BCC on lockdown

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:NP here.

This is my child’s FOURTH lockdown at BCC in 3 1/2 years, including last May when the SWAT team came in with weapons drawn. The cumulative effect on these children frightens me.

Also important to reiterate that the 20 kids fighting yesterday and the one with the gun were ALL WHITE. Please stop blaming kids of color or labeling them as poor and violent.


The kids are NOT fine.
Mcps can be sued it doesn't have to be now.
Talk to your kids, keep communications open.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Speaking of the B-CC PTA list serv, this topic has been pretty silent on the board other than the passing along of the lockdown itself. In the past, there would be plenty of discussion but no longer. It certainly adds to a further disconnect to the school, even though I have never posted there. Frequently, I shared many of the same feelings of others who did post. I miss the PTA President from 2022-2023 school year.


It’s clear the current BCC PTSA President has a hands-off approach to safety and security which is unfortunately. I saw her give comments to a local media outlet where she held MCPS blameless and said she didn’t know what people expected the school to do about students fighting in a nearby park…..


If you don't like it why don't you run for president of the PTSA?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:NP here.

This is my child’s FOURTH lockdown at BCC in 3 1/2 years, including last May when the SWAT team came in with weapons drawn. The cumulative effect on these children frightens me.

Also important to reiterate that the 20 kids fighting yesterday and the one with the gun were ALL WHITE. Please stop blaming kids of color or labeling them as poor and violent.


Yup. And MCPS is responsible for this because they control the environment.

Were the kids fighting on MCPS grounds?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:NP here.

This is my child’s FOURTH lockdown at BCC in 3 1/2 years, including last May when the SWAT team came in with weapons drawn. The cumulative effect on these children frightens me.

Also important to reiterate that the 20 kids fighting yesterday and the one with the gun were ALL WHITE. Please stop blaming kids of color or labeling them as poor and violent.


Yup. And MCPS is responsible for this because they control the environment.

Were the kids fighting on MCPS grounds?


No
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The listserv moderator is controlling, claiming she is limiting the clutter. When in fact all she is add clutter by passing along the administration’s emails. In the past, parents could discuss such incidents freely without this extreme censorship. Another list serv is necessary for this school.


I agree that passing along every message from the school was annoying. I can’t imagine that there are many parents who don’t get the Remind messages but are on the PTSA listserv. I do appreciate that they are strict about what gets approved during these incidents, though, because there are always a lot of rumors that end up not being true and don’t help an already tense situation.


I agreed with her position not to pass along messages in that period. It’s mostly rumor and unhelpful.

Frankly, it’s a volunteer position. If she said she was only going to pass along whatever messages she could get through from 8pm-9pm, it would be ok. Maybe better.


I'm a BCC parent who has been on the list serv for at least 8 years (multiple kids.) I'm hugely supportive of the current modertor's approach; there are too many random messages as it is, and no one needs a flood of baseless speculation during a crisis. Personally I would apply a quota - there are two or three parents who agitate over every single thing that happens. And the people who feel the need to send every single music booster activity or sports annoucement, enough already.


Let's be honest here. The music activities posts are dwarved by a certain person posting in all caps about sports He doesn't even have kids at the school anymore, they're all adults. He's been an annoying fixture in local schools for years, I've had the misfortune to note. Please dude, retire already!!!

Now we're getting into his annual mulch mania. Sigh.



I don’t mind any of that, and my kids are not in things getting these messages. I think that’s the purpose of the message of board - to update parents on nonacademic school activity.

The messages from the parents on how anything is handled? No thanks. There are 2300 kids. The parents are not going to come to any consensus.
Anonymous
And this is why I should have moved to Vienna or McLean. The high cost and lameness of the suburbs and the urban ills that you’re trying to get away from sprinkled in. Wasn’t there an arrest made of a group of carjackers who were operating out of this school a year ago?! People are paying $2-$3 million for homes in this lame area to send their kids to school with a carjacking ring?

Pathetic.

The MD suburbs have been going to hell since 2015-2017.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The listserv moderator is controlling, claiming she is limiting the clutter. When in fact all she is add clutter by passing along the administration’s emails. In the past, parents could discuss such incidents freely without this extreme censorship. Another list serv is necessary for this school.


I agree that passing along every message from the school was annoying. I can’t imagine that there are many parents who don’t get the Remind messages but are on the PTSA listserv. I do appreciate that they are strict about what gets approved during these incidents, though, because there are always a lot of rumors that end up not being true and don’t help an already tense situation.


