Hispanic Heritage Month. We're also celebrating National School Parent Group, Appreciation Day, and we're also celebrating National Arts and Education Week. These are not just weeks in the year or months, that we celebrate, but these are meaningful to us in a lot of different ways. And this is really our chance to to elevate that, and the board of education wanted to bring special guests in and special recognition because they are, in fact, special. And so special guests, I wanna thank you for carving out time in your schedule
to be here today. You were handpicked, to be a part of this special celebration because you mean a lot to us, and you represent, elements of our community that we really wanna uplift. So without further ado, to lead us off in our first recognition of today, recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month is our board vice president, Grace Rivera Oven. Okay. Wow. I really feel love right now. Gracias. Gracias. Gracias. Buenos tardes. Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to be here.
I would like to invite, He's the executive director of of ALICE, the national, it's a national organization that 12 MCPS staff members who just graduated from the principal academy. I have to tell you, Alice has a special place in my heart. I have known so many wonderful people who have gone through it, some incredible educators. This is the extra mile that a lot of our, bilingual educators go through.
So thank you for everything you you have done and you're doing to make sure that our principals go through this academy. This is the superintendent's leadership academy to, you know, please, I would like them to come forward if they're they're I'm telling you, don't be shy. These are great achievements. So I just wanna say that today we stand here not only as a board of education, come on miss miss miss cuates, miss companeras.
That, we stand here not only as a board of education, but we stand here as a community. A community that is rich in diversity and strength. It is a great honor to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, a time to recognize and honor the invaluable contributions of the Latino Americans in our country and our community and to our school system. With more than a third of our students identifying as Latinos, this month serves as a powerful reminder of the cultures, traditions, and rich histories to enrich our classrooms, that
enrich our schools every day. Their stories, that resilience and their achievements are woven into the very fabric of Montgomery County Public Schools and make our schools and our community stronger every day. In that spirit of celebrating and building upon our community's strengths, I extend a special thanks to the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents, very known as ALAS, which means wings, by the way, for their incredible leadership.
Their superintendent and principal leadership academies are so crucial to our work. This year long academies, which our own dedicated staff have participated in, are not just about professional development, but they are about building a robust and diverse pipeline of leaders who understand and who reflect the communities that they serve. The participants of these programs are the future of our school system and their passion and commitment to equity to ensure that we continue to grow and lead with excellence,
with love and understanding for all our students. So I would like to just say before these were written remarks for me, but I like to speak from the heart a little bit if you if you indulge me. I came to this beautiful county as a very young eight year old. My family came here and they were pretty much refugees. I grew up in the city of Gaisensburg. I was literally one of four Latino students for a long time. In fact, you were one of them. Class of 1987. Cases for high school.
Go Trojans. And I have to tell you that Montgomery County is my home. It's my family, and I'm very loyal to my community because of what I've gotten at that school system. From mister Brown, who was the caretaker of the school grounds at Washington Grove, to missus Kavanagh, who was my ESOL teacher, Oh, to so many wonderful, you know, principal. My principal was absolutely amazing. I have to tell you that this is what it means to be a Latino
in Montgomery County, to feel the embrace and the love of a community and to ensure that education is in our pathway. And that is exactly what every single one of my colleagues behind us want for every single child in our county. That no matter where you come from or how you got here or what your story is, that you feel that when you walk into one of our schools, that you belong. And you know what? You belong here. So I just wanna say to organizations like Alice because when I was growing up,
I did not have folks I could look up to who look like me in our school system. And I I see the wonderful principals that we have in so many of our schools, our vice principals, teachers, math teachers, coaches who look like me, and that is wonderful. But never forget, especially to our students, you are incredibly blessed and lucky to be in a community that embraces who you are as a person. And that's what makes Montgomery County the most incredible special place to live.
Okay. Everybody close this of it this way. Yeah. Because we cannot pass the podium. Oh, okay. Perfect. That's good. Next, I'd like to invite, board member Carla Silvestri, to recognize our next group. Good afternoon. Buenas tardes. It is, my pleasure to introduce the next, celebration, and that is our National Parent Group Appreciation Day. I picked this one. I wanted to, present it because, when I came to Montgomery County eighteen years ago
as a parent of a kindergartner, I quickly joined my local PTA and got on the board and, started to learn, you know, how to be a good advocate, how to get involved in the schools, how to help each other. And that, experience has been invaluable. And that led to other parent organizations that I joined, and I was just so impressed with the wealth of knowledge that parents bring, how we help each other, how we learn from each other, different perspectives. So I always value hearing from our parent groups in terms of how our policies
and regulations are being implemented in our school communities, And so I wanted to be the one to read, to celebrate this with you all today. So I would like to call forward, Bridget Howe from MCCPTA, Byron Johns from the NAACP, Pilar Olmedo from Action in Montgomery, Vivian Hsu from Kappa MC, Nora Morales, and
Viviana Guerra from identity, parent training program. So as I shared with you, I truly believe that our parent organizations are our partners in building a strong, inclusive, and excellent school system for all. I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the vital role our parent organizations play in the success of our school system. These groups, our PTSAs, our family organizations, our non profits, are more than just a support system. They are a cornerstone of our educational community.
We all know that the research shows that when parents are actively involved, students achieve higher grades, have better attendance, and demonstrate greater motivation and self esteem. Our parent organizations serve as a critical bridge fostering enhanced communication between home and school, thereby creating a supportive environment that benefits our students, teachers, and staff alike. Their dedicated volunteerism and fundraising efforts provide invaluable resources, enriching our students' educational experience and
allowing us to offer a broad range of programs and opportunities. So with that, I let's give them another round of applause. Thank you. They each get Thank you.
Yeah. Alright. Are you ready for more? And this is a fun one. I promise it. This is gonna be a fun one. Hello. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Julie Yang. I'm the president of board of education. Now I picked this one. I picked this one because this one is very special to me. Now one of the things on my bucket list, do you know what it is? Wanna take a wild guess? Is to learn an instrument. I still have time to do it. Right? But right now, it's too busy. I'm doing too many things. It's it's gonna come. Now, what I notice is art is such important thing in our community.
We come from such diverse backgrounds and cultures, and I found art often to be the bridge among generations, cultures, and communities. And also art play a very special role in developing our students beyond the just the skills they learn in doing an instrument, singing, or doing a theater. There's another whole host of skills, abilities that they develop in the process.
So I'm doing an advertisement because the next section of ad talk, a conversation I will have with some of the art, institution in Montgomery County will be arts in education. Alright? So that was the ad portion of my speech. So last last year at the end of the school year, I actually went to 10 musical events. I went to the, county's regional choral performances. I went to the instrumental music, performances of of our elementary school.
You know, I was expecting, you know, just to support, but I actually truly and thoroughly enjoy the music. And here I want to share some numbers when I went through those visits with schools that I got. So just to take instrumental music as an example. Okay? Here are some numbers. More than last year, at the end of the school year, more than 7,200 MCPS middle school students are enrolled in instrumental music classes.
No. No. No. No. This is the part where I should invite doctor Joey Jones, principal at Robert Frost Middle School to come up, and then also the teacher, Andrea Cameron, to come up, and then student Jerry Yao, Ahana Gosch, Judy Wu, Sophie Zhu. Great to have you all here. Alright. They are the star. They are the star. So they are among the 700 our students here are 7,200 MCPS middle schoolers that
were in instrumental music. And also, out of these students, over 427 participate in our all county bands and orchestras, representing every region, Northwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest. Now, our students' talent is being recognized on the national stage. Our Cabanjaw Middle School Orchestra was invited to perform at the prestigious Midwest Clinic in 2021, and Robert Frost Middle School is going in Chicago this 12/18/2025.
These are extraordinary honors and reflecting the excellence of our program. And I also, you and I know that whenever there's a performance that put up, there is a dedicated teacher behind it. It's a whole semester of work. And last year, Megan Campbell, instrumental teacher at Portland Middle School, was the winner of MCPS teacher of the year. Now let's give her another round of applause.
Okay. So, the arts are not just enrichment, they are education. They build confidence, teamwork, and creativity, preparing our students for success in every part of life. Tonight, let's celebrate our young musicians, their teachers, and the vibrant role that our place in making Montgomery County Schools a place where students don't just run, but truly thrives. So let's take a moment to thank these students, teachers, and administration for your effort
in making it truly a well rounded education for our students. I often say, we don't just teach reading and math, letters and numbers. We teach we educate humans and art is an important part of this effort. So invite my board members to to come on. Good afternoon.
Welcome to the 09/25/2025, Board of Education business meeting. Before we begin, I would like us to stand welcome to MCPS staff, community members and students, and those who join us online to this meeting. And I'm so excited because we just celebrated three wonderful group of people in this boardroom. And now let's first stand for the, pledge of allegiance. The flag is in the back.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you all. Please be seated. I will now ask board members to introduce themselves to to establish your core. Good afternoon. Anuvu Malu, student member of the board. Good afternoon. Natalie Zimmerman representing District 2. Good afternoon. Carla Silvestre, school board member at large. Good afternoon, Buenas Tardes.
Good day, Rivera Oven, representing District 1. Good afternoon. Brenda Wolf representing District 5. Good afternoon. Laura Stewart, and I'm representing District 4. Good afternoon, Julie Yang, District 3. And next, I would like to ask, us to, approve to the revised agenda. Is there a motion? Motion. Second. There's a motion to approve and a second. All in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous with those present. Alright. And our first item of business is recommended appointment.
Our business meetings is the time we appoint important personnel, to our school system. And today, we are actually appointing doctor Monica Hedrick for the position of director, board senior analyst in the office of Board of Education. All right. Thank you. Doctor. Hedrick is a lifelong educator who has been employed by Baltimore County Public Schools for the past nine years as coordinator of data strategy and most recently as a director
of performance management. She looks forward to joining the office of the board of education to support data informed decision making and continuous improvement. Doctor Hatrick is joined here today by her husband, doctor Matthew Hatrick, a fellow educator. Also joining online is their daughter, Elizabeth, from Auckland, New Zealand, and Monica's parents, John and Donna Mazo from Millsboro, Delaware.
Okay. Is there a motion? Motion. Second. Is there a motion to approve and a second? All in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous with those present. Now, congratulations for joining a small but mighty team. Alright. Our next item is item number six, public comment. Today, we have all four all 20 slots filled. Now, this is the standard verbiage. If this is the first time you join us, this is the standard verbiage I
have to read through it. While the board encourages public input on policy program and practices and will consider the comments received, It is not the board's practice during its public meetings to respond to the questions, provide comment, or take action on the issues raised. This is a public meeting, and the board expect the conduct of all speakers and members of the audience to be within the bounds of proper etiquette. Inappropriate personal remarks, rude retorts, or other such behavior is out of order and will
not be tolerated. Those who demonstrate disruptive or disrespectful behavior during public comment may be asked to leave the room. In addition, public comment is not the proper avenue to address specific student or employee matters. Such matters should be directed through the complaint or appeal process. Each speaker has two minutes to deliver comments. While your name is called, please press the come to the front, press the flat button, and speak clearly into the microphone.
A yellow light and a single beat indicate you have thirty seconds remaining. A red light and repeating beats signal that time has expired. Once you have finished speaking, press the same button to turn off the microphone. Following the live testimony, audio and video testimony will be played. Copies of testimonies are posted with the other materials for this meeting on board docs. I'm going to call the first six, to come to the front. And when you come to the front, please sit from left to right.
And the first speaker is from Poolesville High School, Samantha Kuroda. And the second one is Janavanith Kumar, Shankar. I'm sure I can improve on that. Anshi Patel and then Mohi Patel, Sid Shar, and Yosef Adelkadir. Samantha, you can begin. Good afternoon, members of the board. My name is Samarth Croda, and I'm a member of the forty seven Beavers, a
community based first tech challenge team based in Germantown, Maryland. Today, I stand before you on behalf of the Moco Robo Initiative, an entirely student led coalition of robotics teams from across the county unified to advocate for the challenges we face. Robotics is not just an extracurricular activity. Through robotics, kids learn about design, programming, public speaking, business skills, and more. It's an activity that helps kids grow as individuals. Teams all across the county give back through our outreach events. During one of the library camps I was teaching, I saw firsthand how a student
who had no interest in robotics on the first day ended up staying after class to finish the program. Watching his face light up when the code finally worked was an incredibly fulfilling moment. Not only does robotics foster innovation through kids directly involved, but the presence of teams uplifts the entire community. But sadly, robotics faces several issues hindering our development and success. Several teams, including ours, face funding issues that prevent us from buying parts, paying for registration, or having a game set. In my team, though we try to get sponsorships and grants, our team fees are
substantial at around 500, which makes robotics more of a privilege than an opportunity for all. Due to funding scarcity, our team is also unable to have access to proper machine tools for prototyping. High level teams often use high end three d printers and CNC milling, but teams like ours aren't able to acquire such expensive machinery. The problems that we face are not only are not ones that we can solve ourselves or even rely on school support for. We've prepared a white paper proposal document for you, delving into deeper detail regarding issues
present with the status quo. We also request a grant system for robotics to be placed by MCPS to provide more stability while fostering students' writing skills. More solutions are expanded upon in our proposal document. This necessitates our request for you today. The establishment of a Montgomery County robotics committee providing us with a direct line of communication to county administration so we can work together to solve these challenges. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next, can you tell me how to say your name? Jenna Vanith?
