$2M no bid contract to Joftus wife? BOE to approve on 9/8

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The memo that's posted says this contract is to expand the program to include elementary schools in addition to middle.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/CJ2UCW78A3B3/$file/STEM%20Enrichment%20Training%20REVISED.pdf

Thanks PR department. That's a brand new memo just posted this evening. Want to tell everyone why the entire memo has now been changed and why
there is still no mention of the wife of the board member being the CEO of this company?

For people who do not understand the difference between a company and a nonprofit, this thread had a more helpful and nuanced discussion than what we're seeing here on DCUM. (No, I am not the author of any of these tweets nor do I work for "MCPS PR")

Far from nuanced. Joftus' wife is a founder of KID Museum. She also sits on the Board of KID Museum. She pays herself a salary. Joftus himself is a consultant to the KID Museum.
KID Museum is a client of Joftus' company.

You keep making lots of vaguely sinister suggestions but there's no there there. When Joftus was selected by the board in late 2021, MCPS had already been contracting with Kid Museum for several years. He was asked to submit conflict of interest disclosures to be vetted before he was installed on the board. Do you have any evidence that he falsified those disclosures? Since being installed, he has repeatedly recused himself from votes dealing with Kid Museum. Do you have any evidence that he didn't recuse himself and did vote on any of their contracts? The onus is on you as the accuser to back up your insinuations with proof.

thank you. In this area, it is impossible to avoid spousal conflicts of interest. there are well-established ethics rules and practices to ensure that they are mitigated. as long as Joftus disclosed his interest in the contract and recused himself, these are all false allegations. Someone clearly has knives out for him.

Who's his opponent in November?

Good question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The memo that's posted says this contract is to expand the program to include elementary schools in addition to middle.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/CJ2UCW78A3B3/$file/STEM%20Enrichment%20Training%20REVISED.pdf

Thanks PR department. That's a brand new memo just posted this evening. Want to tell everyone why the entire memo has now been changed and why
there is still no mention of the wife of the board member being the CEO of this company?

For people who do not understand the difference between a company and a nonprofit, this thread had a more helpful and nuanced discussion than what we're seeing here on DCUM. (No, I am not the author of any of these tweets nor do I work for "MCPS PR")

Far from nuanced. Joftus' wife is a founder of KID Museum. She also sits on the Board of KID Museum. She pays herself a salary. Joftus himself is a consultant to the KID Museum.
KID Museum is a client of Joftus' company.

You keep making lots of vaguely sinister suggestions but there's no there there. When Joftus was selected by the board in late 2021, MCPS had already been contracting with Kid Museum for several years. He was asked to submit conflict of interest disclosures to be vetted before he was installed on the board. Do you have any evidence that he falsified those disclosures? Since being installed, he has repeatedly recused himself from votes dealing with Kid Museum. Do you have any evidence that he didn't recuse himself and did vote on any of their contracts? The onus is on you as the accuser to back up your insinuations with proof.

thank you. In this area, it is impossible to avoid spousal conflicts of interest. there are well-established ethics rules and practices to ensure that they are mitigated. as long as Joftus disclosed his interest in the contract and recused himself, these are all false allegations. Someone clearly has knives out for him.

Who's his opponent in November?

Good question

Julie Yang

[Anonymous]

In the Jan 18, 2022 memo from Joftus to BOE, it stated that his wife is an executive director of KID Museum and he is the co-founder and president of FourPoint Education Partners.

The first part about his wife role is clear.
Now the question is "Does FourPoint Education Partners" have any relationship with KID Museum?

If there is none, it would be good to know and transparent for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This disgusts me. What's the ROI in investing in this kids museum? If MC PS has money for that, they should have money to have a athletic trainer at every sports game. I just found out in my high school booster club meeting last night that we have a shortage of athletic trainers and that many of our schools don't have one this year I think I heard that only three high schools has an athletic trainer What happens if a student gets injured playing a sport? The athletic trainers are there to help them work through injuries, cramps, everything. MC PS is failing our student athletes.

MCPS is failing out students, period.

Yes, the money would be better served for so many other things - athletic trainers, teachers, paras. Anything.

