BOE - who are people voting for?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New to this thread and I cannot stomach reading 186 pages of this. I’m trying to decide between Harris and Montoya. Harris was great engaging with our PTA a few years ago on return to school and COVID issues and I found her answers to the questions on various candidate forums and her website policy positions to be sensible. Montoya seems like a good candidate but much less experienced and I wasn’t very impressed by her specific answers to candidate questions, which were a bit vague. Can anyone explain to me why the Apple ballot is supporting Montoya and not Harris? Or if there are issues with Harris I’m not aware of can someone enlighten me? I know Diaz is a total nut so no questions there.

I think the union decided they would not support any incumbents, hence Montoya. I am with you that she doesn’t bring enough experience to the table so am voting Harris.

These are the same posters who have a personal grudge against Montoya. Earlier threads established this and called these posters out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New to this thread and I cannot stomach reading 186 pages of this. I’m trying to decide between Harris and Montoya. Harris was great engaging with our PTA a few years ago on return to school and COVID issues and I found her answers to the questions on various candidate forums and her website policy positions to be sensible. Montoya seems like a good candidate but much less experienced and I wasn’t very impressed by her specific answers to candidate questions, which were a bit vague. Can anyone explain to me why the Apple ballot is supporting Montoya and not Harris? Or if there are issues with Harris I’m not aware of can someone enlighten me? I know Diaz is a total nut so no questions there.

I think the union decided they would not support any incumbents, hence Montoya. I am with you that she doesn’t bring enough experience to the table so am voting Harris.

These are the same posters who have a personal grudge against Montoya. Earlier threads established this and called these posters out.

So you are saying that people who post they don’t think Montoya is experienced enough have a personal grudge against her? I don’t think that is fair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New to this thread and I cannot stomach reading 186 pages of this. I’m trying to decide between Harris and Montoya. Harris was great engaging with our PTA a few years ago on return to school and COVID issues and I found her answers to the questions on various candidate forums and her website policy positions to be sensible. Montoya seems like a good candidate but much less experienced and I wasn’t very impressed by her specific answers to candidate questions, which were a bit vague. Can anyone explain to me why the Apple ballot is supporting Montoya and not Harris? Or if there are issues with Harris I’m not aware of can someone enlighten me? I know Diaz is a total nut so no questions there.

I think the union decided they would not support any incumbents, hence Montoya. I am with you that she doesn’t bring enough experience to the table so am voting Harris.

These are the same posters who have a personal grudge against Montoya. Earlier threads established this and called these posters out.

So you are saying that people who post they don’t think Montoya is experienced enough have a personal grudge against her? I don’t think that is fair.

As opposed to someone with “experience” who cost the school district $39 million?

Not to mention the debacle with electric buses under Lynne. Yeah, we see through racism. In this case, the BS about “experience” is just a dog whistle for choosing the white woman who screwed up the finances simply because she’s not a brown other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ not only not enough experience for Montoya, but ask any parent where her kids attended school, none will vote for her. That's not enough? Ask Amy teacher who worked with her - none of them want her either.

The Union truly blew it on this one by not speaking to her colleagues/their own members

What specifically did she do to upset you beyond being cold and not responsive? Most PTSA presidents are not very responsive. Its the lesser of the two evils as I look at it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ not only not enough experience for Montoya, but ask any parent where her kids attended school, none will vote for her. That's not enough? Ask Amy teacher who worked with her - none of them want her either.

The Union truly blew it on this one by not speaking to her colleagues/their own members

What specifically did she do to upset you beyond being cold and not responsive? Most PTSA presidents are not very responsive. It’s the lesser of the two evils as I look at it.