Jenna Vanith. Go ahead. Good afternoon, board members of the board. My name is Jay, and I'm a member of the Falcons, our first robotics team based in Poolesville, Maryland. I'm representing the MOCA robotics alliance, a student led coalition that represents robotics teams across Montgomery County where students build and compete with industrial grade robots. Robotics isn't just about building robots. It's about building futures. Every team here makes waves of impact, connecting local communities across Montgomery County with STEM. Throughout the summer, members of our team take initiative and lead summer camps teaching various STEM topics that cover programming, CAD, and teamwork.
Between our three different camps, we reach around 60 MCPS students yearly. And throughout the school year, we engage with local communities by showcasing our robot at outreach events. We attend around 12 events per year and introduce robotics to hundreds of students and families. But behind the incredible successes that enable us to connect the county with STEM are challenges beyond our control that prohibit many teams from reaching their full potential in our own game. Take my own team. I've seen us grow from a team that was barely qualifying for a district championship to almost winning the world championship at an event with over 35,000 viewers.
But this past season, for the first time since 02/2018, we didn't qualify. And it wasn't because of a lack of effort or skill. The biggest reason was space. Our team had to split up manufacturing, assembly, and testing between Pulsall, Klutch Brick, and Gaithersburg. Finding a space on our own is especially challenging because spaces often require multiyear leases and don't meet size requirements to compensate for the magnitude FRC demands. And we're not alone. Teams across the county are struggling with the exact same issues, especially with limited bill space spaces. And these are not problems that individual teams can solve on their own.
That's why we're here today to ask for your support in forming a robotics committee within the county. We need a direct line of communication with the board so we can work together to solve these challenges. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Anshi? Good afternoon, members of the board. I'm Anshi, one of the captains of Jay's robotics team, FRC team forty nine nine. But what I wanna share to you today is not about my own team, but rather about the kids that I've had the great privilege to mentor. Over the past two years, I've been the lead mentor of two first Lego League teams, Revolution Robotics and Team Eclipse. These were groups of elementary and middle school students who came in with wide eyes
and endless curiosity. I remember one student who on the first day told me she wasn't a coding person, but by the end of the season, she was the one leading the team through programming challenges and explaining their paths to judges. Another student who barely spoke during our early meetings ended up standing proudly in front of an audience to present their team's innovation project and entering answering questions for other mentors. Moments like these show why robotics matters. These programs don't just teach kids how to build robots, but they fundamentally teach them how to learn, think and work together as a team. The growth that I saw is powerful. I promise you'll be hard pressed to find another program or extracurricular activity that is
as transformative or as defining of an experience as robotics. But there is another side to this story. As a mentor, I also saw the barriers that these teams face. Robots are expensive and competitions require fees and travel. For both my teams and others in the area, I've watched families struggle to figure out if they could afford the Lego kits or they would even be able to pay for the registration costs. The passion was there, the talent was there, but what wasn't always there were the resources to fund it. That's why county level support matters. We can make sure that robotics isn't just for the students whose families couldn't pay for it. We can make sure that every student in Montgomery County, no matter their background, has
a chance to discover the same excitement and growth that I've seen firsthand. These kids are future engineers, doctors, and problem solvers, and are leaders of our community, but if only we give them the opportunities to start. Robotics has already changed my life and it has already changed theirs. With your support, it can change many more. Please consider establishing a community as for a direct line of communication with us to work on addressing these concerns. Thank you. Thank you. Mohit? Good afternoon, members of the board. My name is Mohit Patil, and I'm a member of FTC team thirteen one hundred, the forty seven Beavers, a community first tech challenge team based in in Germantown, Maryland.
Right now, access to robotics in Montgomery County depends too much on a school's resources and family income. As a result, too many students never get the chance to participate. That inequality is holding back talented students who could thrive in STEM if given the opportunity. Robotics programs such as FIRST provide students with hands on experience in engineering, programming, leadership, and teamwork. However, the challenges teams face, including limited space and resources, difficulty finding mentors, little recognition, and unstable funding make it hard to sustain, reducing inclusion in robotics across the county. On my own team, we've struggled to find dedicated mentors with technical backgrounds.
We are very fortunate to have graduated alumni guiding us after years. Without stronger countywide support, other students cannot learn the learn skills that should be taught by experienced mentors. The challenges we face are not ones we can solve on our own, nor can we rely solely on individual schools to address them. To illustrate these issues in greater detail, we have prepared a white paper document clarifying the current obstacles and their impact, along with possible solutions. Based on this, we'd like to request the creation of a Montgomery County robotics committee. This committee would provide teams with direct line of communication to county administration, allowing us
to work together to address these challenges and ensure equitable access to robotics for all students. Montgomery County has some of the brightest students in the country. By investing in robotics, you're opening the doors for students of every background to succeed in STEM. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Sid? Hello, members of the board. I'm Sid Shaw, a member of the forty seven Beavers team thirteen one hundred. I'm a part of the MOCO robotics alliance, a student led initiative representing robotics teams across the county. Our alliance is here today to bring awareness to issues that all STEM activities have been facing.
As STEM is evidently a large focus of careers now and in the future as well, it is necessary that children and following generations receive the right care with facilities and funding at the start. Most teams have to fully pay for robotics equipment and technology, which can end up costing tens of thousands of dollars. Otherwise, teams have to struggle with finding sponsors and grants to elevate costs to receive little to no funds from organizations and companies. However, funds are not the only barrier necessary for a team to thrive. A typical competitive team needs to have access to industrial machines like CNC to build
the robots that match their intellectual capabilities desired, which teams in Montgomery County often have to drive hours to reach as there is little to no easily accessible facilities here. It is unfortunately that it is unfortunate that our county does not provide the necessary support as our innocent to struggling and desperate teams. However, Fairfax County provides significant funds towards robotics competitions and teams. Robotics might seem like attaching parts together, but this is where future minds are headed. Because of this, our county needs to provide additional focus to fulfill our passion and
potential. As an alliance, we simply ask for guidance and facilities to let STEM teams across the county thrive, which would let us and future generations excel, leaving no child behind based on their financial background. We would like to request the creation of a MOCO robotics committee to be created for us to address these issues. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Yousef? Good afternoon, members of the board. My name is Yousef Abdul Kadir, and I'm a member of FRC Team forty ninety nine. Robotics goes beyond the technical skills of engineering or programming.
It has taught me what it feels like to fail when a design you spend hours perfecting doesn't pan out the way you hoped or when a match doesn't go our way. But at the same time, I've learned what it feels like to succeed when persistence and teamwork finally pays off. The lessons I have learned and the countless experiences I have had with robotics are things that I believe every high schooler should experience. But all of this comes with a hefty cost, which is why I'd like to speak today about the importance of funding for robotics. On the technical side, purchasing high quality tools, parts, and electronics is very expensive.
While on the logistical side, attending competitions, traveling, and transporting equipment adds significantly to the cost. To help cover expenses expenses, we require a team fee from all of our members. But as cost rise, we've had to increase that fee year after year. This raises the barrier for entry, meaning wealthier students can stay involved while lower income students are left behind. With proper funding and resources, every student interested in robotics would have the chance to participate regardless of financial background. Even modest increases in funding would let teams focus less on finances and more on
teaching, mentoring, inspiring students, and performing as best we can. Investing in robotics is investing in students' futures. With your support and the creation of a Montgomery County robotics committee, Montgomery County can remain a leader in STEM education and ensure that all students have access to the opportunities they deserve. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you for six of you. You may return to your seat. I'm gonna call the next six to come to the front. Jackson Mar, Ganesh, Ramamuti, Jessica Taylor, Ella Juan, Laura Laura Silico, and Peter, Peter Boiko.
Jackson, go ahead. Good afternoon, members of the board. My name is Jackson Marr, and I'm a proud member of the forty seven Beavers. We are a community based first tech challenge team in Germantown, Maryland. Today, I stand before you on behalf of the MOCA Robo initiative, a student led coalition of robotics teams from across the county to voice the challenges we face in robotics. As a robotics team, having great ideas is only half the battle. With limited resources and tools, great ideas are pushed aside, unable to voice themselves. It is truly heartbreaking to see teams have to walk away from success.
Not because they didn't try or didn't care, but because they didn't have the right resources to bring their design to life, to make their dream a reality. Many tools used in robotics like three d printers and CNCs cost thousands of dollars, making it hard for new teams to obtain these tools, making it immensely harder to compete in competitions. For some of us, robotics isn't just a fun hobby that we do during middle school and high school. It's more. It's a career path, a real future. And I know MCPS cares deeply about preparing students for success. As technology becomes a larger part of our world, not having funding for these teams could destroy their chance at a bright career, a future.
For some teams, transportation is also a barrier, especially for larger teams. I was formally on the FRC team 4099, the Falcons, and I had to travel to Blacksburg High School, Virginia for just a small qualifier match. For large teams like the Falcons, transportation is a challenge that they have to tackle. Sometimes having to be only sorry. Sometimes, like what we had to do, being only able to take a small portion of the teams to competitions or not being able to go at all due to time constraints or unavailability of transport. If competitions weren't as far away, more teams would be able to compete.
As a whole, MOCA robot initiative would like to humbly request the establishment of the Montgomery County robotics committee. A committee that would create a line of communication between MOCA robotics teams and county administration, allowing us to work together to adjust these problems, ensuring equality for all and a bright future. Thank you for your time. Thank you. And next was Ganesh. Ganesh. Ganesh. Good afternoon, members of the board. My name is Ganesh Ramamurthy and I'm a junior at Richard Montgomery High School and a three year member of First Tech Challenge team two two five six five Rocket
Robotics. Rocket Robotics is proudly an official club at Richard Montgomery and we work directly with our school administration to accomplish our founding goal, to spread STEM opportunities to as many people as possible. Any student can join Rocket Robotics completely free of fees or other barriers like tryouts. And in just two years, we've demonstrated at over 10 elementary and middle schools, held five separate free six week coding courses in partnership with local libraries, and held an event at the Children's National Hospital in DC.
Members of the board, today, you have heard a lot about how FIRST Robotics provides immeasurable benefits to the community by bringing STEM education and opportunities to thousands of kids across the county. As a public affiliated team, we try to do as much as we possibly can for our community, but we are here before you today because we need help. Rocket Robotics' founding mission has allowed us to make an impact that we're truly proud of, but our ability to sustain these programs has waned without proper support from the board. We wanna be able to start a sister team at Julius West Middle School and
we want to be able to buy new control hubs to allow students at our courses to build an actual robot as their final project, but we simply don't have the resources. Members of the board, today you've heard about issues regarding having space available for teams to meet. You've heard about issues regarding, unstable funding, which have compounded this year as First Chesapeake raised their registration costs by $200 You've heard about issues regarding, lack of access to mentors and you've heard about issues regarding a lack of access to machining. Issues like these are even harder for school based teams to deal with.
We believe that these problems are solvable, but only with the cooperation of the Board of Education. Thus, we would like to request the creation of a committee with the board where we can discuss and work through the problems robotics teams across the county face so that we can continue to con enrich the communities that we both serve. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Jessica? Good afternoon, doctor Taylor and members of the board. My name is Jessica Taylor, and I'm a junior at Rockville High School. In front in front of me right now are three things. One, achieve talking points.
Two, a list of every act of gun violence that took place in the DMV school within the first month of formal instruction. And three, a board who has the power to make change. A few weeks ago, my school went to a lockdown for a possible shooter. Like many students, my first instinct was to reach for my phone, not to scroll, but to check-in with my family and understand what was happening. My teacher told me that under the new MCPS phone policy, I wasn't allowed to. At that moment, the rule that was made to keep order make me feel safe made me feel even less safe. This led me to dig deeper.
