[B. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/SILENT MEDITATION (6:30 p.m.)]
[00:00:02]
LOCATION OF BALTIMORE COUNTY FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 19TH, 2024.
THIS EVENING'S BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING IS BEING BROADCAST THROUGH BCPS ONLINE LIVE MEETING BROADCAST AND ON BCPS TV, COMCAST, XFINITY, CHANNEL 73.
IN ORDER TO EFFICIENTLY CONDUCT THIS MEETING, ALL VOTING ITEMS THIS EVENING WILL BE DONE BY ROLL CALL VOTE.
MAY I HAVE A MOTION TO GO INTO CLOSED SESSION AS PERMITTED BY THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT AS FOUND IN ANNOTATED CODE OF MARYLAND GENERAL PROVISIONS ARTICLE THREE DASH 3 0 5 B ONE AND B SEVEN TO DISCUSS THE APPOINTMENT, EMPLOYMENT ASSIGNMENT, PROMOTION, DISCIPLINE, DEMOTION, COMPENSATION, REMOVAL, RESIGNATION OR PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF OF APPOINTEES EMPLOYEES OR OFFICIALS WHOM IT HAS JURISDICTION OR ANY OTHER PERSONNEL MATTER THAT AFFECTS ONE OR MORE SPECIFIC INDIVIDUALS.
AND CONSULT WITH LEGAL COUNSEL TO OBTAIN ADVICE.
IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND LECTER, MAY I HAVE A ROLL CALL VOTE? MR. YOUNG.
THIS IS CHAIRWOMAN TIARA BOOKER DWYER.
I NOW CALL TO ORDER THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF BALTIMORE COUNTY FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 19TH, 2024.
I INVITE YOU TO RECITE THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG TO BE LED BY ME.
WE WILL THEN HAVE A MOMENT OF SILENCE AND RECOGNITION OF THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED EDUCATION IN BALTIMORE COUNTY.
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TO THE SAME THINGS ONE NATION UNDER GOD AND INDIVISIBLE WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.
TONIGHT'S BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING IS BEING BROADCAST THROUGH THE BCPS ONLINE LIVE MEETING BROADCAST AND BCPS TV, COMCAST, XFINITY, CHANNEL 73 VERIZON FILES CHANNEL 34.
IN ORDER TO EFFICIENTLY CONDUCT THIS MEETING, ALL VOTING ITEMS WILL BE DONE BY ROLL CALL VOTE.
[C. AGENDA (6:35 p.m.)]
ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS CONSIDERATION OF THE MARCH 19TH AGENDA.MAY I HAVE A MOTION TO ADD AN AGENDA ITEM AS ITEM J NEW BUSINESS SPECIAL PROJECT REQUEST LANDS DOWN MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM CENTER.
ALL AGENDA ITEMS AFTER THIS WILL BE REVISED TO REFLECT THE CORRECT ITEM LETTER.
IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND HAND.
DR. ROGERS, ARE THERE ANY OTHER ADDITIONS OR CHANGES TO TONIGHT'S AGENDA? THERE ARE NO OTHER ADDITIONS OR CHANGES TO THIS EVENING'S AGENDA HEARING NO ADDITIONAL ITEMS, THE AGENDA STANDS AS AMENDED EARLIER THIS EVENING.
THE BOARD MET IN CLOSED SESSION PURSUANT TO THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS TO DISCUSS THE APPOINTMENT, EMPLOYMENT ASSIGNMENT, PROMOTION, DISCIPLINE, DEMOTION, COMPENSATION, REMOVAL, RESIGNATION OR PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF APPOINTEES, EMPLOYEES OR OFFICIALS OVER WHOM IT HAS JURISDICTION OR ANY OTHER PERSONNEL MATTER THAT AFFECTS ONE OR MORE SPECIFIC INDIVIDUALS AND TO CONSULT WITH COUNSEL TO OBTAIN LEGAL ADVICE.
THE SUMMARY OF THE CLOSED SESSION AND THE OPEN SESSION INFORMATION SUMMARY CAN BE FOUND ON BOARD DOCS UNDER THIS BOARD MEETING AGENDA DATE.
[D. NEW BUSINESS - PERSONNEL MATTERS (Mr. McCall) (6:40 - 6:45 p.m.)]
NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS PERSONNEL MATTERS.AND FOR THAT I CALL ON MR. MCCALL.
GOOD EVENING, CHAIR BOOKER DWYER, VICE CHAIR
[00:05:01]
HUMPHREY, SUPERINTENDENT DR. ROGERS AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.I'D LIKE THE BOARD'S CONSENT FOR THE FOLLOWING PERSONNEL MATTERS, TERMINATIONS, RETIREMENTS, AND RESIGNATIONS.
DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE PERSONNEL MATTER AS PRESENTED IN EXHIBIT D ONE? SO MOVE LESKI.
DO I HAVE A SECOND? SECOND FROM PAUL.
ANY DISCUSSION? MAY I HAVE A ROLL CALL? VOTE MS. HUMPHREY? YES.
DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE PERSONNEL MATTERS AS PRESENTED IN EXHIBITS D TWO AND D THREE? SO MOVES KY DO I HAVE A SECOND? SECOND LECTER.
ANY DISCUSSION? MAY I HAVE A ROLL CALL? VOTE.
[E. NEW BUSINESS - ADMINISTRATIVE APPOINTMENTS (Dr. Rogers) (6:45 - 6:55 p.m.)]
ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS ADMINISTRATIVE APPOINTMENTS.AND FOR THAT I CALL ON DR. ROGERS.
GOOD EVENING, MADAM CHAIR, BOOKER DWYER, VICE CHAIR HUMPHREY, AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
I'M BRINGING FORWARD THE FOLLOWING ADMINISTRATIVE APPOINTMENT FOR YOUR APPROVAL THIS EVENING.
FISCAL OFFICER DIVISION OF CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION.
DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE PERSONNEL MATTERS AS PRESENTED IN EXHIBIT E ONE? SO MOVE 10.
DO I HAVE A SECOND? SECOND FROM PALM.
ANY DISCUSSION? MAY I HAVE A ROLL CALL? VOTE MS. PUMPHREY? YES.
OUR APPOINTMENT FOR THIS EVENING IS MICHAEL.
HE'S ATTENDING THIS EVENING WITH HIS WIFE AMY.
IF WE GIVE THE ROUND OF APPLAUSE, MICHAEL IS BEING APPOINTED TO AS THE FISCAL OFFICER IN THE DIVISION OF CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION WITH ALMOST NINE YEARS OF SERVICE WITH BALTIMORE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
HIS PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES INCLUDE FISCAL ANALYST ONE AND FISCAL ANALYST THREE, OFFICE OF BUDGETING AND REPORTING.
PRIOR TO THAT, HIS EXPERIENCES INCLUDE WORK WITH THE BALTIMORE COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT DRIVER SOURCE INCORPORATED, CS MILLS LOGISTICS INCORPORATED, AND BRODY TRANSPORTATION.
[F. PUBLIC COMMENT (6:55 - 7:30 p.m.)]
ITEM IS PUBLIC COMMENT.THIS IS ONE OF THE OPPORTUNITIES THE BOARD PROVIDES TO HEAR THE VIEWS AND RECEIVE THE ADVICE OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
IF NOT SELECTED TO ADDRESS THE BOARD, MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC MAY SUBMIT THEIR COMMENTS TO THE BOARD MEMBERS VIA EMAIL@BOEATBCPS.ORG.
THE BALTIMORE COUNTY'S POLICE DEPARTMENT, HOME POLICE DEPARTMENT'S, HOMELAND SECURITY UNIT AND OFFICE OF SCHOOL SAFETY HAS RECOMMENDED SAFETY AND SECURITY PROTOCOLS, WHICH ARE POSTED IN THE BOARDROOM AND AVAILABLE IN BOARD DOCS AND ON THE BOARD'S PARTICIPATION BY THE PUBLIC WEBSITE.
WHILE WE ENCOURAGE PUBLIC INPUT ON POLICY PROGRAMS AND PRACTICES WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF THIS BOARD AND THIS SCHOOL SYSTEM, THIS IS NOT THE PROPER FORM TO ADDRESS SPECIFIC STUDENT OR EMPLOYEE MATTERS OR TO COMMENT ON MATTERS THAT DO NOT RELATE TO PUBLIC EDUCATION IN BALTIMORE COUNTY.
INAPPROPRIATE PERSONAL REMARKS OR OTHER BEHAVIORS SUCH AS LANGUAGE THAT PROMOTES VIOLENCE AGAINST A-B-C-P-S EMPLOYEE OR THAT DISRUPTS OR INTERFERES WITH THE CONDUCT OF THIS MEETING ARE OUT OF ORDER AND WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.
PERSONS WHO OTHERWISE DISRUPT OR DISTURB THIS MEETING WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE THEIR REMARKS AND WILL BE ESCORTED FROM THE MEETING.
PLEASE OBSERVE THE THREE MINUTE CLOCK, WHICH WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN YOUR TIME IS UP.
THE MICROPHONE WILL BE TURNED OFF AT THE END OF YOUR TIME OR PRIOR TO THAT TIME AT THE DISCRETION OF THE BOARD CHAIR.
I WILL NOW CALL ON OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM AFFILIATED GROUPS TO SPEAK.
OUR FIRST SPEAKER IS MISS CINDY SEXTON WITH TABCO.
GOOD EVENING CHAIRMAN, MS. BOOKER DWYER, VICE CHAIRMAN, MS. HUMPHREY, DR. ROGERS AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TONIGHT.
YOU HAVE HEARD ME SPEAK MANY TIMES ABOUT THE NEED TO REDUCE OUR WORKLOAD FOR THE EDUCATORS.
OUR EDUCATORS ARE DOING SO MUCH MORE BESIDES SIMPLY TEACHING OUR STUDENTS MEETING SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL NEEDS, MENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS,
[00:10:01]
OFTEN PROVIDING THEM WITH SCHOOL SUPPLIES AND EVEN CLOTHING.OUR STUDENTS NEED SO MUCH AND OUR EDUCATORS ARE THERE FOR THEM.
I'M ESPECIALLY WORRIED ABOUT OUR SPECIAL EDUCATORS.
THEIR WORKLOAD IS EVEN GREATER AND WITH STATE AND FEDERAL LAWS, THEY TRULY MUST GIVE MORE AND MORE OF THEMSELVES IN THEIR TIME.
I'M GRATEFUL FOR THE COLLABORATION THAT EXISTS BETWEEN TAB CO'S SPECIAL ED ACTION WORKING GROUP, AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN AS SWAG AND MRS. MYERS AND THE DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION.
OVER THE COURSE OF THIS SCHOOL YEAR, THEY HAVE MET AND WORKED TO IDENTIFY WHAT COULD BE TAKEN OFF THE PLATES OF OUR SPECIAL EDUCATORS.
AND I'M HAPPY TO SAY THAT STEPS HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO REDUCE TWO SPECIFIC ITEMS THAT WILL SAVE OUR EDUCATORS TIME AND THERE IS WORK BEING DONE TO ADDRESS MORE.
IT'S NOT TRITE TO SAY THAT EVERY MINUTE MATTERS TO SPECIAL EDUCATORS.
YOU'LL BE HEARING FROM SOME OF THEM TONIGHT TELLING THEIR PERSONAL STORIES.
SO I'LL KEEP MY REMARKS BRIEF.
BUT ON BEHALF OF TAB Q, I WANNA THANK MS. MYERS FOR HAVING HER TEAM WORK WITH US TO LIGHTEN THE LOAD.
THERE IS STILL MUCH TO BE DONE AROUND THIS AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING THE WORK.
WE NEED TO DO ALL WE CAN TO KEEP OUR SPECIAL EDUCATORS, OUR STUDENTS NEED THEM.
MS. SEXTON AND MS. SEXTON IS WITH THE UNIONS, NOT THE SCHOOL SYSTEM AFFILIATED GROUPS.
NEXT ARE OUR INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS AND STUDENT GROUPS, AND OUR FIRST SPEAKER IS DR.
SPECIAL THANKS TO MR. MCMILLION FOR PRESSING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS.
LAST MEETING CONCERNING THE OPERATING BUDGET.
ALSO SPECIAL THANKS TO MS. HAN FOR BEING PERSISTENT AND PERSEVERING ON QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS REGARDING THE OPERATING BUDGET.
SPECIAL THANKS TO MS. MAGGIE AKI FOR TAKING LIKE FIVE SECONDS BEFORE SHE VOTED, INDICATING THE ANGUISH AND THE THINKING ABOUT IT.
AND I TRULY APPRECIATE THAT OTHER BOARD MEMBERS WERE BASICALLY VOTING YES, WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.
SO IN MY 25 YEARS BOARD MEMBERS ALWAYS DONE THE SAME.
HIR AND JAMES EK TILL TODAY, IT'S THE SAME THING.
WE ARE REALLY SHORT, DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY, WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.
SO I ASK YOU, WOULD YOU GO TO A SURGEON THAT OPERATES WITH 75% INSTRUMENTS OR 75% STAFF? WOULD YOU, DO YOU THINK THE US NAVY OR AIR FORCE WOULD SEND A SHIP EAST UNLESS IT IS FULL TANK AND FULLY LOADED WITH BOMBS AND MISSILES, RIGHT? YOU WOULDN'T.
BUT WE DO THAT 25 YEARS IN CONSEQUENCE.
SO MY POINT IS THAT IF YOU GO TO A PHYSICIAN AND HE GIVES YOU PENICILLIN FOR 25 YEARS AND IT DIDN'T WORK, YOU WOULD CHANGE THAT PHYSICIAN.
WHY DOESN'T THE BOARD CHANGE ITS TREATMENT? YOU ARE DOING THE SAME TREATMENT EACH BUDGET AND YOU HAVE THE SAME RESULT.
WE ARE SHORT, YOU HEARD CINDY OVERWORKED.
WE NEED MORE STAFFING, ET CETERA.
SO HERE IS WHAT I PROPOSE TO YOU IN 35 SECONDS.
I THINK THE BOARD NEEDS TO LOBBY THE STATE AND THE COUNTY FOR LEVYING TAXES.
THE STATE AND THE COUNTY GIVES YOU THAT MONEY, BUT YOU NEED TO HAVE AN ENDOWMENT.
YOU NEED TO HAVE THE PUBLIC DONATE MONEY TO THE SYSTEM.
YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO LEVY THE DIFFERENCE SO YOU HAVE ADEQUATE FUNDING.
NOW I LOBBIED FOR ELECTED BOARD LONG TIME AGO AND IT WENT THROUGH, BUT I'M ONLY ONE.
[00:15:01]
THANK YOU MS. SHARON COFF.OKAY, MS. CARLY DELVIN DEL VINE.
PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I MISPRONOUNCED YOUR LAST NAME.
GOOD EVENING CHAIR BOOKER DWYER, VICE CHAIR HUMPHREY SUPERINTENDENT DR. ROGERS AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
I'M CARLY DELVIN, AND I HAVE WORKED AS A TEACHER FOR THE INFANTS AND TODDLERS PROGRAM FOR FIVE YEARS.
I'M SPEAKING TONIGHT CONCERNING THE UNSUSTAINABLE WORKLOAD WE FACE IN BCPS.
IT HAS BECOME NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO MEET THE NEEDS OF OUR FAMILIES DUE TO OUTDATED SYSTEMS, REDUNDANT DOCUMENTATION STANDARDS, A LACK OF RESOURCES, AND ONGOING STAFFING DEFICIENCIES.
IT'S NO WONDER THEN THAT WE HAVE LOST 195 SPECIAL EDUCATORS AND RELATED SERVICE PROVIDERS IN BCPS IN THE LAST TWO YEARS.
THOSE WHO DECIDE TO GO INTO EDUCATION DO NOT MAKE THIS DECISION LIGHTLY.
WE DO NOT EXPECT THE JOB TO BE EASY.
AND MY FIVE YEARS WORKING IN SPECIAL EDUCATION, I HAVE LEARNED THAT TEACHERS IN THIS COUNTY BOND MORE OFTEN OVER OUR STRUGGLES THAN OUR SUCCESSES.
WE HAVE REALIZED THAT IF WE MENTION CONCERNS, THEY WILL NOT BE ADDRESSED.
WE'VE LEARNED THAT IT TAKES BULLHORNS POSTERS AND RED SHIRTS TO BE RECOGNIZED BY THE PEOPLE MAKING DECISIONS THAT AFFECT US.
IN MY SECOND WEEK AS A TEACHER IN THE INFANTS AND TODDLERS PROGRAM, SALVO COWORKERS BEGAN ASKING ME, ARE YOU OVERWHELMED? YET? IT WAS A GIVEN.
NOT ONCE HAS AN ADMINISTRATOR ASKED IF I'M OVERWHELMED.
INSTEAD, WE ARE THANKED FOR DOING THE WORK WHILE THE EXPECTATIONS FOR DOCUMENTATION REPORTS AND ASSESSMENTS CONTINUE TO ARISE.
FURTHERMORE, WE QUESTION WHETHER THE ADMINISTRATION KNOWS BIRTH TO FIVES EXISTS.
OUR PROGRAM IS SHOEHORNED INTO A CONTRACT THAT DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE US OR THE UNIQUE OBSTACLES WE FACE.
WE ARE NOT INCLUDED WHEN THE CALENDAR SPECIFIES PLANNING OUR PROFESSIONAL DAYS.
MANY OF US DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET OUTSIDE THE OFFICE, DESPITE OUR NEED TO ACCESS DOCUMENTATION AND FILES IN FAMILIES HOMES AND ON THE ROAD AS 12 MONTH EDUCATORS.
SNOW DAY CLOSURES ONLY INCLUDE US WHEN OFFICES ARE ALSO CLOSED.
DESPITE THE FACT THAT OUR WORK INVOLVES DRIVING TO FIVE OR SIX LOCATIONS ACROSS THE DISTRICT DURING CONTRACT HOURS.
CASE MANAGEMENT IS NOT, IS COMPENSATED FOR SOME BUT NOT ALL.
UM, AND WHEN K THROUGH 12 STUDENTS RETURNED TO SCHOOL BUILDINGS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THE DECISIONS MADE TO PROTECT THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF TEACHERS WITHIN THEIR SCHOOL BUILDINGS WE'RE NOT EXPANDED TO INFANTS AND TODDLERS TEACHERS.
AS WE VENTURE TO HOMES AND DAYCARES.
FOR EVERY SPECIAL EDUCATOR OR PROVIDER WHO RESIGNS FROM BCPS, THERE ARE MORE WHO ARE CONSIDERING IT.
I CHOOSE TO STAY BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT THE FAMILIES I WORK WITH AND THE FUTURE OF THEIR CHILDREN.
THIS CHOICE BECOMES MORE DIFFICULT EVERY DAY, AND I OFTEN WONDER WHETHER IT'S THE WORTH, THE TOLL ON MY MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH.
I HOPE THAT YOU TRULY LISTEN TO THE MESSAGE MY FELLOW SPEAKERS ARE SENDING AND RECOGNIZE THAT THERE ARE YEARS OF FRUSTRATION, PASSION, AND STRESS BEHIND IT.
THANK YOU, MS. CHRISTINA LANAHAN.
GOOD EVENING, CHAIR BOOKER DWYER, VICE CHAIR POEY, SUPERINTENDENT ROGERS AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
MY NAME IS CHRISTINA LANAHAN AND I'M SPEAKING AS AN INDIVIDUAL.
I'M HERE TO ADVOCATE FOR OUR SPECIAL EDUCATORS.
THIS IS MY 13TH YEAR AS A SPECIAL EDUCATOR IN BCPS.
AND I HAVE ALSO BEEN PART OF THE TAB CO SPECIAL EDUCATION WORKING IN ACTION GROUP FOR AT LEAST HALF THAT TIME DURING MY TIME AS A CO-CHAIR OF SWAG, WE HAVE OP.
WE'VE HAD OPPORTUNITIES TO MEET WITH MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION ON A MONTHLY BASIS.
I APPRECIATE THAT DSE TAKES THE TIME TO MEET WITH US AND LISTENS TO OUR CONCERNS, QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS.
I ALSO APPRECIATE THAT PROVISIONS WERE PUT IN OUR MOST RECENT MOU TO DISCUSS WAYS TO REDUCE IEP CASE MANAGEMENT WORK.
A FEW THINGS WERE MOVED OR LESSENED BECAUSE OF THIS.
I WISH THOSE DECISIONS HAD BEEN MADE AND APPROVED DURING OUR MEETINGS RATHER THAN WAITING UNTIL WE ORGANIZED THIS ACTION.
BUT SOME CHANGE WAS MADE FOR THE BETTER.
WHILE WE HAVE STARTED MOVING FORWARD, THERE'S STILL MUCH MORE TO BE DONE TO REDUCE THE WORKLOAD FOR SPECIAL EDUCATORS.
CASE MANAGEMENT WORK IS CRUSHING.
IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS, I'VE HAD TO WRITE SIX IEPS AND TWO ASSESSMENT REPORTS.
THIS IS IN ADDITION TO THE FIVE GROUPS I PLAN FOR AND WORK WITH EACH DAY.
THE TIME I SPEND SUPPORTING STUDENTS INSIDE OF GENERAL EDUCATION AND THE TIME I SPEND COLLABORATING WITH GENERAL EDUCATORS.
BEING SEASONED, I CAN COMPLETE PAPERWORK AT A FAIRLY GOOD RATE.
YET THIS PAPERWORK HAS TAKEN ME A MINIMUM OF 18 HOURS TO COMPLETE.
[00:20:01]
THAT'S 1080 MINUTES, WHICH IS LITERALLY ONLY FOR ORGANIZING DATA AND WRITING DOCUMENTS.WE HAVE BAR BARGAINED EXTRA PLANNING TIME FOR SPECIAL EDUCATORS, WHICH IS WONDERFUL, BUT IN TWO WEEKS, THAT TIME ADDS UP TO 810 MINUTES.
AND THAT PLANNING TIME IS ALSO USED FOR ACTUAL PLANNING AND OFTEN FOR TE TESTING.
THIS YEAR, WE HAVE ALREADY LOST AT LEAST 37 SPECIAL EDUCATORS.
OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS, WE HAVE LOST 195 SPECIAL EDUCATORS.
ALSO, MANY OF OUR SPECIAL EDUCATION POSITIONS ARE BEING FILLED BY CONDITIONAL TEACHERS BECAUSE WE CANNOT RECRUIT CERTIFIED SPECIAL EDUCATORS.
IF YOU ASK SPECIAL EDUCATORS WHY THEY'RE LEAVING, IT'S NOT THE PAY.