She didn’t let her be on the party planning committee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New to this thread and I cannot stomach reading 186 pages of this. I’m trying to decide between Harris and Montoya. Harris was great engaging with our PTA a few years ago on return to school and COVID issues and I found her answers to the questions on various candidate forums and her website policy positions to be sensible. Montoya seems like a good candidate but much less experienced and I wasn’t very impressed by her specific answers to candidate questions, which were a bit vague. Can anyone explain to me why the Apple ballot is supporting Montoya and not Harris? Or if there are issues with Harris I’m not aware of can someone enlighten me? I know Diaz is a total nut so no questions there.

I think the union decided they would not support any incumbents, hence Montoya. I am with you that she doesn’t bring enough experience to the table so am voting Harris.

These are the same posters who have a personal grudge against Montoya. Earlier threads established this and called these posters out.

So you are saying that people who post they don’t think Montoya is experienced enough have a personal grudge against her? I don’t think that is fair.

As opposed to someone with “experience” who cost the school district $39 million?

You must be referring to Brian Hull or Monifa McKnight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New to this thread and I cannot stomach reading 186 pages of this. I’m trying to decide between Harris and Montoya. Harris was great engaging with our PTA a few years ago on return to school and COVID issues and I found her answers to the questions on various candidate forums and her website policy positions to be sensible. Montoya seems like a good candidate but much less experienced and I wasn’t very impressed by her specific answers to candidate questions, which were a bit vague. Can anyone explain to me why the Apple ballot is supporting Montoya and not Harris? Or if there are issues with Harris I’m not aware of can someone enlighten me? I know Diaz is a total nut so no questions there.

I think the union decided they would not support any incumbents, hence Montoya. I am with you that she doesn’t bring enough experience to the table so am voting Harris.

These are the same posters who have a personal grudge against Montoya. Earlier threads established this and called these posters out.

So you are saying that people who post they don’t think Montoya is experienced enough have a personal grudge against her? I don’t think that is fair.

As opposed to someone with “experience” who cost the school district $39 million?

You must be referring to Brian Hull or Monifa McKnight.

Nope. Referring to the chair of the fiscal management committee- Lynne Harris

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New to this thread and I cannot stomach reading 186 pages of this. I’m trying to decide between Harris and Montoya. Harris was great engaging with our PTA a few years ago on return to school and COVID issues and I found her answers to the questions on various candidate forums and her website policy positions to be sensible. Montoya seems like a good candidate but much less experienced and I wasn’t very impressed by her specific answers to candidate questions, which were a bit vague. Can anyone explain to me why the Apple ballot is supporting Montoya and not Harris? Or if there are issues with Harris I’m not aware of can someone enlighten me? I know Diaz is a total nut so no questions there.

I think the union decided they would not support any incumbents, hence Montoya. I am with you that she doesn’t bring enough experience to the table so am voting Harris.

These are the same posters who have a personal grudge against Montoya. Earlier threads established this and called these posters out.

So you are saying that people who post they don’t think Montoya is experienced enough have a personal grudge against her? I don’t think that is fair.

As opposed to someone with “experience” who cost the school district $39 million?

You must be referring to Brian Hull or Monifa McKnight.

Nope. Referring to the chair of the fiscal management committee- Lynne Harris

Facts are stubborn things

[Anonymous]

I’m the PP. I am reading the links shared but what I’m not seeing is clear evidence for who made the miscalculation in state aid that cost MCPS 39 million. I understand Harris has oversight of the budget committee but does that mean it was her fault? Not necessarily. Without fully understanding how the MCPS budget works and what person or entity erroneously assumed Woodward would get a great level of state funding than it did, I need more info to see that she was directly responsible. I’m not seeing that in anything that was shared.

I am all for new blood and fresh leadership, but I’m also not about tossing out the baby with the bath water. Experience is important to have on a board, especially when people like Zimmerman and Montoya don’t have any experience at all with large multi million dollar budgets and seem very green.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m the PP. I am reading the links shared but what I’m not seeing is clear evidence for who made the miscalculation in state aid that cost MCPS 39 million. I understand Harris has oversight of the budget committee but does that mean it was her fault? Not necessarily. Without fully understanding how the MCPS budget works and what person or entity erroneously assumed Woodward would get a great level of state funding than it did, I need more info to see that she was directly responsible. I’m not seeing that in anything that was shared.