I concluded that nowhere in the MCPS phone policy does it state what to do during emergencies, which led which leaves gaps for those enforcing the policy. Safety isn't about appearances, lanyards around their necks, or phones locked away. It's about policies that when danger that work when danger is real. Phones are not distractions and emergencies, they are lifelines. Instead of banding them, we should teach responsible use and train staff how to react and respond to events like this one. So this afternoon, I'm asking you to revise and revisit the phone policy so it
protects students in emergencies it was never written for. Students shouldn't have to choose between following the rules and protecting themselves. Please give us policies that put safety first, not just on paper, but in practice. Thank you. Thank you, Jessica. Ella. Good afternoon, members of the board and doctor Taylor. My name is Ella Juan, and I'm a freshman at Richmond Montgomery High School. I wanna thank you all for conducting the study of our high school academic programs. Expanding access is an important step towards equity and every student should feel their school supports their interests and gives them meaningful opportunities to grow no matter where they live
in the county. But as you look ahead, I urge you to also prioritize equitable funding and resourcing of programs, not just equitable access. Right now, we see real disparities between programs that are supposed to be the same. For example, the IB program at RM has far more resources, staff support, and extracurricular opportunities compared to the IB program at Watkins Mill. Students may technically have access to IB in both schools, but the quality of experience can feel very different depending on where you go. That is not equity. If the regional model is implemented without careful attention to resources, we risk recreating these
inequities on a larger scale. A program's quality should never depend on the ZIP code of the school offering it. Every student, whether they're in Poolesville, Rockville, or Blair, deserves the same level of rigor, staffing, extra curricular opportunities, and transportation accessibility. This new study is a chance to get it right. As you plan for the six regions, please ensure that funding, teacher training, facilities, and transportation are distributed fairly across all programs. Otherwise, students may feel like they've been given a label without the full support to
back it up. Access matters, but quality matters just as much. Please do not repeat the mistakes we have seen with uneven program resourcing in the past. Students deserve not just opportunities in name, but opportunities in reality. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Laura. My name is Laura Savilico. I live in Damascus, and I'm a senior in the Poolesville High School humanities magnet program. I'm advocating for the preservation of the humanities program as countywide and criteria based rather than interest based. MCPS values community feedback on the boundary study, but for the program analysis, MCPS is
promoting the plan they want without community input. They revealed their plan to the public in July and want to rush a vote in December. MTPS is not seeking input from humanities students or teachers about this dramatic proposal. The architects of the plan have not visited our school to see what they'd be dismantling. If they did visit, they'd see students doing intensive research all four years of high school, an interdisciplinary teaching approach, and participation in deep, open ended learning experiences that foster critical thinking. Our cohort collaborates in three period blocks to synthesize our learning through creative projects.
Our National History Day projects are a product of best practices and research, historical analysis, and clear articulations of our arguments. I am proud to share that in ninth grade, I won first place in the nationwide National History Day competition for my research paper. I am equally proud to credit the education and mentoring I received in the Poolesville Humanities Program as instrumental to this achievement. Our program is not just a collection of classes on a slide. It is an educational culture that is not replicable without sufficient time and training, neither
of which MCPS has allotted for this plan. I also object to MCPS's plan to make the humanities program interest based while the other existing programs remain criteria based. Why is humanities treated differently? STEM is difficult, but what we do is also difficult. Evaluating the credibility of sources, analyzing multiple perspectives, and communicating ideas through discourse, writing, and media is crucial in our present society. MCPS seems settled on their program plan and is avoiding dissent by not providing opportunities for authentic discussion. I ask the board to compel MCPS to conduct a program analysis with the same
attention to community feedback as the boundary study and maintain the Poolesville Humanities magnet program as criteria based and open to applications from all students in its current draw area. Thank you. Thank you, Peter. Good afternoon, Doctor Taylor and members of the M. C. P. S. Board of Education. My name is Peter Boiko, and I'm into my senior year at Northwest High School. With the start of the new school year, I wanted to provide you with some insight into how the school year is progressing. The end of summer break means earlier wake up times for students. However, the culmination of work, especially for seniors juggling college applications and juniors starting their
hardest year of high school, can lead students to work late into the night. Recently, I found myself sacrificing sacrificing sleep for my homework and studying, but I'm thinking about the athletes. I'm thinking about the students who have to work a job after school or or those who have to take care of three siblings while juggling their academics. Students with limited flexibility are working at late hours, which is unhealthy for teens. I hear stories from my peers, most waking up before 6AM, but going to bed around midnight, busy studying or making dinner for their siblings because their parents come home
late. Students are not getting enough sleep. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that teens receive eight to ten hours of sleep, but that's not the case at all. Because of this, I see students sleeping and not being fully attentive during instruction. I know our school system wants a return to rigor, and I truly and undoubtedly believe the issue begins with our school start times. Looking at our neighbor Anne Arundel Public Schools, they have high school start times set at 08:30AM. Having later start times can improve student concentration and memory retention, increase attendance and reduce
tardiness, and boost overall academic performance by aligning school hours with adolescent sleep cycles. Look, doctor Taylor and members of the board, I know this may not be at the forefront of your priorities right now, but I encourage you all to at least look into to the possibility and implications of later school start times. Delaying school start times is not just a matter of convenience. It is an evidence based investment in our students' health, safety, and academic success, ensuring that they can learn, thrive, and unleash their full potential. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you all. Please return to your seats. I'm gonna call the next set of six, to come to the front. First one is miss Pia Morrison, and then is Camber Kane, Emily Hanlon, Risha George, Rebecca Kussmider, and Danielle Ibar Ibarra. Miss Morrison, go ahead. Good afternoon, superintendent Taylor and board of education members. My name is Pia Morrison.
I'm president of SEIU Local five hundred representing 10,000 support staff professionals in MCPS. They're the bus drivers who get kids to school, the building service workers who keep the schools clean, the administrative staff who coordinate day to day operations, the Paris who work with vulnerable students, cafeteria staff who feed them, security who keep them safe, and central office staff working hard behind the scenes to support schools. On their behalf, I wanna be very clear. MCPS is currently failing its employees. Our members are working in unsafe buildings, mold, poor ventilation, and crumbling facilities are making
people sick. The Carver Center is just one example. When staff have to bring inhalers to work, that's unacceptable. Or when they have to avoid certain rooms because of the dampness or because of mold, that is absolutely unacceptable. When staff members are working in facilities where they can see mold every day or being bitten by bugs, it's just too much, and no staff member should have to sacrifice their safety to go to work. And at the same time, our members are not being paid on time or correctly. The support staff, the backbone of our schools, are forced to go weeks and months
without a paycheck or with a paycheck that is incorrect. For families, that means rent goes unpaid, groceries are skipped, and families are suffering. Meanwhile, our support staff at Erskine are working tirelessly to correct pay issues. They're overworked and understaffed. I'm gonna cede my time to a support staff professional who is having these issues. Good evening. My name is Tamara Kelly, and I'm an administrative secretary at CESC. I care deeply about my work and about the families and the staff that I support every day. But the truth is doing this job has come at a cost to me and
my coworkers. We work in a building with mold and poor ventilation. Most days I go home with headaches, congestion, and a cough that won't go away. I've watched colleagues struggle with the same symptoms and more. It is frightening to wonder if simply going to work will make you sick. No one should have to feel that way about their workplace. In fact, it was dictated to us that there would be a third party assessment of this decaying facility released prior to repairs beginning. As of this meeting, it has yet to be released.
I wonder if the school system would even have addressed these issues if not for the very public and negative news coverage. And then there are the paychecks. At the start of the school year and over the summer, too many of our workers waited weeks before being paid. Our colleagues have had to put off bills, borrow money, and stretch every dollar, not because they didn't do their jobs, but because the system didn't do its part. That is stressful, That is humiliating, and it is wrong.
Thank you for your testimony. Thank you for sharing. Miss Kim Burkain. Good afternoon, superintendent Taylor, president Yang, and members of the board. My name is Kimber Kane, and I'm a high school English language development teacher and a current treasurer of the Montgomery County Education Association. I'm here today to urge you to prioritize robust investment in our capital improvement budget. Too many MCPS students are learning in classrooms with leaky roofs, outdated, and dysfunctional heating and cooling systems and broken plumbing. Too many educators are working in those conditions, including at non school based buildings.
I wanna paint a picture of what some MCPS buildings in this county look like. Carver Educational Center. It's a story well worth repeating. Mold and air quality issues are pervasive. There have been numerous complaints about bugs that bite and leave marks. We, SEIU, McCat, MCEA should not have to fight so hard to make sure educators are working in safe buildings. New Hampshire Estates Elementary School. Like many other schools in MCPS has ongoing problems with mold, ongoing issues with air conditioning, and ongoing issues with leaks. As classroom teachers, our students bring tissues and sanitizing wipes, but some of us bring
Febreze and plug ins just to be able to make it through the day in some of our schools. Yet too many educators and students across the county continue to play a daily game of, what's that smell? Yes. MCPS has opened several beautiful brand new schools, but we're asking many of our children to learn in buildings that are years past their intended lifespan. The neglect of building conditions harms our children's ability to learn and achieve, harms staff morale and retention of educators, and lowers our community's pride in its schools. Additionally, when schools are in disrepair, we're disrespecting the very communities that they are in.
We all know that the costs of deferred maintenance only grow more expensive over time. Every year we postpone maintenance and modernization, the price tag goes up and the conditions also worsen. By making bold investments now, we can create safe schools that meet the needs of our students today and in the future. I urge you, commit to fully funding the capital improvement budget. Our students and our educators should not have to wait any longer. Thank you. Thank you. Emily Hanlon. My name is Emily Hanlon. I'm a parent of a third grader at Damascus Elementary.
As some of you may know, Damascus Elementary was built in 1934 and renovated in 1980. That was forty five years ago. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, after forty years a school begins to experience rapid deterioration and exhibit conditions that can result in extreme safety concerns. While there have been big projects since 1980, there are still major issues that need to be addressed at Damascus Elementary. MCPS is touted as a as a county across the country that offers exceptional support for all learners. Currently in MCPS there are 10 elementary schools that offer LFI programs and seven that
offer SCB programs. There is only one in the entire county that offers both and that is, you guessed it, Damascus Elementary. According to the National Institute of Health, students with special education needs are at a significantly higher risk of experiencing various health problems including but not limited to chronic or acute health conditions. We know that issues with mold and plumbing can contribute to conditions that exacerbate concerns with asthma and other respiratory illnesses, Some of the chronic health concerns are more common among students with special needs. These issues are more prevalent in older schools and are another reason that Damascus Elementary
needs to be at the top of the list for the board to consider allocating funds for a complete rebuild. Damascus Elementary is a vibrant community with a devoted staff and student body and a passionate PTA. We all work hard to make the school community as welcoming and inviting as we can. And while we are working hard to enhance the look of the school through mural programs both inside and out done by volunteers, we need your help in making meaningful change to the school community that will help to support the health and safety of our students and staff. Look, I'm a down county girl. I graduated from BCC. I know how easy it is to forget that Damascus exists.
We are not in your immediate purview and therefore we might get forgotten sometimes. I am pleading with this board to not forget these students and their families. Damascus Elementary is in desperate need of a complete rebuild to make the school safer and more functional for all the students with various needs we serve. Let me take my final second to tell you that in the time I have been allowed to speak, a student who needs accessibility support cannot even get from the basement from their classroom to the bus line because the lift they use is so out of use and old that it takes more than two minutes to go one way, another accessibility issue that could be greatly improved with proper renovations.
Thank you for your time. Thank you. Risha George. Good afternoon. My name is Risha George. I'm the PTSA president at White Oak Middle School and a proud parent of two MCPS students, a ninth grader at Springbrook and a sixth grader at White Oak, a title one school in in the Northeast consortium. White Oak serves over 800 students and is long overdue for a complete rebuild. The last renovation was thirty two years ago. An entire generation has passed without meaningful investment. The HVAC system has not worked properly for years. At back to school night, parents were visibly sweating a glimpse into what students and
staff endure daily. But this isn't just about discomfort. It's also about academic performance. Research shows that extreme temperatures disrupt focus, memory, and test scores. These conditions are a daily barrier to learning. Worse, over 10% of classrooms lack functioning fire alarms. Another 10% can't reach the office due to broken PA systems. Classrooms leak when it rains. Windows don't open. Ventilation is poor. Cockroaches are commonly seen in hallways. A persistent stench suggests mold, and the sound system is so outdated, large gatherings become
unintelligible. These aren't isolated incidents. They are signs of systemic neglect. Both of my children attended Stonegate Elementary. Half of their friends now go to Farquhar Middle, a LEED certified three story building with geothermal heating and cooling. The contrast is stark and painful. The only difference, Farcor serves a more affluent, wider population. Meanwhile, White Oak students are majority Hispanic black and economically disadvantaged. MCPS says equity is a core value, yet at White Oak, it's clear equity has
not been realized. We're asking you to, one, expedite the feasibility study for re rebuilding White Oak and, two, prioritize the funding to make that rebuild a reality. This is about safety, dignity, and equity. Our students and staff deserve better. Thank you. Rebecca Kusschmider. Good afternoon. I love that you recognized Arts and Education Week. That's why I'm here. My name is Rebecca Kushmider. I'm the parent of a student at Albert Einstein High School. Einstein is the destination for performing arts.
Our visual and performing arts academy has over 600 students, and a quarter of them come from other schools within the DCC. We have two dance companies. We have five instrumental ensembles, including two jazz bands, and we have an award winning theater program. We even have a dedicated parent organization to support the performing arts at Einstein, and our VAPA students shine. Last year, Sigur At Rudolf, one of our Einstein students, was a qualifier for the Jimmy Awards, which is like the Tony Awards for high school theater.