This is a joke. Just one more way MCPS wastes taxpayer money. Business as usual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone else see this article? Is it true? Can the BOE just approve such a large contract without seeking other bids? Esp if it really is to a BOE spouse’s company?

https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2022/09/breaking-another-237m-to-company-of.html?m=1

It's such a wonderful asset so glad they're doing this for the kids!

What kind of other bids? In its defense, who else is doing what KID Museum is doing?

I don’t know anything about this except for what I read on here and next-door. But I will say there is no other place doing anything like this to request a bid from. It’s sole-source.

As to The question of general oversight for MCPS and they’re spending, I do think there needs to be less rubber stamping and more critical oversight.

+1 million

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This disgusts me. What's the ROI in investing in this kids museum? If MC PS has money for that, they should have money to have a athletic trainer at every sports game. I just found out in my high school booster club meeting last night that we have a shortage of athletic trainers and that many of our schools don't have one this year I think I heard that only three high schools has an athletic trainer What happens if a student gets injured playing a sport? The athletic trainers are there to help them work through injuries, cramps, everything. MC PS is failing our student athletes.

MCPS is failing out students, period.

Yes, the money would be better served for so many other things - athletic trainers, teachers, paras. Anything.

This is a joke. Just one more way MCPS wastes taxpayer money. Business as usual.

One poster said its $25K per school if each school was given the money. Another or the same poster said its $3K for a field trip (not sure how many kids that includes or what). That could pay for multiple field trips if that's what they want the money used for. With this organization, MCPS schools still have to pay regular fees AND not all schools, like ours have that kind of money AND they don't do fee waives for MCPS schools (I tried).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The memo that's posted says this contract is to expand the program to include elementary schools in addition to middle.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/CJ2UCW78A3B3/$file/STEM%20Enrichment%20Training%20REVISED.pdf

Thanks PR department. That's a brand new memo just posted this evening. Want to tell everyone why the entire memo has now been changed and why
there is still no mention of the wife of the board member being the CEO of this company?

For people who do not understand the difference between a company and a nonprofit, this thread had a more helpful and nuanced discussion than what we're seeing here on DCUM. (No, I am not the author of any of these tweets nor do I work for "MCPS PR")

Far from nuanced. Joftus' wife is a founder of KID Museum. She also sits on the Board of KID Museum. She pays herself a salary. Joftus himself is a consultant to the KID Museum.
KID Museum is a client of Joftus' company.

You keep making lots of vaguely sinister suggestions but there's no there there. When Joftus was selected by the board in late 2021, MCPS had already been contracting with Kid Museum for several years. He was asked to submit conflict of interest disclosures to be vetted before he was installed on the board. Do you have any evidence that he falsified those disclosures? Since being installed, he has repeatedly recused himself from votes dealing with Kid Museum. Do you have any evidence that he didn't recuse himself and did vote on any of their contracts? The onus is on you as the accuser to back up your insinuations with proof.

thank you. In this area, it is impossible to avoid spousal conflicts of interest. there are well-established ethics rules and practices to ensure that they are mitigated. as long as Joftus disclosed his interest in the contract and recused himself, these are all false allegations. Someone clearly has knives out for him.

That's why procurements are put out for competitive bids. Get it? Put out the RFP, let companies bid and avoid handing out millions to your family members under a cloud.

The memo from McKnight said KID Museum was the lowest bidder. There weren't any other bids. Those are facts.

[Anonymous]

Here are the costs for the virtual program - seems high for a virtual program and no supplies provided:
https://kid-museum.org/virtual-field-trips/
Pricing: $10 per student with a minimum payment of $150 which includes up to 15 students. Title I schools are eligible for a 25% discount.

No information on the cost of the regular one:
https://kid-museum.org/field-trips/

And, you have to include bus transportation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The memo that's posted says this contract is to expand the program to include elementary schools in addition to middle.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/CJ2UCW78A3B3/$file/STEM%20Enrichment%20Training%20REVISED.pdf

Thanks PR department. That's a brand new memo just posted this evening. Want to tell everyone why the entire memo has now been changed and why
there is still no mention of the wife of the board member being the CEO of this company?

