Serious Answers Only—How to Fix MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are kids who cost the county over $100k each year to educate who are troublemakers, ruin school for their classmates, don’t care about school, and their parents don’t care either. Expel 1 of them from every school and already there’s $10mil.

The kids that generate costs like that have profound disabilities. They are entitled by law to a public education. You should be ashamed of yourself.

They are not talking about special needs.

These children have special needs; they just don't have an IEP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Details of MCPS's letter to the three unions are included here, including more details about the potential RIF actions: https://montgomeryperspective.com/2024/05/23/will-mcps-implement-layoffs/

I completely agree with the "three crazy things" are the bottom of the blog post. This makes absolutely no sense. WTF is going on?

One can watch all the Fiscal a mgmt committee meetings and hear all the budget sessions
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/live/

You mean the one where they talk about how they blew $40 million in health insurance claims not covered by premiums?

Hmm…. I wasn’t aware that the MCPS employees were in favor of getting an additional 12% increase in their insurance premiums. But when updates on insurance and new contracts come out with less coverage and higher premiums I suppose staff will be cheering.

It's funny, I haven't heard of other school system's employee benefits funds being $40 million in the hole.

Premiums (which taxpayers pay the majority of) need to cover claims.That is not happening and that is not normal or okay.

On the health insurance point, please don't forget that this $40 million not covered by premiums happened after MCPS changed insurance plans, telling staff the change from Blue Cross to Cigna was meant to save money. How did we wind up $40 million in the hole after making a change that was supposed to save money? I really wish the County Council would go through MCPS' budget line by line and ask questions.

- Frustrated MCPS staff member, parent of MCPS students, and MoCo taxpayer

Here is where that $40 million overage came from: unanticipated high use of GLP-1 drugs - think Wegovy, Ozempic, Monjauro- by MCPS staff. The school district was caught unaware by these high upfront costs. It's better health for staff in the longterm, but the upfront costs are significant. MCPS is not the only public system to grapple with these costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Details of MCPS's letter to the three unions are included here, including more details about the potential RIF actions: https://montgomeryperspective.com/2024/05/23/will-mcps-implement-layoffs/

I completely agree with the "three crazy things" are the bottom of the blog post. This makes absolutely no sense. WTF is going on?

One can watch all the Fiscal a mgmt committee meetings and hear all the budget sessions
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/live/

You mean the one where they talk about how they blew $40 million in health insurance claims not covered by premiums?

Hmm…. I wasn’t aware that the MCPS employees were in favor of getting an additional 12% increase in their insurance premiums. But when updates on insurance and new contracts come out with less coverage and higher premiums I suppose staff will be cheering.

It's funny, I haven't heard of other school system's employee benefits funds being $40 million in the hole.

Premiums (which taxpayers pay the majority of) need to cover claims.That is not happening and that is not normal or okay.

On the health insurance point, please don't forget that this $40 million not covered by premiums happened after MCPS changed insurance plans, telling staff the change from Blue Cross to Cigna was meant to save money. How did we wind up $40 million in the hole after making a change that was supposed to save money? I really wish the County Council would go through MCPS' budget line by line and ask questions.

- Frustrated MCPS staff member, parent of MCPS students, and MoCo taxpayer

Here is where that $40 million overage came from: unanticipated high use of GLP-1 drugs - think Wegovy, Ozempic, Monjauro- by MCPS staff. The school district was caught unaware by these high upfront costs. It's better health for staff in the longterm, but the upfront costs are significant. MCPS is not the only public system to grapple with these costs.

Those drugs are not going to work long-term. Once you go off them you gain the weight right back. They're being inappropriately used.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are kids who cost the county over $100k each year to educate who are troublemakers, ruin school for their classmates, don’t care about school, and their parents don’t care either. Expel 1 of them from every school and already there’s $10mil.

The kids that generate costs like that have profound disabilities. They are entitled by law to a public education. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Children with disabilities absolutely deserve an education. Children who refuse to comply with right/wrong, who choose to disrupt class, who choose to bring drugs to school, who choose to physically hurt children and teachers- these kids do not belong in public schools, and they’re costing everyone $$$millions. Yes, taxpayers will eventually have to pay for their prison cell, but no use letting them drain the public school budget.