He finished in the top five in for best actor in a musical. The proposed boundary and program changes will decimate VAPA. Our student body will be 30% smaller. MCPS is dissolving the DCC without asking us and, eliminating school choice. Einstein doesn't get to be a regional performing arts magnet, so we can't welcome students to our programs even if they want to come. I estimate Einstein's performing arts program will shrink by 45% if these changes are approved. That, of course, means staff cuts.
We only have five performing arts staff. You can do the math. In a few months, you're going to vote on this proposed regional program model, and approving it will effectively end VAPA. With one vote, you could bring two you could bring the curtain down on a decades long tradition of excellence created by students, teachers, and our community. I just wanna make sure all of you know that before you make your final vote. Thank you for your time, and, well, happy arts in schools week.
Thank you. Please return to your seat. I'm gonna call is Danelle Abara here? If not, let me call Bridget Howe. Oh, alright. Danielle, please come to the front, and then Bridget Howe. And then, we'll play Lin Lee on the video. Danielle, go ahead. Hello, doctor Taylor and members of the board. My name is Danny Ibarra, and I'm the parent of a third and fourth grader at Wilson Williams Elementary in Clarksburg, as well as a fifth grader at Damascus Elementary in the learning for independence program. I want to speak today about the urgent need to prioritize Damascus Elementary, which was
in fact built in 1934, the best and Damascus high school, particularly for the students served in our special education programs. Both schools house pivotal services, the school community based program and the learning for independence program. Yet the buildings themselves create daily barriers to access and inclusion. During a recent tour of Damascus Elementary, we saw an entire corridor of restrooms flooded, which included the only special education bathroom on the upper level. This is not an isolated event. Even on a fully functioning day, just one restroom is available, forcing students to wait in stressful and embarrassing situations. At days end, about fifteen minutes of instruction is lost as staff rush 11 students
through the bathroom, leaving little opportunity to practice toileting independently and essential life skill. At Damascus High School, it is more of the same story for the LFI and SCB programs. Each program has only one designated bathroom, which means students often wait long periods for access, taking valuable time away from instruction. A DHS parent shared with me that her son has soiled himself on more than one occasion while waiting for the restroom. This is heartbreaking and completely avoidable with proper restroom facilities. Classrooms are small and cramped leaving no real space for students to take movement breaks without missing instruction. Please note, prior to the pandemic, approximately $20,000 was appropriated for a sensory room at
DHS. There is still no sensory room at DHS. Why do schools, the elementary included, who house such critical programs not have sensory rooms in 2025? Our most vulnerable learners are being asked to learn in buildings that actively work against their needs. Meaningful inclusion cannot take place at the elementary due to space constraints in the six relocatable classrooms. While other communities across MCPS benefit from modern accessible schools, Damascus and the students funneled there from outside communities deserve the same. As a Clarksburg resident, I have no choice in where my child's IEP services are
provided, but I do have a voice to advocate for the facilities where those services take place. Thank you. Thank you. Bridget Howe? Good afternoon. Good afternoon. For the record, Bridget Howe speaking as a parent and resident of Wheaton. I live a block from University Boulevard which hundreds of students cross every single day to get to Einstein, Blair, and once we're home, Northwood High School. I'm speaking today about the walk to school day resolution. It's well and good to talk about the benefits of walking. I'm a proponent. It's a good thing. It strengthens communities, promotes mindfulness, absolutely. But for far too many of our students, walking to school is the riskiest thing
that they do every single day. In fact, just this morning, a student was struck walking across Colesville Road to get to Blair High School. Luckily, she was not badly hurt. You may be thinking, but we're not in charge of roads. Why are you asking us this question? And it's true, you're not. MCPS focuses on getting kids to school safely on buses and MC, DOT, or State Highway Administration handles road design. But if a student is struck by a driver when they're walking or biking to school, who takes the accountability for that? There are things that MCPS could be doing better or at all to help kids
get to school safely, stop building facilities whose primary design focus is on getting buses and cars in and out as quickly as possible, Think about our bikers and walkers. Use your influence to talk to legislators and transportation departments about how vital it is that our kids are not only safe in school buildings but on their way to school. And don't just settle for writing resolutions, put some action behind your words. I'm gonna quote from an email you got today from an Einstein High School student, Jackie Daphnis, who said, quote, I urge the board to disapprove this resolution.
A classmate and community member were both fatally injured crossing our roadways this past week. One of them a student using a crosswalk that many of us use to get to and from Einstein. The resolution is both insensitive, unhelpful and contrary to the purposes you mentioned. I instead urge you to take helpful actions to improve pedestrian safety in a real way. I agree with Jackie, do more, take action and help kids help keep our kids safe on the roads they take to school. Thank you. Thank you. Please play Lindley's testimony. Good afternoon, Mrs Young, members of the board and doctor Taylor.
My name is Ling Li, father of two MCPS students. I'm here today to urge you to reconsider the proposed regional model. We should learn lessons from failure in a similar model applied to another district and recognize the risk that this model could worsen segregation and inequity. First of all, a similar model was initiated just one year ago in Stafford County, doctor Taylor's previous district. With the size of one fifth of MCPS, Stafford County had a much smaller implementation scale, with four programs at four high schools in the first year.
By contrast, MCPS would have 27 brand new programs at 27 high schools. Despite this smaller scale, Stanford County experienced a school bus meltdown. The first year saw thousands of students without the bus route. The crisis was so severe that they had to mandate opt in for bus transportation this year. We must recognize the similar risk to MCPS transportation. Secondly, the countywide and mandated programs currently offer direct bus routes to every elementary, middle, high school, public library, and community center.
With a new regional model, students would have to transfer first at their local high school. They would either wake up even earlier and spend a long time transferring or find alternative means of transportation. How much earlier can our kids wake up, and would it be fair for students with the financial constraints? Finally, the regional model undermines decades of progress toward equity. The Blair mandate programs were successfully introduced for breaking the segregation and that this new model threatens to reverse that progress. Look at this map on the right, the regions in the North and East can
now access Poolsville and Blair magnet programs, the new model they would be on their own. In summary, I urge MCPS to stop the plant regional model implementation or to significantly revise the current plant. Thank you for your time. Good afternoon, Mrs. Yang, members of the board, and Doctor. Thank you, everyone, for coming in and submitting, your, testimony. I'm going to open up for my board members for questions and comments. And let's go, let's keep comments brief and questions one comment and one questions.
First, I want to go to miss Wolf, for, for some, announcements. Miss Wolf. I wanna thank all of the students who came in today. Robotics is very near and dear to my heart, so I'm with you. And if there's any way we can assist, we will be looking to do that. But I do feel compelled to say something about the hateful and racist email that our school based administrators received. Many of you may not even be aware of this, but this act of hate
during these times is particularly upsetting and has led many of our administrators to feel unsafe. You know, we have to be willing to state without hesitation that we will not have this type of hate in our buildings. This whole email was designed to create fear, and we must, to the best of our ability, find out who is responsible for this hateful spam. As a person of color, I understand how this evokes fear and vulnerability.
I'm having a little trouble today. I know that for our technical people, it's just spam. You know? And, it's an event that they can handle. To them, it's just a breach of our systems. But for those who live in the shadow of this country's racism, this attack feels personal and threatening. It is my hope in the days to come, our administration will listen to and support our staff impacted by this event. You know, we had a previous, superintendent. He used to say, we're all in the same storm, but we're not all in
the same boat. For many of us, these are threatening times. And we, as the board and MCPS administration, must do everything to assure our staff that they matter, that their feelings matter, and that in MCPS, we will not stand for actions that threaten or intimidate any of our staff. It's about dignity. We should they should know that we hear them, and I want them to know that I hear them.
The board hears them. Thank you. Thank you, miss Wolf, for that moral clarity. And now I'm going to miss Stewart. First, I want to say that, I appreciate all the students we saw today. I'm pretty sure they were the majority of the speakers today. And, that just shows me that, we all must be doing something right in this county that you all had the gumption to come up here and tell us your needs because that is something that we need to hear. So thank you so much.
As far as my question goes, and believe me, I took lots of notes, so no one think I'm ignoring them, but I'm trying to, follow the rules. So I would like for us to check out some of the numbers that was provided to us, about the program study. I think, some was in the, video. There were some numbers and also, Rebecca Kuchminder, she, pulled out some numbers. I just would like to see, our own analysis and, you know, check let's check
the math and check our own math too. So thank you. Miss Rivera Alden. Thank you, so, so much. And thank you to my colleague, missus Wolf, for those remarks. I, would like to say that out of our 19 people who testified, 12 were students. So thank you to, our wonderful students. They always make me, believe why I'm here. Just doing this this job. And, to robotics folks, I just wanna say, I don't know much about robotics, but
for many years, I volunteer with the robotic team at cases for high school, supporting them. And it's not it's not easy lifting. And, you know, we live in a county where, some people have a little extra, some people don't have a little extra. So it takes the community to lift them up. So by you coming here, I hope that we can do that. I just wanna commend you for this, very well put together paper. It is very impressive. So thank you so much, for doing that. It is quite obvious that your passion is is is where you stand.
So I don't know what is that we can do as a system to support it. But do we do have institutions like NIST, for example, that we still don't have a very good, you know, work relationship. We they're they're in our backyard. It is something that, I have spoken to our superintendent about to see if we can do a partnership with them. But we have incredible companies in this county in our backyard who could, I'm sure, be part of bringing some of that solution to us. So I would like us to take your idea, to be able to look into
it, to see if we can put together something. So now we only support you guys, but we support all students who want to do robotics and should have that accessibility no matter what school, they're from. So I just wanna applaud your advocacy. Seriously, I wanna applaud you. I just really do. For being here, for coming here, and now you have to go home and do homework. Mhmm. And, then I would like to just answer very quickly about Damascus Elementary. I have been at Damascus Elementary three times for the past in the past three
weeks. I have been at the high school. I took doctor Taylor with me to Damascus Elementary. Quite a trip, I know. Right? Some sometimes we feel in the Up County, you know, we we we exist. We're a county. You know, the Germantown clubs are Damascus, Poolesville area. And I just wanna say we are very aware of the issues. There was a renovation in Damascus Elementary. Please remind me, doctor Taylor, it was in the last ten years, I believe. Yeah. And, no. There was one more reason than that, actually. I think it was only the front office, which is a different issue.
But but, we did we did go there is because I know because there was a the bathroom was not adequate on the First Floor for our and and I know that, the bathroom was refinish. It was put adequate. It is not adequate enough in a sense that is you need more than one bathroom, I believe, on that First Floor, because we do have both programs. But it is something that we're looking, you know, that we're looking into it, and also the accessibility just with the building I have personal issues with.
So anyway but it is something you're not forgotten. It is it is something that I know doctor Taylor is looking at, you know, with with our facility folks. And then to the to the very sad death before I just I just need to say this because I know the family, and my heart goes excuse me. My heart my most condolences to the family, the young man who passed away, this weekend. And I know this is really hard for the whole MCPS community, but we do
need to make our roads safer for our young people and not just our young people. There were 10 individuals who passed away in less than thirty days in our county. So and some of them were from Up County. But I do have to say that this is not something that MCPS can lift alone. The criteria many of the criteria lies on the Montgomery County Department Transportation to be able to for them to change their criteria to make our streets safer. And one of those criterias is not schools, and that is a big problem.
So that advocacy needs to be taken by this community at other levels as well because this is not an issue that just MCPS can lift alone. We lost a young man less than a year and a half ago in front of Seneca Valley High School. That turn not turn on red still has not been put up, and it's gonna be almost two years. And that is the largest high school in the state of Maryland. So I don't know if we're waiting for another death to happen, but that kind of advocacy needs to be a lift by everyone in the community, not just one
agency. And we need to ensure that all our children are safe when they're walking to school. So that's all I wanted to say. Thank you. Miss Sylvester. Thank you. I want I know that the robotics clubs come to testify to the board, couple times a year. And I think what I heard loud and clear today was that they want engagement. And so, we'll ask the superintendent to reach out to the leadership to see, you know, to listen to their proposal, hear them out, and then report back to the
board to see what came out of it because don't I don't want to, I just wanna make sure that that we're addressing their concerns, honestly and realistically and see what we can do, for robotics clubs in Montgomery County. Thank you for the CIP. It's it's coming in the next couple of weeks, so thank you for your advocacy. And, finally, a reminder to the community that the board is voting on the boundary study. The program study is a superintendent action. So just as a reminder, to the community about that.