For people who do not understand the difference between a company and a nonprofit, this thread had a more helpful and nuanced discussion than what we're seeing here on DCUM. (No, I am not the author of any of these tweets nor do I work for "MCPS PR")

Far from nuanced. Joftus' wife is a founder of KID Museum. She also sits on the Board of KID Museum. She pays herself a salary. Joftus himself is a consultant to the KID Museum.
KID Museum is a client of Joftus' company.

You keep making lots of vaguely sinister suggestions but there's no there there. When Joftus was selected by the board in late 2021, MCPS had already been contracting with Kid Museum for several years. He was asked to submit conflict of interest disclosures to be vetted before he was installed on the board. Do you have any evidence that he falsified those disclosures? Since being installed, he has repeatedly recused himself from votes dealing with Kid Museum. Do you have any evidence that he didn't recuse himself and did vote on any of their contracts? The onus is on you as the accuser to back up your insinuations with proof.

thank you. In this area, it is impossible to avoid spousal conflicts of interest. there are well-established ethics rules and practices to ensure that they are mitigated. as long as Joftus disclosed his interest in the contract and recused himself, these are all false allegations. Someone clearly has knives out for him.

That's why procurements are put out for competitive bids. Get it? Put out the RFP, let companies bid and avoid handing out millions to your family members under a cloud.

The memo from McKnight said KID Museum was the lowest bidder. There weren't any other bids. Those are facts.

Ya I really don't see the problem here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The memo that's posted says this contract is to expand the program to include elementary schools in addition to middle.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/CJ2UCW78A3B3/$file/STEM%20Enrichment%20Training%20REVISED.pdf

Thanks PR department. That's a brand new memo just posted this evening. Want to tell everyone why the entire memo has now been changed and why
there is still no mention of the wife of the board member being the CEO of this company?

For people who do not understand the difference between a company and a nonprofit, this thread had a more helpful and nuanced discussion than what we're seeing here on DCUM. (No, I am not the author of any of these tweets nor do I work for "MCPS PR")

Far from nuanced. Joftus' wife is a founder of KID Museum. She also sits on the Board of KID Museum. She pays herself a salary. Joftus himself is a consultant to the KID Museum.
KID Museum is a client of Joftus' company.

You keep making lots of vaguely sinister suggestions but there's no there there. When Joftus was selected by the board in late 2021, MCPS had already been contracting with Kid Museum for several years. He was asked to submit conflict of interest disclosures to be vetted before he was installed on the board. Do you have any evidence that he falsified those disclosures? Since being installed, he has repeatedly recused himself from votes dealing with Kid Museum. Do you have any evidence that he didn't recuse himself and did vote on any of their contracts? The onus is on you as the accuser to back up your insinuations with proof.

thank you. In this area, it is impossible to avoid spousal conflicts of interest. there are well-established ethics rules and practices to ensure that they are mitigated. as long as Joftus disclosed his interest in the contract and recused himself, these are all false allegations. Someone clearly has knives out for him.

That's why procurements are put out for competitive bids. Get it? Put out the RFP, let companies bid and avoid handing out millions to your family members under a cloud.

The memo from McKnight said KID Museum was the lowest bidder. There weren't any other bids. Those are facts.

Ya I really don't see the problem here.

Yes, lies are fun!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This disgusts me. What's the ROI in investing in this kids museum? If MC PS has money for that, they should have money to have a athletic trainer at every sports game. I just found out in my high school booster club meeting last night that we have a shortage of athletic trainers and that many of our schools don't have one this year I think I heard that only three high schools has an athletic trainer What happens if a student gets injured playing a sport? The athletic trainers are there to help them work through injuries, cramps, everything. MC PS is failing our student athletes.

MCPS is failing out students, period.

Yes, the money would be better served for so many other things - athletic trainers, teachers, paras. Anything.

This is a joke. Just one more way MCPS wastes taxpayer money. Business as usual.

