BCC student with weapon today

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A different BCC student was found with a knife on him yesterday, same day as the gun incident.
Some kids tried to jump him and he pulled it out for protection only. No one got stabbed.
Dunno what’s going on at these “ good schools”

Why didn't Dr. Mooney put out a community letter about that incident?

Because they still
Want the general public to think these are the better schools. They keep a lot of the violent incidents hush hush

Gotta protect the MCPS brand!!!!

Yep. Optics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ it was said at a meeting, forgot which one, that not all incidents will result in a "community letter." Perhaps that is where parents need to advocate for more consistent messaging and communication when ANY incident occurs?

If a kid with a gun gets a community letter, so should a kid with a knife. Especially since a community letter went out for the kid with the knife at Kennedy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I cannot excuse Dr. Mooney anymore. I've given him the benefit of the doubt so many times, because he's nice, and he's had health issues. Also he was a special ed teacher, and one of my kids benefited from an IEP.

But enough is enough! This crap letter after a kid enters the school building with a gun? We live in the country with the highest number of school shootings, by far. This is not an acceptable response, just like none of the others were, just in this one school year!!!

Out with Mooney.

+1000000. I know his hands are tied in relation to what he can and cannot say in those awful CO-generated letters. However, he seems unwilling to do anything to fix these systemic problems minus saying the usual platitudes. He garners no respect from students, nor from parents. Hell, he got hit last year trying to break up a fight and the response from the students was to laugh at him. Teachers who like to talk freely with students (at least according to DD) also roll their eyes at him. He's the equivalent of a bad politician or CEO - says what he thinks should be said, lacking any substance, and never actually doing anything to address what's in front of him. Time for him to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ it was said at a meeting, forgot which one, that not all incidents will result in a "community letter." Perhaps that is where parents need to advocate for more consistent messaging and communication when ANY incident occurs?

If a kid with a gun gets a community letter, so should a kid with a knife. Especially since a community letter went out for the kid with the knife at Kennedy.

Also, community letters are generated each time a certain symbol is seen or anti-something is heard inside the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I cannot excuse Dr. Mooney anymore. I've given him the benefit of the doubt so many times, because he's nice, and he's had health issues. Also he was a special ed teacher, and one of my kids benefited from an IEP.

But enough is enough! This crap letter after a kid enters the school building with a gun? We live in the country with the highest number of school shootings, by far. This is not an acceptable response, just like none of the others were, just in this one school year!!!

Out with Mooney.

+1000000. I know his hands are tied in relation to what he can and cannot say in those awful CO-generated letters. However, he seems unwilling to do anything to fix these systemic problems minus saying the usual platitudes. He garners no respect from students, nor from parents. Hell, he got hit last year trying to break up a fight and the response from the students was to laugh at him. Teachers who like to talk freely with students (at least according to DD) also roll their eyes at him. He's the equivalent of a bad politician or CEO - says what he thinks should be said, lacking any substance, and never actually doing anything to address what's in front of him. Time for him to go.

This is true for several MCPS High School principals....

[Anonymous]

So, 15:48, a job at CO awaits him as was true of a former BCC Principal?

[Anonymous]

BCC families - was a weapon actually seen or was it a situation where it could have been a weapon, like in the lockdown in 2022?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BCC families - was a weapon actually seen or was it a situation where it could have been a weapon, like in the lockdown in 2022?

Which incident?
Gun was actually seen on a student by a student in the bathroom
Knife was seen by other students as well.
All confirmed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LA used wanding not walk thru devices such as are used in public buildings. The latter is less influenced by operator error. LA switched to pushing students to snitch more, it was a student report at BCC. That piece is working at BCC, or, at least it worked yesterday.

How do you systemically and consistently scale “snitching,” as you call it, as a response to the volume of concerning safety incidents we’re seeing in schools?

NP but student reports are probably the most important piece of this. Students have to feel lke this impact their community and that they have a safe/confidential way to report. The SROs used to be part of this system—that was the goal at least, to have familiar friendly faces that a kid could go to confidentially, and their identify can be protected under usual police procedures.

The metal detectors are very resource intensive, with maintenance, training of operators, etc., and they still don’t catch all the weapons. If we can’t afford cheapo security guards to stand outside the bathrooms, I can’t see this being a viable option for all high schools.

I appreciate what you're saying, but you didn't answer my question: How do you systemically and consistently scale “snitching,” as you call it, as a response to the volume of concerning safety incidents we’re seeing in schools?

As I noted, I wasn't the person you were responding to, and certainly never used the term "snitching" (nor would I). The way to scale that up is to convince kids that it's not "snitching" but rather acting thoughtfully to protect each other. I think that message would be best received coming from other students -- e.g., student survivors of gun violence making PSA videos that can be broadcast to students, SGA members speaking out about this. And also making sure students are aware that they can make confidential reports to any trusted adult, and that their name will be kept in confidence. The same way that companies are now trying to promote a culture of accountability by having whistleblower policies, harassment reporting mechanisms, training, etc. It's probably just one part of the solution, but I think it's probably one of the most important parts. It is possible to create culture change among teens -- just think of what MADD was able to do in the 80's/90's--but it takes some effort. I do think the majority of teens are not happy with the very few that are disrupting their schools this way.

So basically the standard thing that gets trotted out for every concerning student behavior and topic.

