Anonymous wrote:The fact is, Smith does the bidding of the BOE. They micromanage and get what they want, he keeps his job. It's as simple as that.

It is funny that you think that this is what happens. Not! MCPS staff present items to the Board of Education, the Board then runnber-stamps whatever he wants. When is the last time the Board disagreed with or over-rode the MCPS staff, including Dr Smith?

The fact is, Smith does the bidding of the BOE. They micromanage and get what they want, he keeps his job. It's as simple as that.

He hires the people who have helpEd him in the past or could help him in the future. That bit about not having a competitive bidding process is so true.

Jack Smith is awful, many of us who have been in the system have been saying it for a long time but just get labeled whiners and complainers here. I won't rehash it all, but just to mention a few:
-no discipline or consequences for students (not for misbehaving horribly and not for failing classes, because no one is allowed to fail)
-no support from central office to admins (Principals)
-no support from Admins to teachers
-cuts in special education, from the preschool program up through high school and LFI
-horrible forecasting, leading to severely overcrowded schools
-horrible maintenance of facilities, meaning mold, bathrooms that consistently don't work, roof tiles that fly off and more
-wasted tax payer dollars on studies that go nowhere (capacity and site selection studies that result in no changes)
-wasted tax payer dollars from hiring the same few construction companies over and over, rather than having a competitive bidding process

Not to worry, Jack Smith will not be completing his 4 year contract, our taxpayer dollars will continue to pay him, and Monifa will take over. Just ask Calvert County residents how happy they were to see him go

What is the reason lazy Jack wasn't at the virtual conference last night? Neither was Monifa. Central office doesn't care about parent questions or the community. If Jack can't listen and lead time to find someone else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lack of action? He cannot fix covid.

No, but he could bring students back to school, like they're doing all over the country and the world, even in places with higher community spread.

He's not even seriously trying to bring back special needs kids.

Are you nuts? With cases rising, no one is going back, and the ones who are already back are going home. My nephew in Connecticut has gone in person since August and they're switching to hybrid soon and then to full distance learning. For kindergarteners. Because they have to.

Which is what we should have done!

People have been saying this for months.

Schools should have been open for the fall and then shut down again for the winter.

Instead, MCPS did nothing but DL.

MCPS is hardly alone on that.

Plus, to be fair, everyone started talking about school in July, and then the numbers got bad again. Then school started in DL, and the numbers went down, and everyone started talking about school, and now the numbers are getting bad (really bad) again...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lack of action? He cannot fix covid.

No, but he could bring students back to school, like they're doing all over the country and the world, even in places with higher community spread.

He's not even seriously trying to bring back special needs kids.

Are you nuts? With cases rising, no one is going back, and the ones who are already back are going home. My nephew in Connecticut has gone in person since August and they're switching to hybrid soon and then to full distance learning. For kindergarteners. Because they have to.

Apparently Europe is nuts then, because they value education enough to keep schools open despite community spread at similar levels.

The teachers unions are quite strong in the US, though. And we're happy to close schools to make people feel better about the decisions to keep restaurants and bars open.

Once again for the slow people in the back, the US response to COVID bears NO RESEMBLANCE to the European response to COVID and so the two are 100%, unequivocally NOT COMPARABLE.

Please stop embarrassing yourself.

What do you think ALL of Europe did that is different than what Maryland did?

First off, you are embarrassing yourself if you think that ALL of Europe had the same response to Covid. You show your ignorance, right there.

Well, the most significant difference seems to be that the vast majority of Europe reopened schools after the spring, and have continued to keep them open since.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lack of action? He cannot fix covid.

No, but he could bring students back to school, like they're doing all over the country and the world, even in places with higher community spread.

He's not even seriously trying to bring back special needs kids.

Are you nuts? With cases rising, no one is going back, and the ones who are already back are going home. My nephew in Connecticut has gone in person since August and they're switching to hybrid soon and then to full distance learning. For kindergarteners. Because they have to.

Apparently Europe is nuts then, because they value education enough to keep schools open despite community spread at similar levels.

The teachers unions are quite strong in the US, though. And we're happy to close schools to make people feel better about the decisions to keep restaurants and bars open.

Once again for the slow people in the back, the US response to COVID bears NO RESEMBLANCE to the European response to COVID and so the two are 100%, unequivocally NOT COMPARABLE.

Please stop embarrassing yourself.

What do you think ALL of Europe did that is different than what Maryland did?

First off, you are embarrassing yourself if you think that ALL of Europe had the same response to Covid. You show your ignorance, right there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lack of action? He cannot fix covid.

