New: Boundary Studies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the latest in the boundary studies? No more CAP at Blair when Woodward opens? Which ES boundaries are expected to change. Please post info or link to recent updates.

There are no recent updates. The latest timeline has Woodward opening in Fall 2027, and the boundary study happening in 2026. Currently there are no elementary schools included in the scope, only middle and high schools.

Woodward is where CAP is headed. One of the reasons that Woodward's reopening was green-lighted was to relieve chronic overcrowding in the DCC, not just pacify westside parents concerned with a few portables at Walter Johnson. (That would have looked too unfair, right?)

Blair is overenrolled and one way to relieve its overcrowding is to take a reliably consistent number of students (CAP cohorts = 75 students per year) and move it to Woodward, once Woodward reopens.

A faux study will be conducted to determine if this is a good idea, but it will turn out to be a good idea.

Takoma Park parents, you better start organizing now - maybe if you push really hard for a persistent amount of time, you can change things.

Here's a link referencing the issue. Don't let the word salad injection about Northwood HS overcrowding deceive you. How would you pull a cohort from any of the DCC HS geographical catchment areas to attend Woodward? You couldn't guarantee the numbers. It's going to be Blair's CAP:

https://moco360.media/2023/02/28/burtonsville-elementary-to-relocate-woodward-high-opening-planned-for-2026-school-board-says/#:~:text=Woodward%20High%20School.,schools%20in%20the%20Downcounty%20Consortium.

The school board then discussed the boundary scope for the reopening of Charles W. Woodward High School. Funds were approved to reopen the school to address crowding at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda and high schools in the Downcounty Consortium.

“This [project] is related to not only the opening of the new Woodward, which is currently under construction, but also the rebuilding and expansion of Northwood [High School]. So, with that added capacity, it is necessitating the need to go through a boundary study process,” Adams said.

Funds were also approved for a facility upgrade and expansion of Silver Spring’s Northwood High School.

Well, what I heard from my friend at the central office was they were planning on opening a vocational magnet at Woodward to attract DCC kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the latest in the boundary studies? No more CAP at Blair when Woodward opens? Which ES boundaries are expected to change. Please post info or link to recent updates.

There are no recent updates. The latest timeline has Woodward opening in Fall 2027, and the boundary study happening in 2026. Currently there are no elementary schools included in the scope, only middle and high schools.

Woodward is where CAP is headed. One of the reasons that Woodward's reopening was green-lighted was to relieve chronic overcrowding in the DCC, not just pacify westside parents concerned with a few portables at Walter Johnson. (That would have looked too unfair, right?)

Blair is overenrolled and one way to relieve its overcrowding is to take a reliably consistent number of students (CAP cohorts = 75 students per year) and move it to Woodward, once Woodward reopens.

A faux study will be conducted to determine if this is a good idea, but it will turn out to be a good idea.

Takoma Park parents, you better start organizing now - maybe if you push really hard for a persistent amount of time, you can change things.

Here's a link referencing the issue. Don't let the word salad injection about Northwood HS overcrowding deceive you. How would you pull a cohort from any of the DCC HS geographical catchment areas to attend Woodward? You couldn't guarantee the numbers. It's going to be Blair's CAP:

https://moco360.media/2023/02/28/burtonsville-elementary-to-relocate-woodward-high-opening-planned-for-2026-school-board-says/#:~:text=Woodward%20High%20School.,schools%20in%20the%20Downcounty%20Consortium.

The school board then discussed the boundary scope for the reopening of Charles W. Woodward High School. Funds were approved to reopen the school to address crowding at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda and high schools in the Downcounty Consortium.

“This [project] is related to not only the opening of the new Woodward, which is currently under construction, but also the rebuilding and expansion of Northwood [High School]. So, with that added capacity, it is necessitating the need to go through a boundary study process,” Adams said.

Funds were also approved for a facility upgrade and expansion of Silver Spring’s Northwood High School.

Again, other than your interpretation, what’s the evidence moving CAP is under consideration? Is there anything in the minutes of a school board meeting, for instance?

The linked article only discusses boundary studies, with no mention of special programs—which. as a PP correctly noted—are not part of the boundary study’s parameters.

