Upcoming in-person boundary study & regional model "engagement session": how to engage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Message went out about the Blair meeting on Monday. Sounds like they are going to try hard to avoid what happened at Kennedy and keep people from asking questions and sharing concerns in a large group. Any thoughts on how to make sure we can still be heard?

"We’ve designed these meetings so every family can get clear, useful information—no matter
where you are in the process. MCPS staff will be stationed throughout the space to answer your
questions—whether you’re just learning the basics or have specific questions about boundaries,
secondary program pathways, middle school options, or how potential changes may affect your
school. You will also see a video message from Superintendent Taylor, and staff will help guide
conversations and connect you with the information you need. These sessions are structured for
purposeful engagement so every voice is heard and every participant receives support."

I'm not bothered by attempts to limit sharing thoughts in a large group. That process is often inefficient and leads to certain voices drowning out others. They can still get feedback in smaller groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Message went out about the Blair meeting on Monday. Sounds like they are going to try hard to avoid what happened at Kennedy and keep people from asking questions and sharing concerns in a large group. Any thoughts on how to make sure we can still be heard?

"We’ve designed these meetings so every family can get clear, useful information—no matter
where you are in the process. MCPS staff will be stationed throughout the space to answer your
questions—whether you’re just learning the basics or have specific questions about boundaries,
secondary program pathways, middle school options, or how potential changes may affect your
school. You will also see a video message from Superintendent Taylor, and staff will help guide
conversations and connect you with the information you need. These sessions are structured for
purposeful engagement so every voice is heard and every participant receives support."

I'm not bothered by attempts to limit sharing thoughts in a large group. That process is often inefficient and leads to certain voices drowning out others. They can still get feedback in smaller groups.

But they aren't asking for feedback. They are generously offering their "support"

This is appalling. Instead of framing community engagement as something they value to make sure this works, they are framing it as a favor they are doing to the people who take unpaid time to show up. It's incredibly disrespectful.

If they truly wanted feedback they could certainly do small group sessions but it would be facilitated focus groups that report out at the end and where feedback gets captured in a systematic way. Having people ask questions in small groups that don't get captured or addressed publicly is simply a waate of everyone's time and taxpayer dollars.

[Anonymous]

They are desperately trying to shut down concerns and feedback on record. This is disrespectful and against the will of the majority. I didn’t work at Kennedy and it won’t work at Blair. My guess is after both parents and teachers associations spoke out against the regional model, it is dead. Now is time to jump ship. Taylor is already pivoting, trying to shift the blame to BoE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Message went out about the Blair meeting on Monday. Sounds like they are going to try hard to avoid what happened at Kennedy and keep people from asking questions and sharing concerns in a large group. Any thoughts on how to make sure we can still be heard?

"We’ve designed these meetings so every family can get clear, useful information—no matter
where you are in the process. MCPS staff will be stationed throughout the space to answer your
questions—whether you’re just learning the basics or have specific questions about boundaries,
secondary program pathways, middle school options, or how potential changes may affect your
school. You will also see a video message from Superintendent Taylor, and staff will help guide
conversations and connect you with the information you need. These sessions are structured for
purposeful engagement so every voice is heard and every participant receives support."

I'm not bothered by attempts to limit sharing thoughts in a large group. That process is often inefficient and leads to certain voices drowning out others. They can still get feedback in smaller groups.

+100000 This format is designed to not allow stakeholder input in the proposal. It’s only to answer questions.

Stakeholders in this meeting will not be actively involved in the development of the proposed model, but instead will passively learn about MCPS’s proposed model.

[Anonymous]

Take control back for the community: Do it old school, give people paper to ask questions or state concerns and have folks go around collecting them(good SSL for students). Situate people around the auditorium/cafeteria/media center to be the voice reading the papers out on behalf of the community.

Can also do it digitally. Put out a form for people to submit their questions or concerns for the session ahead of time.

At the end you’ll also be able to create a record of all the questions/concerns to share out with the community and with MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take control back for the community: Do it old school, give people paper to ask questions or state concerns and have folks go around collecting them(good SSL for students). Situate people around the auditorium/cafeteria/media center to be the voice reading the papers out on behalf of the community.

