Virtual Academy and Innovative Schools Among Programs Board of Ed. is Considering Modifying or Removing

The Montgomery County Board of Education is actively working to develop a responsible and effective Operating Budget for the 2025-26 school year that focuses on the needs of MCPS students and employees.

As part of that work and after listening to extensive public comment, the Board is considering making modifications to or eliminating three programs in FY2025. These programs are:

The MCPS Virtual Academy, which was funded through the use of the ESSER grant during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The MCPS Innovative Schools Initiative that includes an extended academic calendar at Arcola Elementary School and Roscoe R. Nix Elementary School.

The Leader in Me Program, offered at a handful of schools across MCPS.

The Montgomery County Board of Education will hold a public hearing regarding these programs on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. The hearing will be held in-person and will be open to the public.  The Board also will accept pre-recorded audio and video testimony submissions. All testimonies will be made available to the public on BoardDocs. Individuals who wish to provide public comments  must register using the online registration form.

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Testimony registration for the February 20, 2024, hearing will open on  Tuesday, February 13, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. CLICK HERE to register. Individuals registering may reserve only one space. Registration will close on Thursday, February 15, 2024, at 9:00 a.m.

The following time limits for testimony apply to public hearings, unless otherwise specified by the Board in the hearing notice:

Organizations*/Municipalities/Elected Officials: 5 minutes

*Organizations may include: Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association/Montgomery County Junior Councils, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Parents Council, community organizations, MCCPTA, clusters, and the employee associations. This includes individuals who are providing collective advocacy or a position on behalf of an organization (but not members of organizations who are speaking in their individual capacity).

A speaker who signs up to testify, other than a cluster coordinator or area vice president, may reserve only one space. Only one speaker will be registered for any organization, unless the Board provides otherwise.

Elected officials are given the courtesy of being placed on the agenda at the time of their choice.

Individuals: 3 minutes

Individuals and organizations may not cede time to others who have not been guaranteed a speaking slot.

Submission of Testimony and Deadlines
If you are selected for one of the speaking slots, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for testimony submission. Please adhere to the submission deadline and instructions which will be included in your confirmation email. Please send your testimony to [email protected]. Testimonies that do not adhere to submission instructions will be returned and may potentially lose the speaking slot.

The agenda with the list of speakers will be posted no later than noon on the day of the hearing at https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/.

Upcoming Hearings, Work Session, and Board Action

Tuesday, February 20, 2024, 6:00 p.m. – Operating Budget Hearing

Thursday, February 22, 2024, 3:30 p.m. – Board Business Meeting – Tentative Adoption of Recommended Operating Budget 

Collective Advocacy
Those who wish to express their collective advocacy for a particular viewpoint be reminded that in-person attendance will be limited to speakers and a limited number of audience observers.  Therefore, please consider having a spokesperson sign up to provide testimony on behalf of your group.

Testimony Subject Matter
Generally, public testimony should speak to the Operating Budget issues that are before the Board for action. This is not the proper avenue to address specific student or employee matters, especially those matters on appeal to the Board. Comments about the actions or statements of individual staff members are not appropriate for Public Comments and should be referred to the interim superintendent of schools or processed through available channels.

Broadcasts of Public Hearings and Interpreter Services
All hearings are available to view live (and will be available after the hearings on demand) on the MCPS webpage:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/index.aspx

Hearings also will be broadcast live on Comcast Channel 34 , Verizon FIOS Channel 36, RCN Channel 89, MCPS home page http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org,  MCPS YouTube Channel http://youtube.com/mcpstv.

TV Channels: Comcast 33, Verizon 35, and RCN 88

Additional information about public hearings may be found in the Board of Education Handbook.