Anonymous wrote:

Where was Dr. McKnight during the 10 days BEFORE staff and students were to report back to school following winter break? Dr. McKnight and her six figure cohorts took extra vacations. That left no one to track the reports for COVID parents and staff were reporting for those 10 days. That left the lack of bus drivers unidentifiable. There was no one at Central Office to plan for the necessary changes in staffing and bus routes or even to communicate the situation with parents - even after Central Office had supposedly two administrative work days while schools were closed due to snow.

Taking a vacation during a crisis is not leadership. Spending $850,000 on extra leave for the most highly paid employees in MCPS is a waste of resources.

This right here is the crux of the issue. Many of this week's communications and logistical catastrophes were the direct result of leaving Central Office unstaffed last week. So you had bus drivers calling in, teachers calling in, and students returning covid forms, but no one on the other end to receive those messages and begin planning for contingencies. Having Central Office work last week would not have avoided every single problem, but it would have meant that the bus shortage could have been communicated sometime before Wednesday morning, and that planning could have been ongoing for staff shortages.

The problem is twofold: First, she abandoned her (highly compensated) duties and allowed her cronies to do the same, leading directly to crisis. Second, the optics/politics are terrible. At a time when public education is under real attack and with a hostile executive branch, THIS is something she thinks is a good idea?

Ditto the "pivot." If you know you are going to need to get a plan vetted by the bureaucracy, why have you not socialized the plan with them ahead of time? It is ridiculous to blame this on the State of Maryland when McKnight or one of her many staffers could have handled this behind the scenes and ensured that their plan would be approved before it went live. Shockingly bad politics from someone in an inherently political role.

+1 Where is the coordination between the Governor, State Department of Education, MCPS, the Montgomery County Board of Education, the County Executive, the County Council, and DHHS? Is there a government liaison within the school system to discuss COVID and develop a comprehensive government plan to prioritize a way to keep schools open while minimizing spread?

MCPS has not been doing enough testing in schools all year. When students and staff come in close contact with someone with COVID there’s not a way to test the people who were exposed? There’s virtually no random testing at my child’s school either. How can a child, who has sat with and at with students with COVID, go through half a school year and never tested at school. How ridiculous is it to expect parents to self test children then self report cases?

If MCPS knew (and how could school administrators not know) that they were not getting enough test kits, why wasn’t someone advocating their own purchase of kits or advocating to DHHS for ramping up testing in schools?

MCPS needs leadership that will work collaboratively with other government agencies through this crisis. Unfortunately, collaboration and communication is not in Dr. McKnight’s wheelhouse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's disgusting that people are making this about race. It's about competence. Ot lack thereof.

Was Jack Smith competent? Please name some of the leaders that you have faith in right now. Let's see what your expectations are.

He was 100 times more competent than what we are seeing now. The return to school last spring was well executed. The only thing people argue about is whether it could have been sooner, not the actually communication, logistics and implementation. I personally thought it was fantastic, it was very thoughtfully planned and implemented, although I understand the hybrid was tough on teachers.

Oh, now I know you are a racist troll.

Jack Smith was ‘more competent’? That is a joke. Why? Because he was White, and because he was a man?

Let alone his pathetic Covid response, he was the epitome of incompetence. The curriculum fiasco was under his watch. The Damascus rape and the Rockville rape and the RM sexual abuse, plus so many others. All during his watch. MCPS scores have been on a downward trend, all under his leadership.

Dr. McKnight took on a school system what was already on a downward trajectory during an incredibly challenging time (Covid). Jack Smith left her with a MESS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's disgusting that people are making this about race. It's about competence. Ot lack thereof.

Was Jack Smith competent? Please name some of the leaders that you have faith in right now. Let's see what your expectations are.

He was 100 times more competent than what we are seeing now. The return to school last spring was well executed. The only thing people argue about is whether it could have been sooner, not the actually communication, logistics and implementation. I personally thought it was fantastic, it was very thoughtfully planned and implemented, although I understand the hybrid was tough on teachers.

Where was Dr. McKnight during the 10 days BEFORE staff and students were to report back to school following winter break? Dr. McKnight and her six figure cohorts took extra vacations. That left no one to track the reports for COVID parents and staff were reporting for those 10 days. That left the lack of bus drivers unidentifiable. There was no one at Central Office to plan for the necessary changes in staffing and bus routes or even to communicate the situation with parents - even after Central Office had supposedly two administrative work days while schools were closed due to snow.