IT'S BECAUSE THEY ARE DROWNING.
WE ARE EXPECTED TO DO THE WORK OF AT LEAST TWO PEOPLE WITH LEGAL DEADLINES ATTACHED.
I KNOW THIS ISN'T A-B-C-P-S ONLY PROBLEM.
DESMOND CTU ONCE STATED, THERE COMES A POINT WHERE WE NEED TO STOP JUST PULLING PEOPLE OUT OF THE RIVER.
WE NEED TO GO UPSTREAM AND FIND OUT WHY THEY'RE FALLING IN.
SO THAT IS WHAT I'M ASKING, IMPLORING YOU TO DO.
BE THE SYSTEM THAT FIGURES OUT THE WAY TO SUPPORT SPECIAL EDUCATORS, THAT THEY WANT TO COME HERE AND WANT TO STAY.
BE THE TRENDSETTERS THAT OTHER DISTRICTS WANT TO EMULATE.
STOP THE DROWNING BEFORE IT HAPPENS.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, MS. BEVERLY OLOFF.
I HAVE BEEN A SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER IN THIS COUNTY FOR 16 YEARS, AND I'M THE 2023 TEACHER OF THE YEAR.
I AM HERE TODAY TO ASK FOR HELP AND FOR SYSTEMATIC CHANGE.
OVER AND OVER AGAIN, SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS HAVE GONE TO THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION TO ASK FOR HELP AND IT'S NOT COMING.
INSTEAD, ALL WE SEE IS MORE RESPONSIBILITIES BEING PLACED ON US UNDER THE GUISE OF IT WILL ONLY TAKE 10 MINUTES, BUT IT'S 10 MINUTES PER KID.
AND I HAVE 10 KIDS I SERVE THIS MONTH ALONE.
WE HAVE ASKED FOR TWO DOCUMENTS THAT ARE NOT REQUIRED BY LAW TO BE REMOVED OR LESS THAN FROM OUR DUTIES.
BUT INSTEAD OF PROVIDING A SYSTEMATIC ANSWER THAT WOULD SUPPORT ALL TEACHERS, WE WERE TOLD THAT INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS CAN NOW MAKE THEIR OWN CHOICES ABOUT THESE DOCUMENTS FOR THEIR BUILDINGS, BUT WITH LIMITED GUIDANCE AS TO HOW THEY SHOULD DO IT.
DECISIONS LIKE THIS CREATE CHAOS AND CONFUSION INSTEAD OF THE HELP WE ACTUALLY NEED.
I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A LEARNING DISABILITY IN THE SECOND GRADE AND RETAINED MY IEP THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL.
AND I DEPENDED ON THAT DOCUMENT TO ALLOW ME ACCESS TO THE CURRICULUM AND IT WORKED.
I GRADUATED WITH HONORS FROM TOWSON UNIVERSITY AND THEN WENT ON TO RECEIVE A MASTER'S FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.
I WHOLEHEARTEDLY BELIEVE IN SPECIAL EDUCATION.
ITS PROCESS AND I PROOF OF THE RESULTS, BUT THIS PROCESS IS COMING TO A CRASHING HALT.
MY FELLOW SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND I ARE TIRED.
WE ARE TIRED OF BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IN THE PROCESS AND HAVE BEEN WILLING TO DO THE WORK.
WE ARE TIRED OF ASKING FOR HELP AND BEING IGNORED OR CALLED LAZY BECAUSE WE CAN'T DO THE IMPOSSIBLE.
WE ARE TIRED OF FEELING LIKE FAILURES BECAUSE WE AREN'T GIVING OUR STUDENTS WHAT THEY DESERVE, BUT INSTEAD ARE DOING WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO SURVIVE THE DAY.
WE NO LONGER WANT PATS ON THE BACK.
WHAT WE NEED IS STRONG LEADERSHIP AND REAL CHANGE THAT WILL CREATE A SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAM THAT SUPPORTS ITS TEACHERS SO THEY CAN SUPPORT EVERY STUDENT IN THIS COUNTY.
WE ARE DROWNING IN A SEA OF PAPERWORK.
WE'RE TIRED OF BEING THROWN LIFE VESTS.
IT'S TIME TO PULL US OUTTA THE WATER.
IT'S TIME FOR SYSTEMATIC PROACTIVE CHANGES THAT CHANGE SPECIAL EDUCATION PROFESSION INTO A JOB THAT WE CAN BE PROUD TO DO.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MS. SHARON.
I'M GLAD TO HEAR MY FELLOW SPECIAL EDUCATORS UP HERE TO SAY WHAT NEEDS TO BE SAID AND I'M GOING TO CHEER THEM ON BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT'S GOING ON IN THIS COUNTY.
UNFORTUNATELY, THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION DOESN'T WANT TO ANSWER ANYBODY.
JUST, JUST RECENTLY I HAD A MEETING FOR A CLIENT WHO HAD TO GO OUT TO DO AN OUTSIDE EVALUATION
[00:25:01]
AND THAT OUTSIDE EVALUATION SHOWED THAT THE CLIENT WAS REGRESSING AND THE SCHOOL'S RESPONSE WAS, OH, WELL, YEAH, WE CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, BUT MAYBE, MAYBE NOT.I CONTACTED THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION TO GET SOME ASSISTANCE AND THE RESPONSE I GOT WAS, THE SCHOOL WILL TAKE CARE OF IT IF THE SCHOOL'S THE PROBLEM, WHO'S TAKING CARE OF IT? I'M NOT GONNA SAY THAT THESE TEACHERS DON'T WANNA DO THEIR JOB BECAUSE I'VE SEEN SOME VERY EXCELLENT SPECIAL EDUCATORS IN THIS COUNTY.
BUT IF SOMEBODY IS ASKING FOR HELP, THIS OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION SHOULD BE WILLING TO GIVE IT TO THEM.
THEY'RE TELLING THIS THEIR TEACHERS TO GO TO THEIR PRINCIPALS AND THEIR VICE PRINCIPALS WHO ARE TELLING THEM, STAY IN YOUR LANE WHEN THEY COME TO A 5 0 4 MEETING OR A SPECIAL ED OR AN IEP MEETING TO DISMISS AN IEP OR TO NOT TEST.
THERE ARE LOT OF PARENTS OUT THERE WHO DO NOT KNOW THEIR RIGHTS, WHO DO NOT EVEN KNOW THE PROCESS.
AND I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH A LOT OF THEM THIS YEAR.
AND IF A PARENT ASKS FOR AN EVALUATION SO THAT THEY CAN GET THEIR CHILD SERVICES, THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET IT.
AND IF A TEACHER IS BACKING THEM UP, THAT TEACHER SHOULDN'T BE AFRAID TO SAY SOMETHING BECAUSE THEY'RE BEING TOLD, STAY IN YOUR LANE.
I HAVE SAID SOMETHING TO THIS WORD SEVERAL TIMES ABOUT THE CULTURE OF THREATS CONTINUES.
AND THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL ED IS NOT WILLING TO LOOK AT IT BECAUSE THE SCHOOL BUILDING WILL TAKE CARE OF IT.
AT THIS TIME, I WILL CALL ON DR. ROGERS.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO TAKE A MOMENT TO ADDRESS OUR SPECIAL EDUCATORS WHO ARE IN THE AUDIENCE.
UM, FIRST ON BEHALF OF BCPS, I WANNA THANK YOU FOR COMING OUT TO SHARE.
I ALSO WANNA THANK MS. SEXTON, UH, TAPCO PRESIDENT ALONG WITH MS. MEYERS, WHO HAVE BEEN WORKING, UH, DILIGENTLY TO COME TO SOME RESOLUTION.
WHAT I HEARD FROM YOU DIRECTLY THIS EVENING WAS YOU TALKING ABOUT DROWNING IN A SEA OF PAPERWORK.
UH, WE ALL KNOW THAT FEDERAL AND STATE GUIDELINES REQUIRE A LOT OF THOSE PAPERWORK, UM, YOU KNOW, MAKE A LOT OF THOSE, UH, STIPULATIONS.
BUT I ALSO HEARD, UH, YOU COME TO THE TABLE AND YOU'VE COME TO THE TABLE WITH MS. MEYERS AND READ SOME RESOLUTION IN SPACES WHERE THINGS ARE NOT REQUIRED.
UM, YOUR REQUEST WAS THAT WE HAVE SYSTEMATIC ANSWERS, UM, THAT DON'T, UH, LEAVE A LOT OF, UH, SPACE FOR SCHOOLS TO IMPLEMENT IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
UH, WE KNOW THAT IMPLEMENTATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS, AND SO WE HEAR YOUR FEEDBACK.
I I THANK YOU GUYS FOR RECOGNIZING, UM, OUT OF THE 195 EDUCATORS, SPECIAL EDUCATORS THAT LEFT BALTIMORE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS OVER, UH, THE LAST TWO YEARS, THERE ARE 37 FOR THIS YEAR.
UM, WHICH POINTS TO US THAT OUR MOVEMENT IS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, BUT WE HEAR YOU LOUD AND CLEAR THAT THERE'S MORE WORK TO DO.
AND SO I KNOW THAT MS. MEYERS AND, UH, MS. SEXTON WILL CONTINUE TO WORK IN THAT GROUP.
WE WILL ALSO, UM, CREATE OTHER OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU GUYS TO PROVIDE SOME SPECIFIC FEEDBACK ABOUT SUGGESTIONS THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED ACROSS THE SYSTEM MOVING FORWARD, UM, GIVEN OUR, UH, ELEVATION OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AS AN ACADEMIC PRIORITY THAT WE'RE ALL FOCUSED ON FOR THE SYSTEM.
AND AS YOU SEE THE FY 25 BUDGET REALLY, UH, INCORPORATING AND RECOGNIZING THE NEEDS OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PRE-K THROUGH 12 IN OUR SYSTEM, I THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE TO DEPART FROM PAST PRACTICE AND TO SHARE THIS, UH, RESPONSE TO YOU DIRECTLY.
SO I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING MORE UPDATES ABOUT THE PROGRESS THAT'S BEING MADE.
AND PLEASE KNOW TO ALL THE SPECIAL EDUCATORS KNOW THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, WE HEAR YOU AS WELL AND WE, UM, TAKE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY VERY SERIOUSLY.
IT IS A PRIORITY OF US THAT ALL OF OUR TEACHERS HAVE WORKING CONDITIONS THAT ARE, UM, CONDUCIVE TO, TO
[00:30:01]
TEACHING HIGH QUALITY TEACHING AND LEARNING.AND WE ARE WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SUPERINTENDENT TO BEGIN TO MAKE THOSE SHIFTS IN BALTIMORE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
NEXT IS PUBLIC COMMENT ON BOARD POLICY 0 2 0 0 PERCEPTIONS, BELIEFS AND VALUES OF BALTIMORE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
AND THE FIRST SPEAKER IS MS. CARLY DEL VINE.
OKAY, MS. SHARON COFF, I OH, NO PROBLEMS. DR.
CAN I SPEAK FOR ALL OF THEM? NO, WE, WE HAVE SOME OTHER SPEAKERS.
IT HAS THE WORD DESCRIBING THE PUBLIC AS UNINFORMED TO MY EAR.
I THINK IT'S HEAVY UNINFORMED.
I SUGGEST THAT YOU WOULD REPLACE IT WITH UNKNOWING OR UNAWARE.
IT'S MORE DIPLOMATIC, MORE EASIER ON THE YEAR.
NEXT POINT IS ABOUT THE OXFORD.
I KNOW I TALKED TO YOU ABOUT IT LAST TIME.
I REALLY ENJOYED SEARCHING IT.
I DON'T KNOW IF MANY PEOPLE KNOW WHAT IT MEANS, BUT I LEARNED SOMETHING.
I THINK THE POLICY IS NOT AS GOOD AS OTHER SCHOOL SYSTEMS. FOR EXAMPLE, ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY TALKS ABOUT WILL MASTER STANDARD THAT ARE RIGOROUS, RICH, AND RELEVANT TO THE REAL WORLD.
I THINK THAT DESCRIPTION IS BETTER THAN OURS AND I REALLY LOVE THAT THEY SAY RELEVANT TO THE REAL WORLD.
OUR KIDS ARE GOING TO FACE INDIANS, CHINESE, MIDDLE EAST, FINLAND, AND GERMANY.
I LIKE AN ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY DESCRIPTION BETTER THAN US.
THEY USE THE WORD EQUITY LENS, AND I LOVE THAT THEY USE OPERATE OPENLY AND TRANSPARENTLY WITH TRUST AND INTEGRITY.
POWERFUL WORDS TO BE IN A POLICY.
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY IS ALSO GOOD, BETTER THAN US.
I LOVE THAT THEY SAY THE BOARD FIRMLY BELIEVE, FIRMLY BELIEVE VERY AND MEANINGFUL WORD.
AND THEN THEY SAY REDISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES TO IMPLEMENT ACCOUNTABLE REFORM.
AGAIN, THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT ACCOUNTABLE CHANGE.
I LOVE IN THAT POLICY BETTER THAN OURS, THAT THEY SAY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION VOWS TO CLOSE THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP VOWS VERY CLEAR AND POWERFUL WORK.
AND THEN THEY SAY THAT THE BOARD COMMITS DISTRIBUTING RESOURCES EQUITABLY, EFFECTIVELY, EFFICIENTLY, IN THE BEST INTEREST OF ALL CHILDREN.
I REALLY LOVE THAT CLARITY IN ALL OF THEM.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS MS. REBECCA FIFE.
AND IT'S, THIS IS ON THE BOARD POLICY 0 2 0 0.
SO I'M A SPECIAL EDUCATOR WITH BALTIMORE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
I WAS EDUCATED IN BALTIMORE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS AS WELL.
IT CONCERNS ME GREATLY OVER MY LIFETIME TO SEE HOW THE COUNTY SCHOOLS
[00:35:01]
HAVE CHANGED SO GREATLY, UH, THAT THE, UM, SOME OF THE TEACHERS ARE STILL VERY CONCERNED ABOUT STUDENTS LEAVING SCHOOL WITH THE ABILITY TO READ AND WRITE MS CORRECTLY.MS BY, THIS IS ABOUT BOARD POLICY 0 2 0 0.
WELL, YOU KNOW, I I WAS, I SAID THAT I WAS SPEAKING, THEY PUSHED ME OVER INTO ZERO 200.
SO IF YOU, I'LL STOP RIGHT HERE IF YOU'D LIKE ME TO.
'CAUSE RIGHT NOW WE ARE TAKING, I DID READ THE POLICY AND I WAS SPEAKING ABOUT IT, BUT DO YOU OKAY.
IF YOU HAVE FEEDBACK ON THE POLICY, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE, UM, HEARING NOW.
I, UM, I JUST, I I HOPE THAT THE BOARD WILL LISTEN VERY CLEARLY TO PUBLIC OPINION AND TEACHERS BECAUSE WE HAVE SO MUCH THAT COULD HELP YOU.
NEXT IS PUBLIC COMMENT ON BOARD POLICY 1 2 7 0 PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT.
AND THE FIRST SPEAKER IS MS. CARLY DEL DIVINE.
I AM GONNA ECU ECHO THE, UH, LAST SPEAKER, SOME OF THE WORDS OF THE LAST SPEAKER BY SAYING THAT MY KIDS WERE EDUCATED IN THIS COUNTY.
AND I HAVE WATCHED THIS COUNTY GO DOWNHILL.
AND ONE OF THE REASONS I THINK THAT THIS COUNTY HAS GONE DOWNHILL IS BECAUSE THE LACK OF WILLINGNESS TO ENGAGE FAMILIES AND COLLABORATE WITH FAMILIES.
I COME UP HERE A LOT BECAUSE I HOPE I'M GONNA BE HEARD.
AND I WILL SAY THAT LISTENING TO THE LAST MEETING THAT I WAS NOT AT, I THINK I DO GET HURT SOMETIMES.
UM, IF YOU WANT TO INCREASE PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT, YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE BOARD MEETINGS YOUR WEBSITE AND HOW YOU GET INFORMATION OUT MORE FRIENDLY.
YOU NEED TO HAVE A WEBSITE THAT PEOPLE CAN FIND THINGS VERY EASILY.
AND NOT THAT I'M SPENDING 20 MINUTES TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING.
AND THAT'S USUALLY WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU, SO THE RECOMMENDATION TO MODIFY THE POLICY TO INCLUDE WEBSITE, A FRIENDLIER WEBSITE, FRIENDLIER WEBSITE, MAKING YOUR BOARD MEETINGS FRIENDLIER.
THERE'S FEWER PEOPLE COMING TO BOARD MEETINGS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
I, I'VE SEEN SOMETIMES WHERE I'VE BEEN THE ONLY ONE ON PUBLIC COMMENT OR THERE'S BEEN ONE, THERE WAS LIKE ONE PERSON AT THE LAST MEETING FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
SO ARE YOU RECOMMENDING THAT FOR THE POLICY? MM-HMM.
WERE WILLING TO MAKE ENGA TO BE ENGAGED WITH THE, WITH FAMILIES BECAUSE FAMILIES ARE NOT FEELING THAT WAY.
AND I'M LOOKING AT, I LOOKED AT THIS POLICY AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT DIDN'T, UM, COME OUT TO ME WAS THAT THERE'S NO SPECIAL ED LISTED THERE.
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT SPECIAL ED TITLE ONE, WHAT OUR PRIORITIES WERE FOR THE HOMELESS.
WHERE ARE PARENTS GONNA FIND RESOURCES? YOU NEED TO ENGAGE PARENTS BY GIVING THEM THOSE ANSWERS.
AND THAT'S NOT IN THE POLICY, ESPECIALLY FOR SPECIAL ED.
I REALLY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IS THAT? I KNOW PROFIT ISA.
SO SUGGEST
[00:40:01]
TALKS ABOUT SUPPORTIVE, UH, SUPPORTING PARENT ENGAGEMENT.H HOW, HOW DO YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE SUPPORTING PARENT ENGAGEMENT? I AM AN EXAMPLE.
DO YOU THINK YOU ARE SUPPORTING THEM? UH, BY JUST INVITING THEM AND THAT'S IT.
DO YOU THINK YOU ARE SUPPORTING PARENTS ENGAGEMENT BY NOT ANSWERING THEIR EMAIL OR NOT REALLY ANSWERING THE PRESENTATIONS? UM, YOU THINK YOU NEED TO DO A LITTLE BIT MORE? THINK OF IT.
IF YOU ARE MCCORMICK COMPANY OR NVIDIA OR MICROSOFT, YOU WOULD DO A WHOLE LOT BETTER WITH THE PUBLIC THAN WHAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS DO.
I DON'T SEE THAT IN PAGE ONE AND LINE 14 ALSO, YOU TALK ABOUT BEING READY FOR COLLEGE.
IT GIVES THE IMPRESSION THAT YOUR GOAL AS A BOARD THAT FOR STUDENTS TO BE PLUMBERS, ELECTRICIANS, AND GO TO TWO YEAR COLLEGE, IT DOESN'T MENTION UNIVERSITY.
IT DOESN'T REALLY MENTION, UM, ABOUT MEETING THE WORLD, AS I MENTIONED IN THE PREVIOUS POLICY.
THEN THIS POLICY TALKS ABOUT PROMOTING AND SUPPORTING ENGAGEMENT.
BUT I ASK YOU, HOW DO YOU DO THAT? I MEAN, I'M REALLY AN EXAMPLE.
FOR INSTANCE, I ASK FOR, UH, ENGAGEMENT WITH THE CURRICULUM FOR 25 YEARS AND I GOT VERY LITTLE, IF ANY.
UM, THE ENGAGEMENT OUTSIDE, YOU HAVE LIKE 10 BOOKS ABOUT ENGLISH AND I CAN'T TAKE IT HOME WITH ME TO REVIEW IT.
FOR INSTANCE, YOU THINK ME STANDING OUT THERE FIVE MINUTES, 10 MINUTES, 15 MINUTES IS REALLY A GOOD ENGAGEMENT AND CRITIQUE OF SOMETHING YOU WANT TO ADD TO OUR STUDENTS.
UM, I HAVE BEEN HERE 25 YEARS AND I CAN'T GET REALLY MUCH FORWARD AND I'M NOT REALLY COSTING YOU MONEY.
I DON'T THINK THAT ENGAGEMENT IS REALLY REAL.
I THINK IT IS JUST REALLY AWARD IN THE POLICY.
I'M REALLY SURPRISED THAT THE SCHOOL SYSTEM IS NOT CHANGING THAT POLICY.
IT'S JUST KEEPING IT THE SAME DETECTIVE WAY THE WAY.
THE NEXT PUBLIC COMMENT ON BOARD PO THE NEXT NEXT IS PUBLIC COMMENT ON BOARD POLICY 1280 BOUNDARY CHANGES.
THE STAFF RECOMMEND NO SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE AND I'M REALLY HONESTLY SURPRISED.
SO HERE IS MY, MY THOUGHT AND I I REALLY THOUGHT OF IT A LOT FOR 25 YEARS OF ME PRESENT HERE.
THE POLICY TALKS ABOUT OVERCROWDING, YOU CHANGE BOUNDARIES A LITTLE BIT.
AND WE ARE STILL OVERCROWDED EVEN WITH CHANGING THE BOUNDARIES, RIGHT? WE, WE TALKED ABOUT THAT BEFORE.
SO, YOU KNOW, THE POLICY IS NOT REALLY CORRECTING THE ISSUE.
THE TEACHERS ARE ALREADY TELLING YOU THEY ARE OVERBURDENED, OVERWORKED.
YOU KNOW, THEY ARE SHORT STAFFED.
SO YOU KNOW, WE ARE NOT CHANGING THE POLICY AND THAT TREATMENT IS NOT REALLY WORKING FOR 25 YEARS.
SO THIS POLICY TALKS ABOUT QUALITY EDUCATION, EQUITABLE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION, ET CETERA.
ALRIGHT, MY QUESTION TO YOU AS A BOARD, ALONG THE SAME LINE, HOW CAN WE REALLY PERFORM AS A SYSTEM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE VALUABLE AND IMPORTANT WORDS IN EDUCATION? IF WE ARE SHORT STAFFED, IF THE COUNTY AND THE STATE GIVES US MONEY AND ALL WHAT WE DO IS SAY WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.
WE CAN'T LEVY TAXES, YOU KNOW, WE'LL VOTE FOR OPERATING BUDGET THE WAY THEY GIVE US.
YOU KNOW, WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING.
THINK YOU CAN'T IMPLEMENT THE GOOD WORDS IN THAT POLICY WITH NICKELS AND DIMES.