There are no school board minutes because the BOE doesn't have minutes. For anything. It's pretty atrocious. The BOE and MCPS enjoy the lack of accountability.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/minutes-and-agendas

back at ya

"All minutes and agenda documents are available as PDFs": except they aren't

"Search" function: non-functional -- literally a link back to the minutes-and-agendas page

"Minutes": undetailed/uninformative, when posted, and pretty much might as well be go look through the meeting video, yourself, with the standard disclaimer --

"The video/audio recordings of the Board of Education hearing are the official record of the hearing and can be viewed at: https://mcpsmd.new.swagit.com/videos/[video number].

The following summary is for informational purposes only. If there is any discrepancy between the video and this summary, the video, which constitutes the minutes of the meeting, shall control. Other matters addressed by or discussed during the hearing are available in the video/audio recordings."

Availability: not timely --

"Approved minutes for Board of Education meetings may not be readily available on this site due to the time involved in their preparation. Summaries of actions taken at recent meetings are available under Public Announcements or via the Past Meeting Viewer.

To obtain minutes of recent meetings, please contact the Board of Education Office at [phone]."

That one BOE admin is furiously transcribing for every call that comes in. No? They are pointing folks back to the website/videos as the official minutes? Oh...

They have the closed captioning, but can't post that as a separate file to let folks search the text, themselves? Aw, shucks...

And those MCPS slide presentations? Half of them (usually the ones folks want) are "oral discussion" and aren't posted with the agenda? Darn...

And the follow-ups/"informational summaries" that MCPS is supposed to provide the BOE the few times they ask an incisive question and are told, "We'll get back to you on that"? They aren't meaningfully or intuitively linked, only mentioned as having been provided? Drat...

Now, go find us an MCPS link where the average citizen can specify a time-frame, input "boundary study" and read through the text (or even get a set of links to watch only relevant portions of videos) of all BOE discussions on the matter.

And pull up all associated MCPS communications/presentations to the BOE in downloadable, word-searchable and copy/paste-able form without a login restriction.

Then feel free to roll your eyes again.

So all that to say that the information is actual available just now how you want it.

You’re welcome to let the county council know that the BOE needs budget for fulltime staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the latest in the boundary studies? No more CAP at Blair when Woodward opens? Which ES boundaries are expected to change. Please post info or link to recent updates.

There are no recent updates. The latest timeline has Woodward opening in Fall 2027, and the boundary study happening in 2026. Currently there are no elementary schools included in the scope, only middle and high schools.

Woodward is where CAP is headed. One of the reasons that Woodward's reopening was green-lighted was to relieve chronic overcrowding in the DCC, not just pacify westside parents concerned with a few portables at Walter Johnson. (That would have looked too unfair, right?)

Blair is overenrolled and one way to relieve its overcrowding is to take a reliably consistent number of students (CAP cohorts = 75 students per year) and move it to Woodward, once Woodward reopens.

A faux study will be conducted to determine if this is a good idea, but it will turn out to be a good idea.

Takoma Park parents, you better start organizing now - maybe if you push really hard for a persistent amount of time, you can change things.

Here's a link referencing the issue. Don't let the word salad injection about Northwood HS overcrowding deceive you. How would you pull a cohort from any of the DCC HS geographical catchment areas to attend Woodward? You couldn't guarantee the numbers. It's going to be Blair's CAP:

https://moco360.media/2023/02/28/burtonsville-elementary-to-relocate-woodward-high-opening-planned-for-2026-school-board-says/#:~:text=Woodward%20High%20School.,schools%20in%20the%20Downcounty%20Consortium.

The school board then discussed the boundary scope for the reopening of Charles W. Woodward High School. Funds were approved to reopen the school to address crowding at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda and high schools in the Downcounty Consortium.

“This [project] is related to not only the opening of the new Woodward, which is currently under construction, but also the rebuilding and expansion of Northwood [High School]. So, with that added capacity, it is necessitating the need to go through a boundary study process,” Adams said.

Funds were also approved for a facility upgrade and expansion of Silver Spring’s Northwood High School.

Again, other than your interpretation, what’s the evidence moving CAP is under consideration? Is there anything in the minutes of a school board meeting, for instance?

The linked article only discusses boundary studies, with no mention of special programs—which. as a PP correctly noted—are not part of the boundary study’s parameters.

