B-CC Student Newspaper Blows the Lid Off of Drug Use and Distribution in MCPS High Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BCC students enter bathrooms to see large groups of girls vaping?

My son is a senior at WJ, and has never entered a bathroom and seen someone vaping or smelled weed. Is it because boys don't use bathrooms for this? Is just particular bathrooms? I'm sure WJ has a drug problem too...

Have you asked? Do you think he is giving you an honest answer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BCC students enter bathrooms to see large groups of girls vaping?

My son is a senior at WJ, and has never entered a bathroom and seen someone vaping or smelled weed. Is it because boys don't use bathrooms for this? Is just particular bathrooms? I'm sure WJ has a drug problem too...

This problem is not unique to B-CC. It's at most MCPS high schools and in both boys and girls' bathrooms.

I don't know the down and dirty at WJ, but I not assume the school is exempt from this issue.

PP you replied to. You'd think, right? Maybe he keeps using bathrooms too close to the front office or counselors' corridor...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And the Op-Ed is a slam dunk on MCPS administration: https://bcctattler.org/2018/opinion/what-weve-got-here-is-failure-to-communicate/

More than just upsetting PTSA members, poor administrative communication has seriously imperiled the most vulnerable students.

These cases are extreme examples, but they demonstrate an institutional, rather than individual, problem. County school boards need to release administrative training manuals to public scrutiny so parents and students can hold administrations accountable. The B-CC administration needs to drop its policy of “(don’t) do first, apologize later”. Until then, poor communication will continue to open students to harm and close parents off from the immediate safety of their children.

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES!

MCPS and BOE, your time is up! It's time to clean house and get it together. Students and parents are fed up.

Paid for by the GOP and disgruntled right-wing crazies...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read this feature first, which details everything about how drugs are sold and distributed from Telegram and then in school buildings: https://bcctattler.org/2042/showcase/concerning-spike-in-moco-teen-overdoses-trappers-increasingly-cut-fentanyl-into-their-products/

Then check out the news about some recent arrest MoCo PD has made to catch some of these student-dealers: https://bcctattler.org/2065/news/trappergate-major-drug-bust-begins-with-b-cc-dealer/

These student journalists are doing better work than the professionals on this subject!

Yes, drug culture is rampant especially at the wealthier MCPS schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the Op-Ed is a slam dunk on MCPS administration: https://bcctattler.org/2018/opinion/what-weve-got-here-is-failure-to-communicate/

More than just upsetting PTSA members, poor administrative communication has seriously imperiled the most vulnerable students.

These cases are extreme examples, but they demonstrate an institutional, rather than individual, problem. County school boards need to release administrative training manuals to public scrutiny so parents and students can hold administrations accountable. The B-CC administration needs to drop its policy of “(don’t) do first, apologize later”. Until then, poor communication will continue to open students to harm and close parents off from the immediate safety of their children.

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES!

MCPS and BOE, your time is up! It's time to clean house and get it together. Students and parents are fed up.

Paid for by the GOP and disgruntled right-wing crazies...

Nope. Wrong assumptions and wrong game to play. I fall into neither category. Get a new script and playbook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BCC students enter bathrooms to see large groups of girls vaping?

My son is a senior at WJ, and has never entered a bathroom and seen someone vaping or smelled weed. Is it because boys don't use bathrooms for this? Is just particular bathrooms? I'm sure WJ has a drug problem too...

Have you asked? Do you think he is giving you an honest answer?

I asked a little while ago, when we were sent that email about fentanyl, and he has no reason to lie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the Op-Ed is a slam dunk on MCPS administration: https://bcctattler.org/2018/opinion/what-weve-got-here-is-failure-to-communicate/

More than just upsetting PTSA members, poor administrative communication has seriously imperiled the most vulnerable students.

These cases are extreme examples, but they demonstrate an institutional, rather than individual, problem. County school boards need to release administrative training manuals to public scrutiny so parents and students can hold administrations accountable. The B-CC administration needs to drop its policy of “(don’t) do first, apologize later”. Until then, poor communication will continue to open students to harm and close parents off from the immediate safety of their children.

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES!

MCPS and BOE, your time is up! It's time to clean house and get it together. Students and parents are fed up.

Paid for by the GOP and disgruntled right-wing crazies...

Nope. Wrong assumptions and wrong game to play. I fall into neither category. Get a new script and playbook.