Can also do it digitally. Put out a form for people to submit their questions or concerns for the session ahead of time.

At the end you’ll also be able to create a record of all the questions/concerns to share out with the community and with MCPS.

Submitting questions in advance can work but there should be transparency. I like how in Zoom, you can see the questions, and the speaker going through them and answering them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take control back for the community: Do it old school, give people paper to ask questions or state concerns and have folks go around collecting them(good SSL for students). Situate people around the auditorium/cafeteria/media center to be the voice reading the papers out on behalf of the community.

Can also do it digitally. Put out a form for people to submit their questions or concerns for the session ahead of time.

At the end you’ll also be able to create a record of all the questions/concerns to share out with the community and with MCPS.

Submitting questions in advance can work but there should be transparency. I like how in Zoom, you can see the questions, and the speaker going through them and answering them.

No, in all their zoom sessions, chat is disabled, and they can freely select QA questions for all to view. If they don’t select your question, no one can see it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Message went out about the Blair meeting on Monday. Sounds like they are going to try hard to avoid what happened at Kennedy and keep people from asking questions and sharing concerns in a large group. Any thoughts on how to make sure we can still be heard?

"We’ve designed these meetings so every family can get clear, useful information—no matter
where you are in the process. MCPS staff will be stationed throughout the space to answer your
questions—whether you’re just learning the basics or have specific questions about boundaries,
secondary program pathways, middle school options, or how potential changes may affect your
school. You will also see a video message from Superintendent Taylor, and staff will help guide
conversations and connect you with the information you need. These sessions are structured for
purposeful engagement so every voice is heard and every participant receives support."

I'm not bothered by attempts to limit sharing thoughts in a large group. That process is often inefficient and leads to certain voices drowning out others. They can still get feedback in smaller groups.

If there was any sign that they actually had good intentions here, I could see your point. But:

1) It's clear they're not interested in collecting or considering feedback, or they would have done it in some other way before this. It beggars belief that they suddenly want to collect feedback for the very first time at these meetings when they never have before.

2). The intent of the small group format is almost certainly to evade accountability. They don't want any significant number of people to hear their neighbors' frustration or criticism or suggestions, to hear how unsatisfactory their answers are to tough questions, to notice and then hold them to their answers if they decide to change their minds later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take control back for the community: Do it old school, give people paper to ask questions or state concerns and have folks go around collecting them(good SSL for students). Situate people around the auditorium/cafeteria/media center to be the voice reading the papers out on behalf of the community.

Can also do it digitally. Put out a form for people to submit their questions or concerns for the session ahead of time.

At the end you’ll also be able to create a record of all the questions/concerns to share out with the community and with MCPS.

Submitting questions in advance can work but there should be transparency. I like how in Zoom, you can see the questions, and the speaker going through them and answering them.

That’s where publishing out the list of submitted questions(electronic and paper, along with #of times asked) comes in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Message went out about the Blair meeting on Monday. Sounds like they are going to try hard to avoid what happened at Kennedy and keep people from asking questions and sharing concerns in a large group. Any thoughts on how to make sure we can still be heard?

"We’ve designed these meetings so every family can get clear, useful information—no matter
where you are in the process. MCPS staff will be stationed throughout the space to answer your
questions—whether you’re just learning the basics or have specific questions about boundaries,
secondary program pathways, middle school options, or how potential changes may affect your
school. You will also see a video message from Superintendent Taylor, and staff will help guide
conversations and connect you with the information you need. These sessions are structured for
purposeful engagement so every voice is heard and every participant receives support."

I'm not bothered by attempts to limit sharing thoughts in a large group. That process is often inefficient and leads to certain voices drowning out others. They can still get feedback in smaller groups.

+100000 This format is designed to not allow stakeholder input in the proposal. It’s only to answer questions.

Stakeholders in this meeting will not be actively involved in the development of the proposed model, but instead will passively learn about MCPS’s proposed model.

I plus100000 to the wrong PP. I meant to like the one above that astutely points out that “They are desperately trying to shut down concerns and feedback on record.”

