Board of Education 9/4/2025 Board Work Session thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 6th testimony unveiled some interesting motivation from Taylor’s past in pushing the the secondary program analysis. Interesting…

Which was...?

Starting from 28:14, watch the video

Just that he made the same change in Stafford, his prior school system that is much smaller than MCPS (5 HSs, not 25).

Why is that a problem?

Because he's trying to make a model like they had in Stafford, which can work for a small school system, but its not going to work, especially how they are designing it for one 5 times the size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 6th testimony unveiled some interesting motivation from Taylor’s past in pushing the the secondary program analysis. Interesting…

Which was...?

Starting from 28:14, watch the video

Just that he made the same change in Stafford, his prior school system that is much smaller than MCPS (5 HSs, not 25).

Why is that a problem?

The lady testified made the key concerns very clear. First, he is trying to expand the same thing by 5X at the same time with the same timeframe. That's definitely too quick. Second, the previous county Taylor worked didn't have any magnet programs, let alone established county-wide ones that MCPS has for decades. Thirdly, previous board passed with 4:3, meaning that BOE there was also concerned and reluctant to give a green light. Last but not the least, the implementation rolled in only one year ago there. So basically he ran away from any potential credits or accountability. He will absolutely do the same thing after his term here.

Agree with the woman (starts around minute 28) to keep current humanities magnets criteria based, and that this plan cannot be half baked.

But I don’t see how equity can get worse than the current 400 seats for almost 52,000 students, over 40% from two high SES high schools.

Also, just because he is replicating the regional model from his former school district, does not mean that the regional model would not meet the needs of MCPS students. That is a strange argument. It’s additionally not relevant that his plan passed 4:3. So what, three people did not vote for his plan. And MCPS has stated it will keep the magnets and replicate them.

Where did you get these numbers? They are both wrong. It's ~ 720 SMCS seats (400 from Blair and 320 from Poolsville) for 45,000 HS students. The regional model will roughly double the total of STEM students (75*4*6), at the costs of tearing down the 2 national-renowned programs, chopping off half of the advanced courses, dilute the SMCS student make-up to 1/3 of it's current density, "inestimable" increase of transportation cost (according to Taylor), and lack of qualified specialized teachers which is very likely to happen due to the extremely tiny allocation of "training" budget. And I'm not touching IB or humanity programs at all.

Now let's talk about "equity" that the testimony discussed. Which region will rise to the top? Which region will suffer the most and sink even more? You can choose to be blind and deaf to the fact of exacerbated segregation this regional model will bring.

Oh forgot to mention, the future transportation will only occur between HS and HS. So poor students who live away from a HS will be automatically cut-off from any opportunity for criteria-based programs. You call this "equity"?

No the HS becomes a central stop just like is present now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 6th testimony unveiled some interesting motivation from Taylor’s past in pushing the the secondary program analysis. Interesting…

Which was...?

Starting from 28:14, watch the video

Just that he made the same change in Stafford, his prior school system that is much smaller than MCPS (5 HSs, not 25).

Why is that a problem?

The lady testified made the key concerns very clear. First, he is trying to expand the same thing by 5X at the same time with the same timeframe. That's definitely too quick. Second, the previous county Taylor worked didn't have any magnet programs, let alone established county-wide ones that MCPS has for decades. Thirdly, previous board passed with 4:3, meaning that BOE there was also concerned and reluctant to give a green light. Last but not the least, the implementation rolled in only one year ago there. So basically he ran away from any potential credits or accountability. He will absolutely do the same thing after his term here.

Agree with the woman (starts around minute 28) to keep current humanities magnets criteria based, and that this plan cannot be half baked.

But I don’t see how equity can get worse than the current 400 seats for almost 52,000 students, over 40% from two high SES high schools.

Also, just because he is replicating the regional model from his former school district, does not mean that the regional model would not meet the needs of MCPS students. That is a strange argument. It’s additionally not relevant that his plan passed 4:3. So what, three people did not vote for his plan. And MCPS has stated it will keep the magnets and replicate them.

Where did you get these numbers? They are both wrong. It's ~ 720 SMCS seats (400 from Blair and 320 from Poolsville) for 45,000 HS students. The regional model will roughly double the total of STEM students (75*4*6), at the costs of tearing down the 2 national-renowned programs, chopping off half of the advanced courses, dilute the SMCS student make-up to 1/3 of it's current density, "inestimable" increase of transportation cost (according to Taylor), and lack of qualified specialized teachers which is very likely to happen due to the extremely tiny allocation of "training" budget. And I'm not touching IB or humanity programs at all.