Disagree! They spend plenty on students. Some just don't want to learn, and no amount of money will ever fix that. Opportunities that inspire kids like those provided by the Kids Museum are critical to their development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The memo that's posted says this contract is to expand the program to include elementary schools in addition to middle.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/CJ2UCW78A3B3/$file/STEM%20Enrichment%20Training%20REVISED.pdf

Thanks PR department. That's a brand new memo just posted this evening. Want to tell everyone why the entire memo has now been changed and why
there is still no mention of the wife of the board member being the CEO of this company?

For people who do not understand the difference between a company and a nonprofit, this thread had a more helpful and nuanced discussion than what we're seeing here on DCUM. (No, I am not the author of any of these tweets nor do I work for "MCPS PR")

Far from nuanced. Joftus' wife is a founder of KID Museum. She also sits on the Board of KID Museum. She pays herself a salary. Joftus himself is a consultant to the KID Museum.
KID Museum is a client of Joftus' company.

You keep making lots of vaguely sinister suggestions but there's no there there. When Joftus was selected by the board in late 2021, MCPS had already been contracting with Kid Museum for several years. He was asked to submit conflict of interest disclosures to be vetted before he was installed on the board. Do you have any evidence that he falsified those disclosures? Since being installed, he has repeatedly recused himself from votes dealing with Kid Museum. Do you have any evidence that he didn't recuse himself and did vote on any of their contracts? The onus is on you as the accuser to back up your insinuations with proof.

thank you. In this area, it is impossible to avoid spousal conflicts of interest. there are well-established ethics rules and practices to ensure that they are mitigated. as long as Joftus disclosed his interest in the contract and recused himself, these are all false allegations. Someone clearly has knives out for him.

That's why procurements are put out for competitive bids. Get it? Put out the RFP, let companies bid and avoid handing out millions to your family members under a cloud.

The memo from McKnight said KID Museum was the lowest bidder. There weren't any other bids. Those are facts.

Ya I really don't see the problem here.

Agree, he made his conflicts of interest known before taking the job and recused himself from any decisions involving his wife's non-profit. Seems fine to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The memo that's posted says this contract is to expand the program to include elementary schools in addition to middle.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/CJ2UCW78A3B3/$file/STEM%20Enrichment%20Training%20REVISED.pdf

Thanks PR department. That's a brand new memo just posted this evening. Want to tell everyone why the entire memo has now been changed and why
there is still no mention of the wife of the board member being the CEO of this company?

For people who do not understand the difference between a company and a nonprofit, this thread had a more helpful and nuanced discussion than what we're seeing here on DCUM. (No, I am not the author of any of these tweets nor do I work for "MCPS PR")

Far from nuanced. Joftus' wife is a founder of KID Museum. She also sits on the Board of KID Museum. She pays herself a salary. Joftus himself is a consultant to the KID Museum.
KID Museum is a client of Joftus' company.

You keep making lots of vaguely sinister suggestions but there's no there there. When Joftus was selected by the board in late 2021, MCPS had already been contracting with Kid Museum for several years. He was asked to submit conflict of interest disclosures to be vetted before he was installed on the board. Do you have any evidence that he falsified those disclosures? Since being installed, he has repeatedly recused himself from votes dealing with Kid Museum. Do you have any evidence that he didn't recuse himself and did vote on any of their contracts? The onus is on you as the accuser to back up your insinuations with proof.

thank you. In this area, it is impossible to avoid spousal conflicts of interest. there are well-established ethics rules and practices to ensure that they are mitigated. as long as Joftus disclosed his interest in the contract and recused himself, these are all false allegations. Someone clearly has knives out for him.

That's why procurements are put out for competitive bids. Get it? Put out the RFP, let companies bid and avoid handing out millions to your family members under a cloud.

The memo from McKnight said KID Museum was the lowest bidder. There weren't any other bids. Those are facts.

Ya I really don't see the problem here.

Agree, he made his conflicts of interest known before taking the job and recused himself from any decisions involving his wife's non-profit. Seems fine to me.

BS he never disclosed before being appointed.

Keep up the lies. They are working out for Julie Yang.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The memo that's posted says this contract is to expand the program to include elementary schools in addition to middle.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/CJ2UCW78A3B3/$file/STEM%20Enrichment%20Training%20REVISED.pdf

Thanks PR department. That's a brand new memo just posted this evening. Want to tell everyone why the entire memo has now been changed and why
there is still no mention of the wife of the board member being the CEO of this company?

