Anonymous
Post 07/20/2024 21:39     Subject: Superintendent Taylor says he is responsible for what happens next

Anonymous wrote:Why are we still discussing the virtual academy. It is dead.


+1
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2024 21:32     Subject: Superintendent Taylor says he is responsible for what happens next

Why are we still discussing the virtual academy. It is dead.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2024 21:31     Subject: Re:Superintendent Taylor says he is responsible for what happens next

Anonymous wrote:
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Anonymous wrote:What exactly did Dr. Taylor accomplish with this meeting? As he stated, he can’t undo the decision so why was this a priority?


He learned he can undo the decision.


There's no money, and even more, there's no time to "undo" the closure. School assignments for teachers have been updated. Some teachers have resigned. Attempting to reopen MVA at this point would leave a large number of students in schools and MVA without teachers.

I don't understand what the MVA families expect at this point. They lost the battle to keep MVA in place. They'd be better off refocusing on lobbying the state to create a virtual program rather than complaining about a decision that can't be undone.


The battle will continue until its reopened. If they don't do it for this year, there is always next year.


MCPS isn't going to bring back MVA when it is obvious the better long-term solution is a state program.


The state isn't offering a solution although most states don't provide their own program and they outsource it to K-12. Clearly you haven't looked into it. Its actually cheaper to do it inhouse.


The county isn't offering synchronous online school, either.

If it's really cheaper to insource it, then the state could do that. But you don't know what contracted rates the states pay, just what they charge individuals.


It’s not the state who provides education, the county does. The state provides over site. What is your obsession with the state providing it? The county woukd have to pay the state if that happened like in VA. Mcps would not get it for free.


There aren't even enough students in Montgomery County to make MVA scale effectively (e.g., the 10-person classrooms in some grades). How could smaller counties ever do virtual without being grouped with kids from the larger counties?

A state-based program makes much more sense for a niche program like virtual learning for kids.


800 students is plenty.
MCPS has a number of programs with less thsn that.


Nots with their own standalone administration, and not for kids with no identified special needs.

Running an entire separate administrative and educational apparatus for 800 kids is a terrible use of money. It makes much more sense to scale that up to the state level.


Way more is spent on school athletic programs. Those aren’t needed at all and don’t serve kids with any special need. There’s an entire admin apparatus behind it with athletic directors, coaches, athletic trainers, etc. and that doesn’t even count the millions spent on fields and equipment. The state needs to fund all that or else close them all down and use the money for the educational needs of all kids rather than the extracurricular choices of the few who play sports.


I have a child who has never, and will never, do a sport in MCPS and I still think you are dead wrong here. First of all, it's really not "a few" kids who play sports. I'd actually guess that the majority of MCPS kids play at least one sport, one time, in either MS or HS. It might be a sport they already play, or trying something new like cross-country or volleyball or bocce (which is reserved for kids who don't normally play sports and kids with learning differences).

It's like orchestra - most kids will try it at some point (4th or 5th grade) and then have the chance to decide whether it is right for them.

Also, as an MCPS parent, I actually think the district does a good job of communicating healthy messages about sports. Again, my kid is emphatically not athletic, but their principals have celebrated the athletes AND the mathletes AND the theater kids, so every kid feels like they have something they can be proud of.

Sports also add value to the overall student experience. Watching two MCPS schools battle it out in the girls soccer championship last year was a peak high school experience for a lot of kids.

Basically, this is the wrong tree to bark up. Not quite as bad as advocating to close the highest-needs schools, but close.


Let's stick to the facts here, please, and stop making stuff up about a majority of kids participating in sports at the MS and HS level.

"Approximately 23,000 student-athletes participate annually on the high school level, 5,000 on the middle school level" https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/athletics/contacts/

That's about 15% of middle schoolers participating and 43% of high schoolers.


So MCPS is suppose to defund a 28,000 student function that every other county has in order to fund a 800 student venture that no other county has?


This is false. Please stop making stuff up to support your hatred of the MVA. Of course there are other counties that provide virtual learning academies


What other county has their own K-12 Virtual academy? I know several have virtual academies for HS.


In md alone, multiple. And it’s 1-12. Pay attention before you comment.


Again I say which counties? Noticed you neglected to answer the question. A few have a virtual academy for HS, there is one for gifted students, and MoCO and Fredrick are both closing there’s for financial reasons.