There are no school board minutes because the BOE doesn't have minutes. For anything. It's pretty atrocious. The BOE and MCPS enjoy the lack of accountability.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/minutes-and-agendas

back at ya

"All minutes and agenda documents are available as PDFs": except they aren't

"Search" function: non-functional -- literally a link back to the minutes-and-agendas page

"Minutes": undetailed/uninformative, when posted, and pretty much might as well be go look through the meeting video, yourself, with the standard disclaimer --

"The video/audio recordings of the Board of Education hearing are the official record of the hearing and can be viewed at: https://mcpsmd.new.swagit.com/videos/[video number].

The following summary is for informational purposes only. If there is any discrepancy between the video and this summary, the video, which constitutes the minutes of the meeting, shall control. Other matters addressed by or discussed during the hearing are available in the video/audio recordings."

Availability: not timely --

"Approved minutes for Board of Education meetings may not be readily available on this site due to the time involved in their preparation. Summaries of actions taken at recent meetings are available under Public Announcements or via the Past Meeting Viewer.

To obtain minutes of recent meetings, please contact the Board of Education Office at [phone]."

That one BOE admin is furiously transcribing for every call that comes in. No? They are pointing folks back to the website/videos as the official minutes? Oh...

They have the closed captioning, but can't post that as a separate file to let folks search the text, themselves? Aw, shucks...

And those MCPS slide presentations? Half of them (usually the ones folks want) are "oral discussion" and aren't posted with the agenda? Darn...

And the follow-ups/"informational summaries" that MCPS is supposed to provide the BOE the few times they ask an incisive question and are told, "We'll get back to you on that"? They aren't meaningfully or intuitively linked, only mentioned as having been provided? Drat...

Now, go find us an MCPS link where the average citizen can specify a time-frame, input "boundary study" and read through the text (or even get a set of links to watch only relevant portions of videos) of all BOE discussions on the matter.

And pull up all associated MCPS communications/presentations to the BOE in downloadable, word-searchable and copy/paste-able form without a login restriction.

Then feel free to roll your eyes again.

So all that to say that the information is actual available just now how you want it.

You’re welcome to let the county council know that the BOE needs budget for fulltime staff.

The last thing MCPS needs is more staff. It's bloated already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the latest in the boundary studies? No more CAP at Blair when Woodward opens? Which ES boundaries are expected to change. Please post info or link to recent updates.

There are no recent updates. The latest timeline has Woodward opening in Fall 2027, and the boundary study happening in 2026. Currently there are no elementary schools included in the scope, only middle and high schools.

Woodward is where CAP is headed. One of the reasons that Woodward's reopening was green-lighted was to relieve chronic overcrowding in the DCC, not just pacify westside parents concerned with a few portables at Walter Johnson. (That would have looked too unfair, right?)

Blair is overenrolled and one way to relieve its overcrowding is to take a reliably consistent number of students (CAP cohorts = 75 students per year) and move it to Woodward, once Woodward reopens.

A faux study will be conducted to determine if this is a good idea, but it will turn out to be a good idea.

Takoma Park parents, you better start organizing now - maybe if you push really hard for a persistent amount of time, you can change things.

Here's a link referencing the issue. Don't let the word salad injection about Northwood HS overcrowding deceive you. How would you pull a cohort from any of the DCC HS geographical catchment areas to attend Woodward? You couldn't guarantee the numbers. It's going to be Blair's CAP:

https://moco360.media/2023/02/28/burtonsville-elementary-to-relocate-woodward-high-opening-planned-for-2026-school-board-says/#:~:text=Woodward%20High%20School.,schools%20in%20the%20Downcounty%20Consortium.

The school board then discussed the boundary scope for the reopening of Charles W. Woodward High School. Funds were approved to reopen the school to address crowding at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda and high schools in the Downcounty Consortium.

“This [project] is related to not only the opening of the new Woodward, which is currently under construction, but also the rebuilding and expansion of Northwood [High School]. So, with that added capacity, it is necessitating the need to go through a boundary study process,” Adams said.

Funds were also approved for a facility upgrade and expansion of Silver Spring’s Northwood High School.

Again, other than your interpretation, what’s the evidence moving CAP is under consideration? Is there anything in the minutes of a school board meeting, for instance?

The linked article only discusses boundary studies, with no mention of special programs—which. as a PP correctly noted—are not part of the boundary study’s parameters.