I agreed with her position not to pass along messages in that period. It’s mostly rumor and unhelpful.

Frankly, it’s a volunteer position. If she said she was only going to pass along whatever messages she could get through from 8pm-9pm, it would be ok. Maybe better.


I'm a BCC parent who has been on the list serv for at least 8 years (multiple kids.) I'm hugely supportive of the current modertor's approach; there are too many random messages as it is, and no one needs a flood of baseless speculation during a crisis. Personally I would apply a quota - there are two or three parents who agitate over every single thing that happens. And the people who feel the need to send every single music booster activity or sports annoucement, enough already.


Let's be honest here. The music activities posts are dwarved by a certain person posting in all caps about sports He doesn't even have kids at the school anymore, they're all adults. He's been an annoying fixture in local schools for years, I've had the misfortune to note. Please dude, retire already!!!

Now we're getting into his annual mulch mania. Sigh.



I love that guy! I do have a kid that plays a sport but under any circumstances I love how affirming he is of all sports. He wants to highlight success irrespective of whether you are in trendy sport or a less actively followed sport. I love to see examples of students doing great at extra curriculars and getting some public acknowledgement for their hard work. I love how the boosters invest in all sports. I think he is miles better than boosters from other schools who only prioritize football and boys basketball.

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The listserv moderator is controlling, claiming she is limiting the clutter. When in fact all she is add clutter by passing along the administration’s emails. In the past, parents could discuss such incidents freely without this extreme censorship. Another list serv is necessary for this school.


I agree that passing along every message from the school was annoying. I can’t imagine that there are many parents who don’t get the Remind messages but are on the PTSA listserv. I do appreciate that they are strict about what gets approved during these incidents, though, because there are always a lot of rumors that end up not being true and don’t help an already tense situation.


I agreed with her position not to pass along messages in that period. It’s mostly rumor and unhelpful.

Frankly, it’s a volunteer position. If she said she was only going to pass along whatever messages she could get through from 8pm-9pm, it would be ok. Maybe better.


I'm a BCC parent who has been on the list serv for at least 8 years (multiple kids.) I'm hugely supportive of the current modertor's approach; there are too many random messages as it is, and no one needs a flood of baseless speculation during a crisis. Personally I would apply a quota - there are two or three parents who agitate over every single thing that happens. And the people who feel the need to send every single music booster activity or sports annoucement, enough already.


Let's be honest here. The music activities posts are dwarved by a certain person posting in all caps about sports He doesn't even have kids at the school anymore, they're all adults. He's been an annoying fixture in local schools for years, I've had the misfortune to note. Please dude, retire already!!!

Now we're getting into his annual mulch mania. Sigh.



I love that guy! I do have a kid that plays a sport but under any circumstances I love how affirming he is of all sports. He wants to highlight success irrespective of whether you are in trendy sport or a less actively followed sport. I love to see examples of students doing great at extra curriculars and getting some public acknowledgement for their hard work. I love how the boosters invest in all sports. I think he is miles better than boosters from other schools who only prioritize football and boys basketball.



+1
I think he is great. And I don't have kids who play sports.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:NP here.

This is my child’s FOURTH lockdown at BCC in 3 1/2 years, including last May when the SWAT team came in with weapons drawn. The cumulative effect on these children frightens me.

Also important to reiterate that the 20 kids fighting yesterday and the one with the gun were ALL WHITE. Please stop blaming kids of color or labeling them as poor and violent.


Yup. And MCPS is responsible for this because they control the environment.

Were the kids fighting on MCPS grounds?


No. The fight did not occur on school grounds. It occurred just around the corner from the school. What's your point?

MCPS is responsible for the school climate and the current approach forces kids to exist in a space with other kids where criminal behavior and violent activity is tolerated or overlooked. That is a fact. It's also likely that the kids who left BCC to fight in the park had the gun that they used at the park on them while they were in school.

Is MCPS not responsible for that?

ALSO, what about the fact that the "lockdown" BCC went into still allowed for the free movement of kids who left the school building when they weren't supposed to? Which means kids who participated in the fight at the park could and likely did easily slip back into the building after the gun shots went off.

The mental gymnastics people contort themselves into just to let MCPS off the hook for ensuring the safety of kids is sickening.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:^ oh, and I forgot the most interesting tidbit. Sports Boosters are sitting on 10s of thousands of dollars in unspent funds under his reign. I've volunteered for several charitable organizations and PTAs in my life, and I can see there isn't enough oversight of this group. The money you sent to Sports Boosters could literally be lining his pockets.