Thank you. Miss Zimmerman. Thank you. I wanna say thank you to all who came to testify and be here today. And I wanna second my colleague's comments on, all the students that came out to advocate today. It was a really impressive amount of advocacy that we had from our students, and that's amazing. I also wanna speak to our SEIU local 500 members, that it came here in solidarity with your colleagues. Another impressive action of advocacy. And we also wanna thank you for your collaboration last evening when we met with
you all, and that we look forward to further discussing these advocacy points with you all, and the collaboration, and solving some of these issues. Our our staff, and our students, they they all deserve safe spaces to learn and work, and that's something that we all appear believe in. And we we look forward to working with you all and our other county partners and those at, the county government level as well to it's gonna take all of us to work together and solve some of these things. So thank you for being here and for advocating, before us for that.
Thank you. Miss Malone, last but not least. First, I wanna align myself with all of the comments that my colleagues have made, but to be additive rather than repetitive. For the robotics team specifically, I would also recommend aside from us trying to assist assist in helping out with that, exploring the initiative of MCR grants. I know that they do them every single year, and it might help with some of that additional burden that you guys are facing. For programs specifically Ella and Laura's testimonies, I want to point out the importance of interdisciplinary work to the superintendent.
As a student in a program as well, I think that that's a very core important part of it, and it's something that should definitely be looked at in future studies. And yeah. And, again, aligning myself with all the other comments about safety concerns and about solidarity and about just truly being blown away by the advocacy that we saw today, not just with the posters, but also the matching matching t shirts, everything about it was wonderful to see, and I think everyone can agree with me on that. Thank you. Last fall, I actually went to a first, Chesapeake, competition in Queens Orchard High School.
And I believe 49 beavers 47 be 49 47 beavers were there, and many other teams were there. And it was a powerful event, very powerful. And after that event, what struck me was the kids there are clearly enthusiastic. I met one girl's team in a seed of boys, and they came from Howard County.
And after that, I went out to seek resources to see how we can support our school our students. And, actually, doctor Taylor, something happened after that, didn't it? Certainly did, madam president. You wanna talk about this now? Yeah. Absolutely. So we're in the process of engaging with the University of Maryland in a partnership, seeking grant funds to support, middle school expansion and high school support for robotics. So we are in the process of looking at this on a much, much larger
scale. And as a matter of fact, one of our coordinators, I believe she's here, is Kelly Dunston. And, and and she is very enthusiastic as well as our academic team in, in helping to support the the notion of, support committee in robotics. So to echo, board member Silvestri's, point about, collecting some data points from you about some of the things that you might need to launch this really successfully and and and in a really meaningful way.
We think it's critical that we not only have high school programs that support robotics, but also that there's a middle school pipeline that's feeding directly in and that there's a lot of exploratory activities, to engage even our elementary school students, to create that pipeline to make that even stronger. We absolutely, find common cause as as, president Yang had mentioned in in the notion of, capturing your enthusiasm, but also seeing the future potential of the skills that you're
developing in robotics today, and what that transcends into the future. So, we hope that, the through some of the contact information that you provided in signing up for your board testimony that we'll make some connections with you in this process. And just wanna thank you all for for showing up. This is not the first time that the board has received testimony on robotics, nor will it be the last, and we're, certainly entering into our our budget cycle. Madam president, may I also address a couple other issues?
Thank you. We are, about to turn the corner on a couple of really important topics that are coming before the board and the community, as has been noted. One of them is the capital improvements plan, which is a big undertaking, and, we're a big community with a lot of needs. And so we really value the testimony that you bring forward in terms of sharing your perspective of different corners of what's happening in the county and illuminating some of the issues, so so that they come to light because there there are some really
severe issues. We're we're not blind to any of them. We we certainly have seen them firsthand. I I've toured schools with every single board member on this dais, and I've seen firsthand some of the things that our our community is saying and and and also our workforce is saying. We are not passive in our pursuits to address these issues because we know, that they do impact not just your productivity, but also your health and well-being. I'll I'll just conclude, my portion of this and and thank you for the moment of privilege, madam president, in saying that we bring a lot of information about programs
to the board to keep the board well informed about what's happening because programs do inform the, the capacity issues tied to the boundary study. But that is something that, that the academic staff is working on. We do very much value community feedback and say, keep it coming. We can make this better by working together, and your voice does make a huge difference. If there's anything that I'm confirmed in, it's how fantastic our students are and how well researched you are in bringing forward your ideas and thoughts.
And even if they run counter to some of the thoughts and ideas of some of the adults in the room, that's fine too. Please bring them forward, and let's talk them through because we would love to have that engagement. And just because we haven't engaged with you personally or directly doesn't mean we're not engaging with other people. We do wanna hear a wide variety of voices and yours included, and and make the best academic program offerings available to our kids and to our community. Thank you, superintendent. So, I'm glad to say that, I was able to find a partner to identify
a grant to, increase our programming in the robotic and AI space. We will continue to seek partners, to offer even more opportunity in our school system. I do believe, superintendent, we do need to set goals and incremental steps that we can continuously increase access for our students in this area. It is it is a big part of what future workforce employment opportunities is going
to be. So thank you for your testimony. And, also, thank you for our association partners for bringing up the concerns about the pay and, building conditions. We take that very seriously. We hear you. And, miss So everyone's made their comments. So there was one, bit of testimony that was not, addressed, and that is about kids in sleep, which is actually really important. And, before all of our restructuring, there was a transportation study group, and they weren't
tasked with earlier start times, but transportation is so integrated into that issue. And, you know, Maryland has changed their rules that we can have different mix of vehicles, etcetera. And I think it's might be time to get the band back together again and, have our advocates and then also our transportation partners. We could also maybe even talk about some of our safe routes too. But anyway, something to think about, to reconvene, our transportation study group.
So thank you. This conclude our public comment. The board's next business meeting will next board meeting will be on Thursday, October 16, and the online sign up will open on Thursday, October 9 at 6PM. And, we in addition to online sign up, same day in person sign up are permitted when space allowed on the first come, first serve. Basis. In person sign up, close fifteen minutes before the start of the open session or when all slots are filled.
Thank you, everyone. We're going to move to item number seven, which is consent items. Board member colleagues, are there any, items you would like to be pulled for clarification? I have two items. Yes. What are they? One is the 07/2010 fiscal year 2026 comprehensive maintenance plan. Okay. And the other actually, after hearing testimony and reading, a letter and petition, 7.19,
the recognition for walk to school day. Okay. So then may I have a motion to move the rest in block? Motion. I second the motion to move in block. Okay. So there's a motion and a second. All in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous with those present. Let's go to item 7.1. What's your question? Yes. So, this comprehensive maintenance plan was really a book. And we received it. It's very interesting. Actually, there's lot of good information in there.
I know we do need to pass this for it to go to the state. I would like to, still vote for this, but, there's one part of maintenance that has come up over and over, and that is our water bottle filling stations. Okay. And, there's some extra maintenance like, flushing, etcetera, because sometimes kids don't stop drinking from them because they start not the water didn't taste very good if you don't do regular flushing and maintenance. So something to look at for future maintenance plans, but also in the future, maybe
I'd like to have a a earlier look at this because it is so comprehensive. Okay. So Can I talk about this real quick? Yes. Real quick, please. I will say that this the whole document will undergo substantial changes pending the board's action on a future capital improvement plan. I don't wanna say that that this is reflective of our best work per se, but it is in compliance with, requirements under Maryland law. I hear you loud and clear. I I I don't disagree with anything that you're saying, and and if anything, I
I've I've had experience, with plumbing systems and, and cooling systems that need to be flushed for, you know, other really more dramatic issues, in addition to water quality. So we're we're certainly sensitive to that. I would say that you can look forward to a a future really dramatic restructuring to this plan and that this is, I don't wanna say performative because it's not performative. We we are doing this because this is a part of what we need to do and and and part of our documented processes and plans.
But please know that this this will undergo substantial changes in the near future. So can I have a motion, for item 7.1? Motion. Second. So there's a motion for to approve. Miss Yang? Yeah. Sorry. Just to confirm, this is 7.1070.1. That we're discussing, miss Stewart? Thank you for that correction. Yes. 7.1 for the record. There's a motion and a second. All in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous with those present. Let's go to 7.19. Yes.
7.19. We received, a letter from student, which, Bridget Howe mentioned. She is, new the victim of a traffic fatality, which was a student of ours from Wheaton. It was literally at a crosswalk. The kids do cross. It wasn't going to school. There was another accident also mentioned. And I think this is time that we do, work more collaboratively with our partners,
and I would like to honor the request to maybe, not honor this day in this way, but instead honor the kids that, walk sometimes on dangerous streets every day. Thank you. I want to see whether the board member has comments. If no, so I'm gonna call to Oh, come on. Sorry. So this is Could you just clarify what you're asking the board to consider? That, we do not, recognize by celebrating walk to school day, but instead, remember, some
of our students that have either been killed or have been hurt on their way to school and, work on a, some kind of group. Again, I'm sorry I'm asking for a lot today, but a group to come together to talk about how we can, make our routes to schools safer and just, safer roads near our schools. K. Thank you for your comment. Mister Rivera Owens. I'm sorry. You had to use slide first. It's okay.
Okay. I just want for clarification as somebody who who who had a couple students die in her district, during school hours. I, they're asking you're not you're not what you're saying is on that particular day to have No. I'm just saying that we skip some of the celebratory action that we're going to do and, in honor of all kids that have been hurt or killed, near our
schools or on our way to school. So that's and this was in response to a letter we actually in a petition that we received. So you wanna pull the resolution. Is that what you wanna do? That's it. Okay. Good. Thank you. Miss Zimmerman. I had a similar question on if we were trying to, pull the resolution. Yeah. Miss Stewart's request is clear that she wants to pull the resolution. So what I'm going to go forward is we have this item seven one nine. I'm going to ask is there a motion to approve it and then I'm gonna
wait for your response. Right? Okay. So that's how I'm gonna proceed. So there's a motion there is a item seven one nine. Any motion? Is there a motion to approve? Miss Yang, may I ask miss Stewart if she has a friendly amendment to her motion? Her motion to withdraw? Still with this motion first. I'm asking there's no motion on the table, miss Zimmerman. Is there a motion to approve item seven one nine? Seeing none, we'll move on. Thank you, everybody. Let's move for item number eight.
Oh, actually, doctor Taylor, there are some things I want you to highlight because in this I do have some announcements. Right? Yeah. I have several announcements, pending, a reaction to the board's recent vote on its consent agenda. The board just passed several resolutions, that are recognitions for, this this upcoming month, and some that start as immediately as tomorrow. Tomorrow in particular, Blair High School will be celebrating its one hundredth anniversary.
So the centennial anniversary of Blair High School, Montgomery Blair High School honors the century long legacy of academic excellence and student achievement, right before its football game tomorrow night. We invite the community to participate and to celebrate one hundred years of Montgomery Blair High School. Not the oldest high school in Montgomery County as has been pointed out by the Damascus community. Not even in the top three, but, but but, certainly up there. I we didn't we didn't hear from a a lot of our administrators today, but
we do wanna recognize that October is, National Principal's Month, which begins a celebration and recognition of our school based leaders and the principalship. It's such an important role and critical to, our success as a school community, the hard work that our principals do. I'm very fond of saying that being a principal is not in fact a job, but, and not a career, but a lifestyle. And, being a principal is one of the toughest things in public education, but also one of the most important. The board of education also voted to recognize National Domestic Violence Awareness Month as well
as National Disability Employment Awareness Month, National Bully Prevention Awareness Month. This reinforces MCPS's efforts to prevent bullying, promote restorative practices, and to create a safe and supportive school environment and work environments is very important to our core values. Building service worker appreciation day, a wonderful opportunity to see so many of our SEIU teammates here today, even though they're an advocacy of some of our challenges, but we will be celebrating them on October 2.
And, we commend the dedication of our building services staff to keep our schools safe and clean and welcoming and absolutely phenomenal work they they put in this summer to get us ready for the start of the school year. We'll also be celebrating national coaches appreciation day on October 6, which celebrates the positive impact of our coaches in promoting athletics as an extension of our classrooms. We'll also be recognizing National School Lunch Week on October 13, through the seventeenth. So check out your school cafeterias and all the fantastic things that we've got going
on in there. Our yummy food, and our nutrition services, they work so hard to prepare. America's Safe Schools Week will be the following week, October, and National School Bus Safety Week, October twenty fourth. So students get ready to do your bus evacuation drills. That's coming up. We recognize the important role of our school bus transportation team moving safely more than a 100,000 students in Montgomery County. The board also recognized Red Ribbon Week, which is October, twenty third through the thirty
first, which promotes a drug free lifestyle under the theme life is a puzzle, solve it, drug free, and encourages schools and families to engage in preventive, prevention and awareness. These resolutions now adopted will be shared and celebrated next month as part of our continuing recognition of people and causes that strengthen our community school system and our community at large. So thank you very much, board members, for, setting a positive example in our community. Thank you. I look forward to the celebration. We are now going to item 8.1,
approval of the board handbook. Madam president, I've got unfortunately, I've got one more, piece of recognition that the that the board also, Oh, cool. Alright. Also, adopted as part of its, consent agenda. We also wanna acknowledge the passing of, mister Martin Grandios on 06/22/2025. He served as a, Bethesda Depot, bus operator for 18, years in MCPS, and we just wanna recognize his passing.