YOU NEED TO CHANGE THE SYSTEM.
[00:45:01]
AND IF YOU DON'T CHANGE THE SYSTEM, THIS BOARD IS NO DIFFERENT THANI FEEL LIKE SOMETIME THAT I AM A LITTLE BIT TOO NEGATIVE.
I DON'T MEAN THAT YOU GAVE ME THREE MINUTES.
I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MANY POSITIVE THINGS I SEEN IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM WITH MY THREE KIDS, WHICH IS REALLY THE REASON WHY I'M HERE IN APPRECIATION OF WHAT THE SCHOOL SYSTEM AND THE TEACHERS HAVE DONE MANY YEARS BEFORE.
BUT TO FIX SOMETHING, YOU HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THE NEGATIVE.
YOU HAVE TO ADDRESS IT, YOU HAVE TO FIND DIFFERENT SOLUTION.
YOU HAVE TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AND NOT USE PENICILLIN FOR 25 YEARS AND EXPECT YOU ARE GOING TO CURE AN INFECTION.
I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND WHERE I'M COMING FROM.
[G. UNFINISHED BUSINESS - CENTRAL AREA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CAPACITY RELIEF BOUNDARY RECOMMENDATION (Dr. Grim) (7:30 - 7:45 p.m.)]
NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS CONSIDERATION OF THE CENTRAL AREA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CAPACITY RELIEF BOUNDARY RECOMMENDATION.GOOD EVENING, CHAIR DWYER, VICE CHAIR, HUMPHREY SUPERINTENDENT DR. ROGERS AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
WE ARE HERE THIS EVENING TO REQUEST BOARD APPROVAL OF THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE CENTRAL AREA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BOUNDARY STUDY COMMITTEE.
AS A REMINDER, THE PURPOSE FOR THIS BOUNDARY STUDY WAS TO RELIEVE SCHOOLS PROJECTED TO BE OVERCROWDED AND TO MAXIMIZE USE OF AVAILABLE SPACE IN SCHOOLS UNTIL ADDITIONAL SEATS CAN BE ADDED IN THE REGION THROUGH THE CAPITAL PROGRAM.
AT HIS MEETING ON FEBRUARY 27TH, 2024, THE BOARD RECEIVED FOR CONSIDERATION THE RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE OPTION C TWO FROM THE CENTRAL AREA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BOUNDARY STUDY COMMITTEE.
A PUBLIC HEARING WAS HELD ON MARCH 6TH, 2024 FOR ADDITIONAL PUBLIC COMMENT AND FEEDBACK TO THE BOARD REGARDING THE COMMITTEE'S RECOMMENDATION.
AT THIS TIME, WE ARE REQUESTING THE BOARD'S APPROVAL OF OPTION C TWO FROM THE CENTRAL AREA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BOUNDARY STUDY COMMITTEE.
MAY I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CENTRAL AREA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CAPACITY RELIEF BOUNDARY RECOMMENDATION AS PRESENTED AS OPTION C TWO AND EXHIBIT G.
IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND FROM PALM? ANY DISCUSSION MS. LESKI? AND THEN WE'LL GO TO MS. EY.
I JUST HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS, UM, JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT THE PUBLIC IS, UM, FULLY AWARE OF THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS.
UM, THE FIRST QUESTION IS, UM, THERE WAS A QUESTION ABOUT HARTFORD HILLS ELEMENTARY AND CARNEY ELEMENTARY THAT THEY BOTH FEED INTO PINE GROVE MIDDLE, BUT THEY WERE NOT PART OF THE STUDY.
SO IT'D BE HELPFUL FOR THE PUBLIC TO UNDERSTAND WHY.
THE, THE CLUSTER OF SCHOOLS THAT WE IDENTIFIED FOR THIS STUDY WAS LARGER THAN WE HAD EVER DONE.
WE HAD A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS.
WE MADE A, A JUDGMENT CALL ABOUT WHICH SCHOOLS SHOULD BE INCLUDED, WHICH ONE SHOULD NOT.
AND IT, THOSE JUST DID NOT MAKE THE CUT.
I DON'T, WE DON'T HAVE ANY, UM, THERE'S NO HEAVY REASON WHY THEY DIDN'T, WEREN'T INCLUDED.
AND THEN MY SECOND QUESTION IS, UM, THE CROMWELL MAGNET PROGRAM, WAS THERE ANY CONSIDERATION TO MOVE IT TO JACKSONVILLE SINCE JACKSONVILLE WAS UNDER CAPACITY? THANK YOU.
SO IS IS YOUR QUESTION WA WAS THERE CONSIDERATION TO MOVE THE, THE MAGNET PROGRAM ITSELF? YES.
SO ANY CHANGES IN THE MAGNET PROGRAM WOULD ACTUALLY HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE, THROUGH THE BOARD FOR CONSIDERATION.
SO THAT WAS NOT CONSIDERED AS PART OF, AS PART OF THE, THE TASK THAT THE BOUNDARY STUDY COMMITTEE HAD.
WE HEARD FROM A GROUP FROM FELLOWSHIP FOREST REGARDING 22 HOMES, UM, THAT WERE MOVING, I BELIEVE FROM UM, TWO WEST TOWSON, OR MAYBE I GOT, DO I HAVE AN OPPOSITE? UM, INSTEAD OF, UNLESS I HAVE IT OPPOSITE.
AND MY QUESTION IS, THEY'RE CONCERNED THAT THE CONCERN THEY ADDRESSED THAT THAT WAS UNINTENDED, UM, AND THAT, UM, THEY, THIS MOVE WAS SPOKEN TO AT THE, SOME OF THE COMMUNITY MEETINGS.
HOWEVER, THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE LEFT OUT OF THE SWITCH ITSELF AND WEREN'T CONSIDERED.
AND I JUST, I THINK THERE WAS A QUESTION POSED ABOUT THAT AND I JUST WAS CURIOUS IF THAT WAS ADDRESSED AT ALL OR IF, UM, THERE WAS TRUTH TO THAT CONCERN.
SO WE DID, WE DID SOME INVESTIGATION AFTER THOSE CONCERNS WERE BROUGHT UP IN THE MEETING.
I HAVE SOME NOTES THAT I'M GONNA REFER TO BECAUSE IT, IT DOES GET A LITTLE BIT, UM, COMPLICATED IF YOU WILL.
SO STAFF REVIEWED, UM, THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION, AND THIS IS ABOUT
[00:50:01]
PLANNING BLOCK 4 26 AND 4 27.UM, IT INCLUDES THE GLENMONT APARTMENT COMPLEX AND THE SINGLE FAMILY HOODS ON JA JABO LANE AND RIDGEWOOD ROAD.
WERE NOT ORIGINALLY PART OF PLANNING BLOCK 4 26 BASED ON THE SUBDIVISION DATA THAT WE HAD RECEIVED FROM THE COUNTY.
HOWEVER, WHEN WE WENT BACK AND TOOK A LOOK AT THIS, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE REFERENCE AREA OF OF JACOBI LANE AND RIDGEWOOD ROAD ARE PART OF FELLOWSHIP FOREST HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION.
SO TO INCLUDE ALL OF FELLOWSHIP FOREST COMMUNITY WITHIN PLANNING BLOCK 4 26, IT WOULD REQUIRE MO MOVING JACOBO LANE AND RIDGEWOOD ROAD ADDRESSES TO THAT PLANNING BLOCK, WHICH WOULD BE 4 26.
THIS WOULD MOVE 24 SINGLE FAMILY HOME UNITS FROM PLANNING BLOCK 4 27 INTO 4 26.
THERE WOULDN'T BE CHANGE TO ENROLLMENT UTILIZATION OR DEMOGRAPHICS OF EITHER SCHOOL AS NO K TO FIVE LIVE ATTEND.
STUDENTS CURRENTLY RESIDE ON THOSE STREETS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2023.
SO ESSENTIALLY THERE WAS PART OF ONE PLANNING BLOCK THAT INCLUDED, UH, A NEIGHBORHOOD WHICH FALLS UNDER AN HOA THAT WAS PART OF ANOTHER PLANNING BLOCK TO MAKE THAT CHANGE WOULD REQUIRE A BREAKUP OF THE, THE PLANNING BLOCK, THE WAY THAT IT SITS.
SO PART OF THE PLANNING BLOCK INCLUDED, UM, A A AN APARTMENT COMPLEX AND PART OF AN HOA, THE OTHER COMP, THE OTHER PLANNING BLOCK 4 27 INCLUDED, UM, ALL THE OTHER NEIGHBORS IN THAT SUBDIVISION, WHICH WAS THE SUBDIVISION AND NOT JUST THE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION.
SO YOU'RE SAYING THE CURRENT MAP BREAKS THAT PLANNING BLOCK OR DOES NOT BREAK THAT PLANNING BLOCK? IT DOES NOT BREAK THE PLANNING BLOCK.
IT, IT BREAKS THE HOA AND NOT THE SUBDIVISION AS IT'S AS THE COUNTY HAS DEFINED IT.
SO ESSENTIALLY YOU HAVE A NEIGHBORHOOD, THERE IS ANOTHER ROAD THAT IS ADJACENT TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
THEY ARE PART OF THE SAME HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION.
THEY ARE IN TWO DIFFERENT PLANNING BLOCKS BECAUSE ACCORDING TO THE COUNTY, THEY'RE IN DIFFERENT SUBDIVISIONS.
AND IF WE WERE TO PUT THOSE TOGETHER, HOW WOULD THAT CHANGE THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE SCHOOLS? SO WE, WE RESEARCH WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF, IF, IF JUST THE LANE THAT WAS PART OF THE HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION WOULD MOVE OVER, IT WOULD NOT HAVE A MATERIAL EFFECT ON THE UTILIZATION OF THE SCHOOLS.
HOWEVER, MOVING THE ENTIRE BLOCK OVER WOULD HAVE, UM, WOULD HAVE AN IMPACT.
I DON'T THINK WE LOOKED ENTIRELY AT THE ENTIRE PLANNING BLOCK BECAUSE THERE'S A MUCH LARGER COMMUNITY WITHIN IT.
ANY, AND THIS WAS THE RECOMMENDATION.
IT IT'S OUR UNDERSTANDING OUR STAFF WENT BACK AND DID LOOK AT, THERE WAS SOME DISCUSSION AROUND THIS BEFORE THE, THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE MADE THEIR VOTE.
AND IT'S OUR UNDERSTANDING THAT THAT, THAT THIS WAS DISCUSSED AT THE, AT THE LAST MEETING AND THIS IS WHERE THE COMMITTEE LANDED.
MS. HIN, THANK YOU AND THANK YOU VICE CHAIR HUMPHREY FOR THOSE QUESTIONS.
UM, I HAVE A COUPLE FOLLOW UP.
SO TO MAKE SURE MY UNDERSTANDING IS CORRECT, THE OPTION C THAT'S BEING AT CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD DOES NOT INCLUDE MAINTAINING THE CONTINUITY OF FELLOWSHIP FOREST.
IS THAT CORRECT? SO OPTION, OPTION C TWO DOES NOT INCLUDE FELLOWSHIP FOREST AS IT'S DEFINED BY THE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION AS WE RESEARCHED AFTER THE MEETING WHERE THAT, THAT CAME UP WITH THE COMMUNITY.
AND IN ORDER TO MODIFY THAT, I HEARD YOU SAY THAT WOULD NOT HAVE A MATERIAL IMPACT ON THE, THE ENROLLMENTS, SHOULD WE, UM, CHANGE THE DEFINITION OF THAT PLANNING BLOCK IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE CONTINUITY OF THAT DEVELOPMENT? SO BASED ON OUR INVESTIGATION, JACOBO LANE, WHICH IS WHAT'S IN QUESTION JACOBO AND, AND RIDGEWOOD, THE 24 HOMES THAT ARE THERE WOULD NOT IMPACT THE UTILIZATION BASED ON THE DATA THAT WE HAVE.
I'D LIKE DR. ROGERS OH, A MOTION TO CONSIDER THAT.
AND I KNOW THERE'S, THERE'S A MOTION ON THE FLOOR.
YES, I WOULD MOVE TO AMEND THE MOTION ON THE FLOOR TO MAKE THOSE CHANGES TO, UH, MAINTAIN THE CONTINUITY OF FELLOWSHIP FOREST, BUT WE WOULDN'T MAINTAIN THE CONTINUITY OF FELLOWSHIP FOREST.
THERE'S A MUCH LARGER PLANNING BLOCK.
GRIMM, COULD YOU EXPLAIN THAT AGAIN BECAUSE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT ONE STREET AND THAT HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION ENCOMPASSES, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, TWO MUCH LARGER DIVISION.
SO IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT MAINTAINING THE CONTINUITY, THEN
[00:55:01]
WE'RE LOOKING AT MOVING THAT ENTIRE, UH, EVERYTHING THAT'S ENCOMPASSED IN THAT HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION.AM I CORRECT WITH THAT? SO FROM, FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE, UM, THERE'S, THERE'S TWO PLANNING BLOCKS.
THERE'S 4 26 AND THERE'S 4 27.
THE PLANNING BLOCK 4 27 INCLUDES BOTH THESE 24 HOMES IN WITHIN THE, THE HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION FOR A FELLOWSHIP FOREST ON JACOBO LANE AND RIDGEWOOD.
AND IT INCLUDES A LARGER, UH, APARTMENT COMPLEX.
IF THE, IF THE BOARD DID WANNA MAKE A CHANGE, THEY COULD MODIFY THE PLANNING BLOCK WITHOUT MOVING IT IN ITS ENTIRETY.
THAT'S AT THE OPTION OF THE BOARD.
SO WHAT, WHAT OUR COMMENT WAS IS I THINK THE, ONE OF THE ORIGINAL QUESTIONS WAS IF WE MOVE THE ENTIRE PLANNING BLOCK OVER, WHAT WOULD THE IMPACT BE? AND THAT WOULD BE MORE SIGNIFICANT AND IT WOULD GO, IT WOULD BE ADVERSE TO THE DECISION OF THE BOUNDARY STUDY COMMITTEE.
SO JUST TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE'S AWARE OF THAT.
UM, BUT TO PROVIDE THE BOARD WITH AS MUCH INFORMATION, SINCE WE DID HEAR THOSE PUBLIC COMMENTS, WE WANTED TO GIVE YOU THE INFORMATION REGARDING WHAT THE INDIVIDUAL PLANNING BLOCKS WERE CONSISTED OF, AS WELL AS THAT NEIGHBORHOOD.
SO WE HAVE A MOTION ON THE, ON THE FLOOR CHAIR THAT WE, I'M SORRY.
I WAS GOING TO MODIFY MY, EMO MY MOTION BASED ON DR.
GRIMM'S INFORMATION THAT HE PROVIDED.
SO WE CURRENTLY HAVE A MOTION ON THE FLOOR.
WHAT'S YOUR AMENDED, YOUR RECOMMEND JUST TO, JUST TO STATE IT PROPERLY? UM, AND THAT IS TO, UM, REDEFINE PLANNING BLOCK.
GRIM? I BELIEVE IT'S 4 27 0 4 4 27.
THANK YOU TO, UM, INCLUDE JACOBO LANE IN RIDGEWOOD.
YOU, I I'M SORRY, I HATE TO INTERJECT, BUT I THINK WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO, AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, PLEASE HELP ME WITH THE, YOU'RE TRYING, YOU'RE TRYING TO INCLUDE KOBO AND RIDGEWOOD IN PLANNING BLOCK 4 26.
THAT'S WHY I ASKED HER CLARIFICATION OF WHICH PLANNING BLOCK THEY SHOULD BE IN TO MAINTAIN THAT CONTINUITY OF YEAH, THEY'RE CURRENTLY IN 4 27.
SO YOU WOULD BE, YOU ARE REQUESTING FOR THEM TO MOVE TO 4 26 26.
ANY DISCUSSION MS. LICHTER? I KNOW YOU PROBABLY SAID IT.
I'M JUST TRYING TO GET THIS STRAIGHT.
SO YOU SAID THAT THEY, AS THERE WAS A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THE PLANNING BLOCK AND THE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, THAT WAS THE THERE WAS, YES MA'AM.
SO WHEN, WHEN THE PLANNING BLOCKS WERE CREATED? CORRECT.
WE DO THAT BASED IN PART ON SUBDIVISION.
SO WHEN WE, WHEN WE GET THE SUBDIVISION INFORMATION FROM, IN WORKING WITH BALTIMORE COUNTY PLANNING DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING, THE SUBDIVISION DID NOT SHOW THAT JACOBO LANE AND RIDGEWOOD WAS PART OF THE, UH, HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION THAT LINKS FELLOWSHIP FOR US TOGETHER DO.
SO WE DIDN'T, WE DIDN'T, WE WOULDN'T HAVE THAT INFORMATION THAT THAT IS CONSIDERED ONE COMMUNITY UNTIL AFTER THE FACT.
AND SO WITH THE QUESTIONS THAT WE RECEIVED, WE WENT BACK AND DID RESEARCH AND THAT THEY ARE LINKED THROUGH A HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION.
AND I APPRECIATE THAT YOU WENT BACK AFTER WE, UM, RECEIVED THE LETTERS AND THE INFORMATION.
SO ARE HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATIONS USUALLY, UM, CONTAINED WITHIN PLANNING BLOCKS? IS THAT THE NORM? THAT, THAT THAT'S SOME, IF WE'RE AWARE OF THE HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION, YES, WE WOULD TRY TO INCLUDE THEM IN THE SAME PLANNING BLOCK.
BUT WE WERE NOT AWARE OF THIS WHEN THE PLANNING BLOCKS WERE CREATED AND THE INFORMATION WAS GIVEN TO THE COMMITTEE ORIGINALLY.
CORRECT? THAT THAT IS CORRECT.
AND, AND SOMETIMES IT'S EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO INCLUDE AN ENTIRE HOMEOWNER OWNER'S ASSOCIATION WITHIN THE SAME PLANNING BLOCK OR DESIGNATION BECAUSE OF ITS SIZE OR OTHER GEOGRAPHIC FACTORS.
MY MY CONCERN IS I KNOW THE WORK THAT THESE COMMITTEES DO AND IT'S VERY LONG AND TEDIOUS TO GIVE US A RECOMMENDATION.
SO I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF WE WERE MISSING, IF THE COMMITTEE WAS MISSING INFORMATION ORIGINALLY BASED ON THIS PLANNING BLOCK VERSUS HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION.
SO, AND WE, WE UNDERSTAND THAT AND WE, OUR ROLE IS TO, TO, OH NO, IT'S, I'M NOT SAYING ANYBODY'S FAULT, IT'S JUST IF THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS NO MISSING, WE, LIKE I SAID, SAID'S DIFFERENT CHANGE.
WE DISCOVERED THIS ON, ON FOLLOW UP, SO.
NO, THAT'S DIFFERENT THAN MAKING A CHANGE JUST TO MAKE A CHANGE IF THERE WAS SOMETHING MISSING ORIGINALLY.
LET'S JUST, I NEED THAT CLARIFICATION.
AND SO JUST TO PIGGYBACK OFF OF WHAT MS. LICHTER SAID, YOU KNOW, I DO RECOGNIZE THAT THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE, THEY PUT IN A TON OF WORK AND
[01:00:01]
I AM CONCERNED WITH THE, WITH THE BOARD MAKING A, A SHIFT LIKE THIS WITHOUT HEARING THE VOICE OF THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE AND OF THE, THE COMMUNITY THAT'S THERE.I, I UNDERSTAND WE HAD A PUBLIC HEARING, UM, BUT TO DO A CHANGE, LIKE AS SIGNIFICANT AS THIS WITHOUT INCLUDING THE COMMUNITY THAT, UM, WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE, THE IDENTIFICATION OF OPTION C TWO.
AND THEN I JUST ALSO HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT, WAS THERE A, SO THE NUMBER OF K FIVE STUDENTS THAT ARE IN THAT AREA, HOW MANY IS IT THERE? THERE'RE NOT, UH, A ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION THAT WE HAD, UM, THERE, THERE WOULDN'T BE ANY, THERE WOULDN'T BE ANY IMPACT RIGHT NOW.
RIGHT? LIKE THE IMMEDIATE IMPACT AS OF SEPTEMBER, UM, 20 30TH, 2023, THERE WOULDN'T BE AN IMPACT.
SO THERE ARE, SO WITH THIS CHANGE THAT WE ARE PROPOSING THERE, THERE, SO THERE'S NO K FIVE STUDENTS IN THAT BLOCK AT ALL, CORRECT? RIGHT NOW.
AND TH THOSE TWO STREETS, THE JACOBY LANE AND AND RIDGEWOOD WE'RE ON 24 HOMES.
RIGHT? SO FOR, SO IN THOSE 24 HOMES, THERE'S NOT A SINGLE K FIVE STUDENT A ACCORDING TO THE DATA THAT WE HAD FROM SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2023 FROM THE OFFICIAL MMSD ENROLLMENT.
AND SO WE WOULD BE INCLUDING THESE HOMES JUST FOR SOMETHING IN THE FUTURE, PERHAPS APPS ACCORDING TO THE, ACCORDING TO THE DATA AND INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE AND THE FOLLOW UP THAT WE DID.
MS. DOKI, IF, UH, THIS BLOCK, UM, OR THIS ROAD, THE, THE JACOBI AND THE RIDGE ROAD ARE, ARE THEY WALKERS TO CROMWELL OR NOT CROMWELL, UM, STONELEY, OR ARE THEY A BUS? ARE THEY ATTRIBUTED? UH, HONESTLY, WE, THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE, THAT WE RESEARCHED.
SO I DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE THAT INFORMATION.
YOU DON'T, YOU DON'T, WE CAN'T ANSWER THAT RIGHT NOW.
I I DON'T HAVE, WE DON'T HAVE THAT INFORM, I DON'T HAVE THAT INFORMATION AVAILABLE RIGHT HERE.
I THOUGHT THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE LOOK FOR TO MAKE, TO KEEP THE WALKERS IN THE SAME AND THE VICINITY OF THE, IT IS A CONSIDERATION THAT THE COMMITTEE LOOKS AT AS THEY LOOK AT DIFFERENT DE I CAN'T ANSWER FOR YOU WHETHER OR NOT THIS CHANGE WOULD MAKE THEM WALKERS OR NOT.
I, I CAN'T ANSWER THAT INFORMATION.
WE DON'T HAVE THAT IN FRONT OF US.
SO IS 4 26 A WALKING ZONE FOR, FOR STONELEY? I, I CAN'T ANSWER THAT QUESTION FOR YOU EITHER.
'CAUSE I DON'T HAVE THAT DATA IN FRONT OF ME.
