Why do people want to fire the principal of B-CC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School.

Here is my personal assessment: 80% of what people are upset about are things totally outside of his control. He does not make county-wide or federal policy, B-CC objectively has a complicated student mix with very wealthy families and less wealthy families that have different needs and expectations, it’s geographic location in downtown Bethesda creates some unique issues after sporting events, he can’t control SWAT-ing calls from out of state, etc.

And, it takes a very special person to be excellent at managing the students and parents of a school like that. Dr. Mooney is a kind, likeable person who cares deeply about that school, and I think some parents believe that school would benefit from more of an iron fist approach, which just doesn’t seem to be his personal style.

Other than the location in downtown Bethesda, what makes it so different from Blair which seems to have less of these problems. Similar mix of kids I think.

There is a lot more wealth from Bethesda and chevy chase at BCC than Blair.

That's not a complete explanation, though, unless it is the wealthy kids creating most of the problems at B-CC. I do think B-CC's location and open campus are a blessing and a curse. It creates a fun urban environment and puts kids close to internships and public transportation. On the other hand, it creates a more fluid situation on and around campus that can be harder to monitor.

Yes, BCC is more urban and more accessible from outsiders in town and more attractive to students walking off campus to mix with them.
Blair is a mile from the subway.

This is true, but I do think administration matters. I've had kids at both B-CC and Blair, and one significant difference is that Blair families are more willing to accept that the rules apply to everyone. This allows the administration to have better enforcement of the rules because you don't have wealthy parents coming out of the woodwork every time Larlo gets lunch detention for tardiness.

My experience with B-CC is that the wealthy families want better rules enforcement, but only for "those" kids. Because the administration cannot and should not apply the rules only to low-income kids, they end up enforcing fewer rules in general to avoid parent backlash.

Smaller, community-based HSs would solve this.

B-CC has one of the smallest attendance zones in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

What make you think that a principal has the power to stop kids doing crime, even non student kids?

You are looking in the wrong direction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What make you think that a principal has the power to stop kids doing crime, even non student kids?

You are looking in the wrong direction.

DP. The posters wanting a change are not saying a principal has power to stop but the actions or lack of taken by principal especially after one incident (now at least 5 lockdown or sip) can set the tone and direction in a school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School.

Here is my personal assessment: 80% of what people are upset about are things totally outside of his control. He does not make county-wide or federal policy, B-CC objectively has a complicated student mix with very wealthy families and less wealthy families that have different needs and expectations, it’s geographic location in downtown Bethesda creates some unique issues after sporting events, he can’t control SWAT-ing calls from out of state, etc.

And, it takes a very special person to be excellent at managing the students and parents of a school like that. Dr. Mooney is a kind, likeable person who cares deeply about that school, and I think some parents believe that school would benefit from more of an iron fist approach, which just doesn’t seem to be his personal style.

Other than the location in downtown Bethesda, what makes it so different from Blair which seems to have less of these problems. Similar mix of kids I think.

There is a lot more wealth from Bethesda and chevy chase at BCC than Blair.

That's not a complete explanation, though, unless it is the wealthy kids creating most of the problems at B-CC. I do think B-CC's location and open campus are a blessing and a curse. It creates a fun urban environment and puts kids close to internships and public transportation. On the other hand, it creates a more fluid situation on and around campus that can be harder to monitor.

Yes, BCC is more urban and more accessible from outsiders in town and more attractive to students walking off campus to mix with them.
Blair is a mile from the subway.

This is true, but I do think administration matters. I've had kids at both B-CC and Blair, and one significant difference is that Blair families are more willing to accept that the rules apply to everyone. This allows the administration to have better enforcement of the rules because you don't have wealthy parents coming out of the woodwork every time Larlo gets lunch detention for tardiness.

My experience with B-CC is that the wealthy families want better rules enforcement, but only for "those" kids. Because the administration cannot and should not apply the rules only to low-income kids, they end up enforcing fewer rules in general to avoid parent backlash.

Smaller, community-based HSs would solve this.

B-CC has one of the smallest attendance zones in MCPS.

Because it has one of the highest densities. Nice try but we didn't all graduate from mcps.. some of us can think and reason

[Anonymous]

My kid is in 7th grade and we are zoned for BCC. I am watching very carefully what will happen there this and next year and if needed, will move to the Whitman zone.

[Anonymous]

^ until Whitman gets zoned to B-CC after boundary study

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People want him fired because BCC is a failing school, and he is the chief executive of that school. Yes, many / most of the factors are outside of his control, but at some point, there has to be accountability. Parents have so far had no political will to go after MCPS, I think because they feel like attacking it will cheapen the brand and hurt their kids, which I understand. There is also no political ability to go after the problem at the county government level, because it is essentially non-competitive. What's left is the BCC leader.

Was current Principal a Principal intern before this role? What happened with last Principal of this high school? Knowing that background could help provide some guidance in how to advocate for a leader change or not to change current leadership. Any of the school's APs to consider?

IIRC people got mad at the last principal for enforcing rules. Some rich parents hired lawyers to sue the school for disciplining their kids (for smuggling alcohol to student events maybe?) and the principal was like I’ve had enough of this and found another MCPS job.

This would have been about 8 years ago so maybe I am misremembering.

My recollection is that the kids were warned if they showed up drunk at prom they would not walk at graduation, and consequences happened. I don't think the parents sued but they did appeal to a bunch of higher ups and politicians and made the principal back down because not walking at graduation is not an MCPS approved consequence. Really awful behavior on the part of the parents, IMHO.

