What could be up? Elementary School Changes for next year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is probably not worthy of an emergency meeting, but I also just read that MCPS is eliminating Kindergarten Orientation because they’ve decided it’s not equitable.

Where did you read this factually incorrect information? MCPS is eliminating spring orientation for next year's kindergartners because it requires this year's kindergartners to miss several days of school.

Our school's newsletter says no orientation during the school year or the summer. The transition to Kindergarten is really important and can be so difficult for some kids. I think it's terrible they aren't doing it and I also think the roll out of this change is so typical of MCPS - unclear messaging so there are so many rumors and mixed messages going around. What a dumpster fire MCPS is.

K students will still be able to meet their teachers before school starts at the open house. The sky is not falling.

You are saying this but there is no public information about this. I've seen a lot of people saying there will be an orientation in the summer when in fact our school has specifically said there won't be. Your attitude towards valid questions is also typical of MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Note there is no open house listed on the MCPS calendar so how are families supposed to plan for this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Note there is no open house listed on the MCPS calendar so how are families supposed to plan for this?

It might be nice to have a county wide kindergarten open house day. My experience is that it can vary a lot between elementary schools. Our school did the Thursday or Friday before school started, but I heard of another school that chose mid August one summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What schools are losing Title 1 status?

I hope one is not Viers Mill.

According to the submitted public comments for the BOE meeting this evening, Strathmore ES is also going to lose Title I status. This letter from a teacher says they will not even be a Focus school.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/D2NJNY4E1004/$file/Stacey%20Lynch.pdf

At least this will bring up the issue in public so questions could be asked and, with any luck, explanations offered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our ES Principal announced that there will be changes at our school next year and called an Emergency PTA meeting this week to share the change for next year?

What could be up? This is a grade 3-5 school with a CES. I’m hoping it is just a personnel change.

My friend at the central office says they're rolling out the ES equivalent of honors for all. So instead of groupings based on ability for math and reading, they're just going to random group students to help decrease the achievement gap from the top down.

Meh, this wouldn't mean anything changes at our school unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is probably not worthy of an emergency meeting, but I also just read that MCPS is eliminating Kindergarten Orientation because they’ve decided it’s not equitable.

Where did you read this factually incorrect information? MCPS is eliminating spring orientation for next year's kindergartners because it requires this year's kindergartners to miss several days of school.

Our school's newsletter says no orientation during the school year or the summer. The transition to Kindergarten is really important and can be so difficult for some kids. I think it's terrible they aren't doing it and I also think the roll out of this change is so typical of MCPS - unclear messaging so there are so many rumors and mixed messages going around. What a dumpster fire MCPS is.

K students will still be able to meet their teachers before school starts at the open house. The sky is not falling.

You are saying this but there is no public information about this. I've seen a lot of people saying there will be an orientation in the summer when in fact our school has specifically said there won't be. Your attitude towards valid questions is also typical of MCPS.

Those are not in conflict. K orientation is off, in the spring or summer.
The open house, when kids of all grades get to go meet their actual teacher, is on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Note there is no open house listed on the MCPS calendar so how are families supposed to plan for this?

Each school has one -- call yours and ask when it will be. They may not have the date confirmed yet, but if you find out what they did this past year it will probably be the same. It will likely be the Thursday or Friday before school starts for an hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What schools are losing Title 1 status?

I hope one is not Viers Mill.

According to the submitted public comments for the BOE meeting this evening, Strathmore ES is also going to lose Title I status. This letter from a teacher says they will not even be a Focus school.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/D2NJNY4E1004/$file/Stacey%20Lynch.pdf

At least this will bring up the issue in public so questions could be asked and, with any luck, explanations offered.

Wow, that is surprising. The latest at-a-glance data had them at 73% FARMs. Curious if they just have funding for fewer schools this coming year, or if demographics have shifted and other schools are taking their place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if the CEP program is impacting this. Given that there is no need for families to complete the forms to receive meals, how do they actually know the FARMS rate? Both NHE and Oak View are CEP schools with all students receiving free meals. No one had to complete the forms.
https://www..org/news/quick-notes/2023-08/2023-08-issue/important-information-about-student-meals/

This is exactly what is happing at the Title 1 school where I work. We didn’t have families complete FARMS forms this year since MCPS said it wasn’t needed. We aren’t sure what method MCPS used to calculate FARMS rate without the forms but we dropped from over 80% FARMS to around 65% FARMS. This means big cuts for staffing and funds next year. Our students definitely didn’t get wealthier.

This was the case at my Title 1 school as well. I guess there was a long range plan in place to make certain adjustments to the FARMS rate at schools, and make it easy to make cuts in SY 25.

CEP (free meals for all) is a federal program, so one would think Title I, another federal program, would have a way to account for changes in how income level is reported. I hope someone does ask about this at the board meeting. How much of it is the way MCPS implements federal policy and how much is a change in federal policy? What can/will MCPS do to ensure schools that need support are receiving it?

