An update from Del. Anne Kaiser indicates that legislation aimed at preventing an extension of the Montgomery County Public Schools calendar has cleared a major hurdle in Annapolis.
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Education
On Wednesday, the Maryland office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called for an investigation into an incident that occurred last month at Damascus Elementary School in Montgomery County.
The Montgomery College (MC) Tech Metro Area Pathways (TechMAP) Program, which aims to serve 1,000 students over a four-year funding period, will be fully funded by the SSC2 grant to provide career pathways training in Information Technology (IT). The MC TechMAP Program will improve the retention, completion, and employment rates of individuals historically underrepresented in IT, including people of color, women, and disconnected youth/young adults. Additionally, individuals who are un- or underemployed, including as a result of COVID-19-related layoffs, will be invited to apply to upskill and/or reskill. To this end, the MC TechMAP Program will increase personalized navigation to help students understand their career options, enroll in a program of study and connect to the wrap around supports needed to stay on track for completion. The navigators will move with students as they progress from non-credit to for-credit degrees or as they lattice together various credentials.
The system of navigation is designed to be scalable to other programs or other community colleges and to interface with the workforce system and employers to help participants find on-the-job training and careers. TechMAP is expected to increase retention and completion rates for underrepresented students, leading to higher numbers of participants who earn professional credentials and who find quality work with higher wages. MC will partner with workforce development system partners, employer partners, and social resource partners to support the educational, employment, and wraparound service needs of participants.
The governor established the Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST) program in 2016 to provide scholarships for low-income students from areas with under-performing schools to attend non-public schools. Through BOOST, the state has provided more than $50 million to fund scholarships for low-income students.
Last year, the governor announced two rounds of Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools (EANS) funding to provide financial assistance to support safely reopening schools and helping students recover from learning loss associated with the pandemic. With the leftover funding from that program, the governor is establishing a $1.6 million grant program that will cover a range of eligible expenses, including:
Launchpads are populated with carefully chosen content of various themes including educational apps, games, videos, stories and activities focusing on specific topics.
Launchpads will be available from the MCPL branches of Long Branch, Maggie Nightingale, Marilyn Praisnerand White Oak. Customers can place holds on the Launchpads to have them transferred to their closest MCPL branch for pick up.
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On Tuesday, the Montgomery County’s Board of Education approved a four-year contract that finalizes Monifa B. McKnight as superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools and will pay her an annual base salary of $320,000. According to a report by the Washington Post, the contract will require McKnight, who currently resides in Prince George’s County, to relocate to Montgomery County “as soon as possible”, but no later than June 30, 2022, with the BOE paying up to $15,000 in relocation costs. McKnight and her family currently reside in Prince George’s County. McKnight will receive 30 days of paid annual leave and an additional 25 days for sick/personal leave, as well as a vehicle paid BOE. You can view the full contract here.
On Tuesday McKnight sent out a community message announcing a 3.35% cost of living adjustment and step wage increases for eligible MCPS employees.
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has (JKCF) recently announced the semifinalists for its highly competitive Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. Of the 440 semifinalists nationwide, 10 are current Montgomery College students. This year’s semifinalists were chosen from a pool of more than 1,200 applicants attending 180 community colleges in 35 states. The Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship recipients will be announced by early May.
Per Montgomery College:
Per Montgomery County:
ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 18, 2022—Montgomery County Councilmember Tom Hucker invites Montgomery County students to participate in a virtual Youth Listening Session on Mental Health and Wellness on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 5:30 p.m. to share students’ vision of what Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and the County can do to prioritize mental health and well-being in schools. The virtual Youth Listening Session, co-hosted by Councilmember Hucker and Student Member of the Board of Education Hana O’Looney, will include students’ perspectives, questions and ideas, and mental health resources.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington (ADW) sent a letter to Catholic school parents earlier today, stating that face coverings will no longer be required indoors in our Maryland school facilities for students, staff, or visitors beginning on Monday, February 21st.
The letter states that depending on the needs of each school’s leaders to prepare, schools will transition between February 21 and February 28. “We appreciate and will fully support whatever decisions that parents make for their own children regarding whether to wear a face covering in school or not.”
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Per Montgomery County:
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Yesterday, Governor Larry Hogan called on the Maryland State Board of Education to rescind its school mask policy, citing the state’s dramatically improved health metrics, the widespread availability of vaccines for school age children, and the growing consensus among medical professionals, parents, and bipartisan state officials.
The Maryland State Board of Education provided a response last night, stating that the school mask policy will not be dropped until a vaccination level of 80% is reached and transmission levels drop.