Thank you. Condolences to family and friends. Okay. Our next item is item 8.1, approval of the board handbook. At our last work session, the board received a presentation on recommended additions and revisions to the board's handbook, and these changes to the board's internal procedures are designed to ensure the continued effectiveness and development of board's governance structures while providing a transparent and authoritative reference for its actions.
Notable update to the handbook include references to the board's work session and business meeting structure, which we are following today, Revise language to best facilitate public comment process, expand public comment opportunities is going to be posted on our website and communicate to our stakeholders. Timelines for annual processes undertaken by the board, and expanded general information on the board's history, role, and responsibilities. So following the approval, the handbook will be posted to the board's website and will
be reviewed annually to identify future update. It's one of our effort to continuously improve our, our work, in what we do in support of our school system and be accountable to our community members. So, with that, can I have a motion to approve the board's handbook? Motion. Second? There's a motion and a second. All in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous with those present. Thank you, everyone.
And we are moving to item 8.2, which is, final action for policy FAA educational facilities planning. So on September 16, the board's policy management committee review recommended technical amendments to policy FAA. The updates are needed in order to change references in the policy from key facility indicators, KFI, to facilities condition index, FCI.
So we are only talking about technical amendment, which is the metric that will be used to evaluate building conditions going forward. Because these are technical amendments, the proposed changes are not sent for public comments and can be adopted by the board today. With that, I will turn it over to the staff to walk through the specific revisions. Please introduce yourself first. Thank you. Good afternoon. Leslie Turner Percival, legal director in the division of legal services. Good evening. Andrea Swiatoka, deputy chief of facility management.
Thank you both. Please go ahead. Thank you. Today, we are before the board seeking final action on technical amendments recommended to policy FAA educational facilities planning. So building on the presentation to to the full board, to the to PNC, we talked about changing the framework which talks about the transition from key facility indicators to facility condition index. Great. So in the policy, the only thing we are looking to revise is the section
policy committee just changing the KFI, the key facility indicator to the FCI facility condition index. Thank you. We heard that in the presentation, the whole committee. So that is all we are changing. So may I have a motion or any discussion or any questions from board members? Oh, no. I I actually need the motion first before we do the motion. Is there a second? Second. Okay. Any questions or discussions? Seeing none, all in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous. Thank you, everyone.
That's unanimous with those present. Let's go to the next one. It's also a policy item. It's 8.3, final action for policy ACF, sexual misconduct and sex based harassment of students. That's the same, date on 09/16/2025. The board's policy management committee review recommended technical amendments to policy ACF. The updates, which include changing the name of the policy and adjusting specific terminology within
the policy are needed in order to comply with federal law because these are technical amendments the proposed changes are not sent for public comment and can be adopted by the board today With that, I will turn to the staff to walk through the specific revision and yes, miss Turner, please go. Thank you. So today, technical amendments are recommended for final action to align policy ACF with the 2025 title nine regulations. Next slide, please. Title nine prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education programs and
board policy ACF was developed as required by law to prohibit sexual misconduct and sexual harassment on MCPS property and establish a framework for addressing complaints of sexual misconduct and sexual harassment in MCPS. Next slide. The 2024 regulation regulations which redefine sexual harassment as sex based harassment and upon which the board amended ACF in 2024 to align with were vacated as unlawful by a federal court in early twenty twenty five, and the 2020 regulations were reinstated.
Next slide please. As a result, technical amendments to ACF are required to realign the board's policy with the 2020 regulations. Next slide. So where language in ACF states sex based harassment, the language will be reverted to sexual harassment. And in section b three definitions b one, where the federal criteria from the 2024 rule is quoted, the language will be will be reverted there as well. Next slide. Importantly, these technical amendments do not change the board's commitment to broader discrimination protections.
Under board policy ACA, equity nondiscrimination and cultural proficiency, And as required by Maryland's anti discrimination laws, MCPS prohibits discrimination based on various characteristics including race, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, and more. Next slide. The district is committed to creating a culture of equity and inclusion and providing ongoing training to students and staff to ensure implementation and promote mutual respect.
Also, policy JAF, bullying, harassment, or intimidation, affirm that all students have a right to be free of bullying, harassment, or intimidation, and MCPS regulation, JHFRA, student bullying, harassment, or intimidation, provides for procedures to enforce those rights. Next slide. Thank you. I turn it back to the board. Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. I want to turn to my colleague to see if there's a, motion to approve the technical amendment.
Motion. Second. There's a motion to second. Any discussion or comment? Question? Seeing none, there's a motion to approve and a second. All in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous with those present. Thank you, colleagues. Thank you, miss Turner. Thank you. We are moving to, next item. Nine item 9.1 is background screening. I want to, before I turn it to the administration, I want to thank, the county IG's office to bring this to our attention.
And, I, the board take this very seriously. The school system take this very seriously. When there's a issue, we need to address it and address it with, speed and diligence. And doctor Taylor. Thank you so much, madam president, members of the board. As promised, we are bringing forward an update on our status with background screening in response to the inspector general's report, that was issued this summer. I am so disappointed to tell you, that we're that we're even in this place.
It, was a huge disappointment to all of us to learn that we were not, up to speed with where we needed to be with background checks. As an organization, this is something that all school systems should do with fidelity, and do thoroughly. And I too would like to thank the inspector general for illuminating a critical issue, and and helping us to become a better school system through, illuminating this issue. I will say that I am thrilled to be working with the team that I
have because, at no point has there been, any any doubt in my mind that that everyone is committed to the mission of making sure that, our classrooms are safe, our schools are safe, and, that our community is a safer place through a more comprehensive background screening process. I also wanna give special praise to a guest, who is, in in the board's chamber this evening, who is a partner in county government and the director of the
county's health and human services, doctor James Bridgers, is here. He brought members of his team who have been working with us side by side. Doctor Bridgers has set up regular meetings, with our team from the onset, to help us through this process. He has offered resources and has been the epitome of hospitality and teamwork. And I will say, as somebody who grew up in this community, who lives in this community, and is dedicated to this community's success, I am thrilled that we have
a partnership that is really invested in seeing Montgomery County be successful as a result of our combined efforts and, teamwork. So with that, we've got a dedicated team in front of you that's gonna update you on everything from process to numbers to status and future plans and to to talk about where we go from here. And, I'm thrilled that it's a a positive progress report, although, we're we're not quite, at at the end of the road, but we are we are clearly making progress
towards meeting this goal in uncharacteristically expeditious fashion. Yeah. So I'm gonna pass it to, doctor Bridgers, to make some opening remarks and then to our team. Actually, hold a second. I really want to welcome him. We don't often see him in this space, and I'm grateful for your collaboration on this important issue with our school system. And it just shows that when we put our effort and head together, there's no problem greater than what we can do to solve together.
Go ahead. So good evening. Hopefully, you can hear me, Chair Yang, doctor Taylor, and the entire board this evening. Y'all have some late meetings, but we are here. My team is here. I just wanted to share with you some thoughts. That. Yeah. Yes. You're right. Yeah. Just wanted to share share some thoughts. We have a history of love, miss Rivera Oven. So, wanted to share some thoughts this evening because I think it really sets the stage for the great team that we partnered with. MCPS and the Department of Health and Human Services has a rich, history of collaboration,
but I promised doctor Taylor in his role, from the onset of our meeting that we would even strengthen that partnership to have a stronger rope that could be unbroken, and more importantly, looking at the intersectionality of the work that we do from the background checks to our bridges to wellness to our linkages to learning and even with our, school health room techs and nurses. So there's a strong partnership. And when there's an urgency, I can say that this team under this administration got
together and looked at a solutions driven process. Mhmm. And I wanna leave you with those thoughts because my presence here today is representative of the partnership that we look forward to building and expanding. There are a lot of things that we need to do. And the challenges that lie ahead, and there will be more, and some of them outdate our leadership. But what I can assure you going forward, even before we got to this space, is that we will continue to move forward and maintain the trust in this community. And I know about the trust in the building in this community, especially in the
Montgomery County Public School System, because I led the effort during COVID when we had the highest, variant in the community and the lowest transmission rates, the highest vaccination rates Mhmm. And the highest testing rate. So thank you for allowing me just to say a a few words. I won't be this loquacious tomorrow doing our board sitting as the audit committee, but I feel compelled to demonstrate the strength that we have in our respective teams. Thank you. So, doctor Bridges, thank you for putting that so eloquently.
And I hope we see each other more often in the same space even when we don't have a issue. Absolutely. I think that that will be a wonderful thing for our community. Absolutely. Thank you for being here. To bring some remarks this evening. Yeah. Thank you. Pardon me. So this is, our, initial update our first update, I should say, to the board of education on our efforts in this critical area. And what I want to emphasize, as a starting point is that as soon as, these issues and and concerns were brought to our attention, we have we began taking
immediate action, and we are continuing to take that immediate action to address the gaps that are identified have been identified in our background screening process. We are refingerprinting employees that were hired before 2019 so that they are enrolled in our federal, continuous monitoring program called wrap back. We are, as, doctor Bridgers, just indicated, we are working with our Department of Health and Human Services partners to conduct child protective services screenings, for for employees where we
have records that are missing. We are working through, particularly the office of school leadership, the division of school leadership, to to strengthen the trainings and procedures for screening contractors and volunteers who are in our schools. And we are also taking a comprehensive look at our processes, policies, and regulations so that we can really formalize and codify these practices. They will be more clear to follow, and there will be more clear accountability, as a result. So let me take one step back and just discuss what are the background screening
requirements. First and foremost is a fingerprinting and criminal background check, and I wanna pause and emphasize that all MCPS employees have had at least one criminal history fingerprint background check. That has occurred. It is required as a condition of employment, and every employee, has had at a minimum, if not more, that first criminal background check. That is a very important, again, first level safeguard. Again, as I said, it is required as a condition of employment.
So that is among the first things that we do when we bring someone on board. There is also a legal requirement that that, be renewed either every five years or we are able to participate in a federal program, again, called wrap back. And what that does is provide a continuous monitoring of an individual's criminal history. So if we fingerprint in one year and then if there were to be criminal activity in a subsequent year, we would be notified, by, by the federal government, through
this program. Once employees are enrolled in Rap Vac, that refingerprinting is no longer needed. So, again, enrolling employees in wrap back is really that step that we need to take to be sure we have the monitoring in place that we need to have. We also have a requirement to have a child protective services screening. And this is a requirement where, again, we rely so heavily on that interagency partnership that was just described. MCPS in the law is required to secure a new employee's release of their CPS
records. However, we don't hold those records. The Department of Health and Human Services Child Protective Services does, and as a result, they are responsible for conducting that file review. So again, through this process, we have worked very, very closely with the State Department of Human Resources and, of course, our local department, as we've just described. So why are there gaps? One gap is that the wrap back service only started in 2019. We have many employees who were hired prior to 2019, and so they weren't enrolled in wrap back because it wasn't there.
Refingerprinting is required to enroll folks in wrap back. And I will just say, that in 2019, the school system did begin an initiative to start the process that we're going through now to refingerprint employees, who weren't enrolled in Rap Back. As folks are aware, 2019 was followed by 2020, and, of course, a number of, other, concerns and logistics interrupted that effort. We are picking that back up in a very expeditious manner as doctor Taylor indicated. With child protective services, we have had, a successful interagency relationship around that.
However, as with many processes, there were some complications and delays, and a multiyear backlog did occur. We are going through that. We are resolving that, absolutely. And one of the first steps that we took to resolve that is to, engage in an online portal for submission, excuse me, that the state, operates and that our partners work through. And so we now have a seamless, trans submission and, screening receipt of disposition process,
which is, making our process much more expeditious and, again, much more, robust and, and complete. And, of course, again, the, our partners at the state and county are the ones who conduct that review. So how are we going about this? I'm gonna turn to doctor McCall to walk us through that. We have taken an all hands on approach with this rescreening initiative. With the help of some talented folks across many departments, we have had the opportunity to develop policies, practices, and procedures on-site whereby it is a seamless ongoing school based,
effort and opportunity whereby, all teachers and staff can be screened. Taking a look at this data, what we can see here is 14,003 total employees, both school based and non school based, are requiring the process of rescreening. It is characterized I'm sorry, categorized by the process. Some individuals require CPS clearance only while others have fingerprint only, and then we have some individuals who require both CPS and fingerprint.
The majority of our employees who require this rescreening are school based. And as I mentioned, that on the ground work is going seamless, thanks to the efforts of many individuals across our organization. To date, we have completed 32 of 211 schools. This summer, we have had the opportunity to screen 351 administrators during our administrator and supervisor professional learning this summer. And then we school level, and for that is a total of 1,632 of the
10,570 that you saw in the previous slide. This table here outlines our approach to covering all 211 schools. We are going cluster by cluster. This month we started on September 4, and we covered all special schools, and we also covered the clusters as you see listed. We will start the Wheaton cluster next week. Our goal is to complete all two eleven schools by the December break and the breakdown of those clusters you can see in the coming months.
