Reducing personnel at central office

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am an elementary teacher in the county. Some areas of Central office are so understaffed, and other positions could be easily cut. For example, the county added 12 county-level math content coaches this year. They took 12 hard-working school-based teachers AWAY from working with students and placed them in Central in advisory roles. It is a horrible waste of money.

I think we need someone to come in and really evaluate each position and see what can be reduced or combined and what is essential.

Aren’t math coaches assigned to a number of schools to work with teachers to deliver better math instruction, help analyze their data, teach the curriculum, work with students? If that works they will actually be helping more students .

In theory, yes. But that’s not reality. SDT here- I’ve met with our assigned math coach once this year. This person works from home and couldn’t tell you what they actually do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am an elementary teacher in the county. Some areas of Central office are so understaffed, and other positions could be easily cut. For example, the county added 12 county-level math content coaches this year. They took 12 hard-working school-based teachers AWAY from working with students and placed them in Central in advisory roles. It is a horrible waste of money.

I think we need someone to come in and really evaluate each position and see what can be reduced or combined and what is essential.

Aren’t math coaches assigned to a number of schools to work with teachers to deliver better math instruction, help analyze their data, teach the curriculum, work with students? If that works they will actually be helping more students .

The problem is that it sounds great, but is not effective and does not benefit the students. Each of these new math coaches is assigned to 4 schools (at least at the elementary level). They are coming to meetings and creating more work and data for the teachers. They are cherry-picking data, so maybe there looks like there are minor gains? Our school is very resentful and we are not seeing increases in anything except workload. Our students struggle due to having no home support, being new to the country, food insecurity, etc. Another person coming to meetings does not directly support them. Only people not in schools would think it does.

What they need to do is provide differentiated curriculum materials to all teachers in all schools. It would be so nice if they reduced the workload for teachers instead of increasing it. If they did that, they would probably also see increased data (as long as they cherry-pick correctly), help more schools, need fewer central office staff, and have fewer resentful teachers.

And it reduces central office staff- even by a few- the point of this thread. Every area needs to be scrutinized.

Well said. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am an elementary teacher in the county. Some areas of Central office are so understaffed, and other positions could be easily cut. For example, the county added 12 county-level math content coaches this year. They took 12 hard-working school-based teachers AWAY from working with students and placed them in Central in advisory roles. It is a horrible waste of money.

I think we need someone to come in and really evaluate each position and see what can be reduced or combined and what is essential.

Aren’t math coaches assigned to a number of schools to work with teachers to deliver better math instruction, help analyze their data, teach the curriculum, work with students? If that works they will actually be helping more students .

In theory, yes. But that’s not reality. SDT here- I’ve met with our assigned math coach once this year. This person works from home and couldn’t tell you what they actually do.

I gave up on expecting MCPS to teach my kids anything in ES. They are mainly focused on the bottom 20% and ignore everyone else. I have to hire tutors for math and reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have achievement specialist who used to be teachers but now, go around schools and meet with leadership. They could be cut. They have about 60 parent community coordinators who work from home. They could be cut. They have social workers who work with immigrant students, they should be sent directly to schools and supervised by principals. The social workers work out of Rocking Horse Road Center. Rocking Horse Road Center is another building filled with Central Office staff. They have a Spring Mill office off Kemp Mill Road filled with Central Office. English Manor filled with central office. Some of the Central Office positions are needed, but others are not. Just look to see who gets their PHD while working for Central Office. Those are the people that should be cut.

My high farms, 70% Latinx school needs ours. Although she technically works from home, she is rarely home. She’s out visiting families and is at our school at least two days a week for meetings. My school would be even more dysfunctional without her.

Then you have a PCC who actually does her job. So many do not. They spend their days at home on the computer and not reaching out to families. Ours turns down invites to interact with families in need.

[Anonymous]

Another data point: our parent community coordinator is at our school 24-7, it seems like, working with the food pantry, advocating for more resources, running an after-school dance club, and more. So I guess it depends on the person, the schools, and their needs. But I also did not see one at two other schools I worked at, in over twelve years. So . . . luck of the draw, I guess.