YOU'RE, YOU'RE CORRECT THAT THOSE ARE CONSIDER, THOSE ARE CONSIDERATIONS THAT THE COMMITTEE MAKES AS THEY MAKE, AS THEY LOOK AT THE PLANNING BLOCKS AND THEY DECIDE WHAT THE BOUNDARIES WOULD BE.
IT, BUT IT WOULD BE DISINGENUOUS FOR MR. TAYLOR AND I TO COMMENT WHETHER THEY'RE WALKERS OR NOT, BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THAT DATA IN FRONT OF US.
AND THEN THIS MIGHT GO TO TIARA, UH, MS. BOOKER DRYER.
I KNOW WE HAVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS HERE IN ATTENDANCE.
AND WOULD IT BE IN, IN INAPPROPRIATE TO NO, THIS, THIS WOULDN'T BE THE TIME.
SO WE'LL GO TO MS. FONG AND THEN MS. HUMPHREY.
SO I, I HAVE THE, THE MAP UP IN FRONT OF ME WITH THE BLOCKS ON IT.
SO AS IT IS C TWO MAP, THE PLANNING BLOCK 4 26 HAS SIX, AND THEN PB 4 27 HAS 62.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE I'M CORRECT ON THOSE NUMBERS AND I'M LOOKING AT THE RIGHT THING.
SO THEN WE'RE SAYING THOUGH, FOR THOSE STREETS, UM, THAT ARE PART OF THE FELLOWSHIP BECAUSE THERE'S ZERO, THAT'S WHY THE STATISTICS ARE NOT GONNA CHANGE.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, THE DEMOGRAPHICS, THE ENROLLMENT, ET CETERA, WOULD STILL STAY THE SAME.
BUT IF WE WERE TRYING TO INCORPORATE ALL OF PB 4 27, THAT'S WHEN WE HAVE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE 62 AND THAT WOULD HAVE THE LARGE IMPACT.
UM, FIRST, JUST ONLY FROM MY NOTES FROM THE PUBLIC HEARING, IT DOES STATE THAT THAT WILL MAKE THEM IN WALKING WALKERS INSTEAD OF RIDERS.
THAT'S JUST ACCORDING TO MY NOTES.
I KNOW THAT'S NOT OFFICIAL, BUT I WANTED TO MAKE THAT COMMENT.
UM, ALSO, I ALSO RECOGNIZE THE TEDIOUS WORK OF THE BOUNDARY STUDY COMMITTEE.
HOWEVER I DO IT, I THINK IT IS THE BOARD'S JOB TO MAKE TINY TWEAKS SUCH AS THIS WHEN SOMETHING COMES UP THAT MAY HAVE BEEN OVERLOOKED IN THE PROCESS, UM, AND SOMETHING SMALL, NOT SOMETHING HUGE.
THAT'S, UM, JUST HOW I FEEL ABOUT THAT PART OF IT AS WELL.
I THINK MY MS. FONG ADDRESSED MY QUESTION ABOUT THE, UM, FUTURE ENROLLMENT.
[01:05:01]
HIN.AND JUST TO REITERATE WHAT WE HEARD FROM STAFF, IT IS PRACTICE TO TRY TO KEEP THESE COMMUNITIES, UM, TOGETHER WHEN THAT INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
UM, GIVEN THAT THE BOUNDARY STUDY COMMITTEE AND I, I ADMIRE THEIR WORK AND DEFER TO THEM ON ALMOST ALL OF THESE, BUT THIS IS A TWEAK BASED ON NEW INFORMATION, UM, BASED ON COMMUNITY FEEDBACK.
THIS IS WHY WE HAVE THIS PROCESS IN PLACE AND I APPRECIATE THE, THE FLEXIBILITY, THE, THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY STAFF THIS EVENING TO, UM, INFORM US.
AND THIS IS NOT UNCOMMON FOR THE BOARD TO MAKE, UM, TWEAKS AS WE RECEIVE INFORMATION OUTSIDE OF THE BOUNDARY PROCESS.
MR. MCMILLIAN, UH, DR. GRANT, OB, OBVIOUSLY I DON'T LIVE IN THAT COMMUNITY.
I DON'T KNOW THESE STREETS, BUT THESE TWO PARTICULAR STREETS YOU'RE SPEAKING OF.
WHERE DO THOSE KIDS, IF THERE WERE ANY KIDS, WHERE WOULD THEY CURRENTLY GO TO SCHOOL? TAKE A MOMENT TO FIGURE IT OUT.
LET ME, LET'S SEE IF WE CAN GET YOU THAT INFORMATION.
I'M NOT SURE WHETHER IT'S UM, UH, WEST HOUSE CENTER OR STONELEY.
SO LET ME GET THAT INFORMATION.
ANY, I BELIEVE IT WOULD BE STONELEY, BUT WE WANT TO CHECK TO MAKE SURE IT LOOKS RIGHT.
SO STONELEY, SO WITH THIS AMENDMENT, THEY STAY AT STONELEY OR THEY, NOW IF THERE WERE ANY KIDS, THEY WOULD GO WHERE? UH, THEY WOULD GO TO WEST HOUSE IF THERE WERE ANY KIDS.
JUST ONE QUICK POINT OF, UM, JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT I'M FULLY UNDERSTANDING.
I KNOW YOU SAID THAT WHEN A HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION IS EXTREMELY LARGE, THAT WOULD BE A TIME WHERE IT WOULD BE HARD TO KEEP THE PLANNING BLOCK TOGETHER.
DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SIZE OF, UM, THE FELLOWSHIP FOREST HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION? IS IT SMALL ENOUGH THAT IT WOULD BE REASONABLE TO TRY TO KEEP THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER OR IS IT, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST RELATIVELY TOO LARGE TO DO THAT? THANK YOU.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE THAT INFORMATION, BUT SO, AND AGAIN, UH, FROM OUR, FROM OUR POINT OF VIEW, UM, AS COORDINATORS OF THE PROCESS, WE ARE HERE TO PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION.
I THINK THAT'S A THRESHOLD THAT BECOMES A, A JUDGMENT OR A RECOMMENDATION CALL.
UM, IN THIS, IN THIS CASE, AS I SAID, WE DID FIND AFTER THE FACT THAT THEY ARE TIED.
THESE TWO, THESE ROADS ARE TIED TOGETHER AS PART OF THE HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION.
UM, THEY, THEY DO NOT APPEAR, IF YOU LOOK ON A MAP, THEY ARE, UM, THEY ARE NOT CONNECTED BY, UH, ANOTHER THROUGH ROAD.
THEY ARE IN DIFFERENT SUBDIVISIONS OF THE COUNTY.
UM, WHICH, WHICH IS A DIFFERENTIATOR.
HOWEVER, LIKE MANY OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS IN BALTIMORE COUNTY, THEY ARE BROUGHT TOGETHER BY, UM, A HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION.
IF YOU LOOK AT 'EM ON A MAP, UM, THEY ARE TOGETHER, THEY ARE, UH, IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO ONE ANOTHER AND THEY SIT NEAR, UM, ANOTHER COMMUNITY, WHICH IS LARGELY APARTMENT COMPLEX.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? MAY I HAVE A ROLL CALL VOTE.
THIS IS, WE'RE VOTING ON THE AMENDED.
UM, WE'RE VOTING ON THE AMENDMENT, THE TO REDEFINE PLANNING BLOCK 4, 2, 6.
TO INCLUDE JACOB, JACOB, LEE, AND RIDGE, JACOBY AND RIDGELEY.
JACOB COULDN'T READ, READ MY OWN HANDWRITING.
RIDGEWOOD AND RIDGEWOOD AND RIDGEWOOD.
MS. POEY? YES, MS. DRUMMOND? SORRY.
SO NOUN, WE VOTE ON THE MOTION AS AMENDED.
MS. HUMPHREY, DID WE JUST VOTE ON, WE VOTED ON THE AMENDED MOTION.
THIS IS THE VOTE TO ADOPT, TO ACTUALLY ADOPT THE C TWO MAP AS AMENDED.
[01:10:01]
OKAY.[H. NEW BUSINESS - BOARD POLICIES (Ms. Pumphrey) (7:45 - 8:00 p.m.)]
ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS NEW BUSINESS REPORT ON BOARD POLICIES.THIS IS THE FIRST READER FOR THESE POLICIES AND FOR THAT I CALL ON MS. CHRISTINA PUMPHREY, CHAIR OF THE POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE.
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, THE POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE ASKS THAT THE BOARD ACCEPT THIS REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE'S RECOMMENDATION OF PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE FOLLOWING BOARD POLICIES, BOARD POLICY ZERO 200 PRECEPTS, BELIEFS AND VALUES OF THE BALTIMORE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOARD POLICY 1270 PARENTS AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT AND BOARD POLICY 1280 BOUNDARY CHANGES.
THESE POLICIES ARE PRESENTED TO YOU ON TONIGHT'S AGENDA AS EXHIBITS H ONE THROUGH H THREE.
MAY I HAVE A MOTION TO ACCEPT THE RECOMMENDATIONS, THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE BOARD'S POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE FOR BOARD POLICY 0 201 2 7 0 AND 1 2 8 0.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION? MS. HAN? THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR.
I JUST HAVE A QUESTION FOR VICE CHAIR POEY AS CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE.
AND THAT IS, UM, DID THE COMMITTEE CONSIDER THE OTHER LEA POLICIES ON THIS IN THE DISCUSSION? UM, OR DISCUSS ANY OTHER, UM, LANGUAGE YOU LIKED FROM THOSE POLICIES IN CONSIDERING IT, ARE YOU REFERRING TO A SPECIFIC POLICY OR, OR ALL THREE OF THEM? UM, THE OTHER LINKED POLICIES THAT WERE INCLUDED IN THE DOCUMENT FOR OTHER LEAS AS PART OF THE ANALYSIS.
I'M SORRY, 1270, GIMME JUST A SECOND.
LOOKING AT THE POLICY, GIMME JUST A SECOND, I BELIEVE FOR THIS PARTICULAR POLICY, UM, WE, WE WE'RE ALL PROVIDED OF COURSE, WITH THE ANALYSIS IN ADVANCE AND PREPARED FOR THE, I DON'T RECALL ANY DISCUSSION ABOUT ANY SPECIFICS IN THE, IN THE ACTUAL MEETING ITSELF FOR THIS PARTICULAR POLICY, IF I'M LOOKING AT THE CORRECT ONE, MADAM CHAIR, MAY WE SEPARATE 1270? I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO SEND 1270 BACK TO COMMITTEE FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION OF THE OTHER LEA POLICIES TO SEE IF ANY OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS TO BE MADE BASED ON PUBLIC FEEDBACK.
WE HEARD TONIGHT, BASED ON THE FACT THAT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IS A PRIORITY FOR THE BOARD AND SUPERINTENDENT, WE MAY HAVE A MOTION TO MOVE ALL OF THE POLICIES BACK.
LET'S GO AROUND THROUGH DISCUSSION AND THEN COME THROUGH THE, THE, TO THE MOTION.
SO YES, 'CAUSE I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE POLICY.
UM, AND WE CAN START WITH POLICY ZERO 200, THE GUIDING PRINCIPLE.
SO, SO WE'RE REQUESTING THAT THE SUPERINTENDENT IMPLEMENT THESE POLICIES, AND WHEN I READ OVER THESE POLICIES, I'M JUST, I'M NOT CLEAR HOW, HOW DO WE, HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THEY'VE BEEN IMPLEMENTED EFFECTIVELY? SO WHEN I LOOK AT A STATEMENT LIKE WE RESPECT THE WORTH OF ALL INDIVIDUALS, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW HOW, WHAT IS THE RULE THAT WOULD BE DEVELOPED TO MEASURE TO DO THAT? OR WHEN I LOOK AT, UM, WE STRIVE TO BE OUR BEST, WHAT I, SO IT'S JUST, IT'S SOME OF THE LANGUAGE IN, UM, THE POLICY 0 2 0 THAT I DO THINK CAN BE STRENGTHENED SO THAT IT'S A CLEAR CONNECTION TO IF WE'RE GONNA DEVELOP A ROLE, IF THE SUPERINTENDENT'S GONNA DEVELOP A ROLE, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA HOLD THE SUPERINTENDENT ACCOUNTABLE FOR IMPLEMENTING.
UM, BUT RIGHT NOW I DO FEEL LIKE IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE, THE, THE WORD, THE WORDS COULD BE A LITTLE STRONGER.
UM, I THINK A GOOD WAY TO LOOK AT RULE AND POLICY.
FOR ME, WHEN I LOOK AT IT, TO TRY TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE, THE RULE IS IMPLEMENTING THE POLICY.
AND WHEN WE THINK OF OUR ROLE AS GOVERNANCE AND AS OVERSEEING, THAT'S WHAT POLICY DOES.
THE RULE ITSELF IS GETTING INTO THE FINE DETAILS OF IMPLEMENTING THE POLICY AND THE OPERATIONAL PART OF THAT.
UM, SO, UH, YOU CAN REFER TO THE RULE TO SEE HOW IT IS IMPLEMENTED AS FAR AS, UM, METRICS TO, I, I THINK I FEEL THAT THEY WOULD ALSO FOLLOW THE RULE, NOT NECESSARILY THE POLICY.
SO YOU'RE REALLY LOOKING FOR THE DETAILS IN THE RULE ITSELF, BECAUSE THAT'S THE IMPLEMENTATION.
OUR GOVERNANCE IS THE OVERVIEW AND THE POLICY ITSELF.
IN OTHER WORDS, THE, UM, THE, WHAT WE WANT DONE IS IN THE POLICY, THE HOW WE DO IT IS IN THE RULE, RIGHT? SO IF WHAT WE, WHAT WE WANT DONE HAS TO BE CLEAR ENOUGH TO DEVELOP A RULE
[01:15:01]
THAT'S SHARP ENOUGH SO THAT THEN WE CAN, 'CAUSE WE'RE, IF WE'RE LOOKING TO REALLY SHIFT SOME THINGS IN BALTIMORE COUNTY, IT STARTS WITH THE POLICY.AND SO THE POLICY HAS TO BE SHAPED IN A WAY THAT A RULE CAN BE CRAFTED SO THAT THERE COULD BE SOME ACCOUNTABILITY TO THAT RULE, SO THAT THEN THE BOARD CAN HOLD THE SUPERINTENDENT ACCOUNTABLE FOR IMPLEMENTING IT.
AND RIGHT NOW, JUST THE WAY THE, THE WAY THAT THIS POLICY IS CRAFTED, I DON'T KNOW, UH, YOU KNOW, WITH RESPECTING THE WORTH OF INDIVIDUALS OR, UM, WE BELIEVE IN THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION.
I, I'M, I'M JUST, I'M NOT SURE IF IT, IT JUST, THIS DOESN'T FEEL AS THOUGH IT'S A, I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO GET AT HERE WITH THIS POLICY.
WHAT IS IT THAT WE'RE ACTUALLY TRYING TO GOVERN HERE? HOW DO I GOVERN THAT? WE VALUE, WE RESPECT THE WORTH OF ALL INDIVIDUALS? WHAT DOES THAT, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? AND SO THAT'S JUST MY CONCERN, OVERARCHING CONCERN WITH, UM, AT, AT LEAST, AND I'M JUST USING POLICY ZERO 200 AS AN EXAMPLE, MS. FREMPONG.
SO AGAIN, TO UM, REITERATE WHAT MS. EY IS SAYING, A LOT OF THE THINGS ARE, HOW IT'S DONE IS GONNA BE DONE THROUGH THE RULE.
SO I ACTUALLY HAVE THE RULE PULLED UP.
AND SO IF YOU LOOK AT RULE ZERO 200, UM, FIRST OF ALL, IT TALKS ABOUT THE PURPOSES IT'S GONNA IMPLEMENT, IMPLEMENT THE POLICY ITSELF, AND THEN IT STARTS GETTING INTO, EMPLOYEES ARE GONNA HAVE ACCESS TO TRAINING AND RESOURCES SUPPORTING THESE PRECEPTS, BELIEFS AND VALUES.
UM, WE'RE GONNA BE INCORPORATING THAT INTO ALL OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEMS ONBOARDING PROGRAMS FOR NEW EMPLOYEES.
SO THOSE ARE EXAMPLES OF HOW, UM, THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN OR HOW IT'S GONNA BE MEASURED.
BUT AGAIN, THAT'S ON THE, THAT'S ON THE RULES SIDE.
AND I THINK IT IS SOMETIMES A CHALLENGE WHEN THE POLICIES COME UP BEFORE US AS A BOARD AND MAY ALMOST FEEL THAT IT'S INCOMPLETE BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT SEEING THAT BIG PICTURE.
SO IN ORDER TO SEE THE BIG PICTURE, YOU REALLY DO NEED TO TAKE THE POLICY IN COLLABORATION WITH THE RULE.
UM, AND SO THAT'S, YOU KNOW, JUST MY POINTS ON THAT.
UM, SO I HEAR WHAT MY COLLEAGUES ARE SAYING REGARDING THE RULE CONTAINING THE OPERATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION.
BUT M CHAIR, I ALSO AGREE WITH WHAT YOU'VE SAID REGARDING THERE, THERE BEING AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE BOARD TO PROVIDE SOME MORE SPECIFIC, UM, DIRECTION AND VISIONING THROUGH THE POLICY THAT THEN GUIDES THE RULE.
AND THE EXAMPLE I WAS LOOKING AT WAS WITH POLICY 1270, UM, NUMBER TWO STANDARDS.
THERE'S SOME VERY GENERAL STANDARDS AROUND HOW WE ENGAGE WITH OUR COMMUNITIES AND FAMILIES, UM, THAT THIS BOARD SHOULD REVIEW AND TAKE A LOOK.
THE, DO THOSE STANDARDS STILL ALIGN WITH OUR PRIORITIES? CAN WE BE MORE SPECIFIC? I AGREE THEY NEED TO BE MEASURABLE AND THAT THE DETAILS CAN BE IMPLEMENTED IN THE RULE, BUT IT STARTS WITH SETTING A POLICY THAT HAS, UM, CONCRETE DELIVERABLES THAT ARE MORE THAN FEEL GOOD LANGUAGE.
SOMETHING THAT WE CAN USE FOR ACCOUNTABILITY SAKE TO HOLD OURSELVES AND THE SUPERINTENDENT ACCOUNTABLE FOR THOSE.
AND I, I'LL JUST GO TO AN EXAMPLE OF POLICY 1270.
WHEN I LOOK AT THE, UH, BOARD'S VISION, THE BOARD'S GOALS, ARE THESE THE SAME VISION AND GOALS THAT ARE IN OUR, THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO HAVE OVERARCHING OR WE HAVE A SEPARATE VISION AND GOALS JUST FOR PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT? OR DO WE HAVE, ARE THESE, WHAT I'M QUESTIONING IS, IS THIS THE RIGHT LANGUAGE FOR THE POLICY? WE HAVE ONE OVERARCHING VISION, OVERARCHING BOARD GOALS.
SO THEN WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO SAY? HERE ARE WE, WE'RE NOW INTRODUCING A NEW VISION IN GOALS.
SO, SO THAT'S WHERE I'M, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS.
SO I GUESS I HAVE A QUESTION FOR MS. HEN, BECAUSE LISTENING TO WHAT YOU DELIVERABLES, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE THEN WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT GOVERNANCE, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE I'M, I'M CLEAR ON WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR.
MAY I RESPOND, MADAM CHAIR? OH, YES, MS. HEN.
UM, SO I THINK THAT MIGHT LEAD INTO ANOTHER DISCUSSION, UM, IN TERMS OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND EVALUATION AND, AND OUR ROLE, WHICH IS, UM, OUTSIDE OF THE SCOPE OF THIS DISCUSSION, HOWEVER, THE POLICY GUIDES THE RULES AND GUIDES, UM, IMPLEMENTATION WITHOUT CONTAINING THOSE OPERATIONAL DETAILS.
UM, THERE'S SOME ROOM FOR DEFINITIONS.
THERE'S ROOM FOR REALIGNMENT OR REVIEW OF THE ALIGNMENT AS, UM, MADAM CHAIR SAID, ARE THESE, UM, STILL CURRENT? DO THEY STILL MATCH WITH THE BOARD'S CURRENT PRIORITIES? UM, SO REVIEW.
SO I WOULD, IF MADAM CHAIR WOULD ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO SEND THESE THREE POLICIES BACK TO COMMITTEE FOR FURTHER REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OR TO A COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE, UM, I'M NOT SURE WHAT YOU WERE ENVISIONING NEXT STEPS WOULD BE, BUT I WOULD SUPPORT THAT.
THANK YOU, CHAIR BOOKER DWYER.
UM, I THINK, UH, JUST TO SHARE WITH THE FULL BOARD AS WELL, WITH THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE, UM,
[01:20:01]
WE SHOULD GIVE MS. HAN AND MS. OJALA AN OPPORTUNITY TO COME FORWARD TO THE DAY.UH, THEY CAN SPEAK SPECIFICALLY TO POLICY 1270, WHAT THOSE, UH, SPECIFICS ARE TO, UM, JUST PROVIDE SOME MORE CONTEXT.
I AM SUSAN HAHN WITH THE OFFICE OF FAMILY COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, AND I APPRECIATE ALL YOUR QUESTIONS.
UM, AS A CENTRAL OFFICE STAFF MEMBER, THE POLICY IS THE SYSTEMIC VIEW.
AND, UM, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TITLE ONE, EACH SCHOOL HAS A, A COMPACT.
SO EACH SCHOOL IS DOING THIS WORK IN THE SCHOOL LEVEL, AND YOUR POLICY IS FOR THE SYSTEM TO INCLUDE ALL SCHOOLS.
WE ALSO DEVELOPED A SYSTEM TITLE ONE AND SYSTEM-WIDE FAMILY ENGAGEMENT PLAN, BECAUSE JUST TITLE ONE SCHOOLS SHOULD NOT HAVE A PLAN.
SO THAT PLAN IS IN ALL SCHOOLS, AND MUCH OF THIS POLICY AND RULE IS CONNECTED TO ESSA.
AND SO A LOT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF ESSA ACTUALLY DO GUIDE OUR RULE AND POLICY, OR YOUR RULE AND POLICY, YOUR RULE AND YOUR POLICY
AND I THINK I WOULD JUST ADD ALSO, UM, AND SOMEONE HAD ASKED SPECIFICALLY ABOUT BENCHMARKING WITH OTHER SYSTEMS. I THINK THAT'S BEST PRACTICE ACROSS THE BOARD WHEN WE'RE, UM, TALKING ABOUT REVIEWING POLICIES AND MAKING UPDATES THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT WHAT OTHER SIMILARLY SIZED DISTRICTS ARE DOING, INCORPORATING SOME OF THE REALLY GOOD THINGS THAT WE SEE THERE.