So-called troublemakers that aren't receiving services don't cost a lot. They would if they got the supports and services they need, but MCPS doesn't want to provide that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Details of MCPS's letter to the three unions are included here, including more details about the potential RIF actions: https://montgomeryperspective.com/2024/05/23/will-mcps-implement-layoffs/

I completely agree with the "three crazy things" are the bottom of the blog post. This makes absolutely no sense. WTF is going on?

One can watch all the Fiscal a mgmt committee meetings and hear all the budget sessions
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/live/

You mean the one where they talk about how they blew $40 million in health insurance claims not covered by premiums?

Hmm…. I wasn’t aware that the MCPS employees were in favor of getting an additional 12% increase in their insurance premiums. But when updates on insurance and new contracts come out with less coverage and higher premiums I suppose staff will be cheering.

It's funny, I haven't heard of other school system's employee benefits funds being $40 million in the hole.

Premiums (which taxpayers pay the majority of) need to cover claims.That is not happening and that is not normal or okay.

On the health insurance point, please don't forget that this $40 million not covered by premiums happened after MCPS changed insurance plans, telling staff the change from Blue Cross to Cigna was meant to save money. How did we wind up $40 million in the hole after making a change that was supposed to save money? I really wish the County Council would go through MCPS' budget line by line and ask questions.

- Frustrated MCPS staff member, parent of MCPS students, and MoCo taxpayer

Here is where that $40 million overage came from: unanticipated high use of GLP-1 drugs - think Wegovy, Ozempic, Monjauro- by MCPS staff. The school district was caught unaware by these high upfront costs. It's better health for staff in the longterm, but the upfront costs are significant. MCPS is not the only public system to grapple with these costs.

While GLP-1 drugs are one of the reasons the majority of the issues come from having an aging staff and delayed treatment due to the pandemic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Details of MCPS's letter to the three unions are included here, including more details about the potential RIF actions: https://montgomeryperspective.com/2024/05/23/will-mcps-implement-layoffs/

I completely agree with the "three crazy things" are the bottom of the blog post. This makes absolutely no sense. WTF is going on?

One can watch all the Fiscal a mgmt committee meetings and hear all the budget sessions
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/live/

You mean the one where they talk about how they blew $40 million in health insurance claims not covered by premiums?

Hmm…. I wasn’t aware that the MCPS employees were in favor of getting an additional 12% increase in their insurance premiums. But when updates on insurance and new contracts come out with less coverage and higher premiums I suppose staff will be cheering.

It's funny, I haven't heard of other school system's employee benefits funds being $40 million in the hole.

Premiums (which taxpayers pay the majority of) need to cover claims.That is not happening and that is not normal or okay.

On the health insurance point, please don't forget that this $40 million not covered by premiums happened after MCPS changed insurance plans, telling staff the change from Blue Cross to Cigna was meant to save money. How did we wind up $40 million in the hole after making a change that was supposed to save money? I really wish the County Council would go through MCPS' budget line by line and ask questions.

- Frustrated MCPS staff member, parent of MCPS students, and MoCo taxpayer

Here is where that $40 million overage came from: unanticipated high use of GLP-1 drugs - think Wegovy, Ozempic, Monjauro- by MCPS staff. The school district was caught unaware by these high upfront costs. It's better health for staff in the longterm, but the upfront costs are significant. MCPS is not the only public system to grapple with these costs.

While GLP-1 drugs are one of the reasons the majority of the issues come from having an aging staff and delayed treatment due to the pandemic

Yes, unfortunately the messed-up payscales are designed to keep the school system dependent on old teachers, since new teachers are paid so poorly to do the same job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Details of MCPS's letter to the three unions are included here, including more details about the potential RIF actions: https://montgomeryperspective.com/2024/05/23/will-mcps-implement-layoffs/

I completely agree with the "three crazy things" are the bottom of the blog post. This makes absolutely no sense. WTF is going on?

One can watch all the Fiscal a mgmt committee meetings and hear all the budget sessions
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/live/

You mean the one where they talk about how they blew $40 million in health insurance claims not covered by premiums?

Hmm…. I wasn’t aware that the MCPS employees were in favor of getting an additional 12% increase in their insurance premiums. But when updates on insurance and new contracts come out with less coverage and higher premiums I suppose staff will be cheering.

It's funny, I haven't heard of other school system's employee benefits funds being $40 million in the hole.