I am all for new blood and fresh leadership, but I’m also not about tossing out the baby with the bath water. Experience is important to have on a board, especially when people like Zimmerman and Montoya don’t have any experience at all with large multi million dollar budgets and seem very green.

Lynne is in charge of the fiscal management committee which has an oversight function. The suggestion that even though her committee didn't adequately do its job, she should still have a shot because of this experience is laughable. It’s like saying that Trump should be re-elected as president because he has previous experience as president whereas Harris has none.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the PP. I am reading the links shared but what I’m not seeing is clear evidence for who made the miscalculation in state aid that cost MCPS 39 million. I understand Harris has oversight of the budget committee but does that mean it was her fault? Not necessarily. Without fully understanding how the MCPS budget works and what person or entity erroneously assumed Woodward would get a great level of state funding than it did, I need more info to see that she was directly responsible. I’m not seeing that in anything that was shared.

I am all for new blood and fresh leadership, but I’m also not about tossing out the baby with the bath water. Experience is important to have on a board, especially when people like Zimmerman and Montoya don’t have any experience at all with large multi million dollar budgets and seem very green.

Lynne is in charge of the fiscal management committee which has an oversight function. The suggestion that even though her committee didn't adequately do its job, she should still have a shot because of this experience is laughable. It’s like saying that Trump should be re-elected as president because he has previous experience as president whereas Harris has none.

Bingo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m the PP. I am reading the links shared but what I’m not seeing is clear evidence for who made the miscalculation in state aid that cost MCPS 39 million. I understand Harris has oversight of the budget committee but does that mean it was her fault? Not necessarily. Without fully understanding how the MCPS budget works and what person or entity erroneously assumed Woodward would get a great level of state funding than it did, I need more info to see that she was directly responsible. I’m not seeing that in anything that was shared.

I am all for new blood and fresh leadership, but I’m also not about tossing out the baby with the bath water. Experience is important to have on a board, especially when people like Zimmerman and Montoya don’t have any experience at all with large multi million dollar budgets and seem very green.

I love how YT women twist themselves into knows to justify voting for the fellow YT woman with no endorsements simply because they don’t want to vote for the brown woman with all the endorsements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the PP. I am reading the links shared but what I’m not seeing is clear evidence for who made the miscalculation in state aid that cost MCPS 39 million. I understand Harris has oversight of the budget committee but does that mean it was her fault? Not necessarily. Without fully understanding how the MCPS budget works and what person or entity erroneously assumed Woodward would get a great level of state funding than it did, I need more info to see that she was directly responsible. I’m not seeing that in anything that was shared.

I am all for new blood and fresh leadership, but I’m also not about tossing out the baby with the bath water. Experience is important to have on a board, especially when people like Zimmerman and Montoya don’t have any experience at all with large multi million dollar budgets and seem very green.

Lynne is in charge of the fiscal management committee which has an oversight function. The suggestion that even though her committee didn't adequately do its job, she should still have a shot because of this experience is laughable. It’s like saying that Trump should be re-elected as president because he has previous experience as president whereas Harris has none.

I’ve worked in the nonprofit world for
Years and I know how boards work. I also know how budgets work. If someone puts together a budget that says, we’re going to get X amount of dollars for a grant and then they don’t because that staffer misread the paperwork or misunderstood the details of the grant or whatever reason, isn’t it that person’s responsibility? Or is it the boss or board who approved the budget?

I understand Harris had fiscal oversight but are you really expecting her to go through line by line of a multibillion dollar budget to verify each and every single line item, including verifying eligibility for state level grant funds? Presumably there is some team or staffer in the central office putting that aspect of the budget together who screwed up royally on this and made that miscalculation. But we aren’t talking about an accounting error here, we are talking about human error. Nowhere has anyone shared anything that pointed to this as Harris’ fault. Thomas said it was MCPS and I take that to mean someone screwed the numbers up and put it in a bad budget and no one caught it because the budget was approved.

