12/5 BOE meeting

[Anonymous]

Meant to watch a chunk of this today and wasn't able to. Did anyone watch it? Anything interesting?

[Anonymous]

I think it's still ongoing, no?

[Anonymous]

Yes:

[Anonymous]

They approved the 2025-26 school calendar, and approved the boundary study consultant contract.

[Anonymous]

Have they talked about the Taylor's entry plan update or the budget? The slides for both weren't impressive so am hoping the presentation offered something more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have they talked about the Taylor's entry plan update or the budget? The slides for both weren't impressive so am hoping the presentation offered something more.

Yes, there were no budget numbers yet, just how he's envisioning his priorities. Numbers come on the 18th.

[Anonymous]

New board chairs and assignments were decided today too:

Fiscal Management, chaired by Karla Silvestre and including Natalie Zimmerman, Laura Stewart, and Praneel Suvarna.
Policy Management, chaired by Julie Yang and including Karla Silvestre, Brenda Wolff, and Praneel Suvarna.
Special Populations, chaired by Grace Rivera-Oven and including Rita Montoya and Laura Stewart.
Strategic Planning, chaired by Brenda Wolff and including Natalie Zimmerman and Rita Montoya.

SOURCE: https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/announcement/index.aspx?pagetype=showrelease&id=139&type=&startYear=&pageNumber=&mode=

[Anonymous]

Does anyone get why the transition day is moving to Monday? If a bunch of secondary schools are already doing this work on the Thursday before, why not just mandate all transition grades to host it the Thursday prior and give notice in the Spring?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone get why the transition day is moving to Monday? If a bunch of secondary schools are already doing this work on the Thursday before, why not just mandate all transition grades to host it the Thursday prior and give notice in the Spring?

It's a mushy weird reason, but these are the things I was able to tease out after listening to the rationale:

1. Mandating this districtwide makes it more equitable since orientations were only done at the secondary level and not the elementary
2. Taylor was used to having a transition day in his last two districts and wanted to bring it to MCPS
3. Even with the secondary school orientations, not all schools provided transportation so it wasn't equitable for those who didn't have parents who could do drop-off and pick-up

It honestly....is a messy proposal and I'm confused why there aren't more details on what schools would do exactly with the proposal for this Student Transition Day.

[Anonymous]

But isn't there already a day whatever it's called at various school levels when - students ride bus, follow their schedule, meet teachers, see building, get a tour of school - before first day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But isn't there already a day whatever it's called at various school levels when - students ride bus, follow their schedule, meet teachers, see building, get a tour of school - before first day?

Yes, but it's for secondary schools only. Elementary schools didn't have this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone get why the transition day is moving to Monday? If a bunch of secondary schools are already doing this work on the Thursday before, why not just mandate all transition grades to host it the Thursday prior and give notice in the Spring?

It's a mushy weird reason, but these are the things I was able to tease out after listening to the rationale:

1. Mandating this districtwide makes it more equitable since orientations were only done at the secondary level and not the elementary
2. Taylor was used to having a transition day in his last two districts and wanted to bring it to MCPS
3. Even with the secondary school orientations, not all schools provided transportation so it wasn't equitable for those who didn't have parents who could do drop-off and pick-up

It honestly....is a messy proposal and I'm confused why there aren't more details on what schools would do exactly with the proposal for this Student Transition Day.

That's not the case. All MS and HS school buses ran their routes on those Thursdays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone get why the transition day is moving to Monday? If a bunch of secondary schools are already doing this work on the Thursday before, why not just mandate all transition grades to host it the Thursday prior and give notice in the Spring?

Because Taylor said he wanted to move it to Monday, as he had had this setup in his previous districts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone get why the transition day is moving to Monday? If a bunch of secondary schools are already doing this work on the Thursday before, why not just mandate all transition grades to host it the Thursday prior and give notice in the Spring?

It's a mushy weird reason, but these are the things I was able to tease out after listening to the rationale:

1. Mandating this districtwide makes it more equitable since orientations were only done at the secondary level and not the elementary
2. Taylor was used to having a transition day in his last two districts and wanted to bring it to MCPS
3. Even with the secondary school orientations, not all schools provided transportation so it wasn't equitable for those who didn't have parents who could do drop-off and pick-up

It honestly....is a messy proposal and I'm confused why there aren't more details on what schools would do exactly with the proposal for this Student Transition Day.

That's not the case. All MS and HS school buses ran their routes on those Thursdays.

Exactly. So why were only some MS and HS participating and some kids not able to attend? And if they want to do it for ES, fine, but it’s just more cost because now buses needed to run for them. I also agree with the teachers about what are the other grades teachers supposed to do all day if this is only for certain grades? ES doesn’t change class except for lunch and specials. I guess for the other teachers it’s just an extra day of planning for them?

I also don’t understand this potentially not specifically inviting the Spec Ed or EML students because it would somehow highlight or stigmatize them. If any groups need more practice, support or comfort it would be them. Isn’t that the point of this???

[Anonymous]

I was really confused by the Brenda and the board's pushback with Dana about the transition day being or not being a full-day. It seemed like they had information that wasn't included in the presentation materials.