There are no school board minutes because the BOE doesn't have minutes. For anything. It's pretty atrocious. The BOE and MCPS enjoy the lack of accountability.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/minutes-and-agendas

back at ya

"All minutes and agenda documents are available as PDFs": except they aren't

"Search" function: non-functional -- literally a link back to the minutes-and-agendas page

"Minutes": undetailed/uninformative, when posted, and pretty much might as well be go look through the meeting video, yourself, with the standard disclaimer --

"The video/audio recordings of the Board of Education hearing are the official record of the hearing and can be viewed at: https://mcpsmd.new.swagit.com/videos/[video number].

The following summary is for informational purposes only. If there is any discrepancy between the video and this summary, the video, which constitutes the minutes of the meeting, shall control. Other matters addressed by or discussed during the hearing are available in the video/audio recordings."

Availability: not timely --

"Approved minutes for Board of Education meetings may not be readily available on this site due to the time involved in their preparation. Summaries of actions taken at recent meetings are available under Public Announcements or via the Past Meeting Viewer.

To obtain minutes of recent meetings, please contact the Board of Education Office at [phone]."

That one BOE admin is furiously transcribing for every call that comes in. No? They are pointing folks back to the website/videos as the official minutes? Oh...

They have the closed captioning, but can't post that as a separate file to let folks search the text, themselves? Aw, shucks...

And those MCPS slide presentations? Half of them (usually the ones folks want) are "oral discussion" and aren't posted with the agenda? Darn...

And the follow-ups/"informational summaries" that MCPS is supposed to provide the BOE the few times they ask an incisive question and are told, "We'll get back to you on that"? They aren't meaningfully or intuitively linked, only mentioned as having been provided? Drat...

Now, go find us an MCPS link where the average citizen can specify a time-frame, input "boundary study" and read through the text (or even get a set of links to watch only relevant portions of videos) of all BOE discussions on the matter.

And pull up all associated MCPS communications/presentations to the BOE in downloadable, word-searchable and copy/paste-able form without a login restriction.

Then feel free to roll your eyes again.

So all that to say that the information is actual available just now how you want it.

You’re welcome to let the county council know that the BOE needs budget for fulltime staff.

Sigh. Someone complained about minutes and you (or someone you are supporting, here) posted a link to the minutes page with an eye roll, as though that solved the problem. A more responsible and less slanted-to-apologize-for-a-clear-MCPS-shortcoming post would present the link without the eye roll and with caveats, perhaps not as detailed as I provided, but enough to acknowledge the difficulty in obtaining related information that engendered that prior post.

So, yup. All that to point out how Byzantinely difficult the information they do put out is to access. They have no problem posting prepared & submitted public testimony. Why the "oral discussion" designation of many topics other than to keep MCPS presentation material difficult for others to review? Are we supposed to believe MCPS staff are unfamiliar with "save as PDF" functions? That's just one example.

And nope. As pointed out, much of the information isn't available. Where are the follow-ups linked for public access? Again, just one example.

And yes, the BOE needs a staff to support their activities across this rather large enterprise. They also should have a salary reflective both of the effort required to fulfill the public-interest oversight role and public expectation and of the capabilities of candidates desired by the electorate. The County Council clearly doesn't want either, preferring the yes-person/rubber-stamp-dominant makeup that effectively ensures compliance with their own aims instead of independent obligation to the population of the County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the latest in the boundary studies? No more CAP at Blair when Woodward opens? Which ES boundaries are expected to change. Please post info or link to recent updates.

There are no recent updates. The latest timeline has Woodward opening in Fall 2027, and the boundary study happening in 2026. Currently there are no elementary schools included in the scope, only middle and high schools.

Woodward is where CAP is headed. One of the reasons that Woodward's reopening was green-lighted was to relieve chronic overcrowding in the DCC, not just pacify westside parents concerned with a few portables at Walter Johnson. (That would have looked too unfair, right?)

Blair is overenrolled and one way to relieve its overcrowding is to take a reliably consistent number of students (CAP cohorts = 75 students per year) and move it to Woodward, once Woodward reopens.

A faux study will be conducted to determine if this is a good idea, but it will turn out to be a good idea.

Takoma Park parents, you better start organizing now - maybe if you push really hard for a persistent amount of time, you can change things.

Here's a link referencing the issue. Don't let the word salad injection about Northwood HS overcrowding deceive you. How would you pull a cohort from any of the DCC HS geographical catchment areas to attend Woodward? You couldn't guarantee the numbers. It's going to be Blair's CAP:

https://moco360.media/2023/02/28/burtonsville-elementary-to-relocate-woodward-high-opening-planned-for-2026-school-board-says/#:~:text=Woodward%20High%20School.,schools%20in%20the%20Downcounty%20Consortium.