It’s a colossal screw up to be sure - and one that’s certainly screwed up my kid’s class sizes and school staffing - so believe me, I’m angry about it. But I’m not sure tossing Harris out for it is the right move in favor of Montoya who doesn’t seem to have any experience managing a budget as large as MCPS. How would electing her be a better choice? If she’s never managed a budget how would she have caught this? I am all for electing teachers to boards but often they don’t have experience with massive budgets so that inexperience with budgets, financing, etc. has to be balanced out among the other board members. I’m not defending Harris and don’t really have a dog in the fight, I just think you are oversimplifying what is likely a far more complicated scenario that MCPS has not been transparent enough about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the PP. I am reading the links shared but what I’m not seeing is clear evidence for who made the miscalculation in state aid that cost MCPS 39 million. I understand Harris has oversight of the budget committee but does that mean it was her fault? Not necessarily. Without fully understanding how the MCPS budget works and what person or entity erroneously assumed Woodward would get a great level of state funding than it did, I need more info to see that she was directly responsible. I’m not seeing that in anything that was shared.

I am all for new blood and fresh leadership, but I’m also not about tossing out the baby with the bath water. Experience is important to have on a board, especially when people like Zimmerman and Montoya don’t have any experience at all with large multi million dollar budgets and seem very green.

I love how YT women twist themselves into knows to justify voting for the fellow YT woman with no endorsements simply because they don’t want to vote for the brown woman with all the endorsements.

JFC so we’re going here, are we? I don’t vote for people because of endorsements or skin color, I vote for who I think is the best person to do the job. I look at their policy positions, websites, candidate statements, stated priorities, experience, education, news stories aabout them, and also consider the endorsements. Too many voters just go for the Apple ballot and don’t think about it, but my mom was a teacher and the union rep and I know better than to just go for what the teacher’s union wants as they have their own biases and preferences. It’s own data point but not the data point.

Montoya’s stated policy positions, candidate statements, and budget experience are weak. Pointing that out doesn’t make me a racist, and I resent the suggestion. I care more about having someone with solid experience on the board than I care about what color they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the PP. I am reading the links shared but what I’m not seeing is clear evidence for who made the miscalculation in state aid that cost MCPS 39 million. I understand Harris has oversight of the budget committee but does that mean it was her fault? Not necessarily. Without fully understanding how the MCPS budget works and what person or entity erroneously assumed Woodward would get a great level of state funding than it did, I need more info to see that she was directly responsible. I’m not seeing that in anything that was shared.

I am all for new blood and fresh leadership, but I’m also not about tossing out the baby with the bath water. Experience is important to have on a board, especially when people like Zimmerman and Montoya don’t have any experience at all with large multi million dollar budgets and seem very green.

I love how YT women twist themselves into knows to justify voting for the fellow YT woman with no endorsements simply because they don’t want to vote for the brown woman with all the endorsements.

JFC so we’re going here, are we? I don’t vote for people because of endorsements or skin color, I vote for who I think is the best person to do the job. I look at their policy positions, websites, candidate statements, stated priorities, experience, education, news stories aabout them, and also consider the endorsements. Too many voters just go for the Apple ballot and don’t think about it, but my mom was a teacher and the union rep and I know better than to just go for what the teacher’s union wants as they have their own biases and preferences. It’s own data point but not the data point.

Montoya’s stated policy positions, candidate statements, and budget experience are weak. Pointing that out doesn’t make me a racist, and I resent the suggestion. I care more about having someone with solid experience on the board than I care about what color they are.

And,Mehta budget experience does Diaz have. She is a job jumper who has not had a solid work experience or connected with MCPS.