Montgomery County Education Articles to Watch in 2022-2023
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According to the Montgomery County Public Education News, the 2022-23 school year is sure to be busy.
This year, school districts across the country are once again faced with dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student academic progress. In Montgomery County Public Schools, data shows a sharp decline in performance in key courses such as math and literacy, largely due to the extension of virtual classes in 2020 and 2021. Most students are now back in the classroom (some have applied to remain in MCPS’s full-time virtual school), and the MCPS curriculum, according to his leader, will be pivotal to their recovery this year. could be years.
The key issues to follow this year are:
learning gap
MCPS officials say addressing the learning gaps experienced by students during pandemic schooling remains a priority.
There are interventions implemented using federal coronavirus relief funds, such as tutoring and expanding after-school opportunities.
In a meeting with the school board this week, the district also pledged to track the effectiveness of its methods to ensure it reaches enough students and those who need it.
Instead of spending a lot of time catching up on content you may have missed in the past few years, the focus is on ensuring all students have access to grade-level materials, said the chief academic officer. Peggy Pugh said at a school board meeting this week. Teachers are expected to focus on grade-level content and teach missed content (or refer students to tutoring or other interventions) as needed.
staffing
It is clear that MCPS will start the year with hundreds of staff vacancies. This includes teachers, para-educators, bus drivers, construction service workers, and more, all critical to the school’s success. How MCPS handles this issue and the spike in absenteeism and vacancies that can occur throughout the year will be important. Many of the vacancies deal directly with some of the district’s most vulnerable students, such as students in special education programs and English language learners. According to MCPS officials, these students were among her most affected academically during virtual learning, sometimes missing regular services.
On the Friday before teachers report to preschool week, MCPS will send an urgent email to consider re-assigning volunteer work to a special education class for dual-certified teachers who are not assigned to a special education program. I asked for The goal was to fill the shortage of special education teachers. There were about 93 seats available as of Tuesday morning.
The message said the teachers’ union had agreed to the request, which included a $5,000 “incentive” for teachers selected for the transfer. However, in a message to members that night, the union disagreed and actually denied the proposal. A new agreement has been announced with additional payments to other special education teachers who take on the work.
school safety
MCPS will launch this year with a new model of the previous School Resource Officer (SRO) program. Last year, MCPS eliminated his SRO from high school for the first time in almost 20 years. Instead, officers were assigned to patrol areas around school clusters and schools. In the wake of the January shooting incident at his Magruder High School, where one student shot and seriously injured Col. Altered relations and allowed police officers to return to the building, albeit to a limited extent. capacity.
The county’s Community Engagement Officer (CEO) program will replace the SRO program at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. Under the SRO program, specially trained county police officers were placed in high schools full-time. The program was scrapped after criticism that black and Hispanic students had high arrest rates, prompting communities to prioritize mental health resources over policing in schools. Proponents countered that the SRO program led to stronger relationships between police officers and the school community.
In April, MCPS signed a memorandum of understanding with six law enforcement agencies in the county outlining the CEO’s responsibilities for the 2022-2023 school year. The current deal allows the CEO to occupy a space near his office in front of a high school in the cluster. This is a change from the previous version of his CEO program in which officers patrolled schools in clusters but were not allowed to remain inside the building.
This year, both supporters and opponents of school police officers are likely to monitor the new version of the program to see if it implements as intended and to determine its strengths and weaknesses. .
district leadership
MCPS Superintendent Monifah McKnight has led the district since Jack Smith retired in June 2021, initially in an interim position until taking over the role permanently in July. She is starting her first year as the MCPS official leader.
McKnight took over in the midst of the pandemic, faced associated challenges (student decline, staffing issues due to COVID-19, etc.), and made difficult decisions about school closures and other health measures.
Since taking on the role, McKnight said his focus has been on rebuilding trust with the community through frequent and clear communication. She also said she will focus on supporting the mental health of students and staff and “returning the district’s focus to equitable teaching and learning.” All the way up to the office, I have experienced several transfers in top positions in the school district and have created new hires who have joined at a critical time in the school district’s pandemic recovery. McKnight said this week that an audit report investigating MCPS’s “anti-racism” practices is due for release in her October.
Similarly, half of the school board’s eight seats are contested in the November general election. While incumbents are running in his three races, Judy Docca didn’t run for re-election in the First District, so he’s guaranteed at least one new member. In the July 19 primary election, challenger Julie Yang received more votes than incumbent Scott Hejoftus, winning a seat in District 3. (Joftus was appointed in 2021 to fill the remaining years of Pat O’Neill’s term following Pat O’Neill’s death in September.) And in District 5, incumbent Brenda Wolfe I was choking with challenger Valerie Koll. Her incumbent, Karla Silvestre, was far ahead of her challengers in the big races.
The election is non-partisan, with the top two vote-getters from each advancing to the general election on November 8th.
As such, there could be a new face on the school board, which plays a key role in setting the district’s policies and priorities.
COVID-19 Policy
This year’s MCPS is a significant departure from the widespread COVID-19 mitigation measures that have been in place since school buildings reopened for in-person classes in 2021. exposed to the virus. The school district now relies on four key principles to guide her COVID-19 response. These include getting people vaccinated, washing their hands, staying home when sick, and promoting good respiratory etiquette (such as coughing and sneezing into your elbow). , away from others).
While the changes will affect other district operations, such as the ability of students to attend classes in person and staffing, some education advocates believe that loosening precautions will lead to more infections and worse outcomes. I am afraid that it may lead to
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