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SILVER ANNIVERSARY Theater marks 75th with free showing of first movie. A-13
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Wednesday, September 11, 2013
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School system examines policy on moving teachers Reassignment after accusations could be rare n
BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
When a teacher has been accused of inappropriate behavior with a student, that teacher could wind up in a new school. Montgomery County Public Schools is considering new rules that would make such reassignments less likely in cases of “a sexual nature,” said chief oper-
The latest education news in and affecting Montgomery County
ating officer Larry Bowers. The school system is examining its policy for reassigning teachers and other employees as it works to improve its ability
of sexually abusing 14 children at New Hampshire Elementary School in Silver Spring and raping a 15th victim at Eastern Middle School, also in Silver Spring. Joynes taught at 11 schools during 27 years in the school system. School officials have not said whether Joynes was reassigned to different schools because of accusations at any of the schools. The new tracking process would aim to help the school system better follow behavioral
to track incidents of employee behavior, he said. The school system recently studied several cases involving employees who engaged in inappropriate behavior with students over extended periods of time, leading the school system to make changes to its tracking system for reports on such alleged behavior, according to school system memorandums. The discussion over the changes comes on the heels of the arrest of Lawrence Joynes, a music teacher who was accused
patterns, the Aug. 28 memo said. “The review highlighted the need to maintain information centrally from both formal and informal reporting of such behavior whether the reports were or were not substantiated and to assist in establishing patterns of inappropriate behavior to be addressed by (the Office of Human Resources and Development),” the memo said. County schools Superintendent Joshua P. Starr sent a June 11 confidential memorandum, supplied by the school sys-
tem, to members of the school board describing plans for the new system, noting the use of a confidential database for reported allegations and training that principals and supervisors would receive. In a recent interview, Bowers said that reassignments also will be considered. Bowers said that when it comes to cases in which inappropriate behavior of “a sexual nature” is suspected from an employee, reassignments will
See SCHOOL, Page A-7
Rockville staff say they need more BRT analysis from county
Child’s play
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City wants traffic impact analysis before making lane recommendations BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
City of Rockville staff say they do not have enough information from the county to determine the best way to run bus rapid transit through the city. The Montgomery County Council is planning hearings on
a draft Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan, which includes 10 bus rapid transit, or BRT, routes. The county has several options for where the buses would travel, including letting them drive with the regular traffic, repurposing car lanes to be used by buses only and building new lanes for buses in the median. Three of the proposed transit routes run through the city of Rockville — to the north and
See BRT, Page A-11
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Cristina Ulrich encourages her kindergartners to look at what they are drawing during class on Tuesday. Ulrich, a teacher at Brookhaven Elementary School in Rockville, was named a finalist for the Maryland Teacher of the Year award. See story on A-4.
Program tries to discourage donations to panhandlers Instead, campaign seeks to increase aid to groups that help poor
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BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
Richard Willis strolled up and down the thin median strip in Bethesda, following the ebb and flow of traffic as the lights changed. Monday was one of the first days Willis had come to the intersection of Democracy Boulevard and Old Georgetown Road in months, but he
Richard Willis said he stays on the median as he panhandles. People who don’t follow the rules have no business panhandling, he said.
said he’s been coming to the area off and on for nearly 10 years. His small cardboard sign said he needed money for prescriptions, but Willis said he was actually trying to raise money to stay at a motel because there was no room in the homeless shelter where he had been staying. Drivers’ reaction to his presence is mostly good, although occasionally someone will tell him to get a job, Willis said. He said sometimes people will bring him a soda or a sandwich. Other
Housing partnership bought and renovated Halpine Hamlet apartments n
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
See PANHANDLERS, Page A-11
Josephine Hebron and her mother, Velma Hebron, first moved into the Halpine Hamlet
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
SPORTS
Under deal, Govan could be sent to prison for 35 years.
Tennis players face a unique type of pressure when wearing their school’s colors.
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Apartment complex celebrates renovations BY
NEWS
MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CARJACKINGS
GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE
Cliff Bailey (right) of Equity Management, the property managers of Halpine Hamlet, shows one of the renovated units to Jim Watson of the Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs on Tuesday during a ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new affordable housing community in Rockville.
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apartments in Rockville in 1969. Josephine Hebron moved away for a while, then moved back 10 to 15 years ago. “It’s very convenient. ... I walk everywhere,” she said. The apartment complex is near Twinbrook Metro Station in an area where developers have lately replaced or plan
See APARTMENT, Page A-7
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