No, but he could bring students back to school, like they're doing all over the country and the world, even in places with higher community spread.

He's not even seriously trying to bring back special needs kids.

Are you nuts? With cases rising, no one is going back, and the ones who are already back are going home. My nephew in Connecticut has gone in person since August and they're switching to hybrid soon and then to full distance learning. For kindergarteners. Because they have to.

Which is what we should have done!

People have been saying this for months.

Schools should have been open for the fall and then shut down again for the winter.

Instead, MCPS did nothing but DL.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lack of action? He cannot fix covid.

No, but he could bring students back to school, like they're doing all over the country and the world, even in places with higher community spread.

He's not even seriously trying to bring back special needs kids.

Are you nuts? With cases rising, no one is going back, and the ones who are already back are going home. My nephew in Connecticut has gone in person since August and they're switching to hybrid soon and then to full distance learning. For kindergarteners. Because they have to.

Apparently Europe is nuts then, because they value education enough to keep schools open despite community spread at similar levels.

The teachers unions are quite strong in the US, though. And we're happy to close schools to make people feel better about the decisions to keep restaurants and bars open.

Once again for the slow people in the back, the US response to COVID bears NO RESEMBLANCE to the European response to COVID and so the two are 100%, unequivocally NOT COMPARABLE.

Please stop embarrassing yourself.

Spread is spread. It doesn't particularly matter if you take a slightly different path to get to the same place.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lack of action? He cannot fix covid.

No, but he could bring students back to school, like they're doing all over the country and the world, even in places with higher community spread.

He's not even seriously trying to bring back special needs kids.

Are you nuts? With cases rising, no one is going back, and the ones who are already back are going home. My nephew in Connecticut has gone in person since August and they're switching to hybrid soon and then to full distance learning. For kindergarteners. Because they have to.

Apparently Europe is nuts then, because they value education enough to keep schools open despite community spread at similar levels.

The teachers unions are quite strong in the US, though. And we're happy to close schools to make people feel better about the decisions to keep restaurants and bars open.

You can make the choice to not go to restaurants and bars.

And you can make the choice to not send your kids to school. Or to find a different job if you're a teacher.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lack of action? He cannot fix covid.

No, but he could bring students back to school, like they're doing all over the country and the world, even in places with higher community spread.

He's not even seriously trying to bring back special needs kids.

Are you nuts? With cases rising, no one is going back, and the ones who are already back are going home. My nephew in Connecticut has gone in person since August and they're switching to hybrid soon and then to full distance learning. For kindergarteners. Because they have to.

Apparently Europe is nuts then, because they value education enough to keep schools open despite community spread at similar levels.

The teachers unions are quite strong in the US, though. And we're happy to close schools to make people feel better about the decisions to keep restaurants and bars open.

You can make the choice to not go to restaurants and bars.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lack of action? He cannot fix covid.

No, but he could bring students back to school, like they're doing all over the country and the world, even in places with higher community spread.

He's not even seriously trying to bring back special needs kids.

Are you nuts? With cases rising, no one is going back, and the ones who are already back are going home. My nephew in Connecticut has gone in person since August and they're switching to hybrid soon and then to full distance learning. For kindergarteners. Because they have to.

Apparently Europe is nuts then, because they value education enough to keep schools open despite community spread at similar levels.

The teachers unions are quite strong in the US, though. And we're happy to close schools to make people feel better about the decisions to keep restaurants and bars open.

Once again for the slow people in the back, the US response to COVID bears NO RESEMBLANCE to the European response to COVID and so the two are 100%, unequivocally NOT COMPARABLE.

Please stop embarrassing yourself.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lack of action? He cannot fix covid.

No, but he could bring students back to school, like they're doing all over the country and the world, even in places with higher community spread.

He's not even seriously trying to bring back special needs kids.

Are you nuts? With cases rising, no one is going back, and the ones who are already back are going home. My nephew in Connecticut has gone in person since August and they're switching to hybrid soon and then to full distance learning. For kindergarteners. Because they have to.

Apparently Europe is nuts then, because they value education enough to keep schools open despite community spread at similar levels.

The teachers unions are quite strong in the US, though. And we're happy to close schools to make people feel better about the decisions to keep restaurants and bars open.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lack of action? He cannot fix covid.

No, but he could bring students back to school, like they're doing all over the country and the world, even in places with higher community spread.

He's not even seriously trying to bring back special needs kids.

Are you nuts? With cases rising, no one is going back, and the ones who are already back are going home. My nephew in Connecticut has gone in person since August and they're switching to hybrid soon and then to full distance learning. For kindergarteners. Because they have to.