Premiums (which taxpayers pay the majority of) need to cover claims.That is not happening and that is not normal or okay.

On the health insurance point, please don't forget that this $40 million not covered by premiums happened after MCPS changed insurance plans, telling staff the change from Blue Cross to Cigna was meant to save money. How did we wind up $40 million in the hole after making a change that was supposed to save money? I really wish the County Council would go through MCPS' budget line by line and ask questions.

- Frustrated MCPS staff member, parent of MCPS students, and MoCo taxpayer

Here is where that $40 million overage came from: unanticipated high use of GLP-1 drugs - think Wegovy, Ozempic, Monjauro- by MCPS staff. The school district was caught unaware by these high upfront costs. It's better health for staff in the longterm, but the upfront costs are significant. MCPS is not the only public system to grapple with these costs.

Those drugs are not going to work long-term. Once you go off them you gain the weight right back. They're being inappropriately used.

People will stay on them, for as long as there is money to pay for them. Weight loss isn't inappropriate - these drugs are good for many of the problems associated with metabolic disorders, and for substance abuse as well. We just need to get the upfront costs down.

[Anonymous]

I think the entire administration of MCPS needs retraining in terms of efficiency and professionalism. They need an outside consultant to do this and they should fire / replace those unwilling to take part or unable to change as a result of the training.

Secondly the administration needs to be less influenced by parents. And the parents need to back the F off because they are causing the apathy amongst teachers and staff by bulldozing their demands on a constant basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Details of MCPS's letter to the three unions are included here, including more details about the potential RIF actions: https://montgomeryperspective.com/2024/05/23/will-mcps-implement-layoffs/

I completely agree with the "three crazy things" are the bottom of the blog post. This makes absolutely no sense. WTF is going on?

One can watch all the Fiscal a mgmt committee meetings and hear all the budget sessions
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/live/

You mean the one where they talk about how they blew $40 million in health insurance claims not covered by premiums?

Hmm…. I wasn’t aware that the MCPS employees were in favor of getting an additional 12% increase in their insurance premiums. But when updates on insurance and new contracts come out with less coverage and higher premiums I suppose staff will be cheering.

It's funny, I haven't heard of other school system's employee benefits funds being $40 million in the hole.

Premiums (which taxpayers pay the majority of) need to cover claims.That is not happening and that is not normal or okay.

On the health insurance point, please don't forget that this $40 million not covered by premiums happened after MCPS changed insurance plans, telling staff the change from Blue Cross to Cigna was meant to save money. How did we wind up $40 million in the hole after making a change that was supposed to save money? I really wish the County Council would go through MCPS' budget line by line and ask questions.

- Frustrated MCPS staff member, parent of MCPS students, and MoCo taxpayer

Here is where that $40 million overage came from: unanticipated high use of GLP-1 drugs - think Wegovy, Ozempic, Monjauro- by MCPS staff. The school district was caught unaware by these high upfront costs. It's better health for staff in the longterm, but the upfront costs are significant. MCPS is not the only public system to grapple with these costs.

Those drugs are not going to work long-term. Once you go off them you gain the weight right back. They're being inappropriately used.

People will stay on them, for as long as there is money to pay for them. Weight loss isn't inappropriate - these drugs are good for many of the problems associated with metabolic disorders, and for substance abuse as well. We just need to get the upfront costs down.

After all, why take personal responsibility when you can take a pill?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the entire administration of MCPS needs retraining in terms of efficiency and professionalism. They need an outside consultant to do this and they should fire / replace those unwilling to take part or unable to change as a result of the training.

Secondly the administration needs to be less influenced by parents. And the parents need to back the F off because they are causing the apathy amongst teachers and staff by bulldozing their demands on a constant basis.

I think you meant MCEA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS would be fine if more parents started parenting.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the entire administration of MCPS needs retraining in terms of efficiency and professionalism. They need an outside consultant to do this and they should fire / replace those unwilling to take part or unable to change as a result of the training.

Secondly the administration needs to be less influenced by parents. And the parents need to back the F off because they are causing the apathy amongst teachers and staff by bulldozing their demands on a constant basis.

I think you meant MCEA.

