The Montgomery County Board of Education (Board) met on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, at the Carver Educational Services Center, 850 Hungerford Drive in Rockville. During the meeting, the Board approved the agreement for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 500; took tentative action on Policy ACA, Human Relations, heard a presentation on data dashboards; and discussed Restorative Justice practices in MCPS. The agenda for the meeting, with links to related materials, can be viewed on the Board of Education website.

Fiscal Year 2018 SEIU Local 500 Employee Association Agreement

The Board of Education voted to approve a new three-year contract with the SEIU Local 500. The contract goes into effect beginning in FY 2018. The agreement with SEIU Local 500 provides for a step increase for all eligible unit members and a one percent general wage adjustment. There are additional financial provisions that are offset by increased employee medical and prescription copays and other adjustments to the medical plans. The agreement is for three years with reopened negotiations for salaries for the second and third years of the agreement. The contract was ratified by the association with more than 93 percent voting in favor.  The agreement represents a continuation of the district’s collaborative negotiations with associations, resulting in the successful resolution of complex financial and other work issues, as well as the preservation of relationships with SEIU that allow a continued focus on the district’s mission of providing excellent education for each student.

Policy ACA, Human Relations
The Board of Education tentatively approved changes to Board Policy ACA, Human Relations, and recommended changing the name of Policy ACA, to Nondiscrimination, Equity, and Cultural Proficiency. The revised policy incorporates the purposes and expectations of current Board Policies ACA, Human Relations; ACB, Nondiscrimination; ACE, Gender Equity; GBA, Workforce Diversity; and GMA, Human Relations Training of MCPS Staff.

The renamed policy affirms the Board’s desire to create an educational community that is guided by its five core values (learning, respect, relationships, equity and excellence), as well as an educational community that is deeply committed to ensuring that all students are supported to succeed and all staff members are empowered to do their best work. It asserts the Board’s belief that each and every student matters, and in particular, that educational outcomes should never be predictable by any individual’s actual or perceived personal characteristics.

The draft of Policy ACA is available for public comment until Friday, May 26.

• Comment here.
• Read tentatively approved changes to Policy ACA, Nondiscrimination, Equity, and Cultural Proficiency (Attachment A)
• View the crosswalks between the current policies and the tentative revised policy (Attachments B, C, D, E, and F)

Data Dashboards

The Board heard a presentation and held a discussion on the development of Data Dashboards for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).  MCPS is committed to eliminating the achievement and opportunity gaps and providing a high-quality education for all of our students. The district must strategically collect and analyze multiple sources of achievement and organizational data to drive its decisions, actions, and accountability to improve student performance results. In July 2016, a Data Governance Committee (Committee) was established and charged with two major tasks:

• Task 1: Review, refine, and establish systemwide processes for data-related matters and decision making

• Task 2: Develop data dashboards that align to the strategic priorities (the first task of creating process)

The goal of the first task was to ensure staff in schools and offices understood the process for requesting or accessing data affiliated with the milestones, classroom measures, school and district measures, external measures, and other significant data points. The Committee also was responsible for reviewing all documents that utilized data to ensure they were aligned with district, state, and national requirements. The dashboards will be implemented in phases during the 2017–2018 school year.

In Phase I of the dashboard development, the Committee was responsible for developing the dashboards for Strategic Priority II (Human Capital), Strategic Priority III (Community and Family Engagement), and Strategic Priority IV (Operational Excellence). The dashboard for Strategic Priority I (Learning, Results, and Accountability) is under construction as MCPS pilots a new data management system and finalizes the multiple measures affiliated with the primary, intermediate, middle, and high school milestones. The district anticipates the data dashboard for this priority will be available by September 2017 in conjunction with the arrival of external measures.

The goal of the second task was to develop data dashboards, which reflects MCPS’ commitment to be transparent in sharing relevant information with school, community, business, and government partners. The dashboards connect to the district’s vision of effective teaching and learning for teachers and students as they drive continuous improvement and address the opportunity gap; strengthen, enrich, and expand student learning opportunities to improve performance; improve workforce diversity and operational excellence; and provide external stakeholders with information to help them understand the current state of the school system and student performance, resulting in an increase in family and community engagement and resources to support teaching and learning.