Completely disagree with the PP who is supportive of smaller groups in this situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Message went out about the Blair meeting on Monday. Sounds like they are going to try hard to avoid what happened at Kennedy and keep people from asking questions and sharing concerns in a large group. Any thoughts on how to make sure we can still be heard?

"We’ve designed these meetings so every family can get clear, useful information—no matter
where you are in the process. MCPS staff will be stationed throughout the space to answer your
questions—whether you’re just learning the basics or have specific questions about boundaries,
secondary program pathways, middle school options, or how potential changes may affect your
school. You will also see a video message from Superintendent Taylor, and staff will help guide
conversations and connect you with the information you need. These sessions are structured for
purposeful engagement so every voice is heard and every participant receives support."

I'm not bothered by attempts to limit sharing thoughts in a large group. That process is often inefficient and leads to certain voices drowning out others. They can still get feedback in smaller groups.

If there was any sign that they actually had good intentions here, I could see your point. But:

1) It's clear they're not interested in collecting or considering feedback, or they would have done it in some other way before this. It beggars belief that they suddenly want to collect feedback for the very first time at these meetings when they never have before.

2). The intent of the small group format is almost certainly to evade accountability. They don't want any significant number of people to hear their neighbors' frustration or criticism or suggestions, to hear how unsatisfactory their answers are to tough questions, to notice and then hold them to their answers if they decide to change their minds later.

Yes, and for all the people who didn’t attend be able to hear those difficult questions and unsatisfactory answers too. I think they still haven’t posted the video from the 11/4 Watkins Mill session.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Message went out about the Blair meeting on Monday. Sounds like they are going to try hard to avoid what happened at Kennedy and keep people from asking questions and sharing concerns in a large group. Any thoughts on how to make sure we can still be heard?

"We’ve designed these meetings so every family can get clear, useful information—no matter
where you are in the process. MCPS staff will be stationed throughout the space to answer your
questions—whether you’re just learning the basics or have specific questions about boundaries,
secondary program pathways, middle school options, or how potential changes may affect your
school. You will also see a video message from Superintendent Taylor, and staff will help guide
conversations and connect you with the information you need. These sessions are structured for
purposeful engagement so every voice is heard and every participant receives support."

I'm not bothered by attempts to limit sharing thoughts in a large group. That process is often inefficient and leads to certain voices drowning out others. They can still get feedback in smaller groups.

If there was any sign that they actually had good intentions here, I could see your point. But:

1) It's clear they're not interested in collecting or considering feedback, or they would have done it in some other way before this. It beggars belief that they suddenly want to collect feedback for the very first time at these meetings when they never have before.

2). The intent of the small group format is almost certainly to evade accountability. They don't want any significant number of people to hear their neighbors' frustration or criticism or suggestions, to hear how unsatisfactory their answers are to tough questions, to notice and then hold them to their answers if they decide to change their minds later.

Yes, and for all the people who didn’t attend be able to hear those difficult questions and unsatisfactory answers too. I think they still haven’t posted the video from the 11/4 Watkins Mill session.

It’s strange about the Watkins Mill session. MCPS sent emails and texts about session 1 (Kennedy) and session 3 (Blair), but none about session 2 (Watkins Mill). And that is the one they changed without giving sufficient community notification.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Message went out about the Blair meeting on Monday. Sounds like they are going to try hard to avoid what happened at Kennedy and keep people from asking questions and sharing concerns in a large group. Any thoughts on how to make sure we can still be heard?

"We’ve designed these meetings so every family can get clear, useful information—no matter
where you are in the process. MCPS staff will be stationed throughout the space to answer your
questions—whether you’re just learning the basics or have specific questions about boundaries,
secondary program pathways, middle school options, or how potential changes may affect your
school. You will also see a video message from Superintendent Taylor, and staff will help guide
conversations and connect you with the information you need. These sessions are structured for
purposeful engagement so every voice is heard and every participant receives support."

I'm not bothered by attempts to limit sharing thoughts in a large group. That process is often inefficient and leads to certain voices drowning out others. They can still get feedback in smaller groups.

If there was any sign that they actually had good intentions here, I could see your point. But:

1) It's clear they're not interested in collecting or considering feedback, or they would have done it in some other way before this. It beggars belief that they suddenly want to collect feedback for the very first time at these meetings when they never have before.

