Flurry of Activity for BOE
On a snowy evening last week, the Board of Education passed a flurry of motions setting up far-reaching policy decisions for Frederick County Public Schools staff and students: charter renewal for Monocacy Valley Montessori Public Charter School (MVMPCS) and several charter modifications, site selection for the new Rock Creek School, and academic calendar approval for the 2018-2019 school year. [Photo above, Monocacy Valley Montessori Public Charter School by Gillian Grozier]
Lengthy public commentary included ongoing concern about the effectiveness of the FCPS special education pilot program for students with dyslexia, and continued requests to reinstate Fair Day and the Jewish high holy days as holidays. Six motions passed during a six-hour session. Others were tabled, or voted down.
The BOE unanimously agreed to renew the MVMPCS contract. Amy DuVall, President of Monocacy Montessori Community, Inc. ( MMCI,) Nancy Radkiewicz, Principal of MVMPCS, and Deb Knox Tiel, President of the MVMPCS Governing Council had other requests to make, the first of which was to extend the contract from eight to ten years. Ms. Duvall reminded the BOE of the MVMPCS search for a new facility. The school was unsuccessful in its bid for the Lincoln A building earlier this year and is continuing to actively search elsewhere.
“A 10-year contract is stabilizing and aids in strategic planning,” DuVall explained. “It has greater appeal to financial institutions from which we must secure a mortgage.” “Landlords prefer a longer-term lease with less frequent new tenant fit-outs,” said BOE President Brad Young. “We actually would like a contract for 20 years,” DuVall said. The motion to extend the new contract to 10 years passed 6 – 1, with Board Member, Liz Barrett dissenting. “I support 8 years (for the contract) so that we don’t get complaisant,’ she said. “Ten years does set a precedent,” said Vice President Dr. April F. Miller. “But I support it.”
Another request was to increase the student body over time from the current 260 to 350 once the new facility had been secured. The MVMPCS waiting list is now over one thousand applicants, according to Radkiewicz. Both she and Duvall shared their vision for the expanded school. Dr. Miller expressed concern for special education students. Radkiewicz assured the Board that MVMPCS is already able to make Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions where six teachers are trained in Orton-Gillingham and oversight from the Central Office is ongoing.
Barrett noted math scores had declined since last year and urged the application of data resources to assess and improve performance. The Board voted to defer an increase in the number of students until a new building has been secured. The motion passed 4 – 2, with Barrett and Ken Kerr, Ph.D dissenting.
The charter school leaders also asked to change the new contract to increase the number of students per classroom in the present building from 25 to 30.
DuVall explained that the Montessori model calls for three groups of ten students in lower elementary and upper elementary with which to build towards a middle school. Increasing the student body to a total of 275 students will provide the flexibility to institute the model. Board Member Joy Schaefer said she was familiar with this model and recognized the need for reorganized classrooms in preparation for expansion. The motion passed 6 – 1, with Barrett dissenting.
Paul Lebo, FCPS Chief Operating Officer introduced a team headed by architectural firm Proffitt & Associates, and announced a recommendation to locate the new Rock Creek School on the Walkersville Middle School campus. The new school will accommodate 120 students in a single-story building totaling 81,000 sq. ft. Occupancy is slated for the fall of 2021. Kori Purdam Matheis, senior project manager with Proffitt described the scoring rubric by which this site was selected from among six others. The top scorers were Walkersville MS, Monocacy MS, and Thomas Johnson Middle School.
Concerns about traffic and conservation of green space and athletic facilities predominated the discussion on the location of Rock Creek School. The Walkersville campus presents a lot of options, including links between the two buildings, level topography that was easier to work with, and adequate field space during construction.
By contrast, Shawn Benjaminson, a civil engineer with Adtek Engineers said the cost of fill required to grade the more difficult TJ MS site is estimated at $1 million. Another issue was the single access from the TJ campus onto Schifferstadt Boulevard. After talking with city and county officials, Mr. Benjaminson said it is unlikely Rock Creek buses would be allowed to exit left towards Market Street and would probably be compelled to turn right, followed by a U-turn. Any mitigation of this traffic and safety issue was unlikely. Young said he had heard from community organizations opposed to the Monocacy MS site such as the Clover Hill Civic Association, Christopher’s Crossing homeowners and Neighborhood Advisory Council 3.
With multiple factors presented and reviewed, the BOE dropped a motion to relocate the new school to TJ MS and returned to the professional team’s recommendation of Walkersville MS. The motion passed 5 – 2, with Young and Dr. Miller dissenting. A greenhouse addition, an alternative and special education program, a parks and recreation program, and a future expansion program as part of the Walkersville relocation were not put to a vote.
A calendar for the 2018/2019 school year known as Draft 2 was proposed with the change of a two-hour early dismissal moved from Feb. 15 to Nov.21, the day before Thanksgiving. Conferences take place from Nov. 5 through Nov. 9 with a Teacher Training day on Nov. 5 and Election Day on Nov. 6. Teacher Training Days with schools closed was also proposed for Jan.28, Apr.5, and June 12.
Young pointed out that after accounting for federal and state holidays, along with legal and contractual requirements, the BOE has only 189 days to fit in further obligations. There is little flexibility. “We have to make compromises,” Dr. Miller said. “(The proposed calendar) is a solution but it’s not optimal,” Barrett added.
Closing schools in September for Fair Day and for the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur has been a perplexing issue for the BOE. A compromise was reached for the 2018/2019 calendar with schools closed on Sept. 10 for Rosh Hashanah and Sept. 19 (a Wednesday) for both Yom Kippur and Fair Day. During public commentary, Maurice Gladhill, Fair treasurer said without schools closed on a Friday, the Fair could expect to lose 5,000 to 6,000 attendees.
In some years, the Jewish holidays and Fair week may not even overlap. Young pointed out that he had received requests this year to recognize the Muslim holidays. “In future, we are going to have to consider recognition for all the religions,” he said. Rabbi Jordan Hersch of Temple Beth Sholom talked to the “moral imperative” of recognizing the importance of agriculture and the opportunity offered by the Fair to educate the community over a three-day weekend when schools are closed. The motion to accept the Draft 2 calendar passed 5 – 1, with Dr. Miller dissenting. BOE member Colleen Cusimano was absent. A complete 2018/2019 calendar can be found here.