Now let's talk about "equity" that the testimony discussed. Which region will rise to the top? Which region will suffer the most and sink even more? You can choose to be blind and deaf to the fact of exacerbated segregation this regional model will bring.

Oh forgot to mention, the future transportation will only occur between HS and HS. So poor students who live away from a HS will be automatically cut-off from any opportunity for criteria-based programs. You call this "equity"?

No the HS becomes a central stop just like is present now.

No, right now there’s no transfer. Only magnet MSs transfer from a central stop at HS. Don’t pretend you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The testimony about the horrid state of Carver for central office employees was an embarrassment. MCPS has no shame.

The BOE spent a fortune renovating the MVA space at Gude drive which was already in newly renovated condition. Shame on them.

What else should they have done with the MVA space after it wasn't needed anymore for MVA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The testimony about the horrid state of Carver for central office employees was an embarrassment. MCPS has no shame.

The BOE spent a fortune renovating the MVA space at Gude drive which was already in newly renovated condition. Shame on them.

What else should they have done with the MVA space after it wasn't needed anymore for MVA?

They took it before they announced the closure. That was already a nice new space. The BOE can work from home and save money. Move carver into it maybe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The portion on the climate survey results was disappointing. The board members that were present took it way too easy on Moran for about a quarter of schools having very concerning results from staff and students.

Have they finally released the climate survey data from 24-25??

Supposedly it releases today, according to Dr. Addison.

Voila

https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

The response rates for parents and students show that filling out surveys is not an effective way to get feedback on the school experience. We are surveyed to death and are opting out or people don't bother with the surveys because they know MCPS won't do anything in response to the survey results. Or maybe it's a bit of both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The portion on the climate survey results was disappointing. The board members that were present took it way too easy on Moran for about a quarter of schools having very concerning results from staff and students.

Have they finally released the climate survey data from 24-25??

Supposedly it releases today, according to Dr. Addison.

Voila

https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

The response rates for parents and students show that filling out surveys is not an effective way to get feedback on the school experience. We are surveyed to death and are opting out or people don't bother with the surveys because they know MCPS won't do anything in response to the survey results. Or maybe it's a bit of both.

Some of us don't fill them out as they are meaningless and they don't listen to parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 6th testimony unveiled some interesting motivation from Taylor’s past in pushing the the secondary program analysis. Interesting…

I have been wondering what the deal is with Taylor - he is this extreme change agent, trying to push this system into massive changes when the quality of these changes is hurried and poor quality. Maybe he thinks he can do whatever he wants, with dismissiveness to the board, because of the chaos that resulted from McKnight and her firing. He may find that he is wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 6th testimony unveiled some interesting motivation from Taylor’s past in pushing the the secondary program analysis. Interesting…

Which was...?

Starting from 28:14, watch the video

Just that he made the same change in Stafford, his prior school system that is much smaller than MCPS (5 HSs, not 25).

Why is that a problem?

The lady testified made the key concerns very clear. First, he is trying to expand the same thing by 5X at the same time with the same timeframe. That's definitely too quick. Second, the previous county Taylor worked didn't have any magnet programs, let alone established county-wide ones that MCPS has for decades. Thirdly, previous board passed with 4:3, meaning that BOE there was also concerned and reluctant to give a green light. Last but not the least, the implementation rolled in only one year ago there. So basically he ran away from any potential credits or accountability. He will absolutely do the same thing after his term here.

Agree with the woman (starts around minute 28) to keep current humanities magnets criteria based, and that this plan cannot be half baked.

But I don’t see how equity can get worse than the current 400 seats for almost 52,000 students, over 40% from two high SES high schools.

Also, just because he is replicating the regional model from his former school district, does not mean that the regional model would not meet the needs of MCPS students. That is a strange argument. It’s additionally not relevant that his plan passed 4:3. So what, three people did not vote for his plan. And MCPS has stated it will keep the magnets and replicate them.

Where did you get these numbers? They are both wrong. It's ~ 720 SMCS seats (400 from Blair and 320 from Poolsville) for 45,000 HS students. The regional model will roughly double the total of STEM students (75*4*6), at the costs of tearing down the 2 national-renowned programs, chopping off half of the advanced courses, dilute the SMCS student make-up to 1/3 of it's current density, "inestimable" increase of transportation cost (according to Taylor), and lack of qualified specialized teachers which is very likely to happen due to the extremely tiny allocation of "training" budget. And I'm not touching IB or humanity programs at all.

Now let's talk about "equity" that the testimony discussed. Which region will rise to the top? Which region will suffer the most and sink even more? You can choose to be blind and deaf to the fact of exacerbated segregation this regional model will bring.

