Anonymous wrote:This is a must-see board meeting for anyone concerned about safety and security in MCPS:

Watch the public comments and the discussion that follows and then the last hour, where Brian Hull and MCPS staff give a lackluster presentation and then proceed to get verbally slapped by nearly every board member.

Anonymous wrote:So, has it gotten better post-McKnight?

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Anonymous wrote:The search is done. The interim will be the permanent and we will have McKnight 2.0.

Even if she wanted the permanent job (which we don't know), and even if the board wanted her to get the permanent job (which we don't know), they would still go through the process of hiring the search firm who would conduct the national search. So in no sense is the search "done."

Oh bless your heart the same way they did a "national search" when they hired Smith and McKnight? It's all fake to put on a show to the community. They know who they want before they do a single interview. That's why they use search firms, so they can have the search firm reach out to the preferred candidate and prep them. If they use HYA I can tell you 100% they have already selected Felder. Her former boss and current chief of staff both work for HYA.

Well, this is interesting: they did not in fact go with HYA this time to conduct the superintendent search. Instead, the board just approved the hiring of Greenwood Asher & Associates.

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Anonymous wrote:Well given our school’s budget was frozen, announced shortly after McKnight left and likely due to her settlement, McKnight’s destruction will last for a while. The school asked for donations for science projects and my child reported that teachers have to buy their own paper. Pathetic. Shame on the board.

The budget freeze had absolutely nothing to do with McKnight leaving.

Yes, it has to do with McKnight's inability to develop and manage a budget.

No, it had to do with the Employee Benefit fund of which they are advised by AON. AON advised of a need to increase dollars to the fund by 8-9%, which they did. However, what they are seeing is a 13-15% increase, and because of this are projecting a $40M deficit come end of FY. The freeze was put in place to be able to address the deficit as much as possible without or before going to the county council AND to keep from having to reject employee use of some benefits.

What folks need to prepare themselves for is the fact that employee prices for benefits will be going up and what is covered will go down when the next insurance contract is decided.