Wednesday, December 12, 2012
The $2.2 billion budget adds teachers and targets middle school instruction.
A $2.2 billion county schools operating budget proposed Tuesday by Superintendent Joshua P. Starr increases spending to manage growing enrollment, seeks to address persistent achievement gaps and invests in a curriculum aimed at meeting new state and national standards. It also sets the school system up for yet another debate with the Montgomery County Council over spending on K-12 education. “This is a responsible budget that allows us to keep up with growing enrollment, while making strategic investments that will benefit our students today and in the future,” Starr said in a statement. “A budget is a reflection of our values and I know that Montgomery County understands the direct connections between the quality of our schools and …
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Forum gives community members a chance to weigh in on the MCPS budget and strategic plan.
Community members have a chance to help shape the future of Montgomery County Public Schools as the county school board holds a “Community Conversation” from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville. Attendees will engage in small group discussions about the values they think should guide the board as it updates the MCPS strategic plan and begins preparing its operating budget request for the 2013-2014 school year. Click here to register or call 301-279-3617. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The strategic plan, known as Our Call to Action: Pursuit of Excellence, is the guiding document for the school system. “The strategic plan provides an accountability structure for measuring academic performance and operational …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
See who prevailed in the tight race for the District 2 seat.
Update, 5:30 a.m., Wednesday Rebecca Smondrowski of Gaithersburg appears to have edged out Rockville resident Fred Evans in a close general election race for the District 2 seat on the county's Board of Education. Election night unofficial results from the Montgomery County Board of Elections showed Smondrowski with 117,294 votes (50.59 percent) and Evans, a former Montgomery County Public Schools principal, with 113,642 votes (49.02 percent). When combined with early voting numbers, this gave Smondrowski a total of 149,184 votes compared to Evans' 141,049--a lead of more than 8,000 votes. The unofficial results show board members Phil Kauffman and Christopher Barclay with enough votes to be reelected to their respective at-large and …
Friday, October 19, 2012
School newspaper leaders moderate a school board candidates forum.
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Friday, October 19, 2012
By Chelsea Boone Capital News Service Many high school students’ after-school activities consist of sports, clubs or the National Honor Society. But for Rockville High School seniors Anthony Ellis and Nicholas Cropper, one of their extracurricular activities this week included keeping politicians in line. One day after CNN's Candy Crowley made news by moderating the presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, student journalists Cropper, 17, and Ellis, 16, served as moderators for the Montgomery County Board of Education candidates' forum. The students spent more than two hours on Wednesday evening firing off questions on topics such as closing achievement gaps, reducing class sizes and combatting childhood obesity. Ellis, …
Thursday, September 27, 2012
A new policy by the Montgomery County Board of Education would authorize school nurses to use EpiPens on any student experiencing a life-threatening allergic reaction.
Nearly 100 Montgomery County students experienced life-threatening allergic reactions last school year, leading school officials to authorize school nurses to use EpiPens when necessary. According to Montgomery County Board of Education data, 27 of the 97 students who developed anaphylaxis were not known to be susceptible to serious allergies and even more did not have life-saving medicine on file with the school’s nurse. The Board voted last week to authorize nurses and other school administrators to give any student in anaphylaxis an injectable medication, even if that student doesn’t have the medication on file or isn’t known to have an associated allergy. Policy JPD, as the edict is named, is in response to a Senate law that requires…
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr announced Tuesday that Montgomery County Public Schools is considering a district-wide baseline testing program for student athletes.
With concussions on the rise among high school and collegiate athletes, Montgomery County Public Schools is investigating a program to try to do something about it. MCPS Superintendent Joshua Starr announced Tuesday that MCPS is considering a district-wide baseline testing program to assist in identifying student athletes who suffer concussions and to help in determining when they can safely return to the playing field, according to a news release. Starr told the Montgomery County Board of Education that MCPS will request proposals from outside providers that can administer and maintain the baseline testing program, according to the release. MCPS also will form a work group to determine what information should be included in the request. “…
Monday, July 23, 2012
Patch is excited to be joining with First Lady Michelle Obama for Olympic Fun Day.
There’s something about watching Olympic athletes that makes you want to get off the couch and go break a world record. Well, maybe not a world record. But at least run around outside. Which is why Patch is excited to be joining with First Lady Michelle Obama for Olympic Fun Day. The first lady is leading the U.S. Olympic delegation at the Summer Games opening ceremonies in London on Friday, July 27. Her fitness initiative—Let's Move—and Patch are teaming up to bring Olympic sports to life for you and your family in Montgomery County. Here's how: 1. If you (or anyone you know) are interested in trying an Olympic sport, check out Partnership for a Healthier America’s website, where you can track down professionals who offer instruction in…
Monday, June 18, 2012
The budget allows for raises for school employees and accounts for more than 2,400 additional students.
Montgomery County Public Schools will operate next year with a $2.16 billion budget after the Board of Education approved the budget for the 2013 fiscal year at its last meeting. The budget is an increase of about $73.2 million, or 3.5 percent, over last year’s, accounting for an estimated 2,400 additional students in the system. It also includes pay raises for administrators, teachers and staff—the first in three years. “This budget is not only an investment in our students, it is an investment in sustaining the future of Montgomery County as a great place to live and work,” Superintendent of Schools Joshua P. Starr said in a release. “MCPS has a national reputation for excellence and if we are going to sustain that excellence, we must …
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Del. Kaiser, co-sponsor of a bill that would allow student members to vote on collective bargaining, among other issues, said opponents' reasoning, "smacks of a poll tax."
Future student members of Montgomery County's Board of Education won't be voting on some of the more controversial measures--including collective bargaining--anytime soon. A bill that would amend the student member's rights to include a vote on collective bargaining, capital and operating budgets and school closings, openings and boundaries did not pass the state Senate Monday. "It didn’t pass because a few Montgomery County senators didn’t want it to pass and they used all the tools at their legislative disposal," said Del. Anne Kaiser (D-Dist 14), the bill's co-sponsor. After passing the House, the bill was put to a "special order," a measure that delays a vote, in the Senate. The Gazette reports that one of the proposal's opponents, …
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
In the Montgomery County Board of Education primary, Morris Panner took the No. 2 spot for the At-Large ballot; Fred Evans and Rebecca Smondrowski took the top spots for District 2.
Although the Republican presidential primary bolstered Maryland into national headlines Tuesday, locally Montgomery County voters also narrowed the field for the Board of Education’s general election in November. The unofficial results show that Phil Kauffman and Morris Panner beat out the two other candidates on the ballot to advance to the general election for the at-large seat. Kauffman received 60.3 percent of the vote, and Panner received 17 percent of the vote. The next runner-up, Lou August, received 11.9 percent of the vote. "I am really honored to have received the support I did," Panner, a resident of the Town of Somerset in Chevy Chase, told Chevy Chase Patch. "It is such an important time in our [c]ounty's history and a …
John
5:20 pm on Wednesday, December 12, 2012
The rate of increase of students in Montgomery County public schools is exceeding the rate of growth of the general population, in Montgomery County -- a fact the Montgomery County Council and the current County Executive want to continue to ignore, when they budget money for the school system. They say they are funding the school system at 100%, but they do not account for the higher percentage … more ›