How brave of you to use an anonymous message board to accuse someone of stealing from the community. Just like the attacks on the PTSA president, how about YOU volunteer to run Sports Boosters? One thing I've found impressive at B-CC is how many parents whose kids have graduated stay involved in the community, doing the thankless tasks that many current parents won't step up to do.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:NP here.

This is my child’s FOURTH lockdown at BCC in 3 1/2 years, including last May when the SWAT team came in with weapons drawn. The cumulative effect on these children frightens me.

Also important to reiterate that the 20 kids fighting yesterday and the one with the gun were ALL WHITE. Please stop blaming kids of color or labeling them as poor and violent.


The kids are NOT fine.
Mcps can be sued it doesn't have to be now.
Talk to your kids, keep communications open.

Is there any way to get a class action together to sue to force the school system to remove/permanently suspend violent students? Not a lawyer but I know there are many lawyer parents at the school.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:https://docs.google.com/document/d/19ehsVbhgwYE8G_CjNcsz-fQHBeGbxMtDxg76fm-8tU0/edit?tab=t.0


Dr. Mooney is really a piece of work.


In what way? This is much better communication than last year's.


What does it say? Why is it better?

It's not any better. We will never hear any follow up regarding the incident or what was done. They'll fall back on the old standard line about the code of conduct or disciplinary policy and the privacy of the process. There's a law on the books in Md called the Safe To Learn Act of 2018...signed by Hogan, that requires police presence in schools and a threat assessment team to convene after these incidences. There is no privacy to this threat assessment process at all. MCPS is not in compliance with that law but our county officials are one-party virtue signalers who care more about the perception that they don't unfairly target people of color than they do the safety of the children in their schools.


Well, let’s ask them to comply.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Seriously; we don't hear about violence like happening at Whitman, WJ or Churchill. Why is this? Is it because BCC is more urban and accessible by metro/bus etc? I thought BCC was just as good a school as the other three mentioned above.


I had one kid at WJ and one at BCC. BCC draws a certain portion of its student population from lower-income areas, more than any of the W schools. It also has more economic and social diversity than the other Bethesda/Potomac schools. Also, it's more urban, which makes it a frequent center of violence during games, because kids can easily come and go from the metro station.

But regarding violent behavior of certain kids at BCC... it's a little more complicated. Last year one violent kid was a transplant from another area of MCPS, who had been passed around from school to school because he kept getting into trouble. It was BCC's turn. Nothing to do with our own population of kids. Some other bad behaviors do come from BCC-area kids, and I'm sorry to say, they're mostly from the lower-income end of the range. With all that this implies: unstable home situations, undiagnosed mental health needs, possible affiliation with gangs, etc. Education is just not a priority for them.



Oblivious, I guess, Bethesda parent here. All I see is wealthy, upper middle class families in this town. Where are lower-income kids with gang affiliations living??


Rosemary Hills. All those post-war split levels are teeming with members of the GS-15 gang.


Stop it. There are plenty of great families in Rosemary Hills.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Speaking of the B-CC PTA list serv, this topic has been pretty silent on the board other than the passing along of the lockdown itself. In the past, there would be plenty of discussion but no longer. It certainly adds to a further disconnect to the school, even though I have never posted there. Frequently, I shared many of the same feelings of others who did post. I miss the PTA President from 2022-2023 school year.


It’s clear the current BCC PTSA President has a hands-off approach to safety and security which is unfortunately. I saw her give comments to a local media outlet where she held MCPS blameless and said she didn’t know what people expected the school to do about students fighting in a nearby park…..


That was a horrible quote. I gave her some grace thinking maybe she was stressed when she spoke but I could not believe what she said.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:On the neighborhood listserv there is a lot of back and forth about the open lunch especially by a neighbor who is always in the schools business yet her kids go to a private school.

The open lunch at B-CC is because they don't have the capacity for lunch there so they have always had open lunch. The cafeteria there is smaller than an elementary school cafeteria.


That is on MCPS. Neighbors should not be subjected to repeated issues because this too large of a school system has created these mega schools without adequate lunch facilities and food and the time to partake. Everyone pays too much ln property and MoCo piggyback taxes for this to be going on. We need smaller, community-based local schools, and school systems with locally elected school boards populated by people you know, who have kids at your schools, experiencing these same issues. "Back in my day" as they say, a neighbor of the school would have recognized one or more of these students, called the police and their parents. Yet, here we are.
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