Prince Frederick McMary's County has pre-prek-13 virtual school. And they've promised it is never going away.


What is Prince Frederick McMary's County?


Got the name wrong. It's Princess Mary McFrederick County.


Sounds like that's where Cathleen, Sterling, and Courtney should move their families.


But they want the prestige that comes with being in MCPS
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2024 21:05     Subject: Re:Superintendent Taylor says he is responsible for what happens next

LOL Karla Silvestre did not give a single damn about all of the weeping and moaning from MVA parents and just plainly said she urges MVA families to work with staff to transition.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2024 20:40     Subject: Re:Superintendent Taylor says he is responsible for what happens next

Ditto for the parents of Brianna Rojas who put her up to breaking down in tears in front of the BOE. This is peak manipulation using children like this.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2024 20:26     Subject: Re:Superintendent Taylor says he is responsible for what happens next

Connor Tucker's parents who wrote his script and testimony for him where he testified at the latest BOE meeting are doing him a disservice. He said his parents moved to MCPS for the quality of the schools but now they're demanding the school district, for whom whose schools he moved for, offer virtual instruction because they have deemed in-person learning unacceptable? Make it make sense.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2024 20:21     Subject: Re:Superintendent Taylor says he is responsible for what happens next

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What exactly did Dr. Taylor accomplish with this meeting? As he stated, he can’t undo the decision so why was this a priority?


Political cover. He can say he’s transparent and seeking community input while knowing all too well that there’s nothing he can do to reverse the BOE’s decision. It was a way for him to make clear that the closure was the fault of others and that he should get a clean slate with this constituency and be judged on how well he listens from here on out. Not to say that he’s a bad person at all - he’s doing what any good leader would do in his position in seeking input on how he can help these families that were dealt a bad hand and got a raw deal from the prior admin.


Rookie mistake. He threw the BOE under the bus on this for a program that is no longer financially tenable. It's unlikely he is going to use his political capital on MVA, which has value for some, but not for the many. He needs to familiarize himself with the state's Blueprint for Maryland's Future. There isn't current funding for it and it is a state mandate with which MCPS must comply.


But administrator dinners are still in the budget!!!!! Yippeee

dp.. if they are working through dinner, then, I don't begrudge them that. And how much is that budget compared to the mva budget? I'm thinking, a fraction.


They can pay for their own dinners with their inflated salaries.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2024 20:21     Subject: Re:Superintendent Taylor says he is responsible for what happens next

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What exactly did Dr. Taylor accomplish with this meeting? As he stated, he can’t undo the decision so why was this a priority?


He learned he can undo the decision.


There's no money, and even more, there's no time to "undo" the closure. School assignments for teachers have been updated. Some teachers have resigned. Attempting to reopen MVA at this point would leave a large number of students in schools and MVA without teachers.

I don't understand what the MVA families expect at this point. They lost the battle to keep MVA in place. They'd be better off refocusing on lobbying the state to create a virtual program rather than complaining about a decision that can't be undone.


The battle will continue until its reopened. If they don't do it for this year, there is always next year.


MCPS isn't going to bring back MVA when it is obvious the better long-term solution is a state program.


The state isn't offering a solution although most states don't provide their own program and they outsource it to K-12. Clearly you haven't looked into it. Its actually cheaper to do it inhouse.


The county isn't offering synchronous online school, either.

If it's really cheaper to insource it, then the state could do that. But you don't know what contracted rates the states pay, just what they charge individuals.


It’s not the state who provides education, the county does. The state provides over site. What is your obsession with the state providing it? The county woukd have to pay the state if that happened like in VA. Mcps would not get it for free.


There aren't even enough students in Montgomery County to make MVA scale effectively (e.g., the 10-person classrooms in some grades). How could smaller counties ever do virtual without being grouped with kids from the larger counties?

A state-based program makes much more sense for a niche program like virtual learning for kids.


It could scale effectively. There was a waitlist for the MVA last year.

The people who cite the data saying that the program lost more than 67% of its participants overall and lost more than 40% of its participants 2 years in a row are just mean.


They could also allow in person students to take classes not offered at their home school, especailly foriegn langauge, math and science.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2024 20:20     Subject: Re:Superintendent Taylor says he is responsible for what happens next

Anonymous wrote:
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Anonymous wrote:What exactly did Dr. Taylor accomplish with this meeting? As he stated, he can’t undo the decision so why was this a priority?