[Anonymous]

If yours isn't engaging with the community you can go ahead and complain to admin or even higher, the regional supervisor for your cluster. It might also be interesting to see how yours performs for her other schools, if she is ignoring all of them, or just yours, specifically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have achievement specialist who used to be teachers but now, go around schools and meet with leadership. They could be cut. They have about 60 parent community coordinators who work from home. They could be cut. They have social workers who work with immigrant students, they should be sent directly to schools and supervised by principals. The social workers work out of Rocking Horse Road Center. Rocking Horse Road Center is another building filled with Central Office staff. They have a Spring Mill office off Kemp Mill Road filled with Central Office. English Manor filled with central office. Some of the Central Office positions are needed, but others are not. Just look to see who gets their PHD while working for Central Office. Those are the people that should be cut.

My high farms, 70% Latinx school needs ours. Although she technically works from home, she is rarely home. She’s out visiting families and is at our school at least two days a week for meetings. My school would be even more dysfunctional without her.

You just discredited yourself (and show yourself to be very much in the know)

1. You are 99% Anglo. Latinx is not an Hispanic term. The Spanish language has genders male and female only. When mixed gender the rule is use masculine plural: Latinos or Latino as adjective.

2.personally, I’m highly suspicious of anglos who send their kids to Title 1 schools - which have all the bells and whistles of a private.

3. You likely are an employee of MCPS. That is a common teacher move. (You trust this elementary principal to give your kid special treatment).

We see what you are doing….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have achievement specialist who used to be teachers but now, go around schools and meet with leadership. They could be cut. They have about 60 parent community coordinators who work from home. They could be cut. They have social workers who work with immigrant students, they should be sent directly to schools and supervised by principals. The social workers work out of Rocking Horse Road Center. Rocking Horse Road Center is another building filled with Central Office staff. They have a Spring Mill office off Kemp Mill Road filled with Central Office. English Manor filled with central office. Some of the Central Office positions are needed, but others are not. Just look to see who gets their PHD while working for Central Office. Those are the people that should be cut.

My high farms, 70% Latinx school needs ours. Although she technically works from home, she is rarely home. She’s out visiting families and is at our school at least two days a week for meetings. My school would be even more dysfunctional without her.

You just discredited yourself (and show yourself to be very much in the know)

1. You are 99% Anglo. Latinx is not an Hispanic term. The Spanish language has genders male and female only. When mixed gender the rule is use masculine plural: Latinos or Latino as adjective.

2.personally, I’m highly suspicious of anglos who send their kids to Title 1 schools - which have all the bells and whistles of a private.

3. You likely are an employee of MCPS. That is a common teacher move. (You trust this elementary principal to give your kid special treatment).

We see what you are doing….

Not the PP, but what Title 1 school has all the bells and whistles of a private, particularly any good private. Second, are folks not suppose to send their kid to their home school just because it happens to be a Title 1 school? Do in need kids now get there own schools.

[Anonymous]

Latinx was briefly introduced as a gender-neutral term, a few years ago, but it hasn't really caught on. I just stick to Hispanic/Latino, which covers both demographics, reasonably. But, having said that, I don't see the point in attacking someone for their use of it. If that is their preference, common courtesy is to take it in stride. It does no harm, after all. No different than someone indicating their preferred personal pronouns. It's only good manners to use them going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have achievement specialist who used to be teachers but now, go around schools and meet with leadership. They could be cut. They have about 60 parent community coordinators who work from home. They could be cut. They have social workers who work with immigrant students, they should be sent directly to schools and supervised by principals. The social workers work out of Rocking Horse Road Center. Rocking Horse Road Center is another building filled with Central Office staff. They have a Spring Mill office off Kemp Mill Road filled with Central Office. English Manor filled with central office. Some of the Central Office positions are needed, but others are not. Just look to see who gets their PHD while working for Central Office. Those are the people that should be cut.

My high farms, 70% Latinx school needs ours. Although she technically works from home, she is rarely home. She’s out visiting families and is at our school at least two days a week for meetings. My school would be even more dysfunctional without her.

People think that when they don’t see a specialist, that specialist isn't doing anything, when really they're where they're needed the most, everyone in central with jobs like that has limits to teleworking and submits records of their day as well.

Well, our central office PCC was telling us he was at school A Instead of our school. When we inquired with school A folks (because we have friends), he was telling them he was with us. When our admin sent a complaint to their supervisor, he was told it must have been a miscommunication and nothing was done. The guy now works at others schools and not ours. He got moved. So now he will play the other schools until someone catches on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have achievement specialist who used to be teachers but now, go around schools and meet with leadership. They could be cut. They have about 60 parent community coordinators who work from home. They could be cut. They have social workers who work with immigrant students, they should be sent directly to schools and supervised by principals. The social workers work out of Rocking Horse Road Center. Rocking Horse Road Center is another building filled with Central Office staff. They have a Spring Mill office off Kemp Mill Road filled with Central Office. English Manor filled with central office. Some of the Central Office positions are needed, but others are not. Just look to see who gets their PHD while working for Central Office. Those are the people that should be cut.