2). The intent of the small group format is almost certainly to evade accountability. They don't want any significant number of people to hear their neighbors' frustration or criticism or suggestions, to hear how unsatisfactory their answers are to tough questions, to notice and then hold them to their answers if they decide to change their minds later.

Yes, and for all the people who didn’t attend be able to hear those difficult questions and unsatisfactory answers too. I think they still haven’t posted the video from the 11/4 Watkins Mill session.

It’s strange about the Watkins Mill session. MCPS sent emails and texts about session 1 (Kennedy) and session 3 (Blair), but none about session 2 (Watkins Mill). And that is the one they changed without giving sufficient community notification.

Did the Watkins Mill meeting actually happen? I haven’t heard a word about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Message went out about the Blair meeting on Monday. Sounds like they are going to try hard to avoid what happened at Kennedy and keep people from asking questions and sharing concerns in a large group. Any thoughts on how to make sure we can still be heard?

"We’ve designed these meetings so every family can get clear, useful information—no matter
where you are in the process. MCPS staff will be stationed throughout the space to answer your
questions—whether you’re just learning the basics or have specific questions about boundaries,
secondary program pathways, middle school options, or how potential changes may affect your
school. You will also see a video message from Superintendent Taylor, and staff will help guide
conversations and connect you with the information you need. These sessions are structured for
purposeful engagement so every voice is heard and every participant receives support."

I'm not bothered by attempts to limit sharing thoughts in a large group. That process is often inefficient and leads to certain voices drowning out others. They can still get feedback in smaller groups.

If there was any sign that they actually had good intentions here, I could see your point. But:

1) It's clear they're not interested in collecting or considering feedback, or they would have done it in some other way before this. It beggars belief that they suddenly want to collect feedback for the very first time at these meetings when they never have before.

2). The intent of the small group format is almost certainly to evade accountability. They don't want any significant number of people to hear their neighbors' frustration or criticism or suggestions, to hear how unsatisfactory their answers are to tough questions, to notice and then hold them to their answers if they decide to change their minds later.

Yes, and for all the people who didn’t attend be able to hear those difficult questions and unsatisfactory answers too. I think they still haven’t posted the video from the 11/4 Watkins Mill session.

I suspect they're not going to be recording any of the others after what happened at the first...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Message went out about the Blair meeting on Monday. Sounds like they are going to try hard to avoid what happened at Kennedy and keep people from asking questions and sharing concerns in a large group. Any thoughts on how to make sure we can still be heard?

"We’ve designed these meetings so every family can get clear, useful information—no matter
where you are in the process. MCPS staff will be stationed throughout the space to answer your
questions—whether you’re just learning the basics or have specific questions about boundaries,
secondary program pathways, middle school options, or how potential changes may affect your
school. You will also see a video message from Superintendent Taylor, and staff will help guide
conversations and connect you with the information you need. These sessions are structured for
purposeful engagement so every voice is heard and every participant receives support."

I'm not bothered by attempts to limit sharing thoughts in a large group. That process is often inefficient and leads to certain voices drowning out others. They can still get feedback in smaller groups.

If there was any sign that they actually had good intentions here, I could see your point. But:

1) It's clear they're not interested in collecting or considering feedback, or they would have done it in some other way before this. It beggars belief that they suddenly want to collect feedback for the very first time at these meetings when they never have before.

2). The intent of the small group format is almost certainly to evade accountability. They don't want any significant number of people to hear their neighbors' frustration or criticism or suggestions, to hear how unsatisfactory their answers are to tough questions, to notice and then hold them to their answers if they decide to change their minds later.

Yes, and for all the people who didn’t attend be able to hear those difficult questions and unsatisfactory answers too. I think they still haven’t posted the video from the 11/4 Watkins Mill session.

It’s strange about the Watkins Mill session. MCPS sent emails and texts about session 1 (Kennedy) and session 3 (Blair), but none about session 2 (Watkins Mill). And that is the one they changed without giving sufficient community notification.

Did the Watkins Mill meeting actually happen? I haven’t heard a word about it.

Would be interesting to see if anyone knew about the change of date and went.