In summary, so our plan is to make sure that we are going to screen all of those staff members at the school level before December break. We are set to go cluster by cluster as outlined on the previous table and our school leadership are in the process of ensuring that families are notified when we are on-site. And then we will begin our efforts to rescreen central staff beginning in January. With that, I'll hand it over to Caitlin. Good afternoon, board members.
I wanted to share just walk you all through MCPS's background screening process. So our process is designed to protect, students, staff, and community safety by using two clearance checks. We use both fingerprint based criminal history checks and child protective service screenings through the Department of Human Services to provide a comprehensive review. And that's a partnership with doctor Bridgers and and his team. Employees and the volunteers or contractors completing fingerprinting.
They typically complete their fingerprinting at MCPS's central office or background screening office, and fingerprints are captured electronically and then submitted directly to the Maryland CJIS and to, the FBI through the Rat Back program. Once those results are received and cleared, individuals will then proceed with onboarding and engagement in our school communities and central offices. So as was shared since 2019, anyone fingerprinted or rescreened through the school based rescreening
initiative has been or anus has been, enrolled in the federal wrap back program. And as SCG noted, this is a system that notifies M. C. P. S. Immediately, if an employee or a volunteer is arrested or involved in any new criminal activity, ensuring that we remain, aware of risks beyond that initial preemployment check. All fingerprint and CPS records are then secured digitally in our DocuWare platform for centralized
access, management, and and auditing purposes. So, in short, this system is intended to be preventative, screening before entry and and protective, through continuous monitoring. Next slide. So what happens if a potential issue is discovered? So Maryland law identifies 14 disqualifying offensive criminal offenses including violent, crimes, child abuse, and sexual offenses. If one of these offenses or a disqualifying CPS finding or CPS indicated finding is
identified for a new hire, that individual is automatically ineligible for employment at NCPS. Mhmm. For current employees, any disqualifying offense or CPS finding is then immediately referred to our Department of Compliance and Investigations, and DCI conducts a thorough review and decides on, employment. We are currently formalizing our process to ensure our our suitability, review process to ensure that it's consistent, fair, and legally compliant and look forward to coming back to the
board, with an updated, regulation for both volunteers and contractors and and a policy. And we're also working to, clarify roles across human resources, the Department of Compliance and investigations, and our background screening office along with our our partners in the office of school leadership and procurement, and and with leadership to ensure that our structure best supports this critical critical function moving forward. So with that, I believe I now turn it over to our colleagues at CPS.
So I I can take this one. If our colleagues wanna come up and join me, they're welcome too. But but I would just say that this section, does walk through a number of the child protective services, elements and work and was prepared by our colleagues. Oh, good. Thank you, Lisa. That's a better seat with a microphone. It's up to you. Please, introduce yourself first. Doctor Bridget, can I ask you to set the last one?
It it will, the it's better for the m c MCTV. Yeah. Mhmm. If you'd like to introduce yourself, I'd then go ahead and start the presentation. Good evening. I am Lisa Murphy, and I'm the administrator for child welfare services in Montgomery County. Thank you for being here. Hello. I am Janam Jacob. I'm the constituent services and, quality assurance administrator. Thank you for being here. Okay. I think I'll just go for it and, my CPS colleagues can, weigh in if I if I say anything wrong or they need explanation. The piece that, child protective services has started working on is, again, what we certainly
understood, was that an a great deal of paper, had accumulated as a backlog. And there were a number of paper files, prior to our, swift adoption of the online portal that, again, we're we're waiting, to be completed. And so our colleagues at the state and at the county have really taken, a very, expeditious, approach to working through that particular backlog. That's that's a very recent backlog.
And so what you see here on this slide is, again, their effort to work through that. This number does reflect the the one of the numbers that was, reported in the inspector general's, or was noted rather in the inspector general's report related again to a specific period of time. What we know in the numbers that you saw, from us that we, elevated earlier was when we went back, following that to do a review of, all of our employees. Nonetheless, this is important work to work through this particular section of the of the,
areas where employees need this screening, and so, this represents that progress. Again, there are a number of immediate resolutions that we have taken, and among them is very swift, work to have meetings at a both a leadership, a staff, across all levels of our leadership in this area and the Department of Health and Human Services leadership in this area up to and including the, state social services administration and the secretary of the department of human services.
And so, again, we're very thankful for all of the, resources and attention that have come from all of the agencies to dig into this because truly it is an interagency process. None of us can do it on our own. And so, one of the, positive outcomes of this process again has been, quick adoption of the online portal, which absolutely facilitates the, screening and, is is reducing that process time as well as, closer coordination and relationships between the agencies and ongoing check ins
to to continue this work. What we do know, and it is, highlighted, both at the bottom of that slide in here. What we do know is that the current, staff allocation is likely not sufficient to maintain, the pace that is required to conduct these clearances in in, conjunction with the, background screening and hiring processes that are occurring in MCPS. I think what we don't know is exactly what that looks like.
Because right now, obviously, we have, a very significant, number of employees that we are working through. And I think one of the pieces that's coming through that is an analysis of what level of resources will be necessary to sustain this going forward. So, again, as we're working through this process, that will help us be more informed to to know what that sustainability model looks like. Just as a highlight also, child protective services does conduct background screening for more than
just MCPS. I think it's probably safe to say that we certainly have the have the numbers advantage here but there are a number of other agencies and entities that, CPS, performs clearances for as well. This slide does outline the background screening clearance process for child protective services. I won't try to walk through all of that here. Folks can review that and I believe, again, what we have done, on a on a staff to staff level is really analyzed both our process and the CPS process
to ensure that they are aligned, as as we go forward. And so I will, appreciate my CPS colleagues staying in case there are questions afterwards, but I will, go ahead here and ask, doctor Moran to speak from the school perspective on volunteers and contractors. So, yeah, thank you very much. I wanna take a moment to walk you through where we stand with volunteers, contractors, and the broader, background screening work. For our volunteers, and contractors, as you can see on the slide, we have clear expectations in place. Our volunteers complete the M. C.
P. S. Parent and community volunteer form, finish the required recognizing child abuse and neglect training, and share proof of completion of this training with their school. Contractors follow a similar process, but if they or any volunteer has unsupervised access to students, they must must also undergo fingerprinting and background checks. Both groups are expected to complete the online training. This ensures consistent protections and safeguards for all individuals who support our students, and I'll go into a little more detail into this on our next slide.
So when we talk about, volunteer, requirements, it's important to distinguish between different levels of engagement and supervision. For large one time events where volunteers are always accompanied by MCPS staff, such as college fairs, concessions at athletic events, guest readers, or classroom celebrations, there are no required compliance measures beyond school coordination. For volunteers who support students on an ongoing basis but remain under staff supervision, such as student teachers, interns, recess or lunch helpers' room parents, or supervised field trip chaperones,
completion of the child abuse and neglect training is required and proof of completion is required. Finally, for volunteers who may have unsupervised access to students, the expectations are more comprehensive. In addition to completing the child abuse and neglect training, they must also undergo fingerprinting and a child protective services check. This category includes virtual volunteers, volunteer coaches, outdoor education volunteers, and certain special field trip chaperones, particularly those involved in late night or out of area trips.
This is a tiered approach that ensures that our compliance requirements are appropriate to the level of access a volunteer has to students while keeping safety and accountability at the center. If we go to the next slide, please. So to support this work, we built a volunteer hub, a central resource that houses training materials, guidance documents, compliance information, and recognition resources, many of which are translated, for accessibility. This hub ensures that our schools have a single place to go for accurate and up to date information to share with volunteers.
Community members interested in volunteering opportunities in MCPS will work directly with the school's leadership and volunteer liaison, and I just wanna take a moment that, this is another thing that we focused on, and monitored is ensuring that each of our schools has a distinguished person that serves in the volunteer liaison capacity. If we could go to the next slide, please. So we are also making strong progress on volunteer training completion. Any individual who wishes to have unsupervised access to our students must complete the child abuse and neglect training, and we are tracking completions closely.
This is not just a compliance exercise, It is a critical safeguard that strengthens the trust, families place in us. If we could go to the next slide, please. A key part, of this effort is our volunteer liaisons. To date, 136 of our 211 schools, and it's actually increased significantly since, we created this presentation, have identified a staff member to attend liaison training. These liaisons are essential. They are point of, appoint people at the school who ensure compliance and help staff
know how to check volunteer lists and confirm training completion. We continue to follow-up with the remaining schools to make sure every building has a trained liaison in place. And the formalized process, at the same time, we do recognize the need to formalize our processes. As the Office of the Inspector General recommended that MCPS establish a comprehensive policy and regulation around background screening, we fully agree. This work will include clear suitability, review criteria, consistent procedures for handling findings, benchmarking against
other districts, and a process for removing records when individuals are no longer connected to MCPS. Codifying these processes will reduce inconsistencies and ensure we meet the highest standard of accountability. And now I'll turn it over to miss Connolly who will finish the presentation with what's next in our process. Actually, I'm gonna jump in and talk about resources. And, again, as I mentioned earlier, we are going to be analyzing what is the right, configuration and resource allocation for the background screening office. This is a trend chart that just shows the, budget and positions, over the past
few years for background screening, you can see that certainly, we have actually added to this area over the over these years. And but, again, need to continue to, evaluate and ensure, that it is right sized for, for the work that we need to be ongoing. In terms of the budget, it is important to notice to note that the, current rescreening effort that we are, working through is not budgeted in the current f y twenty six budget. We are reprioritizing funds to support this critical effort because this is mission critical.
It is nonnegotiable. We will continue, and we will complete it. At this moment, we're projecting approximately a $1,900,000, expense, associated with the rescreening effort that is largely largely, excuse me, the contractual support of the actual refingerprinting. A large, a significant amount of the work that we're doing in our school to school cluster by cluster approach, is all hands from our existing staff, from every office.
But at the same time, the fingerprinting itself is something that we need, the contract support for the equipment, and staff to, to operate that as well as to be able to continue to maintain our actual background screening office back in, in their in their office for the ongoing screening of new employees, volunteers, contractors, because that ongoing work is continuing at the same time that the rescreening initiative is continuing. And so, again, that is why there's this overlap of additional, of additional, costs that
are required. And communication has been critical to transparency and trust. And MC MCPS has been proactively communicating with families, staff, and our community about, background screening information and updates, and enhanced safety measures, through a variety of channels that, you can see on the screen, newsletters, staff bulletins, website and social media posts, and direct messages to families when rescreening occurs in their schools.
And this this approach has enabled us to share information that is accurate, timely and consistent to keep our our communities informed. So over the summer, MCPS has made significant strides in strengthening our background screening and clearance processes. We launched a real time cross agency clearance tracker for all new employees, contractors, and volunteers that's, shared across our agencies. We replaced the paper based CPS process with an online portal, the Maryland Think portal,
which has enabled us to reduce clearance processing times from four to six weeks to just two business days. We also initiated as, we've we've shared the re fingerprinting for all of our school based staff and our leaders, who are not yet enrolled in FBI rat back. And we are preparing to do that for our our central services staff as well. We rolled out new employee ID badges in partnership with chief Jones and his team, to confirm completion of this enhanced, security measure.
So these these efforts, have all made the system faster, safer, and more transparent and have has really laid a strong foundation for where we're going, and we have more work to do. So what's next? While we're proud of this progress, the work continues. Looking ahead, we are focused on completing the re fingerprinting for all employees not yet enrolled in Ratback. School based staff, will be completed by December 2025 with central office staff completed by
by next spring. We're also working with our cross agency partners to, secure expedited CPS check resources through ongoing collaboration across agencies, and then monitoring and refining our clearance processes to ensure greater efficiency, compliance, and accountability. And we're going to codify all of our clearance requirements in updated policy and regulation. So these next steps, will help ensure our background screening system moving forward is sustainable,
builds on the progress that we made over the summer, and ensures that this that this never happens again. So that, concludes our presentation. Again, just wanted to, reflect the immediate actions that we're taking, and we're here to answer any questions. Yeah. Thank you for the presentation. The board takes this very seriously. Right now in the policy committed for this school year, we're going to do a background check policy. So going forward to make sure the governance piece and accountability piece, is really, enforced
in our school system. The board also has, speedily Efficiently approve the additional budget requestment so that this work can move forward. And I want to thank the school system for provide board member weekly updates on the numbers, that comes to us every Friday, and we are paying very close attention to the progress of this, very important work. I'm gonna open it up for my colleagues to see if there are any questions.
