Coverage of Education Budget Forum featuring Dr. McKnight, Councilmember Jawando, Others

On Tuesday 5/2/2023, there was a virtual forum hosted by MCPS and featuring Dr. McKnight, Councilmember Jawando, Dr. Williams and BOE member Silvestre.

Esther Wells live tweeted the meeting and her tweets have been cataloged into the piece below with some minor edits for clarity.

Q: Budgets are in, what happens next? A: CC is reviewing Op Budget. 3rd work session on 5/4 w/MCPS. Full Council recommendation will be made from E&C then on 5/12, full CC will take up MCPS/MC budget to make recommendation for budget level. 3rd week of May

3rd week, final vote on MCPS/MC budget for FY24

Q: (Student) School psychologists & MH professionals. Student to MH prof is not the best ratio. is there space in the budget for school psychologists and ensure students know they are available? A: (Super) 10mo employee moved to 12 months to help provide more services to students and increase funding

MCPS made this investment last year. No accelerators in FY24. we try to increase ratio based on number of students increased in schools to ensure appropriate level.

A: (BOE Sylvestre) just because this year’s budget doesn’t have it, doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Last year, strong investment was made. improvements have been made to fill psychologist positions easier has been made.

A: (COO) significant investments have been made thru ESSER funding challenge next year is finding out how we move these supports to the base budget. As enrollment goes up, support positions go up to ensure our ratios are adhered to.

Q: (Homeowner) appealing a 35% property tax increase. At what point is this really enough? How many times can you come to the well, before it runs drive? Where does the 5% bag tag go? Q: CM Jawando, no one likes taxes. inflation is high, cost is high.

We need to build more housing to slow down the equity and assessed value of the home. 43% FARMS rate of MCPS students which is a dramatic increase over 10 yrs. We need more resources for those students. All students can learn. Property tax increase being proposed is serious.

It needs to be weighed as something that is a limited option to meet Blueprint, get salaries up. I understand, but we are focused on accountability and transparency. Laser focussed on what the money is being used on now. Joint plans & mid-year assessments with MCPS. Nothing is decided yet.

Q: (virtual) Pleased to hear increased accountability. Parent of 2 virtual academy students. When he engaged, he was stonewalled. Took too long & tons of media coverage to get MCPS response to school shooting. MCPS has not been transparent about improved indoor air quality.

[no question asked, just comments] A: (Super) Thank you for your comments. Presentations have been made, MCPS will follow-up and engage in discussion about his suggestions.

This is why his kids have not returned to in-person

Q: How is MC growing, 10 yr figures for enrollment?

A: First time growth ever was 10% fall 2022. Spring 2023 enrollment was higher than Spring 2022. Happy about access to MC. Continue to identify what is working and what new strategies needed.

Q: MC budget, what can we expect to accessible education for parents and students for flexibility…

A: MC students that are also parents are a focus of MC. 15% of students are parenting. MC strives to help them through Student/parent alliance at MC. FamilyU to redesign physical infrastructure for parents such as breast feeding spaces, high chairs, parking spots, etc. equitable opportunities.

Q: Will there be any funding towards artistic endeavors other than math/reading. Ex. music/arts and other underfunded programs at MCPS.

A: (Super) Budget has built in funding to provide more instruments for schools. MCPS is working with foundations and partners. This is a priority.

Does not always come from budget funding from taxpayers. Commitment has been made to partner with outside Orgs such as Dance extracurricular independent activity funds. Schools spend based on student interest on arts/music/dance.

Q: MCPS resident, bring it back to taxes! Dr. McKnight mentioned non-taxpayer funded requests, I can’t understand the struggle our County budget is having. Have you considered other sources of income. Where is the innovation from our financing. MoCo needs to find other ways to jump in homeowners pocket, to make us poor. How are we going to manage if you continue to go into HOMEOWNERS who are trying to make it and establish real estate legacy for their families. Have we created a problem for ourselves by being a sanctuary city? We need more innovation for budget finance.

A: (CM Jawando) thanks for all the hard ones. I agree we need to have different ways to fund our budget other than property tax. We are at a disadvantage. It’s not an equitable tool, it’s a flat tax. I proposed a progressive ppt to allow taxing structure similar to income tax. Recordation that I co-authored that helps build schools/roads that will increase one-time fee. [mention of recordation tax is heading in the wrong direction in comforting this resident, response has derailed].