Every other post here is the same tired crank trying to discredit the BOE in the hopes of enacting a right-wing agenda like vouchers and miltarized guards at every school etc but sure whatever you say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the Op-Ed is a slam dunk on MCPS administration: https://bcctattler.org/2018/opinion/what-weve-got-here-is-failure-to-communicate/

More than just upsetting PTSA members, poor administrative communication has seriously imperiled the most vulnerable students.

These cases are extreme examples, but they demonstrate an institutional, rather than individual, problem. County school boards need to release administrative training manuals to public scrutiny so parents and students can hold administrations accountable. The B-CC administration needs to drop its policy of “(don’t) do first, apologize later”. Until then, poor communication will continue to open students to harm and close parents off from the immediate safety of their children.

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES!

MCPS and BOE, your time is up! It's time to clean house and get it together. Students and parents are fed up.

Paid for by the GOP and disgruntled right-wing crazies...

Nope. Wrong assumptions and wrong game to play. I fall into neither category. Get a new script and playbook.

Every other post here is the same tired crank trying to discredit the BOE in the hopes of enacting a right-wing agenda like vouchers and miltarized guards at every school etc but sure whatever you say.

The idea that if you criticize the BOE or MCPS means you're right-wing is a huge part of why the school system is deteriorating and nothing improves or changes. People like you are more interested in identity politics than providing a safe, healthy and high-quality learning environment for our kids. You are part of the problem. You're toxic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the Op-Ed is a slam dunk on MCPS administration: https://bcctattler.org/2018/opinion/what-weve-got-here-is-failure-to-communicate/

More than just upsetting PTSA members, poor administrative communication has seriously imperiled the most vulnerable students.

These cases are extreme examples, but they demonstrate an institutional, rather than individual, problem. County school boards need to release administrative training manuals to public scrutiny so parents and students can hold administrations accountable. The B-CC administration needs to drop its policy of “(don’t) do first, apologize later”. Until then, poor communication will continue to open students to harm and close parents off from the immediate safety of their children.

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES!

MCPS and BOE, your time is up! It's time to clean house and get it together. Students and parents are fed up.

Paid for by the GOP and disgruntled right-wing crazies...

Nope. Wrong assumptions and wrong game to play. I fall into neither category. Get a new script and playbook.

Every other post here is the same tired crank trying to discredit the BOE in the hopes of enacting a right-wing agenda like vouchers and miltarized guards at every school etc but sure whatever you say.

Not wanting my kids to be afraid to go to the bathroom for fear of witnessing a drug deal, inhaling toxic fumes from percocet smoking or marijuana vaping, or worse, getting physically assaulted, does not make me a right-winger. I don't want vouchers. I'm complaining because I believe in public schools and want them to be good! I never said I wanted militarized guards, but I also don't want the current free-for-all where anything goes and the safety environment is out of control.

Your one-track and one-note narrative is limited and doesn't reflect the nuance and reality of the situation and how parents of all background political persuasions actually feel about the current state. I don't know what your agenda is, but it's tainted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are the parents? Clearly they are ok with their kids using.

Where is MCPS leadership? Clearly they're asleep at the wheel.

What can leadership do without parent support. It goes both ways.

I don't think B-CC lacks for parental support. They have an active PTSA and they lobbied for the security meeting at MCPS where they leadership dodged questions and paid lip service. So there are plenty of concerned and engaged parents. Now that's not true at all high schools, but if MCPS is playing dumb, blind and silent with a high school full of very present and engaged parents, [b]you can only imagine what's going on elsewhere where fewer parents are engaged[/b].

This, 100%! So true about that meeting. And: So many high schools in MCPS have minimal parent engagement...mainly because they don't have active PTSAs that have events and communications to engage with the school. I can't imagine that Kennedy would have held a parent town hall after the recent student death (please let me know if I'm wrong), because I know people w/kids at the school and know how the parental engagement in school matters is low. (this isn't to say parents are disengaged with their kids' lives more generally). And the B-CC parents specifically lobbied for MCPS to address its shortcomings system-wide (e.g., communications policy, training/drill) so that all students across the county can benefit from higher MCPS standards.

