Board Meeting, April 15, 2021

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McGUwVfBNHs

The meeting starts nearly an hour late due to the preceding long-running executive session.

After the preliminaries (roll call—David Murray and Joshua Thomas are not present), adoption of agenda, and approval of board meeting minutes, Chairwoman Miller gives her report.

Sandra Shepherd’s resignation from the BOE is announced effective 4/16. She is presented with a plaque and thanks are given by various board members for her service. Shepherd also makes a statement to the board.

Dr. Goldson then presents the CEO’s report. In-person graduations are being planned, pending continued improvements in the COVID pandemic and vaccinations.

Student board member Ninah Jackson asks for a moment to make a statement. She points out there is a lot to celebrate—“we are back in schools!” Jackson thanks Dr. Goldson and her administration’s commitment to have a graduation for the class of 2021.

Public comment is next. Timothy Meyer, president of Mount Rainier ES PTO; Daniel Muth, Hyattsville resident and member of the Hyattsville Educational Facilities Task Force; and Nicole Clem, a parent at Mount Rainier ES, speak about equity concerns regarding the Hyattsville Middle swing space plan and the reversal of a decision to move Robert Goddard Montessori from their building to another location in order to free up their building for use as swing space by the county. Marvin Burton speaks on teacher retention and turnover. Theresa Dudley of PGCEA comments on the death of Dr. Donald Briscoe, ventilation and air purification concerns, and thanks Dr. Goldson for making sure that teachers got priority for vaccination. Pre-recorded audio and written comments are posted on Board Docs.

Consent agenda includes 4 proclamations including Physical Education, National Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, and commemorating month of Ramadan. These pass unanimously.

Budget consent agenda includes expenditure requirements for:

·         RFP for Written translation services for the immersion program, anticipated to cost $100,000

·         PGCPS recommendation to not approve charter for Mentoring by Example College and Career Academy Public Charter School

·         RFP for contract for professional auditing services for annual financial statement audit for 3 years at $551,900

Ahmed and Burroughs indicated they would like to consider the RFP for translation services and the charter school separately.

The board passes the expenditure requirements and auditing services contract unanimously with no discussion.

Ahmed asks for clarification on why administration opted to contract out for translation rather than hiring staff. Goldson states that current staff already has a lot of translating to do, and the curriculum translation is only needed for a period of time rather than an entire year. Thus, it was more fiscally responsible to contract it out. Motion passes unanimously.

Burroughs apologizes for not submitting questions about the charter school earlier, but he is just now getting a chance to read through it. Dr. Coley explains evaluation process and ratings system. After their review of the re-application, the team advised it not be moved forward. Goldson notes the process began in January 2019. Burroughs clarifies that PGCPS administration reviewed initial application, provided feedback, and applicant still fell short. He states he likes the concept of this school and asks if he can see copy of application and review because he is interested in supporting a school of this type. He notes he thinks PGCPS needs to provide more school choice. Goldson points out those documents are on BoardDocs. Motion to accept the recommendation is made. Discussion follows. Pamela Boozer-Strother describes her concern that the intention of the school is to support students in north/central part of county, and she wants to point out that there is no place in this part of county to hold 900 students. Future considerations for charter schools need to consider placement near the populations they are intended to serve to avoid transportation issues. Belinda Queen thinks this is a good concept but also shares concerns of Boozer-Strother about location and that they had previously also failed to get approval from Montgomery County. She does note her interest in providing opportunities for students who may not want to go to college but want to be career ready.

Sonya Williams asks question about process for charter school applications and if there is comparison between what a charter school will provide versus what PGCPS already offers. She also asks when are there are too many charter schools to the detriment of the school system? Do we look at a ratio of charter/specialty/neighborhood schools? Goldson states we do look to see if charter school offers something that is completely different from school system and that is a major criteria in evaluation. In regard to Williams’ second question, Goldson notes that looking at the number of charter schools was something the former chair (Thornton) wanted the BOE to look at to provide direction to the school system administration.

Williams recommends the BOE schedule a work session with staff members during their fiscal year work planning in order to fully understand what PGCPS already offers in an effort to avoid watering down the school system. Curtis Valentine points out that charter schools are public schools and that in Maryland the charter school law is quite conservative. He believes the proper ratio of schools is up to the parents and explains charter schools are only 5 percent of the PGCPS system. He sees parents are wanting more choices and have actually opted out in favor of private schools but may be interested in charter schools. Williams agrees that perhaps topic should be “School Choice” for a future work group. Belinda Queen states that at education roundtable this has been discussed, and she would like to recommend that the policy committee look at policies on charter schools. Williams clarifies that she is looking for a discussion among the full board, and that years ago, the board used to have work sessions where they would dive into the work of the administration to get a better understanding.

Motion passes to not recommend establishment of the charter school. Burroughs abstains from vote.

Goldson presents new business, first readers:

·         Resolutions for adopting and procuring various textbooks

·         FY22 amendments to the FY21 approved Educational Facilities Master Plan

·         21-22 PGCPS school calendar

Queen asks to separate the last two items.

The resolutions for the various textbooks pass first reader unanimously.

Queen asks that staff provide summary as to what has been changed on the action plan for the Educational Facilities Master Plan. She also has questions about the calendar. They have received many emails about Jewish holidays and asks that they think outside the box on the professional days because they are disruptive to students and parents. Goldson responds to Valentine’s question that there has been survey on the calendar and results will be posted to BoardDocs the Friday before the next meeting. There were 17,000 responses.

The vote is taken on the last two items and passes for first reader. Burroughs and Queen abstain.

Motion to approve actions taken in executive session on 4/15 is next. They take a roll call vote.

                                Yes: Ahmed, Burroughs, Harris, Queen, Valentine

                                No: Boozer-Strother, Monteiro, Williams, Miller

                                Abstain: Jackson, Shepherd

                                Absent: Murray, Thomas

The motion does not pass. Burroughs makes point of order for Roger Thomas, the board attorney. He clarifies that decisions made in executive session still stand and that next time board meets, they can vote on the executive session decisions and confirm the actions taken.

Meeting adjourns.