He learned he can undo the decision.


There's no money, and even more, there's no time to "undo" the closure. School assignments for teachers have been updated. Some teachers have resigned. Attempting to reopen MVA at this point would leave a large number of students in schools and MVA without teachers.

I don't understand what the MVA families expect at this point. They lost the battle to keep MVA in place. They'd be better off refocusing on lobbying the state to create a virtual program rather than complaining about a decision that can't be undone.


The battle will continue until its reopened. If they don't do it for this year, there is always next year.


MCPS isn't going to bring back MVA when it is obvious the better long-term solution is a state program.


The state isn't offering a solution although most states don't provide their own program and they outsource it to K-12. Clearly you haven't looked into it. Its actually cheaper to do it inhouse.


The county isn't offering synchronous online school, either.

If it's really cheaper to insource it, then the state could do that. But you don't know what contracted rates the states pay, just what they charge individuals.


It’s not the state who provides education, the county does. The state provides over site. What is your obsession with the state providing it? The county woukd have to pay the state if that happened like in VA. Mcps would not get it for free.


There aren't even enough students in Montgomery County to make MVA scale effectively (e.g., the 10-person classrooms in some grades). How could smaller counties ever do virtual without being grouped with kids from the larger counties?

A state-based program makes much more sense for a niche program like virtual learning for kids.


800 students is plenty.
MCPS has a number of programs with less thsn that.


Nots with their own standalone administration, and not for kids with no identified special needs.

Running an entire separate administrative and educational apparatus for 800 kids is a terrible use of money. It makes much more sense to scale that up to the state level.


Way more is spent on school athletic programs. Those aren’t needed at all and don’t serve kids with any special need. There’s an entire admin apparatus behind it with athletic directors, coaches, athletic trainers, etc. and that doesn’t even count the millions spent on fields and equipment. The state needs to fund all that or else close them all down and use the money for the educational needs of all kids rather than the extracurricular choices of the few who play sports.


I have a child who has never, and will never, do a sport in MCPS and I still think you are dead wrong here. First of all, it's really not "a few" kids who play sports. I'd actually guess that the majority of MCPS kids play at least one sport, one time, in either MS or HS. It might be a sport they already play, or trying something new like cross-country or volleyball or bocce (which is reserved for kids who don't normally play sports and kids with learning differences).

It's like orchestra - most kids will try it at some point (4th or 5th grade) and then have the chance to decide whether it is right for them.

Also, as an MCPS parent, I actually think the district does a good job of communicating healthy messages about sports. Again, my kid is emphatically not athletic, but their principals have celebrated the athletes AND the mathletes AND the theater kids, so every kid feels like they have something they can be proud of.

Sports also add value to the overall student experience. Watching two MCPS schools battle it out in the girls soccer championship last year was a peak high school experience for a lot of kids.

Basically, this is the wrong tree to bark up. Not quite as bad as advocating to close the highest-needs schools, but close.


Let's stick to the facts here, please, and stop making stuff up about a majority of kids participating in sports at the MS and HS level.

"Approximately 23,000 student-athletes participate annually on the high school level, 5,000 on the middle school level" https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/athletics/contacts/

That's about 15% of middle schoolers participating and 43% of high schoolers.


So MCPS is suppose to defund a 28,000 student function that every other county has in order to fund a 800 student venture that no other county has?


This is false. Please stop making stuff up to support your hatred of the MVA. Of course there are other counties that provide virtual learning academies


What other county has their own K-12 Virtual academy? I know several have virtual academies for HS.


In md alone, multiple. And it’s 1-12. Pay attention before you comment.


Again I say which counties? Noticed you neglected to answer the question. A few have a virtual academy for HS, there is one for gifted students, and MoCO and Fredrick are both closing there’s for financial reasons.


What does it matter what other counties do? To that end, let’s close every magnet school in MCPS that doesn’t have an equivalent in every other Maryland county


You changed your story pretty quick there. You apparently discovered there aren't any counties offering virtual for all grades.


State of MD does not allow K. Otherwise they do. Google is your friend.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2024 20:19     Subject: Re:Superintendent Taylor says he is responsible for what happens next

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What exactly did Dr. Taylor accomplish with this meeting? As he stated, he can’t undo the decision so why was this a priority?


He learned he can undo the decision.