Side note: please do not just make random assumptions, or add an opinion on this thread unless you are familiar with the issues in the articles, and how they've been handled. For example, the parents advocating for changes on the part of the MCPS are not the parents of the kids who are grappling with addiction or drug use. There are different issues: (1) the drug use exists and (2) how the admin/MCPS deals with situations where that drug use affects operations during the school day, for instance (esp. if it negatively impacts 100s of students). And the changes requested related to (2), like communications and transparency, and responsiveness to concerns on bathroom safety. I'd say parents are equally concerned that drug/alcohol issues are prevalent and know it's a wider problem that takes a complex effort to address and aren't demanding that MCPS instantly solve that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are the parents? Clearly they are ok with their kids using.

Where is MCPS leadership? Clearly they're asleep at the wheel.

What can leadership do without parent support. It goes both ways.

I don't think B-CC lacks for parental support. They have an active PTSA and they lobbied for the security meeting at MCPS where they leadership dodged questions and paid lip service. So there are plenty of concerned and engaged parents. Now that's not true at all high schools, but if MCPS is playing dumb, blind and silent with a high school full of very present and engaged parents, [b]you can only imagine what's going on elsewhere where fewer parents are engaged[/b].

This, 100%! So true about that meeting. And: So many high schools in MCPS have minimal parent engagement...mainly because they don't have active PTSAs that have events and communications to engage with the school. I can't imagine that Kennedy would have held a parent town hall after the recent student death (please let me know if I'm wrong), because I know people w/kids at the school and know how the parental engagement in school matters is low. (this isn't to say parents are disengaged with their kids' lives more generally). And the B-CC parents specifically lobbied for MCPS to address its shortcomings system-wide (e.g., communications policy, training/drill) so that all students across the county can benefit from higher MCPS standards.

Side note: please do not just make random assumptions, or add an opinion on this thread unless you are familiar with the issues in the articles, and how they've been handled. For example, the parents advocating for changes on the part of the MCPS are not the parents of the kids who are grappling with addiction or drug use. There are different issues: (1) the drug use exists and (2) how the admin/MCPS deals with situations where that drug use affects operations during the school day, for instance (esp. if it negatively impacts 100s of students). And the changes requested related to (2), like communications and transparency, and responsiveness to concerns on bathroom safety. I'd say parents are equally concerned that drug/alcohol issues are prevalent and know it's a wider problem that takes a complex effort to address and aren't demanding that MCPS instantly solve that.

Kennedy parent here. You bring up a lot of great points, but we did actually insist on and have a townhall after a school shooting threat. And the death was thoroughly discussed in the January PTSA meeting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the Op-Ed is a slam dunk on MCPS administration: https://bcctattler.org/2018/opinion/what-weve-got-here-is-failure-to-communicate/

More than just upsetting PTSA members, poor administrative communication has seriously imperiled the most vulnerable students.

These cases are extreme examples, but they demonstrate an institutional, rather than individual, problem. County school boards need to release administrative training manuals to public scrutiny so parents and students can hold administrations accountable. The B-CC administration needs to drop its policy of “(don’t) do first, apologize later”. Until then, poor communication will continue to open students to harm and close parents off from the immediate safety of their children.

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES!

MCPS and BOE, your time is up! It's time to clean house and get it together. Students and parents are fed up.

Paid for by the GOP and disgruntled right-wing crazies...

Nope. Wrong assumptions and wrong game to play. I fall into neither category. Get a new script and playbook.

Every other post here is the same tired crank trying to discredit the BOE in the hopes of enacting a right-wing agenda like vouchers and miltarized guards at every school etc but sure whatever you say.

Not wanting my kids to be afraid to go to the bathroom for fear of witnessing a drug deal, inhaling toxic fumes from percocet smoking or marijuana vaping, or worse, getting physically assaulted, does not make me a right-winger. I don't want vouchers. I'm complaining because I believe in public schools and want them to be good! I never said I wanted militarized guards, but I also don't want the current free-for-all where anything goes and the safety environment is out of control.

Your one-track and one-note narrative is limited and doesn't reflect the nuance and reality of the situation and how parents of all background political persuasions actually feel about the current state. I don't know what your agenda is, but it's tainted.

DP. I am not sure on what basis that PP criticized the upset parents as 'right wing'--couldn't be further from the truth --most of the concerned parents are probably liberal like me to some degree. But either way, as PP above noted, the parents involved want the best for the community. I'd say I'm an idealist because when we have people in positions of authority, I trust them, and I want them to be acting in ways that keeps my trust. And they shouldn't be in those roles if they do things that show that trust is misplaced. So with a school system or school leadership, I'd expect them to be responsive to some basic concerns. Basic, practical, and non-ideological. It's frustrating when it doesn't appear to be happening and appears to be facing pushback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are the parents? Clearly they are ok with their kids using.

