County Council to Hold Committee Meetings on Monday, November 13

Per Montgomery County: “Committees will review supplemental appropriations for the Reducing Overidentification in Special Education Grant and the Stronger Connections Grant; hold briefings about missing persons, neighborhood change in the Washington Metropolitan Area, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and Montgomery County Public Schools attendance and truancy data, policies and prevention; and review of Out of School Time Programming and the Suicide Awareness and Firearm Education Act

The Education and Culture (EC) Committee will meet on Monday, Nov. 13 at 9:30 a.m. to review a $1 million supplemental appropriation for the Reducing Overidentification in Special Education Grant at Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and review a $3 million supplemental appropriation for the Stronger Connections Grant at MCPS. The members of the EC Committee include Chair Will Jawando and Councilmembers Gabe Albornoz and Kristin Mink.

The Transportation and Environment (TE) Committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. to discuss Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and EV preparedness in the County. The members of the TE Committee include Chair Evan Glass and Councilmembers Marilyn Balcombe and Kate Stewart.

The Joint Public Safety (PS) and EC Committee will meet at 10 a.m. to receive a briefing about attendance and truancy data, policies and prevention in MCPS. In addition, the Committee will receive a briefing about missing persons from the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD). The members of the PS Committee include Chair Sidney Katz and Councilmembers Dawn Luedtke and Mink.

The joint Planning, Housing and Parks (PHP) and EC Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. to discuss Out of School Time Programming.    The members of the PHP Committee include Chair Andrew Friedson and Councilmembers Natali Fani-González and Jawando. The PHP Committee will meet at 3 p.m. to receive a briefing on neighborhood change in the Washington Metropolitan Area from Planning Department representatives.

The HHS Committee will meet at 3 p.m. to review Bill 36-23, Sale of Firearms or Ammunition – Suicide Awareness and Firearm Education (SAFE) Act. The members of the HHS Committee include Chair Albornoz and Councilmembers Luedtke and Laurie-Anne Sayles. More detail on each agenda item is provided below.

Supplemental Appropriation #24-27 to the FY24 Operating Budget Montgomery County Public Schools Reducing Overidentification in Special Education Grant, $1,000,000

Review: The EC Committee will review a $1 million supplemental appropriation for the Reducing Overidentification in Special Education Grant at MCPS. The grant funds will be used to address the overidentification of Hispanic and Latino emergent multilingual learners as students with an intellectual disability. The grant is funded through the Maryland State Department of Education’s portion of American Rescue Plan Act funding and provides funding for two full-time equivalent instructional specialist positions.

The grant will fund activities including the development of a processes to avoid over or under identification of emergent multilingual learners as students with disabilities, create learning modules for teachers of emergent multilingual learners, create training modules for language interpreters, and develop a multitiered system of supports.

Supplemental Appropriation #24-28 to the FY24 Operating Budget, Montgomery County Public Schools, Stronger Connections Grant, $3,000,000

Review: The EC Committee will review a $3 million supplemental appropriation for the Stronger Connections Grant for MCPS. The purpose of the grant is to provide all students with safe, inclusive and supportive learning environments, and to prevent and respond to acts of bullying, violence and hate that impact school communities at individual and systemic levels. The grant will allow MCPS to conduct grant activities in three areas: cyber safety, combatting hate, and parent and caregiver engagement. The recommended supplemental appropriation is funded by a state grant.

Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Infrastructure and EV Preparedness

Briefing: The TE Committee will receive a briefing about the County’s efforts to increase EV Charging Infrastructure for the County fleet, County facilities and community locations. According to the County’s Climate Action Plan, approximately 42 percent of the County’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2018 came from the transportation sector. To meet the County’s 2035 greenhouse gas reduction goals for the transportation sector, the Climate Action Plan assumes that 100 percent of private and public transportation options will need to be electrified or utilize other zero-emissions power sources by 2035.

Attendance and Truancy Data, Policies and Prevention in Montgomery County Public Schools

Briefing: The joint PS and EC Committee will receive a briefing about attendance and truancy data, policies and prevention in MCPS. The briefing will be conducted by MCPS and the Office of the State’s Attorney, which has a long-standing partnership to address and prevent truancy. These programs bring together multiple entities to support students and families, address obstacles and reward positive outcomes.

Missing Persons Briefing

Briefing: The joint PS and EC Committee will receive a briefing about missing persons from representatives of MCPD. In the past five years, an average of nearly 800 young people have been reported missing each year in Montgomery County. So far in 2023, there have been 829 children reported missing.

MCPD has a variety of tools it uses to investigate and search for missing persons, including radio lookouts through the Emergency Communications Center, listing an individual in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), use of a helicopter, K-9 searches and public information notifications. The goal of the investigation is not only to find the missing person, but to offer the best resources for the missing person and their families after the case has been closed.

Out of School Time Programming

Update: The joint PHP and EC Committee will receive an update about Out of School Time Programming, which provides students and families with engaging options for students on days when school is not in session. These activities support academic skills, physical and emotional wellness, art and digital learning skills.

During review of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Operating Budget, Executive staff reported that a countywide youth support workgroup made up of youth-serving County agency leaders and the Montgomery County Collaboration Council had begun to develop a multi-year strategic plan to strengthen the Out of School Time system and expand opportunities to all children who need services. The discussion is expected to include an update on these efforts.

Neighborhood Change in the Washington Metropolitan Area

Briefing: The PHP Committee will receive a briefing about neighborhood change in the Washington Metropolitan Area from Planning Department representatives. The department’s research uses recent data for the greater Washington D.C. area to track changes in neighborhood composition over time, in conjunction with changes in the amount of housing.

Growing inequality between neighborhoods is a challenge facing Montgomery County. One of the main findings of this analysis is that many families with lower incomes live in neighborhoods with high and increasing concentrations of poverty. The data also shows that people living in these neighborhoods are predominantly Black and Latino. The analysis and an interactive map on neighborhood change in the Washington Metropolitan Area is available on the Planning Department’s website.

Bill 36-23, Sale of Firearms or Ammunition – Suicide Awareness and Firearm Education (SAFE) Act

Review: The HHS Committee will review Bill 36-23, Sale of Firearms or Ammunition – Suicide Awareness and Firearm Education (SAFE) Act, which would require the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to develop literature about firearm safety, suicide prevention and conflict resolution. The bill would require sellers of firearms or ammunition to display and distribute the literature at points of sale and enable DHHS to enforce the display and distribution requirements.

The lead sponsor of the SAFE Act is Council President Glass. Councilmembers Albornoz, Stewart, Sayles, Vice President Andrew Friedson and Councilmembers Katz, Balcombe, Jawando and Luedtke are cosponsors.”