To be fair, thae same thing happened at my HS in the late 1980's. We had a school trip to Montreal. Everyone was told that they could not drink, even the 18 year olds. We all had to sign a form saying we understood that this was a schoola ctivity and we would not drink, regardless of our age. The parents had to sign the form as well. The 18 year old seniors went out and got drunk. They were told they could not attend prom because they violated the schoo.ls alcohol policy, which was reiterated, and they signed a form saying they understood. The parents got upset and all of the 18-year-olds were allowed to attend prom. This is a long standing issue

The same thing happened on 90210. The famous “Donna Martin graduates!” episode.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People want him fired because BCC is a failing school, and he is the chief executive of that school. Yes, many / most of the factors are outside of his control, but at some point, there has to be accountability. Parents have so far had no political will to go after MCPS, I think because they feel like attacking it will cheapen the brand and hurt their kids, which I understand. There is also no political ability to go after the problem at the county government level, because it is essentially non-competitive. What's left is the BCC leader.

Was current Principal a Principal intern before this role? What happened with last Principal of this high school? Knowing that background could help provide some guidance in how to advocate for a leader change or not to change current leadership. Any of the school's APs to consider?

IIRC people got mad at the last principal for enforcing rules. Some rich parents hired lawyers to sue the school for disciplining their kids (for smuggling alcohol to student events maybe?) and the principal was like I’ve had enough of this and found another MCPS job.

This would have been about 8 years ago so maybe I am misremembering.

My recollection is that the kids were warned if they showed up drunk at prom they would not walk at graduation, and consequences happened. I don't think the parents sued but they did appeal to a bunch of higher ups and politicians and made the principal back down because not walking at graduation is not an MCPS approved consequence. Really awful behavior on the part of the parents, IMHO.

To be fair, thae same thing happened at my HS in the late 1980's. We had a school trip to Montreal. Everyone was told that they could not drink, even the 18 year olds. We all had to sign a form saying we understood that this was a schoola ctivity and we would not drink, regardless of our age. The parents had to sign the form as well. The 18 year old seniors went out and got drunk. They were told they could not attend prom because they violated the schoo.ls alcohol policy, which was reiterated, and they signed a form saying they understood. The parents got upset and all of the 18-year-olds were allowed to attend prom. This is a long standing issue

The same thing happened on 90210. The famous “Donna Martin graduates!” episode.

Hello fellow Gen-Xer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People want him fired because BCC is a failing school, and he is the chief executive of that school. Yes, many / most of the factors are outside of his control, but at some point, there has to be accountability. Parents have so far had no political will to go after MCPS, I think because they feel like attacking it will cheapen the brand and hurt their kids, which I understand. There is also no political ability to go after the problem at the county government level, because it is essentially non-competitive. What's left is the BCC leader.

Was current Principal a Principal intern before this role? What happened with last Principal of this high school? Knowing that background could help provide some guidance in how to advocate for a leader change or not to change current leadership. Any of the school's APs to consider?

IIRC people got mad at the last principal for enforcing rules. Some rich parents hired lawyers to sue the school for disciplining their kids (for smuggling alcohol to student events maybe?) and the principal was like I’ve had enough of this and found another MCPS job.

This would have been about 8 years ago so maybe I am misremembering.

My recollection is that the kids were warned if they showed up drunk at prom they would not walk at graduation, and consequences happened. I don't think the parents sued but they did appeal to a bunch of higher ups and politicians and made the principal back down because not walking at graduation is not an MCPS approved consequence. Really awful behavior on the part of the parents, IMHO.

To be fair, thae same thing happened at my HS in the late 1980's. We had a school trip to Montreal. Everyone was told that they could not drink, even the 18 year olds. We all had to sign a form saying we understood that this was a schoola ctivity and we would not drink, regardless of our age. The parents had to sign the form as well. The 18 year old seniors went out and got drunk. They were told they could not attend prom because they violated the schoo.ls alcohol policy, which was reiterated, and they signed a form saying they understood. The parents got upset and all of the 18-year-olds were allowed to attend prom. This is a long standing issue

The same thing happened on 90210. The famous “Donna Martin graduates!” episode.

And BCC students come from zip 20910 (same digits) but students from that area aren't probably the ones doing '90210' type of stuff. Try 20816.

[Anonymous]

What's the latest buzz at this school's leadership suite?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's the latest buzz at this school's leadership suite?

A lawsuit
Verdict was announced last week.

[Anonymous]

Which of the BCC APs are they going to appoint? Does it go by seniority?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which of the BCC APs are they going to appoint? Does it go by seniority?

It was the central office that was found liable not the principal— the principal was just doing what the office told him to do so I don’t know why you’d assume he is leaving unless he’s sick of the parent community

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which of the BCC APs are they going to appoint? Does it go by seniority?

It was the central office that was found liable not the principal— the principal was just doing what the office told him to do so I don’t know why you’d assume he is leaving unless he’s sick of the parent community

Seriously who wants that job when they can have a cushy one at CO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which of the BCC APs are they going to appoint? Does it go by seniority?

It was the central office that was found liable not the principal— the principal was just doing what the office told him to do so I don’t know why you’d assume he is leaving unless he’s sick of the parent community

They told him to make up a quote? Mmm hmm.