AND THEN ALSO, JUST ANOTHER LAYER, WE'VE BEEN BEFORE YOU BEFORE TO TALK ABOUT, UM, OUR WORK AROUND THE STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS PLAN FOR THE SYSTEM, WHICH ALSO INCLUDES A LOT OF THE WORK WITH FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
SO THERE ARE THROUGH LINES IN EVERYTHING THAT WE DO.
UM, AND JUST TO REASSURE YOU THAT THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE'RE VERY THOUGHTFUL ABOUT IN LOOKING AT HOW ALL OF THOSE PIECES COME TOGETHER AT THE SCHOOL LEVEL AND AT THE CENTRAL LEVEL.
AND YOU DID BRING UP, UM, ACCOUNTABILITY AND ASSESSMENT IN A SENSE.
FAMILY ENGAGEMENT HAS ALWAYS BEEN VERY DIFFICULT TO GET EVALUATION OF.
UM, BUT WE HAVE WORKED REALLY HARD THE LAST COUPLE YEARS.
EVERY SINGLE EVENT WE ATTEND, EVERY STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WE GIVE, WE INCLUDE POLICY 1270 AND THAT FAMILY ENGAGEMENT PLAN SO THAT ALL OUR STAFF WHO ARE OUR MESSENGERS KNOW ABOUT THIS PLAN AND THIS POLICY AND CAN SHARE IT WITH FAMILIES.
AND SO, UM, WE ARE LOOKING AT ALL EVIDENCE-BASED FAMILY ENGAGEMENT PRACTICES AND IMPLEMENTING THEM TOO AS WE POSSIBLY CAN.
NOTHING ELSE FOR THAT PARTICULAR POLICY, BUT I WANTED TO MENTION SOMETHING ABOUT, UM, EXCUSE ME, 1280.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANT ME TO DO THAT NOW.
I JUST WANTED TO POINT OUT THAT WE DID HAVE A THOROUGH DISCUSSION.
IT'S IN THE ANALYSIS AND MADE SOME CHANGES IN PRC FOR 1280, AND IT'S UNDER, UM, THE BACKGROUND PRC AND BOARD ACTION DATED FEBRUARY 5TH, 2024.
I JUST WANTED TO POINT THAT OUT TO THE REST OF THE BOARD.
MS. NN, YOU CAN MAKE YOUR MOTION AND SEE WHERE IT GOES.
SO THERE'S ALREADY A MOTION ON THE FLOOR.
SO, SO THE, I KNOW MS. HEN HAD ORIGINALLY MADE A DIFFERENT MOTION, SO THERE HAS TO BE AN AMENDMENT REQUEST HERE.
SO WE CAN'T MAKE A NEW AN AN ENTIRELY NEW MOTION, WHICH IS WHAT IT WAS SOUNDING LIKE.
SO WE NEED TO JUST MAKE SURE THERE IS, THERE IS AN ACTIVE MOTION ON THE FLOOR.
SO MADAM CHAIR, I WILL WITHDRAW MY LAST MOTION, WHICH I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS ANYMORE AFTER THIS DISCUSSION.
UM, AND WE'LL MAKE A NEW MOTION TO AMEND THE MOTION ON THE FLOOR TO RE TO CONSIDER THESE THREE POLICIES AFTER FURTHER DISCUSSION BY THE P BY PRC, IF THAT, IF THAT SOUNDS LIKE A DIFFERENT MOTION TO MAKE A, TO MAKE A MO, IT'S, SO YOU WANNA MAKE A MOTION TO AMEND, TO RECOMMIT, AND TO STRIKE THE ORIGINAL MOTION, UM, WHERE IT WAS GOING TO APPROVE THE THREE, UM, I'M SORRY.
LET ME LOOK AT YOUR ORIGINAL MOTION.
UM, SO TO MAKE A MOTION TO AMEND INSTEAD OF TO ACCEPT THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE BOARD POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE TO RECOMMIT, UM, THE BOARD POLICIES 0 220 12 70 AND 1280.
THANK YOU FOR THAT ASSISTANCE.
SO, TO STRIKE THE ORIGINAL MOTION AND TO RECOMMIT POLICY 2 0 212 70 AND 1280,
[01:25:03]
OKAY, YOU'RE JUST STRIKING THE WORD ACCEPT TO STRIKE JUST THE WORD ACCEPT AND, AND TO RE AND TO, AND INSERT AND TO REJECT THE RECOMMENDATION.AND, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA ADD TO, TO THEN, UM, TO RECOMMIT.
TO MOVE, TO AMEND, TO STRIKE THE WORD ACCEPT, ADD THE WORD REJECT.
TO INSERT, TO INSERT REJECT AND TO RECOM.
AND THAT, THAT, THAT'LL BE FINE.
AND THEN YOU GUYS, THAT'S PLENTY.
AND THEN YOU COULD DO YOUR NEXT MOTION AND WE'LL MOVE IT BACK TO PEERS.
SO THERE'S A MOTION ON THE FLOOR TO, TO STRIKE THE WORD.
ACCEPT THE, TO, TO STRIKE THE WORD, ACCEPT THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE BOARD POLICIES TO INSERT AND INSERT, REJECT, INSERT.
SO MAY I HAVE A MOTION TO STRIKE THE WORD ACCEPT AND INSERT THE WORD REJECT.
SO WE NEED A SECOND? WE NEED A SECOND.
UM, IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION, MS. LICHTER? AND THE PURPOSE OF THIS IS FOR THE COMMITTEE TO REDO THE WORK THEY ALREADY DID OR TO TAKE IN CONSIDERATION.
WHAT, WHAT IS THE, WHY ARE WE SENDING IT BACK? IS, I GUESS MY QUESTION OR WHY ARE WE REJECTING ALL THE WORDS? WHY ARE WE, WE'RE BASICALLY SENDING IT BACK.
AND SO I DO THINK THERE'S SOME SPECIFIC MODIFICATIONS THAT ARE NEEDED.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, POLICY 1270 TO, UM, ALIGN THE, THE VISION AND GOALS WITH THE BOARD'S VISION AND GOALS.
SO, UM, FOR LIKE, POLICY TO 200 TO STRENGTHEN THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES, UM, ESPECIALLY THE, TO STRENGTHEN THE LANGUAGE AND THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES SO THAT AS A BOARD, WE CAN SEE THAT GOV SO THAT WE COULD SEE THE THROUGH LINE FOR THE GOVERNANCE.
SO IT'S TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE FEEDBACK OF THE BOARD TONIGHT AND PUBLIC COMMENTS.
MAY I HAVE A ROLL CALL? VOTE MS. HUMPHREY? NO.
SO I'LL GO BACK TO THE ORIGINAL MOTION TO ACCEPT THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE BOARD'S POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE FOR BOARD POLICY 0 212 70 AND 1280 AT IT.
ANY DISCUSSION? GO AHEAD, MR. MCMILLION.
SO IF WE VOTE THIS DOWN, DOES THAT MEAN IT GOES BACK? YES.
MAY I HAVE A ROLL CALL? VOTE MS. POEY? YES.
MS. BOOKER DWYER NO FAVORS? FOUR.
SO IT GOES, DON'T GO BACK BECAUSE YOU ORDERED ANYWHERE.
SO THEY JUST, THEY JUST STAY UNTIL THE NEXT TIME.
NEXT, THE, THE NEXT CYCLE OF, SO THE POLICIES WILL STAY AS THEY ARE WITHOUT THE MODIFICATIONS THAT ARE INCLUDED.
SO THEY'LL GO BACK TO THEIR ORIGINAL STATE.
SO IF YOU WANT, YOU GUYS CAN MAKE A MOTION TO RECOMMIT THEM BACK TO POLICY COMMITTEE AT THIS POINT.
OKAY? SO WE CAN MAKE A MOTION TO RECOMMIT THEM BACK TO POLICY COMMITTEE.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION? I'M GONNA MESS THIS UP, BUT I, I WOULD LIKE TO SEPARATE 1270.
SO YOU ARE, UH, ACTUALLY, YES, I WANNA, I WOULD LIKE TO SEPARATE ZERO TWO HUNDRED AND TWELVE EIGHTY
[01:30:02]
AND VOTE ON THAT SEPARATELY FROM 1270 AS FAR AS RECOMMITTING.SO YOU WOULD LIKE TO AMEND THE MOTION TO ONLY SEND 0 1 2 7 0.
MADAM CHAIR, I, I BELIEVE WE DON'T NEED TO SEPARATE TO CHANGE THE MOTION.
WE CAN VOTE ON THEM SEPARATELY WITH THE MOTION THAT'S ON THE FLOOR? YES.
WHAT IS THE MOTION ON THE FLOOR? TO RECOMM.
OKAY, SO LET'S, WE'LL DO IT ONE AT A TIME.
SO, UM, SO DO I HAVE A, SO WE CAN DO A, OKAY.
SO MAY I HAVE A MOTION TO RECOMMIT POLICY 0 2 0 0 BACK TO THE POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE.
SO MOVE STILL LEFT IS ANOTHER SEPARATE.
IS THERE, MAY I HAVE A ROLL CALL? VOTE.
THIS IS ZERO 200 TO GO BACK TO COMMITTEE.
SO MAY I HAVE A MOTION TO MOVE POLICY 1, 2, 7 0 BACK TO THE POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE.
SO, MOVES LESKI, MAY I HAVE A ROLL CALL? VOTE.
DO WE NEED A SECOND? MAY I HAVE A SECOND? SECOND MAY I HAVE A ROLL CALL? VOTE.
MAY I HAVE A MO A MOTION TO MOVE BOARD POLICY 1, 2, 8, 0 BACK TO THE POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE.
IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND MAY I HAVE A ROLL CALL? VOTE.
I HAVE A POINT OF CLARIFICATION HERE, PLEASE.
IF, IF THE WE VOTE NO TO, UM, RECOMMITTING THIS, THE CHANGES THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN THERE WILL NOT STAY CORRECT.
THE CURRENT, THE CHANGES MADE BY PRC.
OKAY, THE NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA, WE'RE DONE WITH THIS RIGHT,
[I. NEW BUSINESS - ACTION TAKEN IN CLOSED SESSION (Board Counsel) (8:00 - 8:05 p.m.)]
ON THE AGENDA IS ACTION TAKEN IN CLOSED SESSION.AND FOR THAT I CALL ON MR. VTI JONES.
UM, MADAM CHAIR AND DR. ROGERS AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, UM, EARLIER THIS EVENING, THE BOARD MET IN CLOSED SESSION IN ITS QUASI-JUDICIAL CAPACITY TO RENDER A DECISION IN CASE NUMBERS, UH, 20 23, 20 24 DASH ZERO SEVEN AND 20 23, 20 24 DASH ZERO SIX.
NOW WOULD BE AN APPROPRIATE TIME TO CONFIRM THE ACTION TAKEN IN CLOSED SESSION.
MAY I HAVE A MOTION TO AFFIRM THE ACTION TAKEN DURING CLOSED SESSION ON CASE SD 20 23 20 24 DASH ZERO SIX, IN WHICH NO ARGUMENT WAS REQUESTED AND AUTHORIZED MS. GOR TO SIGN FOR THOSE BOARD MEMBERS NOT PRESENT.
LI ANY DISCUSSION? MAY I HAVE A ROLL CALL? VOTE MS. HUMPHREY? YES.
MAY I HAVE A MOTION TO AFFIRM THE ACT ACTION TAKEN DURING CLOSED SESSION ON CASE SD 2 0 2 3 DASH 2024 DASH ZERO SEVEN, IN WHICH NO ARGUMENT WAS REQUESTED AND AUTHORIZED MS. GOVER TO SIGN FOR THOSE BOARD MEMBERS NOT PRESENT? SO, KY IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND FROM PAUL? ANY DISCUSSION? MAY I HAVE A ROLL CALL? VOTE MS. HUMPHREY?
[01:35:01]
YES.THE NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS THE REPORT ON PROPOSED PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.
THE FIRST REPORT IS ON BILINGUAL GLOBAL CITIZENS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL.
OH, LEMME SEE THAT COMES NEXT.
[J. ADDED: NEW BUSINESS – SPECIAL PROJECT REQUEST (Dr. Grim)]
WE'RE ACTUALLY GONNA MODIFY THIS.SO THE NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS THAT IS THE NEWLY ADDED BUSINESS, A SPECIAL PROJECT REQUEST.
DANO AND, UH, MS. KIRK, YOU WILL BE AFTER THIS.
CHAIR BOOKER DWYER, VICE CHAIR HUMPHREY SUPERINTENDENT DR. ROGERS AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
I AM HERE THIS EVENING REPRESENTING AND IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DIVISION OF SCHOOLS AND DIVISION OF CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION TO REQUEST BOARD APPROVAL OF A PRIVATELY FUNDED PROJECT FOR A STEM CENTER AT LANSDOWN MIDDLE SCHOOL.
THE CAL RIPTON SENIOR FOUNDATION IS POISED TO DONATE STEM MATERIALS, FURNISHING, SIGNAGE, EQUIPMENT TRAINING, AND A WALL WRAP AS PART OF THIS PRIVATELY FUNDED PROJECT IN ALIGNMENT WITH BOARD POLICY AND SUPERINTENDENTS RULE 73 30 CAPITAL PROJECTS FUNDED BY PRIVATE DONATIONS BCPS STAFF HAVE REVIEWED THE DOCUMENTS FOR THIS INITIATIVE AND RECOMMENDED FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL.
MAY I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE SPECIAL PROJECT REQUEST FOR LANSDOWN MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM CENTER? SO MOVED FROM PO.
IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND LECTER, ANY DISCUSSION? MAY I HAVE A ROLL CALL? VOTE MS. HUMPHREY? YES.
MR. MCMILLION, I DID HAVE A QUESTION.
I'M JUST CURIOUS HOW THIS ORIGINAL CONTACT WAS MADE WITH RICKETT.
DID THE RIPKIN FOUNDATION REACH OUT TO O WE REACHED OUT TO RIPKIN.
HOW DID THAT TAKE PLACE? SO I BELIEVE THAT THE, THE RIPKIN FOUNDATION AND BGE EXELON REACHED OUT TO THE, TO THE SCHOOL SYSTEM.
THIS IS AN INITIATIVE THAT WILL BE SPREAD NOT ONLY IN BCPS, BUT ACROSS THE REGION.
DDO, IT, IT, I THINK IT'S SOMETHING LIKE 80 SCHOOLS WHEN THEY'RE COMPLETE.
SO THE RIPKIN FOUNDATION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BG EXELON, UM, RECEIVED A GRANT THROUGH MSD.
SO THEY'RE INSTALLING AND SEEKING TO INSTALL, UM, STEM CENTERS IN SCHOOLS ACROSS, UM, THE STATE OF MARYLAND AND ESPECIALLY FOR BG E AND EXXON WITHIN THEIR, UH, OPERATIONAL AREA.
AND THEY IDENTIFIED LANSDOWN MIDDLE AS ONE OF THE SCHOOLS THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO PARTNER WITH US.
UM, CURRENTLY, LANSDOWN HIGH SCHOOL HAS A STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH BG E, UM, AND HAS SEVERAL, UH, STUDENTS WHO, UH, DO APPRENTICESHIPS AND INTERNSHIPS THERE.
AND THEY'VE ACTUALLY HIRED SEVERAL OF OUR STUDENTS OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL.
UM, SO THEY WANTED TO SORT OF INCREASE THEIR PARTNERSHIP BY, UH, BRANCHING INTO THE MIDDLE SCHOOL.
AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING THE NEW STEM CENTER AT LANDSDOWN MIDDLE SCHOOL.
[K. REPORT - PROPOSED PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS (8:05 - 8:45 p.m.)]
THE NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS THE REPORT ON PROPOSED PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.THE FIRST REPORT IS ON BILINGUAL GLOBAL CITIZENS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL.
GOOD EVENING BOARD CHAIR BOOKER DWYER, VICE CHAIR, MS. POEY, AND SUPERINTENDENT DR. ROGERS, AS WELL AS OTHER BOARD MEMBERS.
UM, TONIGHT WE BRING TO YOU IN ACCORDANCE WITH BCPS RULE 1600, A REPORT
[01:40:01]
AND RECOMMENDATION FOR THE NEW CHARTER SCHOOL APPLICATION SUBMITTED BY THE PARTNERSHIP FOR INFINITE EDUCATION FOR THE BILINGUAL GLOBAL CITIZENS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL.AT THIS TIME, I'M GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO MS. KIRK, UM, OUR SUPERVISOR OF SPECIAL PROJECTS.
THIS SLIDE SUMMARIZES THE INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE COMPONENT COMPONENT OF THE REPORT.
AFTER RECEIVING AND EVALUATING BILINGUAL GLOBAL CITIZENS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL LETTER OF INTENT AND RELATED PROSPECTUS TWO YEARS PRIOR TO THEIR ANTICIPATED OPENING, THE BCPS TEAM EVALUATED THE INFORMATION BASED ON BCPS RULE 1600 AND APPROVED THE ORGANIZATION TO MOVE FORWARD TO THE APPLICATION STAGE.
THE APPLICATION WAS SUBMITTED ON JANUARY 2ND, 2024.
AFTER A TECHNICAL REVIEW, A BC PS TEAM OF 23 CONTENT EXPERTS WAS CONVENED TO REVIEW THE FORMAL APPLICATION.
THE FINAL STAGE OF THE PROCESS INCLUDED A ONE HOUR VIRTUAL INTERVIEW, AN OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE WRITTEN RESPONSES TO THE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS.
THIS SLIDE OUTLINES THE QUALITATIVE REVIEW PROCESS.
THE TEAM USED THE SCORING TOOL FOR CHARTER APPLICATION, WHICH IS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE IN VCPS RULE 1600 APPENDIX D.
AS YOU CAN SEE ON THIS SLIDE, THE TOOL HAS FOUR MAIN SECTIONS AND 28 SUBSECTIONS.
THIS SLIDE PROVIDES A SUMMARY OF SECTION A, THE OVERVIEW OF THE APPLICATION REVIEW.
BILINGUAL GLOBAL CITIZENS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL IS PROPOSING A K EIGHT DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION SCHOOL ON THE EAST SIDE OF BALTIMORE COUNTY.
THE LANGUAGES THAT THE CHARTER SCHOOL PLANS TO TEACH ARE BOTH CHINESE AND FRENCH.
WITH TWO CLASSES, HALF DAY CHINESE, HALF DAY ENGLISH, AND THEN HALF DAY FRENCH, HALF DAY ENGLISH.
THE SCHOOL INTENDS TO OPEN WITH GRADES K THROUGH THREE AND THEN ADDING ONE GRADE LEVEL EACH YEAR FOR SUBSEQUENT YEARS TO END WITH K THROUGH EIGHT, IT IS NOTED THAT ALL AFFIDAVITS WILL NEED TO BE SIGNED BY ALL MEMBERS IF A DECISION IS MADE TO APPROVE A CONTRACT.
AT THIS TIME, I'D LIKE TO TURN THE PRESENTATION OVER TO DR.
SO THE NEXT THREE SLIDES WILL PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF THE EDUCATIONAL PLAN SUMMARIZING, UH, KEY COMPONENTS THAT WERE INCLUDED IN THE CHARTER SCHOOL APPLICATION.
THE BI BILINGUAL GLOBAL CITIZENS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL APPLICATION DESCRIBES A DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION MODEL DRIVEN BY CURRICULUM THAT'S ALIGNED WITH THE MARYLAND COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS STANDARDS, AND DETAILED THE MANY SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS THAT ACCOMPANY THE APPLICATION.
THE ORGANIZATION UTILIZED ED REPORTS TO IDENTIFY HIGH QUALITY INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS, AND THE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING IS ALIGNED WITH RESEARCH FOR BETTER TEACHING.
THE SPECIAL, THE SPECIAL STUDENT POPULATION SECTION GENERALLY HIGHLIGHTS THE IDENTIFICATION PROCESS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES AND SPEAKS GENERALLY ABOUT SUPPORTING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES AND STUDENTS WHO RECEIVE ES A SERVICES.
MORE EXPLICIT PLANS TO SUPPORT STUDENTS WITH ALTERNATIVE EDUCATIONAL FRAMEWORKS IS DESIRED.
IT IS NOTED IN THE APPLICATION THAT SOME OF THE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS HAVE PRIOR RECRUITING EXPERIENCE AND HAVE ALREADY STARTED SERVING THE COMMUNITY IN THE AREA WHICH THEY HOPE TO ESTABLISH THEIR SCHOOL.
THE SCHOOL'S CODE OF CONDUCT IS DETAILED AND ALIGNS WITH BCPS POLICIES.
BILINGUAL GLOBAL CITIZENS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL SUBMITTED SEVERAL WAIVERS TO BE CONSIDERED AS PART OF THEIR APPLICATION IN THE AREAS OF SCHOOL CALENDAR, STUDENT ASSESSMENTS AND INTERVIEWING AND HIRING NEW STAFF.
SEVERAL, SEVERAL QUESTIONS DURING THE INTERVIEW PHASE OF THE APPLICATION PROCESS WERE RELATED TO THESE WAIVERS.
THE ORGANIZATION ADDRESSED THOSE WITHOUT, UH, WITH CONCERNS AND QUESTIONS IN THE INTERVIEW AND SUBSEQUENT WI WRITTEN RESPONSES.
PART OF THE, UH, DETAILS ON THE SLIDE, IDENTIFY THOSE SPECIFIC WAIVERS.
UM, SPECIFICALLY LOOKING AT A WAIVER FOR, UM, MAP TESTING AND BCPS, UM, GIVEN THE OTHER ASSESSMENTS THAT WOULD BE CONDUCTED WITH A BILINGUAL UM, EDUCATION PROGRAM.
THIS SLIDE PROVIDES A SUMMARY OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL PLAN DETAILS.
UM, IN THE CHARTER SCHOOL APPLICATION, THE APPLICATION DEMONSTRATED CLEAR ORGANIZATIONAL AND REPORTING STRUCTURE AND A ROBUST PLAN FOR PARTNERSHIPS DESIGNED TO POSITIVELY IMPACT STUDENT LEARNING.
AS WAS DISCUSSED IN THE INTERVIEW, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT THE ORGANIZATION, IF APPROVED, HAVE A ROBUST PLAN FOR RECRUITING TEACHERS, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE SPECIALIZED TEACHER QUALIFICATIONS ALIGNED WITH THEIR BILINGUAL MISSION.