There's no money, and even more, there's no time to "undo" the closure. School assignments for teachers have been updated. Some teachers have resigned. Attempting to reopen MVA at this point would leave a large number of students in schools and MVA without teachers.

I don't understand what the MVA families expect at this point. They lost the battle to keep MVA in place. They'd be better off refocusing on lobbying the state to create a virtual program rather than complaining about a decision that can't be undone.


The battle will continue until its reopened. If they don't do it for this year, there is always next year.


MCPS isn't going to bring back MVA when it is obvious the better long-term solution is a state program.


The state isn't offering a solution although most states don't provide their own program and they outsource it to K-12. Clearly you haven't looked into it. Its actually cheaper to do it inhouse.


The county isn't offering synchronous online school, either.

If it's really cheaper to insource it, then the state could do that. But you don't know what contracted rates the states pay, just what they charge individuals.


It’s not the state who provides education, the county does. The state provides over site. What is your obsession with the state providing it? The county woukd have to pay the state if that happened like in VA. Mcps would not get it for free.


There aren't even enough students in Montgomery County to make MVA scale effectively (e.g., the 10-person classrooms in some grades). How could smaller counties ever do virtual without being grouped with kids from the larger counties?

A state-based program makes much more sense for a niche program like virtual learning for kids.


800 students is plenty.
MCPS has a number of programs with less thsn that.


Nots with their own standalone administration, and not for kids with no identified special needs.

Running an entire separate administrative and educational apparatus for 800 kids is a terrible use of money. It makes much more sense to scale that up to the state level.


Way more is spent on school athletic programs. Those aren’t needed at all and don’t serve kids with any special need. There’s an entire admin apparatus behind it with athletic directors, coaches, athletic trainers, etc. and that doesn’t even count the millions spent on fields and equipment. The state needs to fund all that or else close them all down and use the money for the educational needs of all kids rather than the extracurricular choices of the few who play sports.


I have a child who has never, and will never, do a sport in MCPS and I still think you are dead wrong here. First of all, it's really not "a few" kids who play sports. I'd actually guess that the majority of MCPS kids play at least one sport, one time, in either MS or HS. It might be a sport they already play, or trying something new like cross-country or volleyball or bocce (which is reserved for kids who don't normally play sports and kids with learning differences).

It's like orchestra - most kids will try it at some point (4th or 5th grade) and then have the chance to decide whether it is right for them.

Also, as an MCPS parent, I actually think the district does a good job of communicating healthy messages about sports. Again, my kid is emphatically not athletic, but their principals have celebrated the athletes AND the mathletes AND the theater kids, so every kid feels like they have something they can be proud of.

Sports also add value to the overall student experience. Watching two MCPS schools battle it out in the girls soccer championship last year was a peak high school experience for a lot of kids.

Basically, this is the wrong tree to bark up. Not quite as bad as advocating to close the highest-needs schools, but close.


Let's stick to the facts here, please, and stop making stuff up about a majority of kids participating in sports at the MS and HS level.

"Approximately 23,000 student-athletes participate annually on the high school level, 5,000 on the middle school level" https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/athletics/contacts/

That's about 15% of middle schoolers participating and 43% of high schoolers.


So MCPS is suppose to defund a 28,000 student function that every other county has in order to fund a 800 student venture that no other county has?


Do you realize the small cost of the MVA and that each student gets a money allociation so one has nothign to do with the other? Many of those kids play multiple sports, so its not 23K. And, they can do sports privately or through the rec dept like many of us do.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2024 20:18     Subject: Re:Superintendent Taylor says he is responsible for what happens next

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What exactly did Dr. Taylor accomplish with this meeting? As he stated, he can’t undo the decision so why was this a priority?


He learned he can undo the decision.


There's no money, and even more, there's no time to "undo" the closure. School assignments for teachers have been updated. Some teachers have resigned. Attempting to reopen MVA at this point would leave a large number of students in schools and MVA without teachers.

I don't understand what the MVA families expect at this point. They lost the battle to keep MVA in place. They'd be better off refocusing on lobbying the state to create a virtual program rather than complaining about a decision that can't be undone.


The battle will continue until its reopened. If they don't do it for this year, there is always next year.


MCPS isn't going to bring back MVA when it is obvious the better long-term solution is a state program.


The state isn't offering a solution although most states don't provide their own program and they outsource it to K-12. Clearly you haven't looked into it. Its actually cheaper to do it inhouse.