Where is MCPS leadership? Clearly they're asleep at the wheel.

What can leadership do without parent support. It goes both ways.

I don't think B-CC lacks for parental support. They have an active PTSA and they lobbied for the security meeting at MCPS where they leadership dodged questions and paid lip service. So there are plenty of concerned and engaged parents. Now that's not true at all high schools, but if MCPS is playing dumb, blind and silent with a high school full of very present and engaged parents, [b]you can only imagine what's going on elsewhere where fewer parents are engaged[/b].

This, 100%! So true about that meeting. And: So many high schools in MCPS have minimal parent engagement...mainly because they don't have active PTSAs that have events and communications to engage with the school. I can't imagine that Kennedy would have held a parent town hall after the recent student death (please let me know if I'm wrong), because I know people w/kids at the school and know how the parental engagement in school matters is low. (this isn't to say parents are disengaged with their kids' lives more generally). And the B-CC parents specifically lobbied for MCPS to address its shortcomings system-wide (e.g., communications policy, training/drill) so that all students across the county can benefit from higher MCPS standards.

Side note: please do not just make random assumptions, or add an opinion on this thread unless you are familiar with the issues in the articles, and how they've been handled. For example, the parents advocating for changes on the part of the MCPS are not the parents of the kids who are grappling with addiction or drug use. There are different issues: (1) the drug use exists and (2) how the admin/MCPS deals with situations where that drug use affects operations during the school day, for instance (esp. if it negatively impacts 100s of students). And the changes requested related to (2), like communications and transparency, and responsiveness to concerns on bathroom safety. I'd say parents are equally concerned that drug/alcohol issues are prevalent and know it's a wider problem that takes a complex effort to address and aren't demanding that MCPS instantly solve that.

Kennedy parent here. You bring up a lot of great points, but we did actually insist on and have a townhall after a school shooting threat. And the death was thoroughly discussed in the January PTSA meeting.

I'm so glad to hear that I was wrong and I hope the townhall and meeting were helpful. Sending supportive thoughts to your school community after the recent student death. I'm not sure whether you had any 'asks' after the shooting, but we did at B-CC. Specifically, one of them was to revise how it communicates with parents in real-time, another was to address inadequate preparation of subs; but many 'asks' at that meeting were spread out between asks of B-CC admin and asks of various MCPS officials, and it's not clear what follow-up we'd see as a result. I worry that at schools like Kennedy with lower parent engagement on school matters, parents could be more deferential to MCPS/Principal so less likely to demand necessary changes. We just want to learn from this, and avoid future tragedy, right?

[Anonymous]

The not my kid parents are in denial just like MCPS is doing everything they can to push it off campus.

what these kids who are addicted, and a lot of them are, and I speak from having a kid in recovery,- is resources to get well.

Meanwhile Caddies is packed every weekend with high school kids.

What message does that send?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the Op-Ed is a slam dunk on MCPS administration: https://bcctattler.org/2018/opinion/what-weve-got-here-is-failure-to-communicate/

More than just upsetting PTSA members, poor administrative communication has seriously imperiled the most vulnerable students.

These cases are extreme examples, but they demonstrate an institutional, rather than individual, problem. County school boards need to release administrative training manuals to public scrutiny so parents and students can hold administrations accountable. The B-CC administration needs to drop its policy of “(don’t) do first, apologize later”. Until then, poor communication will continue to open students to harm and close parents off from the immediate safety of their children.

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES!

MCPS and BOE, your time is up! It's time to clean house and get it together. Students and parents are fed up.

Paid for by the GOP and disgruntled right-wing crazies...

Nope. Wrong assumptions and wrong game to play. I fall into neither category. Get a new script and playbook.

Every other post here is the same tired crank trying to discredit the BOE in the hopes of enacting a right-wing agenda like vouchers and miltarized guards at every school etc but sure whatever you say.

The idea that if you criticize the BOE or MCPS means you're right-wing is a huge part of why the school system is deteriorating and nothing improves or changes. People like you are more interested in identity politics than providing a safe, healthy and high-quality learning environment for our kids. You are part of the problem. You're toxic.

When you criticize the BOE, for dubious things like bocce and are advocating far right policy like armed guards and vouchers it really isn't.