THE GAZETTE
Page A-8
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 r
At Board of Education budget hearing, Montgomery schools speakers say district needs more staff face new mandate for Testimonies call for counselors, ESOL teachers n
BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
Speakers took to the podium Thursday night to tell the Montgomery County Board of Education about the need for counselors, services for non-English speaking students, technology, and support for Curriculum 2.0 implementation in the fiscal 2015 operating budget. Superintendent Joshua P. Starr released his recommended $2.28 billion operating budget in December, which includes new positions aimed at helping low-income, English for Speakers of Other Languages and special education students. Speakers testified about the urgent need for more staff in schools. Janette Gilman — president of the Montgomery County Council of ParentTeacher Associations — said the council endorsed the budget “in large measure” but was concerned about funds directed toward central office positions. Gilman said the school board should consider whether the money would be put to better use in school-based positions. Ann Coletti, a Springbrook cluster coordinator, said schools in her area need expanded ESOL services. “Our ESOL teachers are overwhelmed and understaffed,” she said. Some schools, Coletti said, need more professional development for teachers to help them better implement Curriculum 2.0. Large class sizes are putting “incredible strains on teachers and students alike,” she said. One speaker — who identified herself as a counselor at Little Bennett Elementary in Clarksburg — said counselors at her school are facing “enormous demands” as rising enrollment has increased the number of students each counselor works with. “I counsel 985 students along with a part-time counselor,” she said. “Students in need of counseling are often waiting outside my office or sent back to class.” School board member Michael Durso said it seems there are disparities from school to school when it comes to studentto-counselor ratios.
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“We do have to come up with new ways of doing business. As our population changes, we have to figure out ways to reach them.” Christopher S. Barclay, school board member Kevin David — area vice president for the Clarksburg, Northwest, Quince Orchard and Seneca Valley clusters — said the proposed budget does not meet all the needs of the schools in the clusters he represents, which include updated technology and more full-time staff development personnel. New positions in Starr’s budget include 178 elementary and secondary teachers, 75 positions working with special education students, and eight positions working with students who speak English as a second language. The budget also includes 15 focus teachers in high schools aimed at helping reduce English and math class sizes in some schools and new team leader positions in some elementary schools with high numbers of special education and ESOL students. Other new staff members in the budget include 5.5 elementary school counselors, four school psychologists and three pupil personnel workers. Dahlia Huh, a junior at Clarksburg High School and secretary of the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association, said students want to see new technology and programs that were cut restored. Another speaker, who identified himself as the member of a Latino student achievement group, said the school system needs to develop new ways to address Latino students’ needs and keep it up-todate with “changing student populations and county communities.” “Persistent problems cannot be solved with outdated remedies,” he said. School board member Christopher S.
Barclay said he agreed. “We do have to come up with new ways of doing business,” Barclay said. “As our population changes, we have to figure out ways to reach them.” Several parents asked for funding to continue an eight-period class schedule at Silver Spring International Middle School. The extra period allows more planning time for teachers and opportunities for students to take electives, they said. Celeste Raker Dillen said her son — a student at Silver Spring International — struggles with learning disabilities, undiagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety that make school difficult for him. In his music, art and band classes, however, he is able to “transcend his disability,” she said. Dillen said she was advocating for all students who struggle in core academic subjects. A representative from the Korean Parent Association of Montgomery County shared his concern with board members that the school system was eliminating services that translate parent materials into Korean. Larry Bowers, chief operating officer for the school system, said the proposed change would mean the school system would no longer employ a full-time Korean translator but rather do the translation work on a contractual basis. The demand for Korean translation services has decreased in the school system, Bowers said. lpowers@gazette.net
their emergency drills n
Will have to conduct six drills next school year
BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
At least four times a year, each public school in Montgomery County has practiced an emergency drill to help prepare staff and students for the worst, from a tornado to an armed shooter. While Montgomery County Public Schools has operated under its own mandate for at least ten years, the school system will face a new state requirement next school year that calls for six drills each year, according to Bob Hellmuth, director of school safety and security for the school system. Following the revision of emergency plan guidelines for Maryland schools in April 2013, the Maryland State Board of Education amended state regulations later in the year in part to add a requirement that schools must conduct drills for evacuation, “shelter in place,” reverse evacuation, lockdown, severe weather and “drop, cover, and hold.” The state expanded the types of drills local school districts and schools must perform to help them prepare for “a broader range of emergencies,” according to a May 21, 2013 letter from state Superintendent Lillian M. Lowery to members of the Maryland school board. The change for Montgomery County next year, Hellmuth said, will have to do more with the number of drills rather than their content. “There’s not anything too new to us,” he said. County schools currently have the ability to pick from among three types of drills: shelter, lockdown and evacuation. These drills cover a variety of possible situations, including weather incidents, Hellmuth said. Hellmuth said he could not remember how the school system decided to require four drills rather than more or less, but added he thought the number has allowed for a good amount of drill practice in the school system and has not been “overbearing.” In a shelter drill, a school will practice locking the exterior doors and monitoring the entrances while teachers continue to teach classes. Lockdown drills involve securing a school’s interior doors, covering the windows and making the classrooms look unoccupied. To practice evacuating, students will exit the building to meet at a designated place on the campus. For some drills, schools are handed a specific scenario they must react to, such as a bank robbery nearby involving a suspect last seen heading toward the school. Schools must also conduct ten fire drills each year, a separate requirement, Hellmuth said. Some county principals said the extra two required emergency drills will be helpful. Scott Murphy, principal of Watkins Mill High School in Gaithersburg, said he thinks four drills is an “appropriate” amount but that there’s always
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room for more practice. “Given the uncertainties in today’s world, you can never be prepared enough,” Murphy said. Following a drill, school staff will conduct a debriefing to evaluate their performance, he said. “Drills are always a learning experience,” he said. Cheryl Clark, principal of Lois P. Rockwell Elementary in Damascus, said the school conducts multiple drills each year to prepare for emergencies, including weather-related incidents. Not long ago, Clark said, the school dealt with an actual tornado warning for their area. “I was glad that we had practiced,” she said. More practice, she said, will translate to students and staff more apt to follow procedures. “Anytime that you do a drill for safety reasons, when you’re talking about large numbers of kids in a building and large numbers of staff, I think the practice for safety precautions is not a bad thing — it’s helpful,” she said. Clark added that the elementary school sees a new group of young students each year who could benefit from the practice. Clark said she thinks the state-mandated drills won’t mark a significant change for county schools. “It sounds like it is not that different from what we’re doing,” she said. Jimmy Sweeney, principal at Rosemont Elementary School in Gaithersburg, said he thinks that six drills might be too much. “Four is plenty,” he said. “Six actually seems excessive to me.” Sweeney said he knows the intentions behind the state requirement are good, but thinks that students and staff know what to do under the current drill requirement. Eric Wilson, principal of Sligo Middle School in Silver Spring, said that he thinks two more drills will help students and staff mental and emotional preparedness, translating to less anxiety should an actual incident occur. Wilson said each drill currently takes only about 15 to 20 minutes — with much of the time devoted to monitoring that the proper protocols are in place — but more drills will mean “a few more challenges.” “It is going to be a challenge to try and fit them in and get them scheduled,” he said. Susan Burkinshaw — health and safety committee co-chairwoman of the Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations — said more drills will help students, especially younger ones, be more familiar with the procedures they should follow in an emergency. Some students might be absent when a school performs a drill, and another two drills each year could help prepare more people, she said. “When you’re stressed and in a situation where there is a real emergency, you fall back on your training,” she said. lpowers@gazette.net