For people who do not understand the difference between a company and a nonprofit, this thread had a more helpful and nuanced discussion than what we're seeing here on DCUM. (No, I am not the author of any of these tweets nor do I work for "MCPS PR")

Far from nuanced. Joftus' wife is a founder of KID Museum. She also sits on the Board of KID Museum. She pays herself a salary. Joftus himself is a consultant to the KID Museum.
KID Museum is a client of Joftus' company.

You keep making lots of vaguely sinister suggestions but there's no there there. When Joftus was selected by the board in late 2021, MCPS had already been contracting with Kid Museum for several years. He was asked to submit conflict of interest disclosures to be vetted before he was installed on the board. Do you have any evidence that he falsified those disclosures? Since being installed, he has repeatedly recused himself from votes dealing with Kid Museum. Do you have any evidence that he didn't recuse himself and did vote on any of their contracts? The onus is on you as the accuser to back up your insinuations with proof.

thank you. In this area, it is impossible to avoid spousal conflicts of interest. there are well-established ethics rules and practices to ensure that they are mitigated. as long as Joftus disclosed his interest in the contract and recused himself, these are all false allegations. Someone clearly has knives out for him.

That's why procurements are put out for competitive bids. Get it? Put out the RFP, let companies bid and avoid handing out millions to your family members under a cloud.

The memo from McKnight said KID Museum was the lowest bidder. There weren't any other bids. Those are facts.

Ya I really don't see the problem here.

Agree, he made his conflicts of interest known before taking the job and recused himself from any decisions involving his wife's non-profit. Seems fine to me.

BS he never disclosed before being appointed.

Keep up the lies. They are working out for Julie Yang.

You're being obstinate. There were official procedures to disclose any conflicts of interest. He followed them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The memo that's posted says this contract is to expand the program to include elementary schools in addition to middle.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/CJ2UCW78A3B3/$file/STEM%20Enrichment%20Training%20REVISED.pdf

Thanks PR department. That's a brand new memo just posted this evening. Want to tell everyone why the entire memo has now been changed and why
there is still no mention of the wife of the board member being the CEO of this company?

For people who do not understand the difference between a company and a nonprofit, this thread had a more helpful and nuanced discussion than what we're seeing here on DCUM. (No, I am not the author of any of these tweets nor do I work for "MCPS PR")

Far from nuanced. Joftus' wife is a founder of KID Museum. She also sits on the Board of KID Museum. She pays herself a salary. Joftus himself is a consultant to the KID Museum.
KID Museum is a client of Joftus' company.

You keep making lots of vaguely sinister suggestions but there's no there there. When Joftus was selected by the board in late 2021, MCPS had already been contracting with Kid Museum for several years. He was asked to submit conflict of interest disclosures to be vetted before he was installed on the board. Do you have any evidence that he falsified those disclosures? Since being installed, he has repeatedly recused himself from votes dealing with Kid Museum. Do you have any evidence that he didn't recuse himself and did vote on any of their contracts? The onus is on you as the accuser to back up your insinuations with proof.

thank you. In this area, it is impossible to avoid spousal conflicts of interest. there are well-established ethics rules and practices to ensure that they are mitigated. as long as Joftus disclosed his interest in the contract and recused himself, these are all false allegations. Someone clearly has knives out for him.

That's why procurements are put out for competitive bids. Get it? Put out the RFP, let companies bid and avoid handing out millions to your family members under a cloud.

The memo from McKnight said KID Museum was the lowest bidder. There weren't any other bids. Those are facts.

Ya I really don't see the problem here.

Agree, he made his conflicts of interest known before taking the job and recused himself from any decisions involving his wife's non-profit. Seems fine to me.

BS he never disclosed before being appointed.

Keep up the lies. They are working out for Julie Yang.

You're being obstinate. There were official procedures to disclose any conflicts of interest. He followed them.

Post them. Go ahead.

Saying he disclosed before he was appointed is a complete lie. Keep saying it.