No. I’m not the PP but the professionalism of many staff is abhorrent. Coming from outside teaching into teaching in my 30s I struggled because my expectations on how adults should act in a professional setting was (still is) not the same as what’s in the schools. No training on leadership should be coming from in house. None.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Details of MCPS's letter to the three unions are included here, including more details about the potential RIF actions: https://montgomeryperspective.com/2024/05/23/will-mcps-implement-layoffs/

I completely agree with the "three crazy things" are the bottom of the blog post. This makes absolutely no sense. WTF is going on?

Everyone I know that takes it has diabetes. One guy had a stroke and was prescribed it to lose weight. Some staff stay one simply for health benefits that are basically keeping them or a family member alive.

One can watch all the Fiscal a mgmt committee meetings and hear all the budget sessions
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/live/

You mean the one where they talk about how they blew $40 million in health insurance claims not covered by premiums?

Hmm…. I wasn’t aware that the MCPS employees were in favor of getting an additional 12% increase in their insurance premiums. But when updates on insurance and new contracts come out with less coverage and higher premiums I suppose staff will be cheering.

It's funny, I haven't heard of other school system's employee benefits funds being $40 million in the hole.

Premiums (which taxpayers pay the majority of) need to cover claims.That is not happening and that is not normal or okay.

On the health insurance point, please don't forget that this $40 million not covered by premiums happened after MCPS changed insurance plans, telling staff the change from Blue Cross to Cigna was meant to save money. How did we wind up $40 million in the hole after making a change that was supposed to save money? I really wish the County Council would go through MCPS' budget line by line and ask questions.

- Frustrated MCPS staff member, parent of MCPS students, and MoCo taxpayer

Here is where that $40 million overage came from: unanticipated high use of GLP-1 drugs - think Wegovy, Ozempic, Monjauro- by MCPS staff. The school district was caught unaware by these high upfront costs. It's better health for staff in the longterm, but the upfront costs are significant. MCPS is not the only public system to grapple with these costs.

Those drugs are not going to work long-term. Once you go off them you gain the weight right back. They're being inappropriately used.

People will stay on them, for as long as there is money to pay for them. Weight loss isn't inappropriate - these drugs are good for many of the problems associated with metabolic disorders, and for substance abuse as well. We just need to get the upfront costs down.

After all, why take personal responsibility when you can take a pill?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Details of MCPS's letter to the three unions are included here, including more details about the potential RIF actions: https://montgomeryperspective.com/2024/05/23/will-mcps-implement-layoffs/

I completely agree with the "three crazy things" are the bottom of the blog post. This makes absolutely no sense. WTF is going on?

One can watch all the Fiscal a mgmt committee meetings and hear all the budget sessions
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/live/

You mean the one where they talk about how they blew $40 million in health insurance claims not covered by premiums?

Hmm…. I wasn’t aware that the MCPS employees were in favor of getting an additional 12% increase in their insurance premiums. But when updates on insurance and new contracts come out with less coverage and higher premiums I suppose staff will be cheering.

It's funny, I haven't heard of other school system's employee benefits funds being $40 million in the hole.

Premiums (which taxpayers pay the majority of) need to cover claims.That is not happening and that is not normal or okay.

On the health insurance point, please don't forget that this $40 million not covered by premiums happened after MCPS changed insurance plans, telling staff the change from Blue Cross to Cigna was meant to save money. How did we wind up $40 million in the hole after making a change that was supposed to save money? I really wish the County Council would go through MCPS' budget line by line and ask questions.

- Frustrated MCPS staff member, parent of MCPS students, and MoCo taxpayer

Here is where that $40 million overage came from: unanticipated high use of GLP-1 drugs - think Wegovy, Ozempic, Monjauro- by MCPS staff. The school district was caught unaware by these high upfront costs. It's better health for staff in the longterm, but the upfront costs are significant. MCPS is not the only public system to grapple with these costs.

While GLP-1 drugs are one of the reasons the majority of the issues come from having an aging staff and delayed treatment due to the pandemic

None of this is specific to MCPS. The deficit in the MCPS is uniquely large in MCPS compared with other county agencies (which include first responders) and other school systems. They also had a big deficit in FY23, so no, they weren't caught off guard.

[Anonymous]

Has someone already mentioned breaking up MCPS into 2 smaller districts? Coming from a state where the school districts are much smaller, I see challenges in MCPS that seem to be size-related.