I don't know if quantitative data exists on the efficacy of the student PSA contest, but given that vaping, chronic absenteeism, and underage drinking are all still prevalent behaviors that haven't gone away despite the student PSA contests and SGA speaking out, I'm thinking that's not really accomplishing the scale and consistency point I was making.

It's important to note that the kinds of kids most likely to listen to a message from a SGA leader aren't the kind of kids' whose behavior we need to change.

But those are things that don't really affect other kids (at least not in the same way). My "good" kid is NOT going to report another kid ditching class, drinking at a party, or vaping because she'll think it's none of her business if they make bad decisions. But she would report a kid with a gun, if she felt safe doing so, because she would not want one of her friends to get shot. I think 90% of MCPS kids probably would -- teens of this generation are VERY nervous about gun violence because they were in first grade when Sandy Hook started, and then MS with parkland, and HS with uvalde, and they've all lived through probably dozens of lock downs and shelter in places at this point....it's been a huge part of their student life. They'll roll their eyes about underage drinking the way kids have since time immemorial, but I don't think they're in the same place with guns. (I went to HS pre-Columbine, and we did just roll our eyes about the kids with guns, who we viewed as poseurs rather than an actual threat.) I think this is one area where policies and student peer pressure can actually have an effect.

But I also want SROs back, plus security officers outside the bathrooms, and real disciplinary consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m the PP. Just to clarify, last year’s lockdown was scary but justified. My point is that students shouldn’t go through that unless there is a threat.

How are you so sure there wasn't a threat? Even now, we don't know for sure but we definitely didn't know that in the moment yesterday.
The letter made it seem like there was a lot unknown. What if there was another student with a gun? Yes that could be true any day but yesterday it seemed more likely there was another student at the school who could have been armed. Usually these guns come to school because of a conflict between two or more people.

I'm mad the kids weren't told what was going on. They could have helped keep an eye out.

Mooney is stuck. I'm not sure what his job is. It appears MCPS insists on handling all the communication and letting Mooney take the fall if it doesn't go well.

MCPS communication is horrific. Anyone who thinks they are going to get you urgent info is kidding themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I cannot excuse Dr. Mooney anymore. I've given him the benefit of the doubt so many times, because he's nice, and he's had health issues. Also he was a special ed teacher, and one of my kids benefited from an IEP.

But enough is enough! This crap letter after a kid enters the school building with a gun? We live in the country with the highest number of school shootings, by far. This is not an acceptable response, just like none of the others were, just in this one school year!!!

Out with Mooney.

+1000000. I know his hands are tied in relation to what he can and cannot say in those awful CO-generated letters. However, he seems unwilling to do anything to fix these systemic problems minus saying the usual platitudes. He garners no respect from students, nor from parents. Hell, he got hit last year trying to break up a fight and the response from the students was to laugh at him. Teachers who like to talk freely with students (at least according to DD) also roll their eyes at him. He's the equivalent of a bad politician or CEO - says what he thinks should be said, lacking any substance, and never actually doing anything to address what's in front of him. Time for him to go.

This is true for several MCPS High School principals....

Jennifer Baker at Walter Johnson, who retired mid-year this winter, was a great Principal. I also know some pretty good elementary Principals, who deal with a different set of issues, notably emerging special needs and parents who don't believe their snowflakes have problems. But Mooney... not so much.

[Anonymous]

Why are people so pissed off at Principal Mooney? He did send out a message, although it was via the stupid MCPS app so nobody saw it. And I don't know anyone in a position of responsibility at any organization who can simply issue a public statement without review by PR types and lawyers.

As a BCC parent, I'm more annoyed with the PTSA, whose president sneered that parents who are advocating for the return of SROs should "check your privilege."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the PP. Just to clarify, last year’s lockdown was scary but justified. My point is that students shouldn’t go through that unless there is a threat.

How are you so sure there wasn't a threat? Even now, we don't know for sure but we definitely didn't know that in the moment yesterday.
The letter made it seem like there was a lot unknown. What if there was another student with a gun? Yes that could be true any day but yesterday it seemed more likely there was another student at the school who could have been armed. Usually these guns come to school because of a conflict between two or more people.

I'm mad the kids weren't told what was going on. They could have helped keep an eye out.

Mooney is stuck. I'm not sure what his job is. It appears MCPS insists on handling all the communication and letting Mooney take the fall if it doesn't go well.

MCPS communication is horrific. Anyone who thinks they are going to get you urgent info is kidding themselves.

Yep. That communications office went to media first before informing students, teachers and staff (you know the people inside the school) after alleged weapon that prompted lockdown September 2022. Teachers were learning what's going on in the hallways right outside their classroom from the media. MCPS cares only Optics. News flash - MCPS is no longer that premier school district, and hasn't been now for a while, it is just the largest school district in MD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are people so pissed off at Principal Mooney? He did send out a message, although it was via the stupid MCPS app so nobody saw it. And I don't know anyone in a position of responsibility at any organization who can simply issue a public statement without review by PR types and lawyers.

As a BCC parent, I'm more annoyed with the PTSA, whose president sneered that parents who are advocating for the return of SROs should "check your privilege."

Did you complete the MCPS survey to give feedback about remind app? The survey came out ironically after the BCC letter was posted to this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BCC families - was a weapon actually seen or was it a situation where it could have been a weapon, like in the lockdown in 2022?

Which incident?
Gun was actually seen on a student by a student in the bathroom
Knife was seen by other students as well.
All confirmed

You should be able to find online news clips from the lockdown ordeal of 9/14/22.