The school board then discussed the boundary scope for the reopening of Charles W. Woodward High School. Funds were approved to reopen the school to address crowding at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda and high schools in the Downcounty Consortium.

“This [project] is related to not only the opening of the new Woodward, which is currently under construction, but also the rebuilding and expansion of Northwood [High School]. So, with that added capacity, it is necessitating the need to go through a boundary study process,” Adams said.

Funds were also approved for a facility upgrade and expansion of Silver Spring’s Northwood High School.

Again, other than your interpretation, what’s the evidence moving CAP is under consideration? Is there anything in the minutes of a school board meeting, for instance?

The linked article only discusses boundary studies, with no mention of special programs—which. as a PP correctly noted—are not part of the boundary study’s parameters.

There are no school board minutes because the BOE doesn't have minutes. For anything. It's pretty atrocious. The BOE and MCPS enjoy the lack of accountability.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/minutes-and-agendas

back at ya

"All minutes and agenda documents are available as PDFs": except they aren't

"Search" function: non-functional -- literally a link back to the minutes-and-agendas page

"Minutes": undetailed/uninformative, when posted, and pretty much might as well be go look through the meeting video, yourself, with the standard disclaimer --

"The video/audio recordings of the Board of Education hearing are the official record of the hearing and can be viewed at: https://mcpsmd.new.swagit.com/videos/[video number].

The following summary is for informational purposes only. If there is any discrepancy between the video and this summary, the video, which constitutes the minutes of the meeting, shall control. Other matters addressed by or discussed during the hearing are available in the video/audio recordings."

Availability: not timely --

"Approved minutes for Board of Education meetings may not be readily available on this site due to the time involved in their preparation. Summaries of actions taken at recent meetings are available under Public Announcements or via the Past Meeting Viewer.

To obtain minutes of recent meetings, please contact the Board of Education Office at [phone]."

That one BOE admin is furiously transcribing for every call that comes in. No? They are pointing folks back to the website/videos as the official minutes? Oh...

They have the closed captioning, but can't post that as a separate file to let folks search the text, themselves? Aw, shucks...

And those MCPS slide presentations? Half of them (usually the ones folks want) are "oral discussion" and aren't posted with the agenda? Darn...

And the follow-ups/"informational summaries" that MCPS is supposed to provide the BOE the few times they ask an incisive question and are told, "We'll get back to you on that"? They aren't meaningfully or intuitively linked, only mentioned as having been provided? Drat...

Now, go find us an MCPS link where the average citizen can specify a time-frame, input "boundary study" and read through the text (or even get a set of links to watch only relevant portions of videos) of all BOE discussions on the matter.

And pull up all associated MCPS communications/presentations to the BOE in downloadable, word-searchable and copy/paste-able form without a login restriction.

Then feel free to roll your eyes again.

So all that to say that the information is actual available just now how you want it.

You’re welcome to let the county council know that the BOE needs budget for fulltime staff.

The last thing MCPS needs is more staff. It's bloated already.

The BoE, which is a separate organization from MCPS, actually does need more staff. The BoE is supposed to direct MCPS, but they can't do it without staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the latest in the boundary studies? No more CAP at Blair when Woodward opens? Which ES boundaries are expected to change. Please post info or link to recent updates.

There are no recent updates. The latest timeline has Woodward opening in Fall 2027, and the boundary study happening in 2026. Currently there are no elementary schools included in the scope, only middle and high schools.

Woodward is where CAP is headed. One of the reasons that Woodward's reopening was green-lighted was to relieve chronic overcrowding in the DCC, not just pacify westside parents concerned with a few portables at Walter Johnson. (That would have looked too unfair, right?)

Blair is overenrolled and one way to relieve its overcrowding is to take a reliably consistent number of students (CAP cohorts = 75 students per year) and move it to Woodward, once Woodward reopens.

A faux study will be conducted to determine if this is a good idea, but it will turn out to be a good idea.

Takoma Park parents, you better start organizing now - maybe if you push really hard for a persistent amount of time, you can change things.