I'm gonna start from this side of the dias. Miss Rivera Aldis. Thank you. Thank you very much for for that update. I think this is one of the topics that I think me and my colleagues got a lot of questions about from the public. We are responsible for over a 100 and almost 60,000 students. So, you know, we're in the business of making sure that our children, our youth are in safe places when they're with us. So I I really appreciate it as as a parent, as a former parent, as a former student as well.
But I just I have a couple of questions, and I also wanna say thank you to our HHS partners, to doctor Bridges and his staff. Just just we really didn't talk about this slide at all. This was right after it doesn't have a page number. I'm sorry. But this is right after it says CPS background screening and action, and it's a CPS background clearance process. And I just would like to repeat thank you. Revisit this. So I just would like to have an idea of what is a timeline for
this, of the of when we start in step one, for example. How long does that process take? And then when you get to step six, right, which is the step that we probably don't wanna get to. But if it happens, I would like to understand then what is the process if there is a finding. How long does it take to make it to us? How long does it then take for the process to look into it and to
be either clear or confirmed. So that that part is not clear to me, and I would like to make it clear also to to those folks who are watching. Donald Johnson wants I'd like to ask our, our DHHS colleagues to to talk about this piece. Sure. Sure. Thank you for the question. It's a very, very important question. So with if we're using the DHS portal, once an application is uploaded, the turnaround time is twenty four to forty eight hours to get a clearance completed. We we are hoping we are planning with the additional staff contractors that we will
continue to be able to do that turnaround within a day or two. Most of the time, there is not a finding in a clearance, and that that means that information the portal submits a response right back to the sender, which would be MCPS. Right. So those turnarounds happen pretty much instantaneously. If there is a finding, it is the child welfare's responsibility to locate that record and develop a summary of what that history or that finding is. And that letter of information is then sent to MCPS for their determination about how
to move forward. In terms of finding that record, some of it depends on how old the record is because we have records in the department and we have record in archives. So if we make a request to records for archives, it could take up to several weeks to get that record back. And we do wanna make sure that we are reviewing all records related to a finding to make sure our information is accurate that we are then providing to MCPS. Mhmm. And then once you find the record, the burden is on us. Once you send us that information Mhmm.
So it could take several weeks. So we're, so we're looking in into the folks who who were not, there was no background check since 02/2019. Right? So so we're talking all records, I guess, in in those instances. So once you send us that record but you have no idea how long it's gonna take. So so so then what happens to the employee? Okay. Once the MCPS schedule So they find they find a finding. Right? They have to confirm it. Right? And that could take several weeks.
So I'm just for procedure purpose, I'm just trying to understand then what happens to to that employee. So if a if a finding an indicated finding comes back, to to us, it comes to the Department of Compliance and Investigation for review, and we it's escalated immediately to make an employment determination about that individual. Okay. So then step seven and step eight. So it could even be depending if it's on that on those 14 nominations that
the state has. Right? So can you have a finding that is not part of those 14? Yes. I guess with because I just wanna be clear. Just because you find a finding, it might not be Dismissable. Dismissable. Right? Because it could be so can can So so there's a couple of different pieces. The 14, the 14 disqualifying offenses actually would get you arrested. So it's unlikely so those 14 we're gonna get from the fingerprint. Now they might also have shown up in a CPS file, but we would have gotten the fingerprint back first.
And if they're automatically disqualifying, that's just disqualifying. End of story. Now I will say in terms of rescreening with our current employees, there's, of course, due process, and that does go to DCI because, again, these are existing employees, and we would follow all the required processes related to that. But the 14, disqualifying offenses are, again, things that would get you arrested. When it comes to, something that's not one of the 14 or, a child protective services finding that, again, did not result in an arrest, that's where that evaluative information
that we're receiving from CPS is important. Now I will say two things. One, as miss Connolly said, for current employees, this information is going through DCI and DCI I'm sorry, our Department of Compliance and Investigation, which is our department that's responsible for reviewing and investigating, employee matters and employee misconduct. They are applying their investigatory and also just their critical lens, to understand more about, those offenses and what the nature of them may be in relationship to their employment.
So, again, if we're in sort of that gray area, then they are investigating that. This also, though, is an important area for us in terms of an area of improvement for codification. And so we have a work group going on right now, that is that is developing more clear procedures and criteria and a review process. So that is one of the areas of improvement that was identified that we need to do. And, again, we also that is that work is underway and will be codified in a regulation so that it's more clear for everyone.
But I do wanna make a little bit of a distinction between the processes we have with individuals who are applying who are not yet employees and our current rescreening effort. Because it is important to note that with our current rescreening effort, we are working with employees who are employees, and we will follow the procedures as needed. Thank you. Thank you so much. Miss Sebastian. Thank you, and, thank you to our ITHS partners for being here. Appreciate the collaboration. We can't do it without you. And I wanna be future focused in terms of, you know, what the work that
needs to happen going forward. And someone said so that this never happens again. But just trying to understand, the backlog that was created with CPS. Was that a a staffing issue if we just didn't have the funding to have the staff to process all the necessary, clearances, if anyone can speak to that? Just, again, understanding the root cause because if we don't wanna do it again, we wanna make sure that we put safeguards in place so that it doesn't happen again. Sure. I'll take that one. Yes. So that it will not happen again because using the online portal truly expedites the
turnaround time. So as of July, all MCPS clearances are being managed through the portal. So we can go in every single day and see what's been done, what is needing to be done, and we can then adjust staffing requirements to address so that we don't have more than a day or two turnaround. Okay. Thank you. And just understanding, the staffing going forward, page 24 has the, dollar amounts and FTEs. And the dollar amounts have increased over the years, but the FTEs have only increased
by one. Can you help me understand that? Yes. So some of it, as you're seeing is, supporting service part time, and so that, is staff support that is not an FTE. Sometimes we call it TPT, temporary part time. So or, again, could be, which could sometimes be from MCPS employees, but providing work in a in a space outside their normal employment. So some of the increases, again, in additional supports, through staffing supports that aren't FTEs. Some of it you see also is contractual.
So a lot so some of the re resources that we've added have been, for sort of surge times and fluctuating times, as opposed to a permanent staff. We've done a little bit of both. Okay. Thank you. And just so we're all on the same page in our viewing audience, the fingerprinting happens and has happened for every employee as a condition of employment in MCPS. What we're talking about is getting on to this new, online system that will continually monitor, this person for the pick things that fingerprinting picks up.
That's right. And we every employee is hired since we entered the Ratback system in 2019 have also been entered into Ratback. Mhmm. So, again, this really is about bringing, everyone into that updated status. And once we've done that, we don't have to go back and redo people. Mhmm. It will continue to be forward facing. But even for the folks who are not in wrap back, you're absolutely right, miss Silvestri. Every MCPS employee has had at least one fingerprint check. Great. Thank you. I have one more question, but I'll wait.
Missus Imbula. Thank you. And, thank you again everyone for your hard work that you've put towards this matter. I have a a little bit more of a a practicality question when we're talking about our non school based staff. I see that we're, notifying families that will be there at a fingerprint in schools. Could we maybe do the same for our non school based staff? It just might be possible that that school is closer to them or that, that they could maybe make that work more easily than other methods. So, I think we really want to be so certain that we're moving through the
school based staff, and we are we are resource, efficient Great. To get ourselves to that December mark with, school based staff. But we absolutely will be, notifying our central office staff as we begin that phase of this work. So we'll we'll organize it in a similar way, and we want to continue to be as employee friendly to our central office staff as we have been in the schools. But we really feel like focusing on that school based effort is is our is
our, North Star until between now and December. So related to that, that would mean, like, when we're talking about non school based staff, I also think, like, our bus drivers and things like that. And bus drivers are, we we do have a plan for bus drivers. Right. Even though they're technically not school based, they're very student facing as you point out. And so, while we say school based, we we do have a plan for the student facing staff as well. Great. Thank you for the clarification. Miss Maloon? I just wanted to clarify on slide eight when we see the examples for, high
schools that are listed for school based employees rescreening. Does this include middle schools in that cluster and elementary schools too? Absolutely. This is by cluster. It's every school in the cluster. And so, yes, we we organized by cluster partly, for just regional geographic proximity, but we are doing all the schools in the cluster at the same time. I just wanted to clarify. Miss Stewart. First, I want to say a big thank you. This was a crisis, but, the way everyone pulled together, I don't think I've ever
seen such, an appropriate response to a crisis at at least in the school system. So thank you so much. I have a question, about the parent, fingerprinting because not that many need to be fingerprinted, but we do have some, that's detailed on one of your slides. And, how how do they, pay for that or do they pay for that? Who's responsible for paying for the parent volunteer fingerprinting?
And what is that cost? So, so we're moving towards trying to work towards there not being any cost for fingerprinting for volunteers. Many of the, amounts are sometimes covered by the the can be covered by the school. I don't know the exact price of fingerprinting at the very at the very moment. And I don't know if, missus McGuire, if you have any idea what that is. So, I apologize. I should I feel like I should know this. But I there there's if you come if if parents come to the MCPS office,
our background screening office, we charge a a much lower, cost, than than if they go to, American identity or one of our contract partners or go somewhere else on their own. But as doctor Moran indicated, we really our primary objectives here are to reduce barriers while ensuring student safety. And so while the fingerprint, and child protective services clearances are critically important for parents who or other volunteers who will have unsupervised access to students, and that's really the
the critical difference. And so we're talking about, you know, outdoor ed is sort of the classic example. You'll have parents who are chaperones, often parents who may be going on an overnight band trip or, you know, again, some some extended case where we need parents or volunteers to really be in that unsupervised space with students, we will do a full vol a full fingerprint and child protective services screening. However, we don't want that to be a barrier. And so at the moment, we do have practices to offset the cost for for
parents, but we, really want to expand that, and it's part of our work around the codification of our practices is to really remove that as a barrier. We can't tell you right now that we finalized all the steps to that, but that is absolutely one of our goals. And maybe in the future, we could get a follow-up on, where we are in that process. And, one of my, goals is to be able to connect more kids with mentors. So, of course, we would need to have some safety in place and, maybe a
regulation of some sort. Anyway, thank you. Missus Rivera, office. Just just very quickly, just to piggyback on that because I know that we have had this conversation since I've been on the board back and forth about charging parents for fingerprints. So I just would like us to whenever you're done with that, and see if you could come back to the board report to us because, there are parts of this county where parents are not engaging because of cost of fingerprints.
Because it is it is a burden. And, I know we want to have parent engagement, so we should look at those areas and just see. There probably is a way to find to figure it out demographically the schools that have high volunteer, you know, component to that, you know, that you have high vol volunteers and schools that do not. And I think then we need to assess those schools and see if this is a barrier. If it is a barrier, if it's and and probably most most times they're gonna
be farm schools or community schools. And I'm just even wondering if some of the funding from community schools could be used for for some of, you know, for for just thinking outside the box, but for some of, you know, just as long as we can eliminate more barriers so we can have parents be involved, I think it's in the best interest of our kids in our in our schools. I appreciate that suggestion, mister Rivera Oven. I think that's, that is a a good thought. And I do just wanna clarify one thing again. We agree with this as a goal.
I wanna be clear that we're not making money on this. It's purely cost. Oh, I know. Well, it's just what I want. Because the we we do have a charge, with the federal government for the for the fingerprinting, so that's the only point to it. But absolutely agree. Miss Silvestri. Yeah. Same issue. Just so that we're clear, I'm looking at your chart here on page 19 with the red if I'm coming to be a room parent, I do not need to be fingerprinted. No. I do not need to pay for this. This is not a cost burden.
Yes. If I am going on a field trip where there's also a teacher there, I do not need to be field fingerprinted. I do not need to pay for anything. So just or just to make I want to send the message to parents and volunteers. Yes. We want you in our schools. We just need you to take that training. But fingerprinting is for more overnight trips and unsupervised, chaperoning. And so just to be clear, I don't want people to think I can't afford to volunteer. No. There are plenty of opportunities to volunteer without fingerprinting, and we welcome that in our
schools. Thank you. Yeah. So thank you. I think, like everything else, there were resist in practice in our schools, so let's make an effort to make it consistent. I don't see any other lights. I want to thank you. One more thing. One thing. I did ask about this to miss McGuire, but there are some funding available if I do want to do an overnight trip and I do need to give finger We absolutely have practices and and and parents, should talk with their principals. Again, school by school, schools, are able to ask for waivers or identify other ways
to encourage parent participation. What we wanna do is make that more consistent as has been said and more and more readily accessible. But, absolutely, if a parent wants to participate, the cost should not be a barrier, and that parent should absolutely go to their principal, talk about it with their principal and the direction would absolutely be that we will make that work out. Thank you. Thank you for the presentation and, thank you for your collaboration and thank you for being here. And, that concludes the item number, nine.
And then I'm going to item number 10, which is informational item, and no actions is required is required of the board on this item at this time. However, the next item, item 11, require a ball action, and that's adjournment. Can I have a motion? Motion. Second? There's a motion to adjourn and a second. All in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous with those present. Thank you, everyone. I would like to point out you ended on time.