Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is OP mad that MCPS has long bureaucratic names for their operational teams?

I don't understand the point of this post.

Do you read? Did you read OP's last paragraph?

Yes. OP ranted about "embellishing", for the audacious scandal of... the principal notifying the relevant authorities and that an incident happened, at a school where the previous principal just got kicked out because students and parents were in an uproar over kids being mean and saying naughty words.

Staff can't win with crazy parents.

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s a stretch to say “at no point were any students or staff in danger.”

You can say the student did not confront or directly threaten anyone but without revealing the intent behind the student bringing the knife to school, it doesn’t make sense to claim no harm was intended.

It's like their power outage letter- students remained safe. How about students who were using a bathroom when that happened

I think it’s a stretch to say “at no point were any students or staff in danger.”

You can say the student did not confront or directly threaten anyone but without revealing the intent behind the student bringing the knife to school, it doesn’t make sense to claim no harm was intended.

Anonymous wrote:Is OP mad that MCPS has long bureaucratic names for their operational teams?

I don't understand the point of this post.

Do you read? Did you read OP's last paragraph?

Is OP mad that MCPS has long bureaucratic names for their operational teams?

I don't understand the point of this post.

Anonymous wrote:Yeah. That sounds like MCPS.

Guns, stabbings, student death - Wheaton, Gaithersburg, Blair, RM, Clarksburg, BCC, Magurder, Kennedy, Northwest, WJ, Rockville - who did I miss?

And now we have the infamous..

"Wootton small kitchen knife" incident.

Are they trying to pull a drumpf here to distract from not having an inclement weather closure announcement yet?

Anonymous wrote:What you are missing is that where there is an actual threat to life, MCPS will ALWAYS, 100%, downplay the incident. Why? Because the community will rightly be outraged, and MCPS circles the wagons automatically trying to protect its staff and security protocols.

But when there's a minor incident, MCPS is PROUD that it has security protocols and that it can point to them as having averted a crisis. Hence these letters. It's MCPS patting itself on the back.

I've been dealing with MCPS since 2010 and in that timeframe I've noticed this apparent discrepancy in the PR after serious assaults/rape and supremely minor happenings.

Oh yep those letters to say how proud they were for xyz service/personnel etc...there must be a few letter templates they circulate

Anonymous wrote:Yeah. That sounds like MCPS.

Guns, stabbings, student death - Wheaton, Gaithersburg, Blair, RM, Clarksburg, BCC, Magurder, Kennedy, Northwest, WJ, Rockville - who did I miss?

And now we have the infamous..

"Wootton small kitchen knife" incident.

You listed 11 out of the 25/26 high schools. That's all.

Anonymous wrote:I saw a letter Bostic sent to Wootton parents today.

Direct quotes:
"During a conversation with a student during lunch, it was discovered that the student had a small kitchen knife in their backpack. At no point were any students or staff in danger, and the situation was handled promptly and appropriately by school personnel and the knife was confiscated."

That part is all good. Everyone did the right thing and it would've been fine if he just issued a warning to parents, etc. No mention of a threat. No mention of an altercation. For all anyone knows, it was to cut an apple or a sandwich. But this is the part where he went full dive:

"Per established protocols the Montgomery County Police were contacted as well as the MCPS Department of Systemwide Safety and Emergency Management and MCPS leadership to assist in this matter"

Last year Wheaton and Kennedy kids got a letter from their Principal after two of their students were arrested by police for gun incidents. Kennedy even had someone enter the school with a knife and MCPS downplayed it. Here's a quote from the Kennedy letter:

“a trespasser came onto school grounds during lunch. The trespasser had an altercation with one of the students, and when other students approached the scene, the trespasser brandished a knife. Security responded immediately and disarmed the trespasser.”

Kids have been stabbed or committed murder at other schools and didn't seem to embellish and exaggerate as much as Bostic did. Seems to me he has an agenda?

Have your students (or you if you pack lunch) cut apple at home, same with a sandwich. If getting an apple at school cafeteria, will a flimsy plastic knife cut an apple? So, a dullish table knife isn't allowed?

Yeah. That sounds like MCPS.

Guns, stabbings, student death - Wheaton, Gaithersburg, Blair, RM, Clarksburg, BCC, Magurder, Kennedy, Northwest, WJ, Rockville - who did I miss?

And now we have the infamous..

"Wootton small kitchen knife" incident.

What you are missing is that where there is an actual threat to life, MCPS will ALWAYS, 100%, downplay the incident. Why? Because the community will rightly be outraged, and MCPS circles the wagons automatically trying to protect its staff and security protocols.

But when there's a minor incident, MCPS is PROUD that it has security protocols and that it can point to them as having averted a crisis. Hence these letters. It's MCPS patting itself on the back.

I've been dealing with MCPS since 2010 and in that timeframe I've noticed this apparent discrepancy in the PR after serious assaults/rape and supremely minor happenings.

Any kind of weapon has to be turned over to MCPD.

Anonymous wrote:You are missing common sense. That was a reasonable response to me. What were you expecting?

+1

You are missing common sense. That was a reasonable response to me. What were you expecting?

I saw a letter Bostic sent to Wootton parents today.

Direct quotes:
"During a conversation with a student during lunch, it was discovered that the student had a small kitchen knife in their backpack. At no point were any students or staff in danger, and the situation was handled promptly and appropriately by school personnel and the knife was confiscated."

That part is all good. Everyone did the right thing and it would've been fine if he just issued a warning to parents, etc. No mention of a threat. No mention of an altercation. For all anyone knows, it was to cut an apple or a sandwich. But this is the part where he went full dive:

"Per established protocols the Montgomery County Police were contacted as well as the MCPS Department of Systemwide Safety and Emergency Management and MCPS leadership to assist in this matter"

Last year Wheaton and Kennedy kids got a letter from their Principal after two of their students were arrested by police for gun incidents. Kennedy even had someone enter the school with a knife and MCPS downplayed it. Here's a quote from the Kennedy letter:

“a trespasser came onto school grounds during lunch. The trespasser had an altercation with one of the students, and when other students approached the scene, the trespasser brandished a knife. Security responded immediately and disarmed the trespasser.”

Kids have been stabbed or committed murder at other schools and didn't seem to embellish and exaggerate as much as Bostic did. Seems to me he has an agenda?