THE FINAL SECTION OF THE APPLICATION REVIEW IS THE BUSINESS PLAN.
WHILE THE BUDGET DESCRIBED IN THE APPLICATION IS REALISTIC, THE FACT IS THAT THERE A BUILDING HAS YET TO BE SECURED, UM, DOES PRESENT A FINANCIAL RISK.
THAT WAS NOTED BECAUSE BILINGUAL GLOBAL CITIZENS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL PLANS TO USE BCPS NUTRITION SERVICES.
THE ORGANIZATION WOULD ALSO NEED
[01:45:01]
TO ACCOUNT FOR THE PURCHASING OF RELATED EQUIPMENT ALIGNED WITH BCPS STANDARDS.AT THIS TIME, I'LL TURN THE PRESENTATION BACK TO MS. KIRK TO DISCUSS THE INTERVIEW PHASE.
THE INTERVIEWERS FOUND THAT THE BILINGUAL CITIZENS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL WAS WELL PREPARED FOR THE INTERVIEW.
AND EACH MEMBER, EACH MEMBER WAS INTIMATELY FAMILIAR WITH BOTH THE PLAN AND THE SCHOOL'S MISSION.
AS WAS DISCUSSED IN THE PREVIOUS SLIDE, THE NEED FOR MORE DETAILS RELATED TO PLANS FOR SPECIAL STUDENT POPULATIONS, AND THAT WAS AN OUTCOME OF THE APPLICATION REVIEW AS SUCH A SIZABLE PORTION OF THE INTERVIEW, AS WELL AS THE WRITTEN RESPONSES TO THE INTERVIEW.
QUESTIONS SUBMITTED AFTER THE INTERVIEW WE'RE DEVOTED TO THIS AREA.
I WILL TURN THE PRESENT PRESENTATION OVER TO OUR CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER, DR.
DITO, AND SUPERINTENDENT DR. ROGERS, TO DISCUSS THE RECOMMENDATION.
ON THIS SLIDE, YOU'LL FIND THE RECOMMENDATION THAT WAS MADE TO THE SUPERINTENDENT FROM THE CHARTER SCHOOL, UH, COMMITTEE.
UM, THE BILINGUAL GLOBAL CITIZENS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL IS RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL TO PURSUE A CON, UH, CONTRACT IN BCPS WITH THE FOLLOWING CONTINGENCIES SECURE A FACILITY THAT MEETS STANDARDS AND IS APPROVED BY BCPS.
DEPARTMENT OF FACILITIES MANAGEMENT AND STRATEGIC PLANNING PROVIDE IDENTIFIED REQUISITE DOCUMENTS SUCH AS A CERTIFICATE OF GOOD STANDING.
UM, WE WOULD ALSO STRONGLY ENCOURAGE THEM TO WORK COLLABORATIVELY WITH OUR OFFICE OF ESAU AND WORLD LANGUAGES, GIVEN THE COMPONENTS, UM, OF THEIR INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM, AND LOOKING AT THE PROGRESSION OF STUDENTS AS THEY MOVE FROM A BILINGUAL IMMERSION PROGRAM, UM, AT THE ELEMENTARY LEVEL INTO OUR MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS.
ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD, MR. MCMILLION AND MS. LICHTER? REALISTICALLY, HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT FINDING A, THE FUNDING FOR A BUILDING? SO THE CHARTER SCHOOLS USE A VARIETY OF, UM, EITHER GRANT FUNDS, UM, FOR FUNDING OF BUILDINGS.
MSD HAS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL GRANTS ALSO.
UM, THERE'S ALSO LOTS OF PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS THAT OUR OTHER CHARTER SCHOOL HAS IDENTIFIED, AND THAT'S HOW THEY IDENTI, UH, WERE ABLE TO SECURE THEIR BUILDING.
NOW, WATERVIEW WAS AN OLD CATHOLIC SCHOOL.
IS THAT OR PAROCHIAL SCHOOL? WATERSHED.
HOW WILL STUDENTS BE SELECTED TO ATTEND THE CHARTER SCHOOL? THE CHARTER SCHOOL WOULD GO THROUGH A LOTTERY PROCESS.
SO NO TESTING, NO INTERVIEWING OF KIDS JUST AS PURE LOTTERY? YES.
BECAUSE THERE WAS ONE QUESTION THAT SAID, WILL ALL, UM, CHILDREN, UM, EELL, I'M NOT USING OUR RIGHT TERMINOLOGY, WILL ALL, WHERE IS IT? ELL STUDENTS BE PROVIDED A PLACE.
WILL ALL ES L STUDENTS WHO APPLIED BE ACCEPTED TO THE SCHOOL AND SAYS THE ANSWER IS YES.
SO HOW DOES THAT WORK WITH THE LOTTERY? THE, I BELIEVE THAT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER COMPONENT IS NOT CONSIDERED IN THE LOTTERY PROCESS.
AND THE REASON THAT THE SPECIAL POPULATION WAS CHOSEN DUE TO THE FACT THAT IT IS AN IMMERSION SCHOOL.
SO THEY WOULD NOT ONLY BE LEARNING FRENCH AND OR CHINESE, THEY WOULD ALSO BE LEARNING ENGLISH AT THE SAME TIME.
AND IT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT THAT OUR OFFICE OF MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS WAS INVOLVED IN THE INTERVIEW PROCESS.
AND THAT IS PART OF OUR RECOMMENDATION TO MOVE THEM FORWARD, IS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY CONTINUE TO INCLUDE THAT OFFICE IN THEIR PLANNING.
SO IF WE HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF ESL STUDENTS WHO APPLY, THEY COULD BE TAKING UP ALL OF THE SEATS AND THEN NOT A LOTTERY WOULD NOT BE NEEDED.
SO IF, IF THERE ARE MORE STUDENTS WHO APPLY, THEN THEY HAVE SEATS, THEN THE LOTTERY WOULD TAKE PLACE.
BUT IF THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH SEATS THERE, THEN EVERYONE WOULD BE ACCEPTED.
FOR INSTANCE, WATERSHED CURRENTLY DOES NOT HAVE ANY ESOL STUDENTS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? WHAT IS THE TIMELINE FOR, UM, FOR THEM TO HAVE A, TO BEGIN TO IDENTIFY A FACILITY THAT WOULD BE DICTATED BY THE CONTRACT AND OUR NEXT STEPS? FOR INSTANCE, AFTER SEEKING SOME INFORMATION DIRECTLY FROM MSDE, WE COULD PUT INTO THE STIPULATIONS THAT THEY HAVE TO PROVIDE MONTHLY REPORTS.
UM, WE JUST NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY WOULD HAVE A FACILITY IN TIME TO OPEN BY THAT SEPTEMBER, 2025 DATE.
MS. OR AUGUST, 2025 DATE
AND WE DON'T KNOW HOW MANY STUDENTS THEY'RE ABLE TO ACCEPT BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE A BUILDING.
SO WHAT IS THE, WHAT IS THE TIMING ON THAT? OR IS THERE ANYTHING THAT'S GOING TO STOP THEIR MOVEMENT FORWARD UNTIL WE ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT TYPE OF BUILDING THEY SECURE AND HOW MANY STUDENTS THEY CAN HAVE?
[01:50:01]
SO AGAIN, THAT IS PART OF THE CONTRACT PROCESS BASED ON INFORMATION ON CHARTER SCHOOL REGULATION, WE'RE NOT ALLOWED TO DENY A CHARTER SCHOOL JUST BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE A BUILDING IN PLACE.SO THAT WOULD BE PART OF COMING UP WITH THOSE STIPULATIONS AFTER EITHER IT IS IF IT IS APPROVED TO MOVE FORWARD THAT WAY.
THEIR INTENTION, THOUGH IS TO HAVE TWO CLASSES OF EACH GRADE LEVEL K THROUGH THREE, AND THEN MOVE FORWARD WITH THOSE SUBSEQUENT YEARS FOR K THROUGH EIGHT.
MS. DOKI, SO DID THEY HAVE ANY BUILDINGS ALREADY IN MIND THAT THEY WERE LOOKING AT OR THAT YOU KNOW OF? ARE YOU AWARE OF? I BELIEVE THEY WERE LOOKING, BUT THERE WAS NOTHING MENTIONED IN THE REPORT ABOUT A SPECIFIC BUILDING.
MS. MCMILLION OR ANY OF THEIR LEADERSHIP HERE TONIGHT? UM, NO.
FROM BILINGUAL GLOBAL CITIZENS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL? NO.
IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE OF 'EM REACH OUT TO ME, I'D LIKE TO TALK TO ONE OF 'EM.
WE'LL, WE'LL, WE CAN TALK ABOUT THAT MR. MCMILLION.
WE COULD PERHAPS BUILD THAT INTO THE AGENDA.
UM, AND I MAY HAVE MISSED THIS.
DOES THE COMMUNITY WANT THIS SCHOOL? IS THERE INTEREST FROM PARENTS? AND ACCORDING, ACCORDING TO THEIR REPORT, THEY'VE BEEN SERVING THE COMMUNITY FOR WHICH THEY WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THE CHARTER SCHOOL AND ARE LOOKING FOR A FACILITY, AND THEY BELIEVE THAT THERE IS INTEREST ALSO.
THIS WOULD BE, I GUESS, THE ONLY IMMERSION LANGUAGE IMMERSION SCHOOL IN BALTIMORE COUNTY IF IT'S APPROVED.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD? I, I THINK WE'VE GOT 'EM ALL.
WE'RE NOT SCHEDULED TO VOTE ON THIS UNTIL APRIL 16TH, SO THERE'S SOME TIME.
THE SECOND REPORT IS ON PUZZLE PIECES LEARNING ACADEMY PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL.
SO AGAIN, IN ACCORDANCE WITH BCPS RULE 1600, THIS PRESENTATION IS A AWARD REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION FOR THE NEW CHARTER SCHOOL APPLICATION SUBMITTED BY THE PUZZLE PIECES LEARNING ACADEMY PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL.
THIS TIME I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO MS. KIRK, UH, TO GET US STARTED.
THIS SLIDE SUMMARIZES THE INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE COMPONENT OF THE REPORT.
AFTER RECEIVING AND EVALUATING THE PUZZLE PIECES LEARNING ACADEMY, PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL LETTER OF INTENT AND RELATED PROSPECTUS TO YEARS PRIOR TO THEIR ANTICIPATED OPENING, THE BCPS TEAM EVALUATED THE INFORMATION BASED ON BCPS RULE 1600.
AND AFTER TWO SUBMISSION ITERATIONS OF THE LETTER OF INTENT APPROVED THE ORGANIZATION TO MOVE FORWARD TO THE APPLICATION STAGE AFTER APPROVING A ONE DAY EXTENSION REQUEST TO PUZZLE PIECES LEARNING ACADEMY PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL.
THE APPLICATION WAS SUBMITTED ON JANUARY 3RD, 2024.
AFTER A TECHNICAL REVIEW, A-B-C-P-S TEAM OF 23 CONTENT EXPERTS WAS CONVENED TO REVIEW THE FORMAL APPLICATION.
THE FINAL STAGE OF THE PROCESS INCLUDED A ONE HOUR VIRTUAL INTERVIEW AND OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE WRITTEN RESPONSES TO INTERVIEW QUESTIONS.
THIS SLIDE OUTLINES THE QUALITATIVE REVIEW PROCESS.
THE TEAM USED THE SCORING TOOL FOR CHARTER APPLICATION, WHICH IS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE IN RULE SIX BCPS RULE 1600 AS APPENDIX D.
AS YOU CAN SEE ON THIS SLIDE, THE TOOL HAS FOUR MAIN SECTIONS AND 28 SUBSECTIONS.
THIS SLIDE PROVIDES A SUMMARY OF SECTION A, THE OVERVIEW OF THE APPLICATION REVIEW PUZZLE PIECES.
LEARNING ACADEMY PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL PROPOSED A SCHOOL ON THE WESTERN SIDE OF BALTIMORE COUNTY THAT FOCUSES ON AN INCLUSIVE AND EMPOWERING ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL STUDENTS.
THIS SECTION BRIEFLY MENTIONS THE DESIRE TO HAVE 12 MONTH PROGRAMMING, UNINTERRUPTED WORK TIME, AND A HYBRID MODEL.
AT THIS TIME, I'D LIKE TO TURN THE PRESENTATION OVER TO DR.
DE DONATO TO DISCUSS SECTION B.
UM, AS THE NEXT THREE SLIDES, AGAIN, WE'LL PROVIDE OVERALL, UM, FINDINGS REGARDING THE EDUCATIONAL PLAN.
THE BCPS REVIEW TEAM, UH, NOTED AN OVERALL LACK OF DETAIL WITHIN THIS PORTION OF THE APPLICATION.
EXAMPLES INCLUDED, THERE WERE MENTION OF EVIDENCE-BASED CURRICULUM AND REGULAR ASSESSMENTS ALIGNED WITH MSDE STANDARDS WITHOUT IDENTIFYING AND EXPLAINING, UH, SPECIFIC PLANS TO IMPLEMENT THE CURRICULUM OR ASSESSMENTS.
CONTINUING IN SECTION B, THE BCPS REVIEW TEAM NOTED A CONTINUED LACK OF DETAIL RELATED TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WHAT THE APPLICANT MENTIONS AS A ROBUST LEARNING PLAN.
WHILE SOME PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WAS IDENTIFIED, SPECIFIC INTEGRATION OF THE, UH, PROFESSIONAL LEARNING WITH THE CURRICULUM WAS NOT CLEARLY STATED.
THE APPLICATION MISSED THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE DETAILS AND CONTEXT AS TO HOW THE SUPPORT WILL BE OFFERED TO STUDENTS, UH, SPECIAL STUDENT POPULATIONS.
ADDITIONALLY, THE REQUIRED THIRD PARTY
[01:55:01]
EVIDENCE-BASED RESEARCH RATIONALE FOR CURRICULUM SELECTION WAS NOT INCLUDED EXCEPT FOR A PORTION THAT INCLUDED, UM, THE IDENTIFICATION OF SOME INTERVENTION PROGRAMS. NEXT SLIDE.WHILE SPECIFIC MARKETING AND RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES ARE NOT INCLUDED, IT'S NOTED THAT THE ORGANIZATION PLANS TO HIRE A THIRD PARTY LINCOLN BERETTA TO PROVIDE SERVICES IN THIS AREA.
A CODE OF CONDUCT AND COMMUNICATION PLAN ARE MENTIONED.
HOWEVER, THE OPPORTUNITY WAS MISSED TO PROVIDE DETAILS ON THE CONTENT, CONTENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE PLANS.
A PLAN FOR STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN STATE ASSESSMENTS AND OR OTHER STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENTS WAS NOT INCLUDED.
SIMILAR TO SECTION B, THE BCPS REVIEWERS FOR SECTION C NOTED AN OVERALL LACK OF DETAILS IN THE APPLICATION FOR THIS SECTION, THE SECTION WAS MISSING DETAILS RELATED TO, UH, JOBS AND PROPOSED EVALUATION FRAMEWORKS, THE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES AND PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES IN THE APPLICATION.
AND IN THE INTERVIEW PUZZLE PIECES, LEARNING ACADEMY INDICATED A ROBUST PLAN TO ENGAGE WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS TO SUPPORT STUDENTS AT THE SCHOOL.
THE FINAL SELECTION OF FINAL SECTION OF THE APPLICATION REVIEW IS THE BUSINESS PLAN BUDGET CURRENTS.
BUDGET CONCERNS ARE PRIMARILY RELATED TO THE FUNDING OF STAFF POSITIONS AND AN UNIDENTIFIED FACILITY.
ONE EXAMPLE OF THE CONCERNS WITH THE, UH, STAFF POSITION FUNDING.
THE FRINGE BENEFITS ARE, WERE SEEMINGLY TOO LOW FOR THE SALARY TOTALS INDICATED.
ADDITIONALLY, MORE DETAILS ARE NEEDED WITH REGARDS TO, UH, RENT ALLOCATION.
UM, AND IF THAT WOULD BE REALISTIC BASED ON THE FACILITY.
UM, AN OPPORTUNITY WAS MISSED TO DESCRIBE THE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES AND IDENTIFY A FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
THE APPLICATION DID STATE THAT PUZZLE PIECES LEARNING ACA LEARNING ACADEMY PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE FEDERAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM AND ADAPT TO THE BCPS MODEL.
IN YEAR FIVE, THERE WAS CONCERNS BY THE BCPS REVIEWERS WITH REGARDS TO THE FEASIBILITY OF TRANSITIONING FROM A SELF-SUSTAINED, UM, FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM, SELF-OPERATED SYSTEM TO THE BCPS, UH, SYSTEM, AND ENSURING COMPLIANCE WITH, UH, REFRIGERATION AND REQUIRED, UH, EQUIPMENT.
I WILL NOW TURN IT OVER TO MS. KIRK TO DISCUSS THE INTERVIEW PHASE PUZZLE PIECES.
LEARNING ACADEMY PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL WAS PROVIDED THE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS THREE DAYS PRIOR TO THE INTERVIEW.
THE ORDER OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS WAS ADJUSTED BASED ON THE REQUEST FROM THE FOUNDER VIA EMAIL PRIOR TO THE MEETING.
OVERALL INTERVIEW RESPONSES LEFT FOR INTERVIEWERS WITH OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS RELATED TO THE QUALITIES NEEDED TO CREATE, IMPLEMENT, AND SUSTAIN SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL.
EXAMPLES ARE PROVIDED IN THE REPORT.
IT WAS NOTED THAT THE MATH CURRICULUM WAS NEITHER MENTIONED NOR DISCUSSED IN THE APPLICATION OR THE INTERVIEW.
MORE DETAIL WAS PROVIDED IN THE REPORT.
DURING THE INTERVIEW, IT WAS NOTED THAT THE ORGANIZATION WAS NO LONGER PURSUING THE FACILITY DESCRIBED IN THE APPLICATION AND HAD YET TO SECURE A FACILITY.
I WILL TURN THE PRESENTATION OVER TO OUR CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER, DR.
DATO AND SUPERINTENDENT DR. ROGERS TO DISCUSS THE RECOMMENDATION.
SO, THE RECOMMENDATION FROM THE BCPS, UH, CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE, UM, IS AT PUZZLE PIECES LEARNING ACADEMY.
PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL WAS NOT RECOMMENDED TO A, UH, FOR APPROVAL TO PURSUE A CONTRACT IN BCPS BECAUSE OF THE FOLLOWING REASONS.
THE DETAILS NEEDED TO SUPPORT A STRONG PLAN FOR CREATING, IMPLEMENTING, AND SUSTAINING A SCHOOL WERE NOT INCLUDED.
THE MATH CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION LACKED PRESENCE WITHIN THE CHARTER SCHOOL APPLICATION, UM, WHICH IS MISALIGNED WITH BCPS CURRENT PRIORITY AREAS.
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTIONAL DESCRIPTIONS WERE SHORT OF, UH, REALLY DESCRIBING A ROBUST INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS IN GA IN GRADES K THROUGH FIVE.
SO, BOARD MEMBERS AT THE REQUEST OF PUZZLE PIECES, LEARNING ACADEMY MEMBERS FROM THE ORGANIZATION WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS THE BOARD FOR 15 MINUTES, GIVEN THE RECOMMENDATION.
SO, MS. SHIELD, THE FOUNDER, CEO, AND PRESIDENT DR.
LESLIE BOVE, FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER, MS. S COOK, FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER, AND MR. LE ROY SMITH, ADMINISTRATIVE AND PLANNING COMMITTEE MEMBER, UH, MAY COME UP.
WE ARE HERE TODAY BECAUSE WE UNDERSTAND
[02:00:01]
THAT WE HAD SOME INACCURACIES WITH THE, WITH THE APPLICATION PROCESS.JUST TO GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF FEEDBACK AND BACKGROUND.
OUR BOARD IS COMPRISED OF OVER 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE IN PUBLIC EDUCATION AND PRIVATE SECTOR.
WE TOO UNDERSTAND THAT IN COMING FROM DC PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND DC CHARTER SCHOOLS, YOUR PROCESS IS DIFFERENT.
SO THERE WERE SOME THINGS THAT JUST WERE JUST MISALIGNED AS PART OF THE PROCESS.
SO SOME OF THE INACCURACIES WERE JUST NOT EITHER RECORDED OR NOT EVEN POINTED OUT AS JUST, WE ARE HERE BECAUSE WE FOLLOW AND WANT TO FOLLOW THE MSD COMMUNITY SCHOOL'S MODEL.
WE, WE SUPPORT WHATEVER COMMUNITY AROUND IT.
OUR VALUES ARE CENTERED AROUND PROJECT BASED LEARNING.
WE ARE ALSO CENTERED AROUND SEL CURRICULUM, AND WE ALSO ARE CENTERED AROUND, UM, PROJECT BASED LEARNING.
I'LL LET MY BOARD MEMBERS, UM, COMPRISE AND ACTUALLY SPEAK TO SOME OF THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS.
SO WE'LL START OFF, UM, ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WAS MADE BY BALTIMORE COUNTY SCHOOLS WAS AROUND THE ELA CURRICULUM, IN WHICH WE SAID, IN THE, I BELIEVE THE CAPACITY INTERVIEW THAT WE WERE LOOKING AT FOUNDATIONS AND THE WILSON READING PROGRAM, WHICH ARE EVIDENCE-BASED PROGRAMS, UM, THROUGH IES WHAT WORKS CLEARINGHOUSE.
UM, WE ALSO MENTIONED EUREKA MATH SQUARED, WHICH WAS ALSO A MATH CURRICULUM THAT IS AN EVIDENCE-BASED PROGRAM THROUGH ED REPORTS.
UM, THESE PARTICULAR CURRICULAR, UM, COMPONENTS OF OUR, UM, SCHOOL WILL COMPRISE OF.
AND SPECIFICALLY FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE WILSON READING PROGRAM, IT'S BEEN A PROGRAM THAT'S BEEN USED FOR DECADES, NOT ONLY HERE IN MARYLAND, BUT IN BALTIMORE COUNTY SCHOOLS.
UM, THIS PROGRAM IS A MULTISENSORY APPROACH FOR LEARNERS WHO STRUGGLE WITH READING.
UM, IT INCLUDES, UH, TAPPING OUT AND PHONE NAME SEGMENTATION.
IT ALSO INCLUDES, INCLUDES COMPREHENSION COMPONENTS TO SUPPORT STUDENTS WITH COMPREHENSION.
