The generalizations here are astonishing. We live in Prince Georges County and I don't find rudeness to be a generalized trend here any more than anywhere else I have lived. In fact, my neighbors and the community I live in have all been welcoming and lovely. Every-time I go to the Lowes near my house the employees have been so awesome and even random people in the parking lot often help me get things. Store clerks are usually very kind or neutral.

I have had a similar experience with schools. When registering my daughter for K the secretary at our assigned school was struggling with the online system during covid but was still kind and did her best to help us. Folks at the school she lotteried into have been welcoming and helpful. When I have emailed the speciality program office I have gotten emails back right away with helpful responses. I am sure there are examples of rudeness other people have encountered but the generalizations here are insane.

Meh. I don't think this is fair. Our PGCPS elementary is full of friendly and professional folks, and I have worked with EC special education, student transfers, and the safety and security offices and they have all be just fine.

Dwight D Eisenhower Middle School is one of the worst school I have ever seen. The principal is terrible and does not care about the children. He is best at lying, cover up, and acting like a dictator.

You should really limit your statement to your personal experiences with PGCPS. My children have attended three different PGCPS schools where the administration, staff and teachers were both friendly and responsive. You can encounter attitude anywhere!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think PGCPS is bad, try stepping out of the minors and into the majors at DCPS. I taught in both. When I left DCPS, I felt like the people in PG were angels by comparison.

The admin staff in DCPS are horrible. I chalk it up to people that are marginalized in all other aspects of their lives and they lord their little bit of control over the parents at the school. Esp. if they parents belong to another socioeconomic class. Cost of doing business in DCPS.

I'm PP. My thoughts exactly.

Anonymous wrote:If you think PGCPS is bad, try stepping out of the minors and into the majors at DCPS. I taught in both. When I left DCPS, I felt like the people in PG were angels by comparison.

The admin staff in DCPS are horrible. I chalk it up to people that are marginalized in all other aspects of their lives and they lord their little bit of control over the parents at the school. Esp. if they parents belong to another socioeconomic class. Cost of doing business in DCPS.

If you think PGCPS is bad, try stepping out of the minors and into the majors at DCPS. I taught in both. When I left DCPS, I felt like the people in PG were angels by comparison.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live and work in the Rt 1 corridor and the people I encounter day to day are pretty pleasant. We lived in Wheaton for a year and it was awful.

I think in PG it is very neighborhood dependent.

Our PGCPS had an AWFUL lady at the front desk. The new principal moved her into a back office and put the registrar up front. Since then a new person has been hired and she is fantastic. Super friendly and helpful. The front desk staff I met at Kenmoor ECC were also extremely pleasant.
I think that it all depends on the individual school and the culture the school administration fosters.

Have you ever tried reaching anyone in the central school system to ask a simple question?

Yes. I've dealt with the Early Childhood Special Education office, TAG office, the Department of Family and Community Engagement, and the Executive Director of Student Services by email and they all got back to me within a day or two.

That said, I can totally believe that there are some awful employees at HQ and that you experience poor service from them. If I remember correctly the lady who processed my CPS form for the background check was particularly disagreeable.

I think that in general, people who like their job are more pleasant than those who don't. Some of the jobs in PGCPS sound terrible and if you have a crappy boss on top of that I can see how people would be miserable.

Anonymous wrote:I live and work in the Rt 1 corridor and the people I encounter day to day are pretty pleasant. We lived in Wheaton for a year and it was awful.

I think in PG it is very neighborhood dependent.

Our PGCPS had an AWFUL lady at the front desk. The new principal moved her into a back office and put the registrar up front. Since then a new person has been hired and she is fantastic. Super friendly and helpful. The front desk staff I met at Kenmoor ECC were also extremely pleasant.
I think that it all depends on the individual school and the culture the school administration fosters.

Have you ever tried reaching anyone in the central school system to ask a simple question?

I live and work in the Rt 1 corridor and the people I encounter day to day are pretty pleasant. We lived in Wheaton for a year and it was awful.

I think in PG it is very neighborhood dependent.

Our PGCPS had an AWFUL lady at the front desk. The new principal moved her into a back office and put the registrar up front. Since then a new person has been hired and she is fantastic. Super friendly and helpful. The front desk staff I met at Kenmoor ECC were also extremely pleasant.
I think that it all depends on the individual school and the culture the school administration fosters.

OP here- fortunately, my neighbors are super friendly and I've found almost all the PGCPS teachers to be excellent and responsive.
I agree about store clerks too though!
So sad. I'm a huge PG County defender, so I hate to see this!

We found this as a whole in PG county. We lived there for several years before moving to MontCo and every time I mention it on these boards, it goes straight to race. Our admin at the local elementary was fine and most of the teachers in the younger grades were sweet, but I also had the same experience trying to get someone from the bus or central admin to call back. They just ignored. I found store clerks to be so unhappy and unhelpful. It is just a prevailing attitude that was not worth dealing with (we were around Bowie town center). Neighbors were not friendly at all.

It really depends on the school and who you interact with. I teach for MCPS. Plenty of rude and unfriendly staff at several schools. The drama is exhausting.

Unfortunately it's a problem from that starts from the top down and it's not only parents on the receiving end, you can also include teachers and other staff(bus drivers, coaches and janitorial staff). I had an issue in which I needed to reach out to several people across the county including an Area coordinator for the school I was assigned to. Despite emails and phone calls and leaving voice messages and messages with secretaries, I'm still waiting for a response and it's been more than a year. I've moved on to another school system so I'm not trippin, but damn it would have be nice to be given the common courtesy of a response.
Not to make a blanket generalization because in some cases there are some really nice and cooperative people willing to help, however most of my experiences has been one of 2 results:

1. rude and unfriendly
2. Burying their heads in the sand and not deal with a situation at all with the hope that you will get frustrated and go away

I've always been a champion of my local PGCPS schools and the system in general. However, we recently moved to MoCo - for other reasons- and my child enrolled in a MCPS school. The difference in friendliness and attitude is astounding. Almost all of the administrators and staff I've ever dealt with in PGCPS are rude and somewhat hostile or at the very least, hassled and too busy to deal with people. I've had issues with the PGCPS bus- try to get someone to help you with that or call you back! I've dealt with people in the testing office and the coordinator for TAG- no one knows anything and no one will make a decision! I've dealt with registering my children at individual schools. The person who registers people at ERHS regularly sent people away in tears and acted downright hostile to registering parents.

In contrast, everyone I've interacted with in MCPS has been friendly, welcoming and helpful! In addition, they respond quickly and with actual answers!!

I'm so sad for PGCPS. Why can't people be friendly???

FWIW, I've also seen this at PGCC. People there are well meaning but many of the people you get on the phone are hostile, unhelpful and rude.

Is this a PG County thing? I can't help but feel that PG county would benefit from an attitude readjustment.