have declined by nearly 20 percent in 20 years, according to a recent report by the White House Domestic Policy Council, and officials warn that poor and minority students are most adversely affected.

Nationwide, the number of students enrolled in urban religious schools declined by 18 percent to about 1.8 million between 1989 and 2006, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, an arm of the Department of Education. [WTOP]

Longer school year worries Ohio's tourism industry

By JOHN SEEWER | Associated Press Writer

TOLEDO, Ohio - Adding four weeks to Ohio's school year will create a shorter summer travel season and hurt everyone from big amusement parks to family-run campgrounds, those in the travel industry say.

Some argue that the proposal for an extended school year announced last week by Gov. Ted Strickland will cost jobs and shrink tax revenue at a time when the state can't afford it.
[...]
Adding 20 days to the school year is just one piece of Strickland's plan to overhaul Ohio's public schools and increase learning in the classroom.

School districts will be able to determine when to add the extra days that will be phased in over the next decade, Strickland spokeswoman Amanda Wurst said. [Chicago Tribune]

Group Aims To Reform School Bullies

Local Effort Will Dovetail With Statewide Policy

By Jenna Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer

In response to a statewide crackdown mandated by last year's General Assembly, the Maryland State Board of Education plans to release a model policy next month about how schools should confront and counsel bullies.

But the Tri-County Youth Services Bureau in Southern Maryland is getting a head start on the initiative by launching anti-bullying programs in communities and schools. The organization's Community Conferencing Project facilitates meetings between bullies and their victims to discuss incidences of bullying and how the people involved are affected. [Wash. Post]

Freeze in Md. tuition could be tough sell

Legislators worry that cap limits growth for state's universities

By Stephen Kiehl and Gadi Dechter

The freeze on state university tuition - which Gov. Martin O'Malley wants to extend into a fourth year - is sure to score points with recession-weary voters. But critics wonder if it's in the best interests of the universities.

Keeping tuition artificially low limits growth at a time when colleges are seeing record numbers of applications, and it stalls university improvements. And while state university students benefit from the freeze, those attending community colleges are not as fortunate. O'Malley has not provided money to hold the line on tuition for the 128,000 credit-earning students at community colleges. [Balt. Sun]

Man Charged With Sending Lewd E-Mails

Suspect Is Accused of Posing As St. Mary's Superintendent In Notes to School Officials

By Megan Greenwell
Washington Post Staff Writer

A former St. Mary's County school system employee was charged last week with sending lewd e-mail messages to two school officials while posing as Superintendent Michael J. Martirano.

Brian L. Still, 45, of Issue is accused of harassing Board of Education member Mary M. Washington and Esperanza Middle School Principal Jill Snyder-Mills from Martirano's e-mail address, through a process known as "spoofing." Spoofing, commonly used to send spam, changes the "from" line in an e-mail to appear as though it were sent from a different address. [Wash. Post]

About that Budget Proposal for 2010; Part2

Please click below for a video message from the Superintendent.

http://www2.ccboe.com/superintendent/videos/

Well-Connected Parents Take On School Board

By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer

For a new generation of well-wired activists in the Washington region, it's not enough to speak at Parent-Teacher Association or late-night school board meetings. They are going head-to-head with superintendents through e-mail blitzes, social networking Web sites, online petitions, partnerships with business and student groups, and research that mines a mountain of electronic data on school performance.

These parent insurgents are gaining influence -- and getting things changed. [Wash. Post]

Report gives Maryland teachers poor, but passing, grade

By Liz Bowie

A national report on teacher quality gave Maryland a barely passing grade Thursday, saying teachers are tenured too easily and dismissed with great difficulty.

Maryland is one of seven states that give tenure to teachers after only two years of teaching, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality. The nonprofit, nonpartisan, Washington-based group is headed by Kate Walsh, who was appointed to the Maryland state Board of Education by Gov. Martin O'Malley in July. [Baltimore Sun]

Related: States get D-plus on teacher reviews

States get D-plus on teacher reviews

By LIBBY QUAID, AP Education Writer

WASHINGTON – States are not doing what it takes to keep good teachers and remove bad ones, a national study found.

Only Iowa and New Mexico require any evidence that public school teachers are effective before granting them tenure, according to the review released Thursday by the National Council on Teacher Quality. [AP]

About that Budget Proposal for 2010

To all the teachers that are emailing and calling because the EACC told you to...

The board members did NOT remove step increases from the Superintendent's budget proposal. The Superintendent recommended the removal in order to present a balanced budget and I am confident it will be passed no matter how many emails we receive because there is no money.

For the teachers saying "ask for more and you will get more"...that doesn't work when there is nothing to get. In addition, if you inflate the budget or don't make the cuts yourself (all in good faith), they will do it for you from wherever they deem appropriate.

This is tough times for everyone involved and there are tough decisions to be made. Would you rather lose step increases or face possible furloughs and lay-offs?

Virginia Parents Fight for Easier Grading Standards

By Laura Fitzpatrick

To the grade-grubbers go the spoils. And the grade-grubbers in this case are rabble-rousing parents in Virginia's Fairfax County. Residents of the high-powered Washington suburb have been battling the district's tough grading practices; chief among their complaints is that scoring a 93 gets recorded as a lowly B+. After forming an official protest group last year called Fairgrade and goading the school board into voting on whether to ease the standards, parents marshaled 10,000 signatures online and nearly 500 in-person supporters to help plead their case on Jan. 22. After two hours of debate, the resolution passed, a move critics consider a defeat in the war on grade inflation. [Time]

Loudoun County: School Board Approves Budget Plan That Freezes Teacher Pay

By Michael Birnbaum

The School Board in Loudoun County, where the recession might be having a greater effect on teachers' wallets than in any other Washington area jurisdiction, late last night approved a budget of $747. million that would freeze teacher salaries.

The spending plan, which passed by an 8 to 1 vote, would omit cost-of-living and seniority raises to save $31. million. It would be the second straight year that Loudoun teachers have gone without a cost-of-living increase. [Loudoun Extra]