THE EUREKA MATH PROGRAM, UM, CURRICULUM INCLUDES A FOCUS ON CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT, MATHEMATICALLY FLUENCY PRACTICE AND PROBLEM SOLVING THAT WILL INCREASE STUDENTS', UH, MATHEMATICAL PROFICIENCY.
IT HAS BEEN A, A PROGRAM THAT HAS BEEN USED BEFORE IN A NEIGHBORING COUNTY BAL, UM, BALTIMORE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
THEY USE EUREKA MATH AND ENGAGED NEW YORK, WHICH WERE ALIGNED TO THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS AND TRANSITION THEM TO THE MARYLAND COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS STANDARDS.
UM, ADDITIONALLY, WE WANTED TO FOCUS ON THE FACT THAT THE WILSON READING PROGRAM ALSO HAS A TIER ONE, TIER TWO, AND TIER THREE COMPONENT FOR ALL LEARNERS.
SO THAT INCLUDES SMALL GROUP INSTRUCTION AND ONE-ON-ONE INSTRUCTION FOR OUR, UM, MOST DESERVING LEARNERS WHO ARE STRUGGLING WITH READING.
I'M GONNA SPEAK TO THE CONCERNS AROUND SUPPORTING THE ESOL POPULATION OR EMERGING MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES.
BUT WE UNDERSTAND THAT, UM, EL STUDENTS REPRESENT 16% OF K FIVE STUDENTS IN BALTIMORE COUNTY.
WE'RE GONNA, WE PLAN TO FOLLOW MSDE REQUIREMENTS AND REGULATIONS REGARDING IDENTIFYING STUDENTS TO PLACE THEM IN ELD PROGRAMS. SO THAT BEGINS WITH, UM, WHETHER STUDENTS AND FAMILIES ANSWER TWO OR MORE QUESTIONS ON THE HOME LANGUAGE SURVEY, UM, SAYING THAT THEY SPEAK A LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH AT HOME, BASED ON THE ANSWER TO THOSE, TO THAT SURVEY.
UH, ADMINISTERING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY TEST AND PROVIDING THE WIDA OR ALTERNATIVE ACCESS KWE KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS.
WIDA TESTING IS IN ALIGNMENT WITH BALTIMORE COUNTY, AS WELL AS THE ACCESS FOR ELS ELL TESTING.
WE'LL TRACK DATA TO COMMUNICATE WITH FAMILY, TEACHERS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS FOR ACADEMIC, FOR ACADEMIC SUPPORT, WE'LL BE EMPLOYING ESOL TEACHERS FROM THE SCHOOL AND ALSO OFFERING OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR TEACHERS TO OBTAIN THE MARYLAND BILINGUAL CERTIFICATION.
ALL OF OUR TEACHERS ARE GOING TO BE TRAINED TO UTILIZE CAN-DO INDICATORS FROM THE WIDA FRAMEWORK BASED ON EACH STUDENT'S TEST SCORES AND LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING, AND WRITING, WE'LL BE PROVIDING A LANGUAGE LINE FOR INTERPRETIVE SERVICES.
AND IMPORTANTLY, ENSURING THAT ALL CHILDREN, ESPECIALLY OUR EL CHILDREN, UH, RECEIVE THE GT TEST IN GRADE THREE, AND THAT WE ARE ABLE TO IDENTIFY ANY POTENTIAL SPECIAL EDU UH, EDUCATION DESIGNATION FOR EL STUDENTS.
BECAUSE IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND, EL STUDENTS ARE JUST AS LIKELY TO BE STUDENTS WITH THIS AS A NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING POPULATION, OR, SORRY, THE ENGLISH ONLY SPEAKING POPULATION, EXCUSE ME.
WE WILL HIRE AND, UM, TRAIN STAFF AND BEST PRACTICES FOR EMERGING MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS.
SINCE EL STUDENTS TEST SCORES ON GRADE THREE THROUGH EIGHT, STATE ASSESSMENTS ARE NEARLY FOUR TIMES LOWER THAN THEIR HERITAGE ENGLISH AND RECLASSIFIED EL PEERS.
[02:05:01]
PD TO SUPPORT STUDENTS IN THESE SUBJECT AREAS, WHICH ARE ELA AND MATH.AT PUZZLE PIECES LEARNING ACADEMY, WE'LL UTILIZE A SOCIO-CULTURAL PARTICIPATION PERSPECTIVE OF OUR EMERGING MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS.
THIS MEANS WE BELIEVE STUDENTS BRING COMPETENCIES AND USE THEIR RESOURCES IN LEARNING.
TEACHERS WILL SHOULD FOCUS ON UNCOVERING AND RE SUPPORTING THE RESOURCES.
THIS PERSPECTIVE BUILDS ON AND ACKNOWLEDGES EXPERIENCES AND COMPETENCIES OF BOTH MULTILINGUAL AND MONOLINGUAL STUDENTS.
WE UNDERSTAND, WE KNOW THAT WE NEED TO SUPPORT OUR EMERGING MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS IN CLASS DISCUSSIONS AND USING MULTIPLE MODALITIES OF LEARNING.
RATHER THAN JUST FOCUSING ON PRONUNCIATION, VOCABULARY, OR LOWER LEVEL LINGUISTIC SKILLS.
WE'RE GONNA UTILIZE INSTRUCTIONAL CONTEXT THAT IS LANGUAGE RICH AND REQUIRES BOTH RECEPTIVE AND EXPRESSIVE, EXPRESSIVE UNDERSTANDING, AND ALLOWS SPACE FOR STUDENTS TO USE WORDS IN MULTIPLE WAYS.
WE BELIEVE THAT OUR CURRICULUM CHOICES REFLECT THIS.
FOR EXAMPLE, UM, I WANNA REITERATE THE CURRICULUMS THAT MY COLLEAGUE, UM, STATED EARLIER.
THESE CURRICULUMS EMPHASIZE MULTIPLE WAYS OF KNOWING AND LEARNING GROUP WORK, MULTIPLE MODELS, LIKE PARTICULARLY WITH MATHEMATICS.
THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT, MULTIPLE MODELS OF MATHEMATICAL UNDERSTANDING AND ACTIVE LEARNING.
WE ALSO PLAN TO IMPLEMENT THE MSDE WORK GROUP, THE EL WORK GROUP.
RECOMMENDATION NUMBER THREE, WHICH ARE THE SEVEN SEVEN, SORRY, THREE B, WHICH ARE THE SEVEN HIGH LEVERAGE LITERACY PR STRATEGIES FOR EL STUDENTS IN OUR SCHOOL.
THIS INCLUDES INCORPORATING THE SCIENCE OF READING STRATEGIES AND ALSO INNOVATIVE SCHOOL MODELS IN OUR SCHOOL'S.
A PROJECT BASED LEARNING MODEL, WHICH IS AN INNOVATIVE SCHOOL MODEL.
SO TO ADD TO THIS, WE HAVE ALREADY IDENTIFIED A BUILDING.
IT'S LOCATED AT 44 16 WILKINS AVENUE.
WE'VE SUPPLIED THE DOCUMENTATION AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS, WHICH WERE SUBMITTED TODAY.
UM, PRIOR TO THE BOARD MEETING AS WELL.
WE ALSO DID ALSO TO PROVIDE THE BOARD WITH SAMPLES OF OUR LESSONS AND CURRICULUM.
WE ALSO DID ANSWER TO ALL THE INACCURACIES THAT DR.
EOR IDENTIFIED IN HIS NINE PAGE REPORT.
IN SAYING THIS, WE REALIZED THAT SOME OF THE ANSWERS WERE INSUFFICIENT, BUT WE HAD THE PAGE, EXCUSE ME.
WE HAD A PAGE LIMIT THAT COULD NOT FULFILL OUR COMPLETE DETAIL OF THE REQUIREMENT OF THE BCPS REQUIREMENTS.
WE ADMIT TO THAT OUR CURRICULUM WASN'T GREAT, BUT WE ARE WILLING TO TAKE CONSTRUCTIVE CRI CRITICISM AND WORK COLLABORATIVELY WITH, EXCUSE ME, WITH, UM, THE SCHOOL SYSTEM AND THE BOARD TO RESOLVE THE DEFICIENCIES.
WE REQUEST AN OPPORTUNITY TO CURB THESE DEFICIENCIES PRIOR TO THE BOARD'S FINAL DECISION.
ACCORDING TO MS. D'S DECISION OF THE DAVINCI COLLABORATIVE VERSUS BALTIMORE CITY SCHOOL BOARD COMMISSIONERS, THE SCHOOL BOARD IS REQUIRED TO ENGAGE IN A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS IN ADDITION TO SUBMITTING FOLLOW UP RESPONSES, AS WE HAVE ALREADY DONE FOR IN THE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS, THESE RESPONSES AND THE APPLICANT TO DEMONSTRATE THAT IS, EXCUSE ME, CAPABLE OF FIXING THE DEFICIENCIES.
THE APPLICANT MUST BE PROVIDED WITH TIME TO ADDRESS THE CONCERNS RAISED IN THE RECOMMENDATION.
IF THE APPLICANT HAD NOT BEEN PROVIDED AN OPPORTUNITY TO CURE THE PROBLEMS, THE LOCAL BOARD SHOULD DIRECT THAT SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY BE PROVIDED.
BRAVEL, CAN YOU SPEAK TO OUR ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE? MM-HMM.
SO WE HAVE TAKEN THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WERE PRESENTED TO US, ESPECIALLY THE SECTIONS OF THE GOVERNANCE THAT DID NOT MEET REQUIREMENTS.
AND WE WOULD LIKE TO RESUBMIT WITH DETAILED JOB DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL OF THE, UM, MEMBERS OF OUR STAFF ROSTER.
UM, WE ALSO WOULD LIKE TO SUBMIT AN ORGANIZATIONAL CHART THAT DEPICTS A REAL DETAILED AND OUTLINED STRUCTURE OF EACH ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITY WITHIN OUR ORGANIZATION.
ADDITIONALLY, WE HAVE ROBUST IN DETAIL PLANS FOR FACILITIES MANAGEMENT, FINANCIAL OPERATIONS, HUMAN RESOURCES.
WE HAVE FLUSHED OUT OUR PPLA STAFF EVALUATION FRAMEWORK IN ALIGNMENT WITH BCPS STANDARDS AND MSDE USING THE CASTLE MODEL.
WE HAVE GONE INTO DETAIL, AND WE DID GO INTO DETAIL IN OUR INTERVIEW WITH, UM, UH, THE INTERVIEWER FOR BEFORE, FOR THE, UM, WHEN WE INITIALLY MET WITH THE BOARD, UM, I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT IT'S CALLED, BUT WE WENT THROUGH WHAT OUR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND WHAT OUR PLC PROFESSIONAL LEARNING, UM, COLLABORATIVE NETWORKS LOOK LIKE.
AND SO WE PROPOSE OUR PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES TO, IN THAT FORUM.
[02:10:01]
WE ALSO HAVE PRESENTED AND WE RESTRUCTURED A PLAN THAT WILL BETTER OUTLINE THE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING, UM, COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE BOARD, AS WELL AS ADDRESSING WHAT SUPPORT FOR OUR TEACHERS AS WELL AS TEACHER RETENTION WILL LOOK LIKE OVERALL FROM OUR RECRUITMENT AND OUR RETENTION PLAN THAT WE'VE ALSO, UM, DEVELOPED.WE ALSO HAVE, UH, TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE HAS THE, UM, TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITIES THAT'S NEEDED TO EITHER NAVIGATE THE SCHOOL DAY OR STUDENTS TO ACCESS, UM, INFORMATION AS REQUIRED, UH, DURING THE SCHOOL DAY.
UM, SO OVERALL WE WOULD LIKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO RECTIFY WHAT WAS MISSING, UM, BECAUSE WE HAVE DONE THE DUE DILIGENCE TO GO BACK AND NOW MAKE THOSE CORRECTIONS OR ADD TO WHAT THE PLANS THAT WERE ALREADY ESTABLISHED.
AND WE JUST WANNA SAY IN CONCLUSION THAT, YOU KNOW, COMING INTO A SYSTEM, YOU KNOW, WHERE, UH, WE COME FROM, WHERE IT'S VERY STRUCTURED.
WE'RE USED TO THINGS BEING RECORDED.
WE'RE USED TO THINGS BEING TR BEING DOCUMENTED, AND THINGS BEING ALIGNED.
AND SO WE ARE TRYING TO BE FLEXIBLE IN THE SENSE OF THAT UNDERSTANDING THAT WE DON'T, WE'RE NOT IN DC WE'RE DC OPERATES TOTALLY DIFFERENTLY.
AND SO WE WANT TO EMPLOY THAT.
WE ARE WILLING TO COLLABORATE AND TO GET TO, UM, CURE A LOT OF THESE DEFICIENCIES THAT, YOU KNOW, THE BCPS, DR.
IMORPH AND K EY CAKE, UM, ACTUALLY IDENTIFIED, YOU KNOW, IN THEIR REPORT.
WE JUST NEED THE OPPORTUNITY AND THE TIME AND ACTUALLY BE RECORDED FOR US TO KNOW THAT HOW CAN WE CORRECT THINGS IF IT'S NOT MEASURABLE OR IF IT'S NOT IDENTIFIED FOR US.
THAT'S THE GROWTH THAT WE ACTUALLY TEACH OUR STUDENTS.
IF IT'S NOT OUTLINED FOR US, YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WE DID WRONG.
HOW CAN WE EVER MAKE CHANGE? AND SO THAT'S THE AREA AND OPPORTUNITY THAT WE FEEL THAT IT LACKED.
AND SO WHEN WE ASKED FOR ADDITIONAL, YOU KNOW, WE WEREN'T BEING COMBATIVE.
WE WEREN'T TRYING TO BE DIFFICULT.
WHEN WE ASKED FOR ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION OF THE AUDIO, AND WE ASKED FOR ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION OF THE TRANSCRIPT, IT WAS NOT TO BE COMBATIVE OR TO BE CHALLENGING TO THE SCHOOL BOARD OR TO, YOU KNOW, BCPS.
IT WAS JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ALIGNED OUR RESPONSES TO WHAT WE ACTUALLY WAS THAT WAS ACTUALLY WRITTEN.
AND SO WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO CORRECT THOSE THINGS.
AND SO THOSE ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE ACTUALLY WANTED.
YOU KNOW, WE, YOU KNOW, PUZZLE PIECES.
I, I GRADUATED FROM MILL FOR MILL, UH, HIGH SCHOOL.
I AM A FAN OF BALTIMORE COUNTY SCHOOLS.
AND SO THIS, WE, WE ARE, THIS ISN'T A FLY BY NIGHT SITUATION FOR US.
WE ARE VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THE COMMUNITY.
WE ALL STILL VOLUNTEER IN OUR COMMUNITY.
WE STILL WORK IN THE SCHOOLS, WE WORK ON THE GROUND FLOOR.
AND I, WE FEEL THAT IN MORE IN WHO BETTER TO OPERATE AND OWN THE SCHOOL THAN PEOPLE WHO HAVE DONE THE GROUNDWORK.
SO IN SAYING THAT, THAT'S OUR SPIEL.
DOES ANYBODY WANNA GIVE ANY FINAL THOUGHTS FROM OUR BOARD? WE JUST WANT TO THANK YOU FOR HEARING US OUT YES.
UM, I ALSO WANTED TO SAY THIS AS, UM, A MEMBER IN THE COMMUNITY, UM, THAT SEVERAL OF OUR STUDENTS AFTER THE COVID TO 19 PANDEMIC WERE IDENTIFIED WITH SEVERAL BEHAVIORAL CHALLENGES THAT WE ARE SEEING IN OUR SCHOOLS EVERY DAY.
AND WE HAVE SEVERAL MEMBERS ON THIS BOARD THAT HAVE EXPERTISE IN SUPPORTING STUDENTS WHO HAVE THESE SIGNIFICANT BEHAVIORS.
UM, WE HAVE NOTICED THAT EVEN IN THE BCPS DATA, THAT THERE HAVE BEEN AN INCREASE IN SPECIFIC BEHAVIORS ACROSS THE DISTRICT.
AND WITH OUR PROGRAMMING, WE CAN BE ABLE TO SUPPORT THOSE STUDENTS WITH OUR WRAPAROUND MODEL.
UM, AND I JUST WANNA COMMEND EVERYONE IN THIS PROCESS, THE BCPS TEAM FOR EVALUATING THE APPLICATION AND OUR BOARD HERE FOR COMING TO YOU ALL.
BECAUSE WE TRULY CARE ABOUT OUR CHILDREN, BECAUSE WHO ELSE FOR OUR CHILDREN BUT US MM-HMM.
SO WE WANT TO THANK YOU AND I WANNA THANK MY SISTER HERE, AND I WANNA THANK OUR LEADER HERE BECAUSE THIS IS A CHALLENGING TIME THAT WE'RE IN FOR OUR STUDENTS WHO ARE EXPERIENCING TRAUMA AND EXPERIENCING BEHAVIORAL CHALLENGES.
AND WE'RE HERE TO, WE'RE HERE AND WE'RE EQUIPPED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT WHEN I, I LISTEN DR.
AT THIS TIME, I'LL OPEN IT UP TO THE BOARD FOR ANY QUESTIONS, UM, TO EITHER THE PUZZLE PIECES, LEARNING ACADEMY, UH, DR.
SO WE HAVE ONE CHANCE TO GET IT RIGHT FOR OUR STUDENTS.
AND SO WHEN WE LOOK AT THESE CHARTER
[02:15:01]
APPLICATIONS, WE ARE LOOKING AT, ARE YOU TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THAT ONE CHANCE TO GET IT RIGHT? AND SO THAT IS WHERE MY CONCERN IS, IS THAT THERE WAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SUBMIT ALL THIS INFORMATION INITIALLY.AND IT WASN'T UNTIL YOU GOT BACK THE DOES NOT MEET STANDARD DOES NOT MEET REQUIREMENT THAT NOW ALL THIS INFORMATION IS COMING UP.
SO COULD YOU JUST CLARIFY AS TO WHAT HA WHAT IS THAT DISCONNECT? BECAUSE WE DON'T, IF, IF PRACTICE DICTATES PERFORMANCE, WE CAN'T HAVE THIS TRANSLATE TO OUR STUDENTS.
SO THE DISCONNECT CAME INTO ONE.
WHEN WE STARTED THIS PROCESS, WE, THERE WAS THE 150 PAGE LIMIT.
AND SO THAT'S ONE PIECE TO IT, BECAUSE IN OUR UNDERSTANDING, IF IT'S 150 PAGE LIMIT, AND I'M ALREADY AT 237 PAGES, I DON'T KNOW, BECAUSE I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH THIS PROCESS, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S EVEN GONNA BE LOOKED AT BECAUSE I'M ALREADY OVER THE LIMIT.
AND SO WE HAD THESE THINGS OR WHATEVER, WE HAD THESE MATERIALS ALREADY CREATED, ALREADY DEVELOPED FOR OUR STUDENTS.
AND SO WE JUST DIDN'T SUPPLY THEM JUST BECAUSE WE WANTED TO FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES IN YOUR POLICY AND PROCEDURES.
DID ANYBODY WANNA ADD ADDITIONALLY? I THINK, UM, SOME OF THE QUESTIONING AROUND THE THIRD PARTY, UM, TOOL TO EVALUATE, UM, CURRICULAR RESOURCES WAS A LITTLE BIT AMBIGUOUS.
WE WERE TRYING, WE HAD ASKED A QUESTION ABOUT THAT EARLY IN THE PROCESS BEFORE THE APPLICATION WAS EV EVEN SUBMITTED.
SO WE CAN HAVE FULL CLARITY ABOUT WHAT THAT REALLY MEANT FOR US IN THE APPLICATION PROCESS.
IT WASN'T UNTIL WE HAD THE INTERVIEW THAT WE WERE ABLE TO EXPLAIN THAT WE DID LOOK AT THOSE THINGS AFTER WE RECEIVED INFORMATION AND FEEDBACK AFTER THE APPLICATION WAS SUBMITTED.
UM, SO PART OF THIS, UM, THE, THE DISCONNECT WAS THAT WE WANTED MORE CLARITY UPFRONT.
AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT, UM, MR. CILA IS SAYING IS THAT IT WAS HARD FOR US TO PINPOINT SOME OF THOSE THINGS IN THAT APPLICATION.
UM, WHEN SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAD ASKED FOR UPFRONT WERE JUST NOT FULLY CLEAR TO US TO FULLY ANSWER.
UM, SO WE TRIED TO ANSWER BASED UPON WHAT WAS GIVEN TO US UPFRONT, AND WE ALSO ADJUSTED AND MANEUVER BACK TO WHAT WE WERE RECOMMENDED TO ANSWER FOR.
AND SO I THINK THAT WAS PROBABLY THE, THE BIGGEST DISCONNECT IS THAT WE WERE RECEIVING DIFFERENT BITS OF INFORMATION ALONG THE WAY, AND WE WERE TRYING TO RESPOND TO THOSE BITS OF INFORMATION AS YOU WERE RECEIVING THE FEEDBACK.
AND EVEN THOUGH SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS WERE ASKED UP FRONT BEFORE THE APPLICATION WAS, WAS SUBMITTED, WE DID NOT GET ENOUGH INFORMATION TO ADEQUATELY ADJUST THE APPLICATION TO HAVE ALL THOSE THINGS THAT WERE REQUIRED INITIALLY.
AND SO, ANY QUESTIONS FOR THE, FOR MS? UM, FOR OUR BOARD OF OUR BCPS CENTRAL OFFICE STAFF.
FROM, FROM US OR FROM NO, FROM, I'M SORRY.
AND YOU TOUCHED ON THIS, BUT I'D LIKE TO GET A BETTER, UM, SENSE OF WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE APPLICATION PROCESS.
YOU MENTIONED MSDE REQUIRES THIS TO BE A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS.
WHAT DID THAT LOOK LIKE, AS YOU WERE ENCOUNTERING THESE QUESTIONS, DIFFICULTIES SOUNDS VERY FRUSTRATING.
SO I APPRECIATE YOUR PERSEVERANCE GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS.
BUT THAT'S AT BEST THAT WE WOULD SAY THAT ASSISTANCE LEND TO.
UM, AFTER THAT WE REALLY HAD TO LIKE, FIND OUT THINGS ON OUR OWN.
AND SO WE HAD TO REALLY LEARN A LOT OF THINGS ON OUR OWN.
AND SO THAT TOOK US ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, BUILDING A LOT OF THE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS AND COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NETWORKS THAT ACTUALLY HAVE EITHER BEEN THROUGH THE PROCESS OR FAMILIAR WITH THE PROCESS OR KNOW THE PROCESS.