[Anonymous]

Did anyone who attended the meeting last night hear any further details about where this new formula is coming from and how MCPS is reallocating the money from some of the highest needs schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone who attended the meeting last night hear any further details about where this new formula is coming from and how MCPS is reallocating the money from some of the highest needs schools?

The meeting is actually this afternoon, stats at 3:30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is probably not worthy of an emergency meeting, but I also just read that MCPS is eliminating Kindergarten Orientation because they’ve decided it’s not equitable.

Where did you read this factually incorrect information? MCPS is eliminating spring orientation for next year's kindergartners because it requires this year's kindergartners to miss several days of school.

Our school's newsletter says no orientation during the school year or the summer. The transition to Kindergarten is really important and can be so difficult for some kids. I think it's terrible they aren't doing it and I also think the roll out of this change is so typical of MCPS - unclear messaging so there are so many rumors and mixed messages going around. What a dumpster fire MCPS is.

K students will still be able to meet their teachers before school starts at the open house. The sky is not falling.

You are saying this but there is no public information about this. I've seen a lot of people saying there will be an orientation in the summer when in fact our school has specifically said there won't be. Your attitude towards valid questions is also typical of MCPS.

Can you ask other parents or the admin at your school? Our school has always had an open house the thursday/friday before school starts. There has been no indication that this is changing. The open house is not the same as "kindergarten orientation." But IME, the open house is more useful because the kids see their actual classrooms and meet their teacher. However, the spring orientation was certainly beneficial for parents/staff because staff was there to help and it got parents filling out the enrollment paperwork that might not have otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is probably not worthy of an emergency meeting, but I also just read that MCPS is eliminating Kindergarten Orientation because they’ve decided it’s not equitable.

Where did you read this factually incorrect information? MCPS is eliminating spring orientation for next year's kindergartners because it requires this year's kindergartners to miss several days of school.

Our school's newsletter says no orientation during the school year or the summer. The transition to Kindergarten is really important and can be so difficult for some kids. I think it's terrible they aren't doing it and I also think the roll out of this change is so typical of MCPS - unclear messaging so there are so many rumors and mixed messages going around. What a dumpster fire MCPS is.

K students will still be able to meet their teachers before school starts at the open house. The sky is not falling.

You are saying this but there is no public information about this. I've seen a lot of people saying there will be an orientation in the summer when in fact our school has specifically said there won't be. Your attitude towards valid questions is also typical of MCPS.

Can you ask other parents or the admin at your school? Our school has always had an open house the thursday/friday before school starts. There has been no indication that this is changing. The open house is not the same as "kindergarten orientation." But IME, the open house is more useful because the kids see their actual classrooms and meet their teacher. However, the spring orientation was certainly beneficial for parents/staff because staff was there to help and it got parents filling out the enrollment paperwork that might not have otherwise.

I will ask them, now that I have learned from DCUM what it is specifically I am supposed to ask about lol (I had already asked about "orientation".)

[Anonymous]

This makes my blood boil a bit. I work for MCPS and know this school. My DD attends a title 1 school (not this one) and I am now worried about the status. There is a clear difference between schools with high farms and low farms and the staffing ratio is key to get the necessary services. To not even put Strathmore as a focus school is criminal. What will happen to the focus schools then?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What schools are losing Title 1 status?

I hope one is not Viers Mill.

According to the submitted public comments for the BOE meeting this evening, Strathmore ES is also going to lose Title I status. This letter from a teacher says they will not even be a Focus school.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/D2NJNY4E1004/$file/Stacey%20Lynch.pdf

At least this will bring up the issue in public so questions could be asked and, with any luck, explanations offered.

Wow, that is surprising. The latest at-a-glance data had them at 73% FARMs. Curious if they just have funding for fewer schools this coming year, or if demographics have shifted and other schools are taking their place.

[Anonymous]

So what is up is that for schools who are on the CEP (Community Eligibility Program) for meals, schools did not collect FARMS information in the Fall at the direction of MCPS. Instead MCPS developed a formula that uses the number of students who are from families with SNAP benefits. It seems that MCPS was not are that these are very different groups of people. Many low income families are not eligible for SNAP. As a result some schools which are typically in the automatic qualification group for Title 1, dropped below the threshold. Unfortunately this seems to be most the case for schools with a higher number of undocumented families in their population.

There is work to be done to rectify the situation. Oakview has had no trouble with Title 1 qualification in the past even with the CES which is only about 10% FARMS students. However with the loss of counted students in the new formula Oakview only comes up to 63% low income students. It would be 88% if the CES was not factored in. The K-2 school that Oakview is paired with New Hampshire Estates has the highest proportion of low income students in the county.