Here's a link referencing the issue. Don't let the word salad injection about Northwood HS overcrowding deceive you. How would you pull a cohort from any of the DCC HS geographical catchment areas to attend Woodward? You couldn't guarantee the numbers. It's going to be Blair's CAP:

https://moco360.media/2023/02/28/burtonsville-elementary-to-relocate-woodward-high-opening-planned-for-2026-school-board-says/#:~:text=Woodward%20High%20School.,schools%20in%20the%20Downcounty%20Consortium.

The school board then discussed the boundary scope for the reopening of Charles W. Woodward High School. Funds were approved to reopen the school to address crowding at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda and high schools in the Downcounty Consortium.

“This [project] is related to not only the opening of the new Woodward, which is currently under construction, but also the rebuilding and expansion of Northwood [High School]. So, with that added capacity, it is necessitating the need to go through a boundary study process,” Adams said.

Funds were also approved for a facility upgrade and expansion of Silver Spring’s Northwood High School.

Again, other than your interpretation, what’s the evidence moving CAP is under consideration? Is there anything in the minutes of a school board meeting, for instance?

The linked article only discusses boundary studies, with no mention of special programs—which. as a PP correctly noted—are not part of the boundary study’s parameters.

There are no school board minutes because the BOE doesn't have minutes. For anything. It's pretty atrocious. The BOE and MCPS enjoy the lack of accountability.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/minutes-and-agendas

back at ya

"All minutes and agenda documents are available as PDFs": except they aren't

"Search" function: non-functional -- literally a link back to the minutes-and-agendas page

"Minutes": undetailed/uninformative, when posted, and pretty much might as well be go look through the meeting video, yourself, with the standard disclaimer --

"The video/audio recordings of the Board of Education hearing are the official record of the hearing and can be viewed at: https://mcpsmd.new.swagit.com/videos/[video number].

The following summary is for informational purposes only. If there is any discrepancy between the video and this summary, the video, which constitutes the minutes of the meeting, shall control. Other matters addressed by or discussed during the hearing are available in the video/audio recordings."

Availability: not timely --

"Approved minutes for Board of Education meetings may not be readily available on this site due to the time involved in their preparation. Summaries of actions taken at recent meetings are available under Public Announcements or via the Past Meeting Viewer.

To obtain minutes of recent meetings, please contact the Board of Education Office at [phone]."

That one BOE admin is furiously transcribing for every call that comes in. No? They are pointing folks back to the website/videos as the official minutes? Oh...

They have the closed captioning, but can't post that as a separate file to let folks search the text, themselves? Aw, shucks...

And those MCPS slide presentations? Half of them (usually the ones folks want) are "oral discussion" and aren't posted with the agenda? Darn...

And the follow-ups/"informational summaries" that MCPS is supposed to provide the BOE the few times they ask an incisive question and are told, "We'll get back to you on that"? They aren't meaningfully or intuitively linked, only mentioned as having been provided? Drat...

Now, go find us an MCPS link where the average citizen can specify a time-frame, input "boundary study" and read through the text (or even get a set of links to watch only relevant portions of videos) of all BOE discussions on the matter.

And pull up all associated MCPS communications/presentations to the BOE in downloadable, word-searchable and copy/paste-able form without a login restriction.

Then feel free to roll your eyes again.

So all that to say that the information is actual available just now how you want it.

You’re welcome to let the county council know that the BOE needs budget for fulltime staff.

The last thing MCPS needs is more staff. It's bloated already.

The BoE, which is a separate organization from MCPS, actually does need more staff. The BoE is supposed to direct MCPS, but they can't do it without staff.

Then let's cut a few dozen useless positions from the central office and add a few staff positions for the BOE.

[Anonymous]

Followups are here:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/memorandum/

They seem to post them in batches periodically

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the latest in the boundary studies? No more CAP at Blair when Woodward opens? Which ES boundaries are expected to change. Please post info or link to recent updates.

There are no recent updates. The latest timeline has Woodward opening in Fall 2027, and the boundary study happening in 2026. Currently there are no elementary schools included in the scope, only middle and high schools.

Woodward is where CAP is headed. One of the reasons that Woodward's reopening was green-lighted was to relieve chronic overcrowding in the DCC, not just pacify westside parents concerned with a few portables at Walter Johnson. (That would have looked too unfair, right?)

Blair is overenrolled and one way to relieve its overcrowding is to take a reliably consistent number of students (CAP cohorts = 75 students per year) and move it to Woodward, once Woodward reopens.

A faux study will be conducted to determine if this is a good idea, but it will turn out to be a good idea.