Oh forgot to mention, the future transportation will only occur between HS and HS. So poor students who live away from a HS will be automatically cut-off from any opportunity for criteria-based programs. You call this "equity"?

No the HS becomes a central stop just like is present now.

No, students from marginalized HS catchment areas lose access to magnets, which are being dismantled in favor of criteria-based programming in regional HS that will do better in west county, where highly capitalized students reside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m always curious how folks believe we can expand access without creating new programs and populating them elsewhere. Blair already has over 3K students. It’s not like we can just add more magnet seats there. And once we create a similar program elsewhere what is the purpose keeping them countywide?

If only it was that simple. Once the Taylor regional system is implemented, Wooten will become the new magnet program. Who knows what Blair educators will follow them there. We don't have that many highly specialized teachers - even Taylor admitted he doesn't know how many teachers want to highly specialize in magnet programming. And what, we are going to turn this on a dime, beginning in 2027? In a school district that is our size?

Wooten Cluster currently provides ~30% of Blair's SCSM magnet student cohort. They will be gone. Blair's Communications Arts Program will be downgraded from a criteria-based program to an interest-based program.

What does all this do to Blair? We likely will be moving Blair back towards the 1980s, when it was the most troubled high school in the county, with the lowest outcomes. And it will remain the largest high school in the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 6th testimony unveiled some interesting motivation from Taylor’s past in pushing the the secondary program analysis. Interesting…

Which was...?

Starting from 28:14, watch the video

Just that he made the same change in Stafford, his prior school system that is much smaller than MCPS (5 HSs, not 25).

Why is that a problem?

The lady testified made the key concerns very clear. First, he is trying to expand the same thing by 5X at the same time with the same timeframe. That's definitely too quick. Second, the previous county Taylor worked didn't have any magnet programs, let alone established county-wide ones that MCPS has for decades. Thirdly, previous board passed with 4:3, meaning that BOE there was also concerned and reluctant to give a green light. Last but not the least, the implementation rolled in only one year ago there. So basically he ran away from any potential credits or accountability. He will absolutely do the same thing after his term here.

Yes, it sounds like he got out of Dodge City right before high noon down in Stafford County. He has that warm, winning personality that must have looked really good after the toxic blast of McKnight.

Wonder how it is going in Stafford County...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m always curious how folks believe we can expand access without creating new programs and populating them elsewhere. Blair already has over 3K students. It’s not like we can just add more magnet seats there. And once we create a similar program elsewhere what is the purpose keeping them countywide?

If only it was that simple. Once the Taylor regional system is implemented, Wooten will become the new magnet program. Who knows what Blair educators will follow them there. We don't have that many highly specialized teachers - even Taylor admitted he doesn't know how many teachers want to highly specialize in magnet programming. And what, we are going to turn this on a dime, beginning in 2027? In a school district that is our size?

Wooten Cluster currently provides ~30% of Blair's SCSM magnet student cohort. They will be gone. Blair's Communications Arts Program will be downgraded from a criteria-based program to an interest-based program.

What does all this do to Blair? We likely will be moving Blair back towards the 1980s, when it was the most troubled high school in the county, with the lowest outcomes. And it will remain the largest high school in the system.

Blair as school will reflect the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m always curious how folks believe we can expand access without creating new programs and populating them elsewhere. Blair already has over 3K students. It’s not like we can just add more magnet seats there. And once we create a similar program elsewhere what is the purpose keeping them countywide?

If only it was that simple. Once the Taylor regional system is implemented, Wooten will become the new magnet program. Who knows what Blair educators will follow them there. We don't have that many highly specialized teachers - even Taylor admitted he doesn't know how many teachers want to highly specialize in magnet programming. And what, we are going to turn this on a dime, beginning in 2027? In a school district that is our size?

Wooten Cluster currently provides ~30% of Blair's SCSM magnet student cohort. They will be gone. Blair's Communications Arts Program will be downgraded from a criteria-based program to an interest-based program.

What does all this do to Blair? We likely will be moving Blair back towards the 1980s, when it was the most troubled high school in the county, with the lowest outcomes. And it will remain the largest high school in the system.

Blair as school will reflect the neighborhood.

ALL the high schools will reflect their neighborhoods. Taylor is doubling down to insist on a system that will further segregate MCPS schools. Given the likelihood that programs debuted in 2027 will be, at best, chaotic, people who have confidence in their home schools, will stay there. Everyone else, well, good luck.

[Anonymous]

Such a low response screams volumes.

[Anonymous]

Christine just set the stage for a nice class action lawsuit.