The county isn't offering synchronous online school, either.

If it's really cheaper to insource it, then the state could do that. But you don't know what contracted rates the states pay, just what they charge individuals.


It’s not the state who provides education, the county does. The state provides over site. What is your obsession with the state providing it? The county woukd have to pay the state if that happened like in VA. Mcps would not get it for free.


There aren't even enough students in Montgomery County to make MVA scale effectively (e.g., the 10-person classrooms in some grades). How could smaller counties ever do virtual without being grouped with kids from the larger counties?

A state-based program makes much more sense for a niche program like virtual learning for kids.


800 students is plenty.
MCPS has a number of programs with less thsn that.


Nots with their own standalone administration, and not for kids with no identified special needs.

Running an entire separate administrative and educational apparatus for 800 kids is a terrible use of money. It makes much more sense to scale that up to the state level.


Way more is spent on school athletic programs. Those aren’t needed at all and don’t serve kids with any special need. There’s an entire admin apparatus behind it with athletic directors, coaches, athletic trainers, etc. and that doesn’t even count the millions spent on fields and equipment. The state needs to fund all that or else close them all down and use the money for the educational needs of all kids rather than the extracurricular choices of the few who play sports.


I have a child who has never, and will never, do a sport in MCPS and I still think you are dead wrong here. First of all, it's really not "a few" kids who play sports. I'd actually guess that the majority of MCPS kids play at least one sport, one time, in either MS or HS. It might be a sport they already play, or trying something new like cross-country or volleyball or bocce (which is reserved for kids who don't normally play sports and kids with learning differences).

It's like orchestra - most kids will try it at some point (4th or 5th grade) and then have the chance to decide whether it is right for them.

Also, as an MCPS parent, I actually think the district does a good job of communicating healthy messages about sports. Again, my kid is emphatically not athletic, but their principals have celebrated the athletes AND the mathletes AND the theater kids, so every kid feels like they have something they can be proud of.

Sports also add value to the overall student experience. Watching two MCPS schools battle it out in the girls soccer championship last year was a peak high school experience for a lot of kids.

Basically, this is the wrong tree to bark up. Not quite as bad as advocating to close the highest-needs schools, but close.


Let's stick to the facts here, please, and stop making stuff up about a majority of kids participating in sports at the MS and HS level.

"Approximately 23,000 student-athletes participate annually on the high school level, 5,000 on the middle school level" https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/athletics/contacts/

That's about 15% of middle schoolers participating and 43% of high schoolers.


So MCPS is suppose to defund a 28,000 student function that every other county has in order to fund a 800 student venture that no other county has?


This is false. Please stop making stuff up to support your hatred of the MVA. Of course there are other counties that provide virtual learning academies


What other county has their own K-12 Virtual academy? I know several have virtual academies for HS.


In md alone, multiple. And it’s 1-12. Pay attention before you comment.


Again I say which counties? Noticed you neglected to answer the question. A few have a virtual academy for HS, there is one for gifted students, and MoCO and Fredrick are both closing there’s for financial reasons.


You really need to keep up. Frederick County reinstated theirs.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2024 20:17     Subject: Superintendent Taylor says he is responsible for what happens next

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Some of the people who have testified for the MVA are clearly in desperate need of therapy and treatment for anxiety—both kids and adults.


That's unfair to most of the kids that have been trapped in this situation. By happenstance, I ran into the kids of one of the more vocal MVA families at a park recently. Other than wearing masks in hot weather outside, they seemed like relatively normal and happy kids. Although it was apparent that they didn't know how to play with other kids their age.


Speaking for one family does not encompass the entire MVA. Even if kids are in person it doesn't mean they will get social skills or friends. Lots of kids in person are isolated and don't have friends.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2024 17:39     Subject: Re:Superintendent Taylor says he is responsible for what happens next

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What exactly did Dr. Taylor accomplish with this meeting? As he stated, he can’t undo the decision so why was this a priority?


He learned he can undo the decision.


There's no money, and even more, there's no time to "undo" the closure. School assignments for teachers have been updated. Some teachers have resigned. Attempting to reopen MVA at this point would leave a large number of students in schools and MVA without teachers.

I don't understand what the MVA families expect at this point. They lost the battle to keep MVA in place. They'd be better off refocusing on lobbying the state to create a virtual program rather than complaining about a decision that can't be undone.


