When a staff member is accused of child abuse, MCPS is supposed to place the staff member on administrative leave. Why don't they do this?

Why don't people in MCPS immediately report child abuse to CPS like they are supposed to?

Jack Smith needs to change the corporate culture of cover up and ignoring problems that allow pedophiles to stay in place and hurt multiple children. Over 600 children in 10 years have been abused in MCPS. Those are the ones that are known. How many more did MCPS cover up?

If Jack Smith cannot fix MCPS of this problem, then the Board of Education should start looking for a superintendent that can.

In my child's case, MCPS left a staff member in place even after we reported him. They gave him an opportunity to hurt more children. Jack Smith needs to change this MCPS policy.

If they couldn’t send an email out because of policies then maybe they should change their policies,

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Before I even saw the PPs comment, I knew there was no way Nardi wrote that email. He's not a person who takes action, he's a person who follows his commanding officer. That's the least of the problems there.

None of them write their own emails. It is sent from Central Office and sent out on school stationary with the principal's name filled in. Part of the reason why things take so long to come out to parents--it has to be drafted and approved by a legal team before it's sent out to principals to send out to parents

Just so you all are clear on what MPCS is NOT doing......this guy subbed in Howard County to. As far as they know, he did not abuse anyone there. And yet, the Superintendent sent an email / communication to every single parent in the system saying what MCPS found out. And the county wide PTA is running posts on Facebook updating people about what schools he has been in there, and LISTING EXACT dates. As they pour through more records, they add more info.

Here in MCPS? Crappy form letters to each school 3 days after the arrest. I got the Pyle one, my son at Pyle says he had this guy last year as a sub, which means my other kid who is now at Whitman could have been in contact with him too......think Whitman sent a letter? NOPE.....I emailed the principal and he said central office makes that call, he can not.

So.....Howard County= proactive, transparent, trauma informed. MCPS - head in sand, nothing to see here, fend for yourselves while we protect our reputation.

My child is at flora Singer, not one of the schools listed, and I received the email. So sounds like they are sending widely and not just to the impacted schools.

The all county email went out after significant pressure was applied by many people at many levels.

Dear Board of Education - Can you please investigate whether any concerns were raised about this pedophile before he molested a child? Did he violate the MCPS Code of Conduct but MCPS kept him in contact with kids?

Dear CPS - Can you please investigate if there were any delays from people in MCPS to report child abuse? How quickly did CPS react to the first report.

Till the public has answers, problems will continue.

Anonymous wrote:Both my son and daughter had him as a sub. My son, grade 3, said he was "weird." He walked into the house yesterday, stating that "Mr. Katz raped a kid and now he's going to jail." He heard it from kids before the morning bell.

I'm not sure what this sicko's preferences are, but my daughter, who's in MS, recognized him b/c he subbed for only one of her classes.

I'm glad the kids talk. I would have said something sooner, but I wasn't aware that he subbed in our neck of the woods.

Keep talking to your kids, people. In classes of 28-30+, a teacher can only do so much.

Teachers can keep a child in a classroom when other children are dismissed. That provides the opportunity.

Yes, keep talking to your children. Share what they report to the police. There may be other victims.

Both my son and daughter had him as a sub. My son, grade 3, said he was "weird." He walked into the house yesterday, stating that "Mr. Katz raped a kid and now he's going to jail." He heard it from kids before the morning bell.

I'm not sure what this sicko's preferences are, but my daughter, who's in MS, recognized him b/c he subbed for only one of her classes.

I'm glad the kids talk. I would have said something sooner, but I wasn't aware that he subbed in our neck of the woods.

Keep talking to your kids, people. In classes of 28-30+, a teacher can only do so much.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coming here to say that as an MCPS educator but parent to a HCPSS student I'm thrilled with how it's being handlers in Howard and the transparency. MCPS is not handling this well and should be doing more.

I'm not a fan of MCPS, and I'm an MCPS teacher. However, Howard has only 76 schools; MCPS has 204 - soon to be 205, with the new ES.

So with regard to transparency, it's a little easier in Ho Co.

Sorry, that really does not work as an excuse IMO. We’re taking about kids’ sacety iN school.

If MCPS is too large to manage appropriately and too large to communicate with parents, then maybe one thing needs to be done to remedy that.

I didn't say I excused it, did I?

I'm just throwing out numbers. I agree that the county is too larger. However, if what a PP said is true - that he had subbed in 43 Ho Co schools over the last two years - that's over half the schools in the county. And again, this county is MUCH smaller than Mo Co.

So it's not about reactive communication, nor is it all about size.

And we can screen all we want, but if someone enters a system "clean," there's nothing we can do.

Dear MCPS Community:

As you may be aware, Steven Katz, a substitute teacher with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), was arrested on Friday, March 16, on charges of sexual abuse of a minor and fourth degree sexual offense stemming from inappropriate contact with a Cloverly Elementary School student.

While the alleged behavior only stems from one school, I am sharing this information with the community because Mr. Katz worked as a substitute at multiple schools during his employment with MCPS. The principals from these schools notified their communities of the arrest over the weekend and are providing counseling and support to students as needed. Mr. Katz worked at the following schools: Brooke Grove, Burning Tree, Burnt Mills, Burtonsville, Olney, Seven Locks, Sherwood and Wayside elementary schools; William H. Farquhar, Robert Frost and Thomas W. Pyle middle schools; and John F. Kennedy and Sherwood high schools.

Mr. Katz was a substitute with MCPS from May 2017 until March 12, 2018, when he was removed from his position after our school system was made aware of the allegations.

MCPS has fully cooperated with the Montgomery County Police Department and the State’s Attorney’s Office throughout the course of their investigation. Pursuant to our memorandum of understanding with these agencies and MCPS policies and regulations, our schools could not share any details broadly with the community before the arrest to avoid prejudicing the ongoing investigation.

The allegations in this case are upsetting and unacceptable. They represent a violation of MCPS policies and do not reflect the values of our school system. The safety of every student in our district is our top priority and a responsibility that we do not take lightly. We have and will continue to work every day to ensure our schools are safe places to learn.

If you or your child have any information that may be helpful to the investigation, I ask that you call the Special Victims Investigations Division of the Montgomery County Police Department at 240-773-5400.

Sincerely,

Jack R. Smith Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Before I even saw the PPs comment, I knew there was no way Nardi wrote that email. He's not a person who takes action, he's a person who follows his commanding officer. That's the least of the problems there.

None of them write their own emails. It is sent from Central Office and sent out on school stationary with the principal's name filled in. Part of the reason why things take so long to come out to parents--it has to be drafted and approved by a legal team before it's sent out to principals to send out to parents

Just so you all are clear on what MPCS is NOT doing......this guy subbed in Howard County to. As far as they know, he did not abuse anyone there. And yet, the Superintendent sent an email / communication to every single parent in the system saying what MCPS found out. And the county wide PTA is running posts on Facebook updating people about what schools he has been in there, and LISTING EXACT dates. As they pour through more records, they add more info.

Here in MCPS? Crappy form letters to each school 3 days after the arrest. I got the Pyle one, my son at Pyle says he had this guy last year as a sub, which means my other kid who is now at Whitman could have been in contact with him too......think Whitman sent a letter? NOPE.....I emailed the principal and he said central office makes that call, he can not.

So.....Howard County= proactive, transparent, trauma informed. MCPS - head in sand, nothing to see here, fend for yourselves while we protect our reputation.

My child is at flora Singer, not one of the schools listed, and I received the email. So sounds like they are sending widely and not just to the impacted schools.