Taking a vacation during a crisis is not leadership. Spending $850,000 on extra leave for the most highly paid employees in MCPS is a waste of resources.

This right here is the crux of the issue. Many of this week's communications and logistical catastrophes were the direct result of leaving Central Office unstaffed last week. So you had bus drivers calling in, teachers calling in, and students returning covid forms, but no one on the other end to receive those messages and begin planning for contingencies. Having Central Office work last week would not have avoided every single problem, but it would have meant that the bus shortage could have been communicated sometime before Wednesday morning, and that planning could have been ongoing for staff shortages.

The problem is twofold: First, she abandoned her (highly compensated) duties and allowed her cronies to do the same, leading directly to crisis. Second, the optics/politics are terrible. At a time when public education is under real attack and with a hostile executive branch, THIS is something she thinks is a good idea?

Ditto the "pivot." If you know you are going to need to get a plan vetted by the bureaucracy, why have you not socialized the plan with them ahead of time? It is ridiculous to blame this on the State of Maryland when McKnight or one of her many staffers could have handled this behind the scenes and ensured that their plan would be approved before it went live. Shockingly bad politics from someone in an inherently political role.

Where was Dr. McKnight during the 10 days BEFORE staff and students were to report back to school following winter break? Dr. McKnight and her six figure cohorts took extra vacations. That left no one to track the reports for COVID parents and staff were reporting for those 10 days. That left the lack of bus drivers unidentifiable. There was no one at Central Office to plan for the necessary changes in staffing and bus routes or even to communicate the situation with parents - even after Central Office had supposedly two administrative work days while schools were closed due to snow.

Taking a vacation during a crisis is not leadership. Spending $850,000 on extra leave for the most highly paid employees in MCPS is a waste of resources.

To attract teachers, bus drivers, substitutes, and support staff - increase pay and benefits. These positions are hard to fill especially in a pandemic because they are overworked and underpaid. If part-time hourly employees, many do not earn annual leave, sick leave, retirement benefits, health insurance, dental insurance, or any other type of benefits. This is why MCPS is experiencing a staffing crisis and have been all year.

Could a plan of action to address these areas have been developed since June 2021 when Dr. McKnight assumed the Interim Superintendent position? Yes. Did she or her staff including a recruiter in MCPS who lives in Georgia adequately plan, promote, and hire the front line staff that schools need? No. They spent more time pulling staff from schools to fill the bloat from Central Office.

Where’s the Board’s oversight during the absolute train wreck of a school system? They are a bunch of puppy dogs doing whatever MCPS wants them to do. No oversight. No hard questions. Just rubber stamp every bad decision by Dr. McKnight along the way.

MCPS needs a clean house. We need to downsize Central Office so money goes to staff schools. We need new Board members who are independent thinkers and willing to call emergency meetings during urgent crisis. We need oversight by the Board of Ed and I agree their silence and complacency speaks volumes to their leadership capabilities and ethics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:It is a tough time for superintendents but McKnight definitely seems to be in over her head

Y’all are just racist and misogynistic. McKnight is no worse or no better than any of the rest of our ‘leaders’. She’s trying to do the best she can with the information given to her by DHHS. She is not a public health expert and she should not be expected to have that knowledge.

So tiresome. Every critique of a non-white person is not racist, nor is every critique of a woman misogynistic.

She can't handle this job. Period.

Not a chance.

Under Jack Smith, my kid was virtual for over a year. At least Dr. McKnight has tried to keep our kids in school. When she realized the 5% threshold wasn’t working correctly, she adjusted course.

She is doing better than Smith, IMO. I’ll take her any day over Smith.

Your criticisms show your racist tendencies, sorry.

I give her a ton of credit on the pivot. I can see where her head was at with the color-coded stuff, but that's a 2020 strategy not in alignment with the rest of the region/nation. A pivot back to normal couldn't have been easy, but it was the right decision. Communications have been a bit rough, but a good leader knows when it's time to pull the plug on something that's not going to work vs. doubling down on it.

+1000

Exactly. Would you rather she double down on a strategy that is clearly not working?

Well, a smart leader would not draw a bright red line and paint him or herself into a corner.