My high farms, 70% Latinx school needs ours. Although she technically works from home, she is rarely home. She’s out visiting families and is at our school at least two days a week for meetings. My school would be even more dysfunctional without her.

Then you have a PCC who actually does her job. So many do not. They spend their days at home on the computer and not reaching out to families. Ours turns down invites to interact with families in need.

Yes! Same experience with ours! Never at the school and when you send a request to participate in a meeting, they always "have a meeting" at the same time. Who supervises these folks? Who is holding them accountable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many comments about reducing overhead at central office. Is this only the hungerford drive location? How many employees are there of the central office? Is there a budget that shows the total salaries spent for central office personnel?

Students and staff

Students 160,554 (2022-23)
Teachers 13,994 (2022-23)
Staff 25,232 (2022-23)

Central office salary represents like 3% of the total budget. As other have said “ Staff” represents a lot of roles(secretaries, program director, building services, accounting, hr, food services, nurses, etc etc).

Where can we find that info?

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/budget/

Got a page #? That report is 500 pages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have achievement specialist who used to be teachers but now, go around schools and meet with leadership. They could be cut. They have about 60 parent community coordinators who work from home. They could be cut. They have social workers who work with immigrant students, they should be sent directly to schools and supervised by principals. The social workers work out of Rocking Horse Road Center. Rocking Horse Road Center is another building filled with Central Office staff. They have a Spring Mill office off Kemp Mill Road filled with Central Office. English Manor filled with central office. Some of the Central Office positions are needed, but others are not. Just look to see who gets their PHD while working for Central Office. Those are the people that should be cut.

My high farms, 70% Latinx school needs ours. Although she technically works from home, she is rarely home. She’s out visiting families and is at our school at least two days a week for meetings. My school would be even more dysfunctional without her.

Then you have a PCC who actually does her job. So many do not. They spend their days at home on the computer and not reaching out to families. Ours turns down invites to interact with families in need.

Yes! Same experience with ours! Never at the school and when you send a request to participate in a meeting, they always "have a meeting" at the same time. Who supervises these folks? Who is holding them accountable?

CO Director Everett Davis, former Redland MS principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have achievement specialist who used to be teachers but now, go around schools and meet with leadership. They could be cut. They have about 60 parent community coordinators who work from home. They could be cut. They have social workers who work with immigrant students, they should be sent directly to schools and supervised by principals. The social workers work out of Rocking Horse Road Center. Rocking Horse Road Center is another building filled with Central Office staff. They have a Spring Mill office off Kemp Mill Road filled with Central Office. English Manor filled with central office. Some of the Central Office positions are needed, but others are not. Just look to see who gets their PHD while working for Central Office. Those are the people that should be cut.

My high farms, 70% Latinx school needs ours. Although she technically works from home, she is rarely home. She’s out visiting families and is at our school at least two days a week for meetings. My school would be even more dysfunctional without her.

You just discredited yourself (and show yourself to be very much in the know)

1. You are 99% Anglo. Latinx is not an Hispanic term. The Spanish language has genders male and female only. When mixed gender the rule is use masculine plural: Latinos or Latino as adjective.

2.personally, I’m highly suspicious of anglos who send their kids to Title 1 schools - which have all the bells and whistles of a private.

3. You likely are an employee of MCPS. That is a common teacher move. (You trust this elementary principal to give your kid special treatment).

We see what you are doing….

This has to be fake. I don’t understand any of your points. I am not “Anglo”- I’m “white.” Maybe you’re trying to be cute but not all white people are of English descent.

My title 1 school provides a very shoddy education for my child. Everything is alway in crisis which means that no one gets any attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another data point: our parent community coordinator is at our school 24-7, it seems like, working with the food pantry, advocating for more resources, running an after-school dance club, and more. So I guess it depends on the person, the schools, and their needs. But I also did not see one at two other schools I worked at, in over twelve years. So . . . luck of the draw, I guess.

And this is where accountability comes in. If you have an excellent employee, going the extra distance of our families, that is what we are looking for. The problem is that the lazy and/or lost-in-the-woods PCCs can drift through their job without ever being removed. That's a problem. I don't believe I have ever received a survey about the work of PCC, social workers, or ESOL coordinators. We get surveyed about everything else, why not these employees.