Takoma Park parents, you better start organizing now - maybe if you push really hard for a persistent amount of time, you can change things.

Here's a link referencing the issue. Don't let the word salad injection about Northwood HS overcrowding deceive you. How would you pull a cohort from any of the DCC HS geographical catchment areas to attend Woodward? You couldn't guarantee the numbers. It's going to be Blair's CAP:

https://moco360.media/2023/02/28/burtonsville-elementary-to-relocate-woodward-high-opening-planned-for-2026-school-board-says/#:~:text=Woodward%20High%20School.,schools%20in%20the%20Downcounty%20Consortium.

The school board then discussed the boundary scope for the reopening of Charles W. Woodward High School. Funds were approved to reopen the school to address crowding at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda and high schools in the Downcounty Consortium.

“This [project] is related to not only the opening of the new Woodward, which is currently under construction, but also the rebuilding and expansion of Northwood [High School]. So, with that added capacity, it is necessitating the need to go through a boundary study process,” Adams said.

Funds were also approved for a facility upgrade and expansion of Silver Spring’s Northwood High School.

Again, other than your interpretation, what’s the evidence moving CAP is under consideration? Is there anything in the minutes of a school board meeting, for instance?

The linked article only discusses boundary studies, with no mention of special programs—which. as a PP correctly noted—are not part of the boundary study’s parameters.

There are no school board minutes because the BOE doesn't have minutes. For anything. It's pretty atrocious. The BOE and MCPS enjoy the lack of accountability.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/minutes-and-agendas

back at ya

"All minutes and agenda documents are available as PDFs": except they aren't

"Search" function: non-functional -- literally a link back to the minutes-and-agendas page

"Minutes": undetailed/uninformative, when posted, and pretty much might as well be go look through the meeting video, yourself, with the standard disclaimer --

"The video/audio recordings of the Board of Education hearing are the official record of the hearing and can be viewed at: https://mcpsmd.new.swagit.com/videos/[video number].

The following summary is for informational purposes only. If there is any discrepancy between the video and this summary, the video, which constitutes the minutes of the meeting, shall control. Other matters addressed by or discussed during the hearing are available in the video/audio recordings."

Availability: not timely --

"Approved minutes for Board of Education meetings may not be readily available on this site due to the time involved in their preparation. Summaries of actions taken at recent meetings are available under Public Announcements or via the Past Meeting Viewer.

To obtain minutes of recent meetings, please contact the Board of Education Office at [phone]."

That one BOE admin is furiously transcribing for every call that comes in. No? They are pointing folks back to the website/videos as the official minutes? Oh...

They have the closed captioning, but can't post that as a separate file to let folks search the text, themselves? Aw, shucks...

And those MCPS slide presentations? Half of them (usually the ones folks want) are "oral discussion" and aren't posted with the agenda? Darn...

And the follow-ups/"informational summaries" that MCPS is supposed to provide the BOE the few times they ask an incisive question and are told, "We'll get back to you on that"? They aren't meaningfully or intuitively linked, only mentioned as having been provided? Drat...

Now, go find us an MCPS link where the average citizen can specify a time-frame, input "boundary study" and read through the text (or even get a set of links to watch only relevant portions of videos) of all BOE discussions on the matter.

And pull up all associated MCPS communications/presentations to the BOE in downloadable, word-searchable and copy/paste-able form without a login restriction.

Then feel free to roll your eyes again.

So all that to say that the information is actual available just now how you want it.

You’re welcome to let the county council know that the BOE needs budget for fulltime staff.

The last thing MCPS needs is more staff. It's bloated already.

The BoE, which is a separate organization from MCPS, actually does need more staff. The BoE is supposed to direct MCPS, but they can't do it without staff.

Then let's cut a few dozen useless positions from the central office and add a few staff positions for the BOE.

I’d be all for this. I think the BOE has done a pretty poor job in oversight of MCPS and McKnight, so I’m no apologist, but they are just a bunch of part time people charged with overseeing a massive organization. MCPS just steam rolls them during every meeting because they don’t have the staff to dig into the volumes of data and presentations that they’re buried with. If McKnight can create new $200k central office positions at will and fill them with her cronies to protect herself (https://moco360.media/2024/02/01/principals-administrators-depart-as-mcps-faces-cronyism-accountability-concerns/) then why can’t the BOE get a few dedicated staffers? It would be a big part of the reform that’s clearly needed across the board.