NP- She didn’t, the 5% threshold was a point for determining if a school needed to go virtual. Which is why she should of just stayed the course with the policy, separated out the data for staff and students, (maybe even thrown in subs assigned) and proceeded along the same course with updated communications. We’re many /all schools going to get to red at some point? Sure, buts that’s not a variable anyone in MCPS has any control over. The above would have reflected a commitment to keep schools open as long as they were safe effective environments, while being transparent. It also would have acknowledged that there are differences between schools. For instance a title 1 school with smaller classes and potentially more resource staff may have been better able to manage teacher outages with larger sizes and internal coverage for 1-2 wks. The same might not be true for an average ES, and then contend with the rate of vaccination for ages 5-10 in the county. A high school with more missing kids than staff may have been okay because it represents absences across 4 grades and a whole range of classes. 100 students absent or in quarantine isn’t worth making 1900 more be virtual. If a highschool is missing teachers, it may still be okay, if you can move students to libraries or the cafeteria or even outside. A free study period or extra break never hurt any HS kid.

Now no one has any idea whats going on or going to happen, which makes no sense and is going to ratchet up anxiety for some. And frankly likely to result in more screaming over time as people complain about risk, lack of quality education time for kids, etc etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a tough time for superintendents but McKnight definitely seems to be in over her head

Y’all are just racist and misogynistic. McKnight is no worse or no better than any of the rest of our ‘leaders’. She’s trying to do the best she can with the information given to her by DHHS. She is not a public health expert and she should not be expected to have that knowledge.

So tiresome. Every critique of a non-white person is not racist, nor is every critique of a woman misogynistic.

She can't handle this job. Period.

Not a chance.

Under Jack Smith, my kid was virtual for over a year. At least Dr. McKnight has tried to keep our kids in school. When she realized the 5% threshold wasn’t working correctly, she adjusted course.

She is doing better than Smith, IMO. I’ll take her any day over Smith.

Your criticisms show your racist tendencies, sorry.

I give her a ton of credit on the pivot. I can see where her head was at with the color-coded stuff, but that's a 2020 strategy not in alignment with the rest of the region/nation. A pivot back to normal couldn't have been easy, but it was the right decision. Communications have been a bit rough, but a good leader knows when it's time to pull the plug on something that's not going to work vs. doubling down on it.

Sorry but that's where you're wrong. Go speak to a medical worker on the front-lines. It is not normal. Wish it was, but that's inconsistent with the hospitalization numbers.

A good leader will see the consequences of their own actions, not double-down on bad ones.

It doesn't matter. It really doesn't. Normal = federal, state, and local strategy. You may not like that strategy, but that's what it is.

On one hand, the state and local argue they have decision-making autonomy from Federal when it comes to spending taxpayer money (ex. on Kids Museum), but if someone passes a "lemming law" that says everyone must jump off of a cliff, they must follow? Sorry. Not gonna fly.

The local, state, and national strategy is to have kids in school. You have the right to stay home if you're afraid to fly.

Spoken like an attorney! MCPS says its safe, so it's safe. End of discussion. Can't have it both ways.

Anonymous wrote:I'm neither in the "OMG the sky is falling must go virtual now" crowd nor am I in the "Keep the schools open dammit" crowd. I'm just a teacher who has lost all faith in Dr. McKnight and her ability to lead our school system, and I know I'm not alone. A leader simply can't lead without the faith and trust of the people they lead.

I sincerely hope the Board of Education can see the disheveled mess Dr. McKnight has made and they hire someone else for the permanent Superintendent position.

Several parents lost faith in your ability to teach and put your students first last year. But you are still teaching...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a tough time for superintendents but McKnight definitely seems to be in over her head

Y’all are just racist and misogynistic. McKnight is no worse or no better than any of the rest of our ‘leaders’. She’s trying to do the best she can with the information given to her by DHHS. She is not a public health expert and she should not be expected to have that knowledge.

So tiresome. Every critique of a non-white person is not racist, nor is every critique of a woman misogynistic.

She can't handle this job. Period.

Not a chance.

Under Jack Smith, my kid was virtual for over a year. At least Dr. McKnight has tried to keep our kids in school. When she realized the 5% threshold wasn’t working correctly, she adjusted course.

She is doing better than Smith, IMO. I’ll take her any day over Smith.

Your criticisms show your racist tendencies, sorry.

I give her a ton of credit on the pivot. I can see where her head was at with the color-coded stuff, but that's a 2020 strategy not in alignment with the rest of the region/nation. A pivot back to normal couldn't have been easy, but it was the right decision. Communications have been a bit rough, but a good leader knows when it's time to pull the plug on something that's not going to work vs. doubling down on it.

Sorry but that's where you're wrong. Go speak to a medical worker on the front-lines. It is not normal. Wish it was, but that's inconsistent with the hospitalization numbers.