Read the memorandum to the Board

Restorative Justice

The Board received an update from MCPS staff and held a discussion on Restorative Justice practices in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).  MCPS implemented a new Student Code of Conduct beginning with the 2014–2015 school year. This Student Code of Conduct envisions a new approach to student conduct and discipline, and specifically, wrongdoing and the actions that follow. The Student Code of Conduct was predicated on the belief that addressing student behavior with fairness and equity through clear, appropriate, and consistent expectations and consequences, supports an educational environment that is safe, orderly, and conducive to learning. Simultaneously, MCPS began providing information and training on Restorative Justice. Restorative Justice is an ideology that seeks to change how a community views wrongdoing and responds to someone who has harmed a member of the community. Restorative Justice is a focused approach on discipline that centers on wrongdoing and the harm it causes to a member or members of the school community. Restorative Justice teaches the student(s) who committed the harm to acknowledge that one’s actions affects others in the community, to recognize the harm caused, to take responsibility and accountability, and to ultimately work to repair the harm in order to reintegrate into the community.

The MCPS Restorative Justice Project includes a rigorous multi-tiered plan of action that is built for longevity and sustainability. The district also is cultivating new partnerships that will allow it to collaborate with other districts that successfully have implemented Restorative Justice.

Read the Memorandum to the Board

Legislative Overview

The Board received a presentation from staff regarding what occurred during the 2017 Session of the Maryland General Assembly, including an overview of legislation impacting Montgomery County, the Board’s various positions on various bills, the legislative outcome, and a summary of key provisions, including any amendments for many of the bills for which the Board submitted testimony.

Read the Summary

Review of Required Quarterly Assessments

The Board took action asking the superintendent of schools to obtain stakeholder input concerning the Required Quarterly Assessments (RQAs), analyze the data on student performance, and make recommendations to the Board next year regarding whether to retain, continue to make improvements to the RQAs, or revert to the administration of semester examinations.

Facilities and School Construction

The Board approved the preliminary plans for the new Clarksburg Cluster Elementary School (Clarksburg Village Site #2) project

Appointments

The Board approved the following administrative appointments:

Krishnanda A. Tallur, currently acting director, Employee and Retiree Service Center, as director, Department of Employee and Retiree Services

Sharron Steele, currently supervisor, Department of Strategic Planning and Resource Management, as executive director, Development and Strategic Relations

Jeffrey K. Sullivan, currently instructional specialist, Athletics Unit, as director, Systemwide Athletics

Karen D. Crews, currently instructional specialist, Division of School Counseling,

Residency, and International Admissions, as supervisor, School Counseling Services

Recognitions

The Board approved the following resolutions:

-A resolution declaring the week of April 24 –28, 2017, as Administrative Professionals Week

-A resolution declaring May 8-13, 2017, as Teacher Appreciation Week

- A resolution declaring May 1–5, 2017, as School Nutrition Employee Appreciation Week

-A resolution declaring the month of May 2017 as Asian Pacific American heritage Month

Future Meetings

The Board will hold its next regular business meeting on Tuesday, May 9, 2017. Please check the Board of Education website and meeting calendar for further information. 
 

About the Board of Education

The Montgomery County Board of Education is the official educational policymaking body in the county. The Board is responsible for the direction and operation of the public school system. The Board consists of seven county residents elected by voters for a four-year term and a student elected by secondary school students for a one-year term. Board members are elected countywide but run at-large or from the Board district in which they reside.

Montgomery County Board of Education: Mr. Michael Durso, president; Dr. Judith Docca, vice president. Members: Ms. Jeanette E. Dixon, Mrs. Shebra L. Evans, Mrs. Patricia O’Neill, Ms. Jill Ortman-Fouse, Mrs. Rebecca Smondrowski, and Mr. Eric Guerci, student member. Dr. Jack R. Smith, superintendent of schools and secretary-treasurer. Office of the Board: 301-279-3617.