We are at the top end of the number of millionaires living in MoCo and we needs to find progressive ways to tax more. we have 4/10 top diverse cities in the country. There should be no negativity towards folks fleeing violence and should focus on helping everyone here.

Q: I’m concerned about the future of literacy & math instruction.

A: (Super). I share that concern. E&C sessions have discussed this as well. Accelerators are there for this reason. Math requires repetition to build skills one to another. For 2.25 years students weren’t in a classroom daily, getting this repetition. State of math in MCPS is a real concern. MS students more negatively impacted. Performance has to go up. Literacy, last year significant investments were made. Science of reading implemented and 90% of teachers are trained. ES improvements already visible.

MCPS has put in practices that has/will work. Watch the last E&C session last week for detail and transparency on this item for literacy. Investments that will change student performance.

Q:(virtual) school support/student well-being. Ch 2. 25 new central office athletic training positions added to budget. Eliminate wellness positions. Division of psychological services remained same at 115 level. Why would we fund new 25 positions for athletic and not beef up psychologists, why?

A: (Super) The E&C session will discuss this more. Athletics positions are required for students participating in extracurricular activities based on new policy. This is a commitment that was made to decrease situations in the past that were vulnerable for monitoring.

RJ/wellness, unless a student’s MH is cared for, MCPS cannot meet their educational needs. ESSER funding used to address recovery needs. MCPS is collecting data that will show how successful these programs are as we run out of ESSER funds. Are we seeing ROI.

Q: When is the next E&C committee meeting?

A: (CM Jawando) 5/4/23 at 1pm.

Q: New East County MC center, what programs will be offered there?

A: Lease was signed last fall to acquire space for east county programs. meet the needs of county workforce. Credit/non-credit healthcare, early childhood education, business, IT, cyber security programs. Collaborate w/Community resources that will be co-located.

Q: Parent of Gaithersburg MS student. On PTA, concerned as A/C, speaker systems, general budget a lot of schools w/ high FARMS rates. Students not able to go on fieldtrips because no money. Surrounding schools fundraise ridiculous moneys, kids at a disadvantage. A/C at Gaithersburg is inadequate. Patchworked and needs to be replaced. Band concerts are depressing because audience can’t hear through speaker systems.

A: (Super) Equitable programs, we’ve heard this a lot from parents. If school doesn’t have active PTA. Theory of action.

Commitment MoCo is making in how to achieve student outcomes. Differentiating resources to schools. Can’t use one size fits all model. Individual school needs will get resources accordingly. This is a commitment in this budget. More to come and operationalize with stakeholders.

A: (COO) CIP question. One budget request/accelerator is a significant investment in additional staff to repair HVAC systems and keep in working condition and extend its useful life.

A: (CM Jawando) This is part of Capital budget. Balance old buildings keeping up maintenance, then you reach a point when you need a full overhaul, recordation tax to put $200M in CIP over 6yrs to help keep projects on track. Thanks for the equity point, we need to get better.

Q: Two MCPS students, last school shooting in Nashville. No policy change for guns/MH. We need to shift our efforts to securing our schools. Having security presence in all ES/MS/HS inside the buildings. Why only HS? Are ES/MS students not important? We need to adapt to changes. I am a veteran of US [thank you for your service] I hope securing our schools, keeping our children safe, are part of the budget today and all future years.

A: (Super) TY for your service. There is a deep commitment, always, to ensure our children are safe. Every time there’s a shooting anywhere in US, all of us are vulnerable. We continue to make a commitment that our children are safe in our schools. Last year 12 security personnel (ES/MS) to build relationships. CE made change in model to CEOs in our schools. How to honor expertise of MCPD and follow these guideline. Safety from conflict from students, have RJ specialists around conflict resolution in schools that have the most occurrence.

A: (CM Jawando) as parent of 4 MCPS students, I will do anything to protect them. I commend MCPS for physical changes. Part of budget is for additional security staff in schools. I’m personally supportive of that. We have CEO program. We need to push Federal/state laws as there are more guns than people in US. If you can’t have a car w/o license, shouldn’t have gun w/o license. RJ/MH supports for students.

Closing

(CM Jawando) 220 virtual participants & others at Wheaton HS in-person. last budget session is Th 5/4 at 1pm. Final budget action on 5/25. Next forum in Rockville, details provided later. END

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