AND SO THAT'S PART OF WHERE THE FRUSTRATION, OR I THINK SOME OF THE DISCONNECT LIED, IS THAT BECAUSE OF IT NOT BEING VERY STREAMLINED FOR US AND WE'RE USED TO IT BEING VERY ROTE PROCESS, THAT IT JUST WAS, IT WAS, IT WAS A LOT OF, LIKE MR. SMITH STATED, IT WAS A LOT OF BACK AND FORTH IN UNDERSTANDING IT BECAUSE THE CONFUSION CAME INTO FOR US IS THAT HOW CAN ONE PASS OR GET APPROVED FOR A TECHNICAL REVIEW AND THEN GO THROUGH THE INTERVIEW PROCESS AND THEN GET A REPORT WITH ALL THESE INEFFICIENCIES.
[02:20:01]
I WOULD THINK THAT IF I, IF WE HAD ALL THESE INEFFICIENCIES, RIGHT, AND WE HAD ALL THESE ISSUES, THEN WHY WASN'T IT BROUGHT UP AT THE TIME OF THE INTERVIEW? MM-HMM.WHEN YOU DID REACH OUT, DID THAT, DID ONE OF THE GROUPS YOU REACHED OUT TO INCLUDE WATERSHED, GIVEN THAT THEY'VE BEEN THROUGH THIS PROCESS? YES, WE, AND WERE SUCCESSFUL ACTUALLY DID, WE ACTUALLY DID REACH OUT TO WATERSHED.
UM, JESSIE WAS VERY WELCOMING FOR ME.
SHE GAVE ME, I MET WITH HER ONE TIME AND SO SHE DID GIMME SOME FEEDBACK AND SOME GUIDANCE WITH SOME THINGS, BUT HER TIME IS ACTUALLY LIMITED TOO, BECAUSE SHE ACTUALLY IS RUNNING A SCHOOL AS WELL.
UM, BUT SHE DID PROVIDE SOME, SOME LEVEL OF, OF FEEDBACK.
WE ALSO DID TOO, UM, GET THE SUPPORT OF, UM, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO MENTION OF WATERSHED SHADE.
SHE DID, UM, PROVIDE SOME LEVEL OF SUPPORT FOR US THIS EVENING AS WELL.
SO, UM, AT THIS TIME, ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS, WE WILL, UM, WE'LL TAKE THROUGH, UH, WE'LL HAVE A WRITTEN RESPONSE, SO WE WILL, UM, TAKE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS WRITTEN.
UM, AND THAT'S, THIS GOES FOR BOTH, UH, THIS FOR PUZZLE PIECES AND FOR, UM, FOR THE BILINGUAL GLOBAL CITIZENS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL.
THE BOARD IS SCHEDULED TO VOTE ON THE TWO CHARTER SCHOOLS APPLICATIONS AT THEIR APRIL 16TH, 2024 BOARD MEETING.
UM, WE'RE ASKING THAT BOARD MEMBERS DO NOT INDIVIDUALLY CONTACT, UH, ANY LEADERSHIP OF THE CHARTER SCHOOLS.
YOU COULD SUBMIT THE QUESTIONS THROUGH, UM, TO THE BOARD AND WE WILL ENSURE THAT THEY WILL, UM, THAT YOU WILL RECEIVE A RESPONSE.
AND SO, UM, THIS WILL BE, WE WILL BRING THIS UP AT OUR APRIL 16TH, 2024 BOARD MEETING.
SO HOW IS IT SAID, RIGHT? ANY MORE QUESTIONS? AND THEN WHO ARE WE ACTUALLY SUBMITTING THE QUESTIONS TO? DR.
[L. INFORMATION (8:45 p.m.)]
NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS INFORMATION.THE FIRST ITEM IS THE FY 24 GENERAL FUND REPORT ON REVENUES, EXPENDITURES, AND ENCUMBRANCES BUDGET AND ACTUAL FOR THE PERIOD ENDING JANUARY 20, 24.
THE NEXT ITEM IS THE MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 22ND, 2024 SOUTHEAST AREA EDUCATION ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING.
AND THE LAST ITEM IS AN UPDATE ON KEY SCHOOL LEGISLATION THAT THAT HAS BEEN INTRODUCED AND PRESENTED DURING THE SESSION.
ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE INFORMATION ITEMS? UH, MS. DOKI? UH, YES, I HAVE, UH, QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FINANCIAL REPORT.
SO I WAS LOOKING AT THE, UM, FOR THE FIXED CHARGES, I THINK IT WAS FIXED CHARGES, UM, THE HEALTH SERVICES, NON-SALARY, WE WERE OVER, WE'RE OVER BUDGET BY LIKE 430% RIGHT NOW.
WHAT, WHAT IS THE REASONING? WHAT IS THERE LIKE A MAIN REASON BEHIND THAT? UM, I DON'T, AND SO, SO YOU SAID IT, IT'S IN THE HEALTH SERVICES AREA.
ACTUALLY, I ACTUALLY, ACTUALLY HAVE THE REPORT IN FRONT OF ME.
YEAH, THAT, WELL, I COULD HAVE BROKE THE COMPUTER.
UM, YEAH, IT'S FOR CONTRACTED, UH, SERVICES FOR, FOR, UH, THE UNDER HEALTH SERVICES.
THIS WOULD BE CONTRACTED NURSING SERVICES, UM, UH, THAT HAVE EXCEEDED, UM, HA HAVE EXCEEDED THE, UM, THE BUDGET, BUT PROBABLY OFFSET OR IS OFFSET BY, UH, OF, OF, OF UNDER BUDGET IN SALARIES.
SO, AND IT, ON A PERCENTAGE BASIS, IT'S A VERY HIGH AMOUNT, BUT THE BUDGET IS SMALL, SO THAT'S WHY IT LOOKS, IT LOOKS LARGE.
BUT, UM, OVERALL IN THE CATEGORY WE ARE, UM, MORE THAN HALF OF THE WAY THROUGH THE YEAR.
UM, AND WE'RE STILL OVER OVERALL 53% SPENT.
SO WE'RE PRETTY MUCH IN LINE WITH WHERE WE SHOULD BE.
SO THIS IS FOR NURSES, LIKE YES.
THAT'S HOW, THAT'S THE HEALTH SERVICES AREA IS, UM, UH, IN, IN EFFECT IS, IS IS NURSES AND ANYTHING THAT GOES TOWARDS, UM, THE THE HEALTH OF OUR STUDENTS, THE HEALTH OF OUR, SO IT WOULD COULD, IT COULD BE LIKE PSYCHOLOGISTS OR NO, PSYCHOLOGISTS ARE NOT IN OR NOT IN HEALTH SERVICES.
UH, THEY'RE IN, UM, THEY'RE IN STUDENT, UH, STUDENT PERSONNEL SERVICES.
SO THIS IS JUST, THAT'S, IT'S PREDOMINANTLY CONTRACTED NURSES.
[02:25:01]
PREDOMINANTLY WITHOUT DRILLING, DRILLING INTO THE DETAIL.IT'S, UM, I, I, I, I CAN'T SAY EVERY PENNY OF IT, BUT THE, IT'S PREDOMINANTLY CONTRACTED SERVICES FOR NURSES.
BECAUSE, I MEAN, IT IS RELATIVELY SMALL, BUT IT'S $1.3 MILLION OVER WHAT WE BUDGETED FOR.
JUST KIND OF WAS A, A LITTLE ALARMING.
AND WE ARE BRINGING THE BAT IN IN APRIL, SO THAT, THAT WOULD GET CORRECTED IN THE BAT.
UM, AND THEN MY OTHER QUESTION WAS, OH, WHERE'D IT GO? YOU NEED THIS BACK
IT'S NOT IN HERE, IT'S IN MY, MY NOTES.
UM, UNDER INSTRUCTIONAL COSTS, THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, INSTRUCTIONAL COSTS, UM, OKAY.
UH, NO, NOT OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL COSTS.
SO IT SAID THAT, UM, THE INCREASE IN BUDGET, SO THIS ONE WENT OVER A LITTLE BIT.
IT IS ALREADY OVER A LITTLE BECAUSE OF THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.
UM, WHAT WOULD, COULD YOU EXPLAIN THAT? UM, THAT IS, THAT'S NOT IN THERE HERE,
SO MS. DOKI, YOU'RE ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT PROGRAMS. SO WE COULD GET A, UM, SPECIFIC, WE COULD BUILD IT INTO THE AGENDA TO HAVE A, SOMETHING LIKE THIS, OR WE COULD SEND YOU, UM, INFORMATION ON IT.
UM, BECAUSE A LOT OF THAT, WHAT YOU'RE ASKING ABOUT NOW IS BLUEPRINT RELATED COSTS THAT HAVE TO BE SPENT.
UM, SO THAT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, AND SOME OF THIS COULD, IS JUST REALLY A, A SEARCH, UM, LOOKING THROUGH THE BUDGET, UM, WHERE YOU COULD SEE THAT THAT WORK, WHAT YOU'RE ASKING ABOUT IS FOR THE CAREER NAVIGATORS THAT ARE REQUIRED BY THE BLUEPRINT FOR MARYLAND.
I'M JUST ASKING QUESTIONS OF THE DOCUMENT THAT WAS PUT IN FRONT OF ME WITHOUT, THAT'S ALL.
I'LL, I'LL PUT IT ON THE NEXT BUDGET COMMITTEE.
[M. BOARD COMMITTEE UPDATES AND AGENDA SETTING (8:45 - 9:00 p.m.)]
ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS BOARD COMMITTEE UPDATES AND AGENDA SETTING.SO FOR AUDIT COMMITTEE MR. MCMILLIAN, UH, YES.
THE AUDIT COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION BALTIMORE COUNTY MET VIRTUALLY ON TUESDAY, MARCH 12TH, 2024.
THE SPECIAL EDUCATION DISPUTE RESOLUTION AUDIT RESULTS WERE PRESENTED.
ADDITIONALLY, MS. SHERRY AMOS FROM CLIFTON LARSON ALLEN PRESENTED THE FY 23 SINGLE AUDIT REPORT.
BOTH REPORTS ARE POSTED TO BOARD DOCS AND THE BCPS WEBSITE.
THE NEXT AUDIT COMMITTEE MEETING IS SCHEDULED TO BE HELD VIRTUALLY ON TUESDAY, APRIL 9TH, 2024, BEGINNING AT 4:30 PM PLEASE ALLOW ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A COMMENT THAT I THINK IS SO IMPORTANT THAT IT SHOULDN'T WAIT 28 DAYS.
I WANNA QUANTIFY WHAT I HAVE TO SAY BY THOSE PEOPLE THAT KNOW ME KNOW THAT I TAUGHT 35 YEARS IN BALTIMORE COUNTY PLUS AND BALTIMORE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
OUR SCHOOLS ARE FILLED WITH, WITH THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF REALLY, REALLY GOOD YOUNG PEOPLE THAT COME TO SCHOOL EVERY DAY AND DO THEIR JOB AND, AND, AND ARE PREPARED AND LISTEN TO DIRECTIVES BY, YOU KNOW, THE ADULTS GIVING THEM THE DIRECTIVES AND THEY DO THEIR JOBS.
I HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE TO VISIT KENWOOD ON FRIDAY.
I MET WITH MR. PAUL MARTIN, FORMER PRINCIPAL AND, AND CURRENT CONSULTANT AT KENWOOD.
IT WAS NOT A DOG AND PONY SHOW.
UH, WE WALKED AROUND THAT BUILDING INFORMALLY.
WE TALKED TO TEACHERS AND STUDENTS AND, AND NOT TEACHERS THAT WERE ALL, UH, READY FOR US.
WE WALKED INTO DIFFERENT AREAS.
WE TALKED TO TEACHERS, WE TALKED TO STUDENTS, WE TALKED TO SCHOOL SAFETY ASSISTANCE.
AND, AND THAT WAS A VERY PLEASANT EXPERIENCE FOR ME.
UH, I, AT NO POINT IN TIME DID I FEEL CONCERNED, THREAT, UH, UNSAFE.
WE WALKED AROUND THAT BUILDING DURING THE CHANGE OF CLASSES AND THERE WERE HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF KIDS IN THE BUILDING AND IN THOSE HALLWAYS WALKING BY MANEUVERING LOT.
AND WERE THEY TEENAGERS? YEAH, THEY WERE TEENAGERS BEING TEENAGERS.
AND THAT'S WHAT I LIKE ABOUT 'EM BECAUSE THEY HAVE AN ENERGY THAT NO OTHER AGE GROUP HAS.
AND SO I, THAT WAS A VERY POSITIVE EXPERIENCE FOR ME.
AND SO THOSE KIDS ALL, THEY'RE ALL THROUGHOUT OUR SCHOOL BUILDING, UH, BUILDINGS EVERYWHERE.
AND WE OFTEN FOCUS ON THE NEGATIVE.
YOU KNOW, IF SOMEHOW WE COULD START FOCUSING ON THE POSITIVE EXPERIENCES, THESE KIDS THAT ARE DOING SO MUCH GOOD STUFF, AND WE NEED TO SHARE THAT WITH EVERYBODY SO THAT, THAT EVERYBODY SEES IT, INCLUDING THEM.
THANK YOU FOR THAT UPDATE ON THE AUDIT COMMITTEE, MR. MCMILL
UM, THE MEETING ON MARCH 13TH WAS CANCELED DUE TO LACK OF QUORUM.
SO OUR NEXT MEETING WILL BE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10TH, WHERE WE'LL BE DISCUSSING, UM, THE FIXED CHARGES AND, UH, FINALIZING OUR PURPOSE AND EFFICIENCY.
UM, BUILDING IN CONTRACTS IS MS. HARVEY, UM, SHE'S NOT IN ATTENDANCE.
[02:30:01]
CURRICULUM COMMITTEE, MS. LICHTER? YES.OUR NEXT MEETING IS ON APRIL 3RD.
UM, I DON'T HAVE THE AGENDA YET.
DITO, SO PLEASE LOOK ON BOARD DOCS FOR THE SPECIFIC TOPICS.
SO WE WILL GO TO THE LEGISLATIVE AND GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE.
UM, WE HAD A MEET, WE RECENTLY HAD A MEETING WHERE WE REVIEWED THE KEY LEGI SCHOOL LEGISLATION, WHICH IS POSTED IN THE INFORMATION SECTION OF, UM, BOARD DOCS.
WE, UH, ARE IN THE PROCESS OF FINALIZING OUR, UH, COMMITTEE'S PURPOSE AND EFFECTIVENESS MEASURES.
AND THAT IS SOMETHING THAT ALL COMMITTEES ARE WORKING ON.
WE, UM, VALUE THE, THE PUBLIC TRANSPARENCY AND, AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR OURSELVES.
AND SO WE ARE BUILDING EFFECTIVENESS MEASURES INTO OUR COMMITTEE STRUCTURES.
SO ALL COMMITTEES ARE WORKING ON THAT RIGHT NOW.
AT OUR LAST COMMITTEE MEETING, UM, POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE, MS. EY, AT OUR MARCH 11TH MEETING, WE DID DISCUSS OUR COMMITTEE'S ROLES AND PURPOSE, WHICH WE WILL BE PRESENTED LATER ON.
UM, AND WE DO NOT HAVE AN APRIL MEETING, BUT OUR NEXT MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR MAY 13TH.
SO NEXT IS AGENDA ITEMS. BOARD MEMBERS, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND TO INDICATE IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS OR ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION, MS. DOMINOS.
AND THEN WE'LL GO TO MS. LICHTER.
I JUST WANNA, AGAIN, THANK THE, UM, CENTRAL AREA BOUNDARY STUDY RELIEF COMMITTEE FOR ALL THEIR HARD WORK.
19 SCHOOLS IS A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE TO GET TOGETHER AND MAKE A DECISION THAT AFFECTS THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN.
SO I JUST WANNA THANK YOU GUYS ALL FOR YOUR HARD THANKLESS WORK.
MS. LICHTER, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS AN AGENDA ITEM OR JUST AN ANSWER TO A QUESTION, BUT, UM, I HARD TO UNDERSTAND WHY WE HAVE BOARD COMMENT, PUBLIC COMMENTS ON POLICIES AND THEN VOTE ON THOSE POLICIES ON THE SAME EVENING.
SO I JUST, COULD WE TAKE A LOOK AT, OR, I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE RATIONALE WAS WHEN THAT WAS DETERMINED, BUT MOVING THAT SO THAT WHAT HAPPENED TONIGHT AND ON PREVIOUS OCCASIONS MAY BE ALLEVIATED.
ANY OTHER, OR MS. EY THEN MS. LESKI? UH, I THINK, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS A AGENDA ITEM, MORE OF A COMMENT, BUT, UM, THE RECENT DATA FROM MSDA SHOWS A HUGE INCREASE IN OUR STUDENT POVERTY.
UM, AND THAT CONCERNS ME OBVIOUSLY.
UM, BUT ALSO WE, UH, CONSIDERING OUR, UM, INCREASE IN NUMBERS OF COMMUNITY SCHOOLS, WE'RE GONNA BE, UH, I THINK VERY CLOSE TO HALF OF OUR SCHOOLS ARE GONNA BE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS NEXT YEAR.
UM, AND ALSO POSSIBLE CHANGES IN LITIGATION AS FAR AS COMMUNITY SCHOOL MODEL THROUGH THE BLUEPRINT.
UM, I, I THINK WE MAY NEED TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE'RE GONNA ADDRESS SOME OF THESE ISSUES OF POVERTY.
UM, I DUNNO IF IT'S POSSIBLE TO TALK ABOUT, UM, CHANGING THE SPEED OF OUR NEEDS ASSESSMENT IN COMMUNITY SCHOOLS OR POSSIBLY ADDRESSING THE MOST BASIC NEEDS DURING THAT NEEDS ASSESSMENT INSTEAD OF WAITING UNTIL NEEDS ASSESS, NEEDS ASSESSMENT IS OVER.
UM, FOR THINGS SUCH AS FOOD INSECURITIES, SCHOOL SUPPLIES, CLOTHING, VERY BASIC NECESSITIES THAT SOME OF THESE SCHOOLS NOW AT THIS POINT THAT HAVE AN EXTREMELY HIGH LEVEL OF POVERTY, IT'S GONNA CAUSE, UM, ISSUES WITH OUR STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, WHICH IS OUR MAIN FOCUS.
UM, SO JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT MIGHT BE SOMETHING FOR A POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEM, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT WE RECENTLY SPOKE ABOUT COMMUNITY SCHOOLS, BUT CONSIDERING THESE CHANGES AND INCREASED NUMBERS, IT MAY BE SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO BRING BACK TO THE TABLE.
UM, ON BEHALF OF THE EQUITY COMMITTEE, UM, OUR NEXT EQUITY MEETING WILL BE THURSDAY, APRIL 11TH AT FOUR O'CLOCK.
I JUST WANNA, UM, THANK OUR SPECIAL EDUCATORS FOR COMING OUT TONIGHT.
UM, IT MADE YOUR DAY EVEN LONGER THAN IT ALREADY IS.
WE KNOW WE NEED TO DO BETTER TO TAKE THINGS OFF YOUR PLATE AND APPRECIATE EVERYTHING YOU DO FOR OUR STUDENTS.
UM, SO IT HAS BEEN MENTIONED, UM, ALREADY AS FAR AS THE BOUNDARY STUDY AND WANNA SAY A GREAT BIG THANK YOU AND KUDOS TO THE MEMBERS OF THE BOUNDARY STUDY.
UM, PEOPLE TALK ABOUT IF SCHOOLS ARE OVERCROWDED, WE NEED TO MAKE THESE BOUNDARY CHANGES, BUT IT IS HARD TO GO THROUGH THE PROCESS AND ESPECIALLY WHEN, UM, YOU ARE BEING IMPACTED BY THOSE CHANGES.
UM, BUT SOME OF THE THINGS I WAS SUPER PROUD OF THAT I SAW, UM, AND WATCHING THROUGH THE MEETINGS WHERE PEOPLE NOT JUST COMING AT IT FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF HOW DOES THIS AFFECT ME, BUT ALSO LOOKING AT OTHERS INVOLVED.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU HAD PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT CHILDREN WHO WERE, HAD SOME POVERTY ISSUES, UM, RACE ISSUES.
THERE WAS EVEN A GENTLEMAN WITH AN ACCENT.
HE WAS WONDERFUL SAYING, YOU KNOW, COME TO OUR SCHOOL, LIKE, WE LOVE OUR COMMUNITY AND WE HAVE SPACE.
SO IT WAS A VERY, UM, I THINK JUST SELFLESS, UM, TYPE OF PROCESS THAT THE, UM, PARTICIPANTS, UM, OF THIS COMMITTEE HAD.
AND SO WITH THAT, WITH THE WELCOMING ENVIRONMENTS,
[02:35:01]
I HOPE THAT WE CONTINUE THAT, UM, AT THE SCHOOL LEVEL SO THAT WHEN THESE ACTUALLY MADE, UM, NOT JUST SCHOOL WIELDING LEADERS AND TEACHERS, BUT THE PARENTS AND THE CHILDREN ACTUALLY WELCOME THE NEW COMMUNITIES IN AND HELP EVERYBODY TO GET ADJUSTED TO THE CHANGE.UM, SIMILAR TO WHAT MS. LICHTER TALKED ABOUT WITH POLICY, I DO WONDER IF WE ARE ABLE TO, AFTER WE HAVE A PUBLIC HEARING AND WE HEAR COMMENTS, WE COME RIGHT BACK TO THE NEXT BOARD MEETING AND WE'RE SUPPOSED TO MAKE A DECISION.
UM, BUT THERE WAS A LOT OF INFORMATION SHARED TODAY.
WE WERE ABLE TO MAKE DECISIONS, BUT IT WOULD BE HELPFUL, I THINK IF MAYBE WE INSERT A BOARD MEETING IN BETWEEN THAT SO WE CAN DIGEST ALL OF THE INFORMATION, UM, AND ACTUALLY GET STATISTICS IF WE NEED TO HEAR ANYTHING BACK FROM, UM, THE DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING, ET CETERA, THERE'S TIME TO HEAR THAT INFORMATION AND THEN MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION.
AND, UM, AND I JUST WANNA THANK EVERYONE FOR JOINING US ON THIS FIRST DAY OF SPRING.
[N. ANNOUNCEMENTS (9:00 p.m.)]
THE LAST ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS ANNOUNCEMENTS.THE BOARD'S NEXT MEETING WILL BE HELD ON TUESDAY, APRIL 16TH, 2024 AT 6:30 PM THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TONIGHT.
THE MEETING IS NOUN ADJOURNED.