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I support the research-driven process, as outlined in the recent update on student use of personal devices, where parent, student, and educator feedback follows initial data collection and research. I advocate for varied feedback methods, including surveys and forums, to ensure feedback is representative. This ensures diverse views are thoughtfully considered.
I support the existing HCPSS policy, which provides a structured process for addressing concerns about curriculum, books, and instructional materials. It is unfair to expect educators to anticipate a parent’s objection or selectively alter curriculum based on individual preferences.
The priorities are: 1) Safety, ensuring the structural integrity and code compliance of facilities. 2) Capacity, alleviating overcrowding through facility expansion or targeted, minimally disruptive redistricting. A methodical, transparent approach, supported by collaboration and data-driven planning, is essential to creating safe, modern, and effective learning environments for all students.
To foster a safe learning environment, administrators, teachers, parents, and students must engage in focused discussions. For systemic issues, pilot initiatives based on research and feedback can be implemented and refined iteratively. With policies in the 9400 series currently under review, it's essential to ensure efficient reporting tools, clear definitions, and robust support services, aligning with community needs and cultivating a positive school climate.
Effectiveness of new school-based mental health programs would be assessed through ongoing data collection, feedback from students and staff, and measurable outcomes such as improved well-being and academic performance. The BOE will need to secure funding, implement policies to integrate successful programs into the school’s core operations, and regularly evaluate and adjust based on evolving needs.
Let’s start by allocating resources to support Blueprint Pillar 3, focusing on ensuring students are college and career ready. While recent data, like the September 2023 Maryland CCR Predictive Validity Study, provides insights, it’s important to evaluate and explore policies that align with proven metrics. This approach will help us build on strengths, address weaknesses, and ensure effective use of resources.
DEI needs to move from dialogue to impactful action. With a $1.25M budget and 8.5 staff, ODEI must shift from producing reports to achieving tangible results. This investment could hire up to 19 underrepresented educators or increase mental health services by nearly 10%. Funds spent outside the classroom must be accountable for measurable, impactful outcomes.
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Parent and student views should be included through oral and written testimony, PTA meetings, student groups, emails, and surveys. As Board Chair, I held an unprecedented number of budget hearings and plan to continue. I will continue to visit schools, attend community events, and make myself available to the public. The Board must be also open to feedback and change directions when necessary for the good of the students and staff. I have repeatedly done that over my six years on the Board.
Recent attempts by right-wing extremists demanding “review and removal” of books that they consider objectionable are just thinly veiled attempts to ban books. It is not enough to say that we have a good policy for evaluating books or that the Freedom to Read Act will protect students and staff. Rather, I will go further and openly commit to defending instructional materials that affirm our LGBTQ+ community and tell the truth of the racism, exclusion, or violence that are part of our history.
I am in active communication with our state legislators, County Executive, and members of the County Council to ask for appropriate funding to fix our facilities. Overcrowding can only be solved with additions to existing schools or new facilities, not with portables. Under my chairmanship, the Board established a work group to ensure standardization of the criteria for rank-ordering the capital budget allocations so that we do not put the community on roller-coaster rides with constant changes.
The best way to disrupt problem behaviors is to address the underlying causes. Cell phones in the classrooms are a key contributor. Students do not know how to engage with peers and learn. We must remove cell phones in the classrooms.
School principals must be empowered and trained to teach students to resolve conflicts, de-escalate problem behaviors, and apply appropriate consequences. Additionally, disproportionate discipline must be eliminated so that all students can access their education.
School-based mental health programs can be assessed by utilization rates, requests for services, improved behavioral outcomes, reduced suicide rates, reduced absenteeism, expressions of improved well being by participants, and other measures as designed by health professionals. We must commit as a school system to continue to fund these services in our budget and ask our county and state funding partners to continue to provide adequate funding increases to sustain them.
To seize the opportunity to vastly improve education for all students, the Blueprint must be fully funded. It requires the State to continue to increase funding incrementally for its share which provides resources for initiatives like universal pre-K and competitive teacher pay. At the local level, our county funders need to increase school system revenue so that we do not have to perpetually increase class sizes or cut valuable services like primary education strings, GT, and BSAP programs.
If we are not inclusive, then students are prevented from accessing their education. If we do not embrace diversity, then students can feel othered and marginalized. If equity is not applied, then we needlessly throw money and resources at students who do not require them. If a student needs extra instruction in reading, they should have that instead of additional help to students who are already reading. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are values that I believe in and make our schools better.