A good leader will see the consequences of their own actions, not double-down on bad ones.

It doesn't matter. It really doesn't. Normal = federal, state, and local strategy. You may not like that strategy, but that's what it is.

On one hand, the state and local argue they have decision-making autonomy from Federal when it comes to spending taxpayer money (ex. on Kids Museum), but if someone passes a "lemming law" that says everyone must jump off of a cliff, they must follow? Sorry. Not gonna fly.

The local, state, and national strategy is to have kids in school. You have the right to stay home if you're afraid to fly.

Anonymous wrote:It's disgusting that people are making this about race. It's about competence. Ot lack thereof.

Was Jack Smith competent? Please name some of the leaders that you have faith in right now. Let's see what your expectations are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a tough time for superintendents but McKnight definitely seems to be in over her head

Y’all are just racist and misogynistic. McKnight is no worse or no better than any of the rest of our ‘leaders’. She’s trying to do the best she can with the information given to her by DHHS. She is not a public health expert and she should not be expected to have that knowledge.

So tiresome. Every critique of a non-white person is not racist, nor is every critique of a woman misogynistic.

She can't handle this job. Period.

Not a chance.

Under Jack Smith, my kid was virtual for over a year. At least Dr. McKnight has tried to keep our kids in school. When she realized the 5% threshold wasn’t working correctly, she adjusted course.

She is doing better than Smith, IMO. I’ll take her any day over Smith.

Your criticisms show your racist tendencies, sorry.

I give her a ton of credit on the pivot. I can see where her head was at with the color-coded stuff, but that's a 2020 strategy not in alignment with the rest of the region/nation. A pivot back to normal couldn't have been easy, but it was the right decision. Communications have been a bit rough, but a good leader knows when it's time to pull the plug on something that's not going to work vs. doubling down on it.

Sorry but that's where you're wrong. Go speak to a medical worker on the front-lines. It is not normal. Wish it was, but that's inconsistent with the hospitalization numbers.

A good leader will see the consequences of their own actions, not double-down on bad ones.

It doesn't matter. It really doesn't. Normal = federal, state, and local strategy. You may not like that strategy, but that's what it is.

On one hand, the state and local argue they have decision-making autonomy from Federal when it comes to spending taxpayer money (ex. on Kids Museum), but if someone passes a "lemming law" that says everyone must jump off of a cliff, they must follow? Sorry. Not gonna fly.

Anonymous wrote:It's disgusting that people are making this about race. It's about competence. Ot lack thereof.

Well, I tell you what.

Jack Smith made decisions based on his grandson in another state. He told us as much. He didn’t even try to get our kids in school.

You think what was ‘leadership’?

Suddenly now, parents and teachers are outraged all. the. time. No matter what McKnight does.

Maybe race isn’t the issue for everyone on here, but I’m willing to bet it is an issue for some. Whether consciously or subconsciously.

Anonymous wrote:It's disgusting that people are making this about race. It's about competence. Ot lack thereof.

There is no or.

It's disgusting that people are making this about race. It's about competence. Ot lack thereof.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a tough time for superintendents but McKnight definitely seems to be in over her head

Y’all are just racist and misogynistic. McKnight is no worse or no better than any of the rest of our ‘leaders’. She’s trying to do the best she can with the information given to her by DHHS. She is not a public health expert and she should not be expected to have that knowledge.

So tiresome. Every critique of a non-white person is not racist, nor is every critique of a woman misogynistic.

She can't handle this job. Period.

Not a chance.

Under Jack Smith, my kid was virtual for over a year. At least Dr. McKnight has tried to keep our kids in school. When she realized the 5% threshold wasn’t working correctly, she adjusted course.

She is doing better than Smith, IMO. I’ll take her any day over Smith.

Your criticisms show your racist tendencies, sorry.

I give her a ton of credit on the pivot. I can see where her head was at with the color-coded stuff, but that's a 2020 strategy not in alignment with the rest of the region/nation. A pivot back to normal couldn't have been easy, but it was the right decision. Communications have been a bit rough, but a good leader knows when it's time to pull the plug on something that's not going to work vs. doubling down on it.

Sorry but that's where you're wrong. Go speak to a medical worker on the front-lines. It is not normal. Wish it was, but that's inconsistent with the hospitalization numbers.

A good leader will see the consequences of their own actions, not double-down on bad ones.

It doesn't matter. It really doesn't. Normal = federal, state, and local strategy. You may not like that strategy, but that's what it is.