The battle will continue until its reopened. If they don't do it for this year, there is always next year.


MCPS isn't going to bring back MVA when it is obvious the better long-term solution is a state program.


The state isn't offering a solution although most states don't provide their own program and they outsource it to K-12. Clearly you haven't looked into it. Its actually cheaper to do it inhouse.


The county isn't offering synchronous online school, either.

If it's really cheaper to insource it, then the state could do that. But you don't know what contracted rates the states pay, just what they charge individuals.


It’s not the state who provides education, the county does. The state provides over site. What is your obsession with the state providing it? The county woukd have to pay the state if that happened like in VA. Mcps would not get it for free.


There aren't even enough students in Montgomery County to make MVA scale effectively (e.g., the 10-person classrooms in some grades). How could smaller counties ever do virtual without being grouped with kids from the larger counties?

A state-based program makes much more sense for a niche program like virtual learning for kids.


800 students is plenty.
MCPS has a number of programs with less thsn that.


Nots with their own standalone administration, and not for kids with no identified special needs.

Running an entire separate administrative and educational apparatus for 800 kids is a terrible use of money. It makes much more sense to scale that up to the state level.


Way more is spent on school athletic programs. Those aren’t needed at all and don’t serve kids with any special need. There’s an entire admin apparatus behind it with athletic directors, coaches, athletic trainers, etc. and that doesn’t even count the millions spent on fields and equipment. The state needs to fund all that or else close them all down and use the money for the educational needs of all kids rather than the extracurricular choices of the few who play sports.


I have a child who has never, and will never, do a sport in MCPS and I still think you are dead wrong here. First of all, it's really not "a few" kids who play sports. I'd actually guess that the majority of MCPS kids play at least one sport, one time, in either MS or HS. It might be a sport they already play, or trying something new like cross-country or volleyball or bocce (which is reserved for kids who don't normally play sports and kids with learning differences).

It's like orchestra - most kids will try it at some point (4th or 5th grade) and then have the chance to decide whether it is right for them.

Also, as an MCPS parent, I actually think the district does a good job of communicating healthy messages about sports. Again, my kid is emphatically not athletic, but their principals have celebrated the athletes AND the mathletes AND the theater kids, so every kid feels like they have something they can be proud of.

Sports also add value to the overall student experience. Watching two MCPS schools battle it out in the girls soccer championship last year was a peak high school experience for a lot of kids.

Basically, this is the wrong tree to bark up. Not quite as bad as advocating to close the highest-needs schools, but close.


Let's stick to the facts here, please, and stop making stuff up about a majority of kids participating in sports at the MS and HS level.

"Approximately 23,000 student-athletes participate annually on the high school level, 5,000 on the middle school level" https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/athletics/contacts/

That's about 15% of middle schoolers participating and 43% of high schoolers.


So MCPS is suppose to defund a 28,000 student function that every other county has in order to fund a 800 student venture that no other county has?


This is false. Please stop making stuff up to support your hatred of the MVA. Of course there are other counties that provide virtual learning academies


What other county has their own K-12 Virtual academy? I know several have virtual academies for HS.


In md alone, multiple. And it’s 1-12. Pay attention before you comment.


Again I say which counties? Noticed you neglected to answer the question. A few have a virtual academy for HS, there is one for gifted students, and MoCO and Fredrick are both closing there’s for financial reasons.


Prince Frederick McMary's County has pre-prek-13 virtual school. And they've promised it is never going away.


What is Prince Frederick McMary's County?


Got the name wrong. It's Princess Mary McFrederick County.


You're think of Contessa Fred Prickmary County.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2024 11:58     Subject: Superintendent Taylor says he is responsible for what happens next

Anonymous wrote:Some of the people who have testified for the MVA are clearly in desperate need of therapy and treatment for anxiety—both kids and adults.


That's unfair to most of the kids that have been trapped in this situation. By happenstance, I ran into the kids of one of the more vocal MVA families at a park recently. Other than wearing masks in hot weather outside, they seemed like relatively normal and happy kids. Although it was apparent that they didn't know how to play with other kids their age.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2024 11:50     Subject: Superintendent Taylor says he is responsible for what happens next

Anonymous wrote:Some of the people who have testified for the MVA are clearly in desperate need of therapy and treatment for anxiety—both kids and adults.


The kids would probably be fine if their parents got the help they need.