DRAFT MINUTES OF THE MCCPTA DELEGATE ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, November 22,
2005 at the Carver Educational
(This draft summary includes motions and resolutions passed at the November meeting. Complete draft minutes to be posted later.)
The minutes from the October 25 meeting were approved.
The treasurer’s report was filed for audit.
Business Items:
This directory resolution was referred to the executive board for language clarification at the October Delegate Assembly. We sent out the resolution on the CRC use. We can take this position in the future. The group consensus was to put this on the January agenda.
Directory Resolution: (Draft as distributed)
WHEREAS each school year the local PTA units of the
Montgomery County Council
of
PTAs (MCCPTA) typically compile and publish student directories that include
personal
and potentially sensitive information such as names, street addresses, e-mail
addresses and telephone numbers of students whose parents have agreed to have
such information
included;
and
WHEREAS
in granting permission to be listed in the directory students and their
guardians/parents are not granting permission to share that information more
broadly; and
WHEREAS
by common knowledge and accepted practice these directories are intended
exclusively
for the private use of the PTA/PTSA and the local PTA/PTSA communities to
facilitate communication within their communities, and are not intended to be
used for any other
purpose;
and
WHEREAS
the information contained in the directories are the property of the local PTA/PTSA; and
WHEREAS
local PTA/PTSA units do not intend nor give permission for these directories to
be used for solicitations, advertising, mass mailings, or any other purposes
unrelated to the mission, objects and policies of the local PTA/PTSA or by any
organization other than the local PTA/PTSA; and
WHEREAS
the local PTA/PTSAs are justifiably concerned that fears about potential misuse
of student directories could lead parents to withhold student directory
information, thereby impairing a critical PTA/PTSA asset;
NOW
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the MCCPTA Delegates oppose the use of student
directories for any purposes not expressly approved by the local PTA/PTSA; and
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the MCCPTA Delegates expressly oppose use of the
student directories by non-PTA/PTSA sanctioned organizations for any purpose.
Proposed alternative
language:
(1)
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the MCCPTA Delegates oppose the use of student directories for
any purpose not in accordance with the objectives and mission of PTA, or by any
organizations not expressly authorized by the local PTA to use the student
directory.
(2)
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the MCCPTA Delegates oppose the use of student directories by any
group other than the PTA.
May Delegates Assembly:
A motion was passed at the October 25 Delegate Assembly to have a May Delegate Assembly. The proposed new date is Tuesday, May 30, 2006. The fourth Tuesday is the night before the presidents and principals dinner. We’ll put this out on the list for alternative dates and bring it back in January.
Proposal to change the Delegates Assembly start time from 7:30 PM to 7:00 PM.
The goal of this proposal is to see if we could finish our meetings before 10 PM.
Mark
Loberg made a motion to change the starting time of the Delegate Assembly from
7:30 PM to 7:00 PM. The motion was seconded. Discussion included opposition
based upon child care, working times, filling the extra time no matter when we
start, and time constraints. The motion failed on a voice vote.
Proposed Resolution from the MCCPTA Grading and
Reporting Committee:
WHEREAS
MCPS has specifically adopted grading and reporting procedures for grades 6-12
which govern reteaching/reassessment, homework and grading; and
WHEREAS
these procedures indicate that they "will be applied consistently within
and among schools"; and
WHEREAS
the MCCPTA Grading and Reporting Committee is aware that there have been
several instances where these procedures were incorrectly applied in a secondary
class such as, for example, where students were only permitted to take a
reassessment if they earned below a 70% on the original task or where students’
grades on a reassessment were capped at 85%; and
WHEREAS
we cannot necessarily equate the small number of complaints that MCPS has
received from parents with a conclusion that the grading and reporting policy
has been implemented successfully; and
WHEREAS
the MCCPTA Grading and Reporting Committee believes that in the interest of
fairness to all students, MCPS needs to be more proactive in monitoring
compliance with the grading and reporting procedures;
BE
IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that MCCPTA requests that Montgomery County Public
Schools (MCPS) immediately require that Community Superintendents working with
local school principals review school wide, department wide and course specific
grading practices to ensure that they are in accordance with MCPS procedures
and to ensure the immediate correction of any practices that contradict the
stated procedures.
New Business Item: New motions or Resolutions presented by delegates
MCCPTA Gifted Child Committee Proposed Resolution:
WHEREAS,
o
The MCPS Board of
Education has stated that increasing rigor is on e of its main goals
o
Providing a
general continuum of services is one of the MCPS guiding policies
o
Over 300 students
prepared for accelerated work will be graduating this school year
from
the competitive middle school programs in MCPS, while only 200 slots are
available
at the high school level for the whole county
o
Expanding the
number of spaces available in these programs increases opportunities
for
all students down county and upcounty
o
Existing programs
of this nature generate and share best practices of excellence within
the
communities where they operate, thus indirectly improving the educational level
for
all students
o
The current
upcounty middle school program at Roberto Clemente enrolls significantly
higher
proportions of African American students than its sister down county programs
o
The name recognition
and prestige of
great
school system, of which its well-known magnet programs are a highly visible
element; thus attracting desirable organizations and increasing job
opportunities for all
o
The existing HS
magnet programs were created a long time ago when the student population
of
spaces
has not grown at all since then
o
The bulk of new
development and growth in the county is taking place within the upcounty area
o
Current busing of
upcounty students to won county programs incurs significant costs:
Financial
(the cost of transportation) and human (wasted student-hours each day and
disruption to family schedules
o
Deserving upcounty
students who currently miss the opportunity for more enriched education as
either themselves or their parents are unwillingly/unable to make the
sacrifices implicit in attending at locations far removed from their homes
o
The recent Report
from the Deputy Superintendent Advisory Committee on GT Education
o
indicates as one
of its recommendations that : “MCPS must meet the need for additional seats
in
centers and secondary magnet programs. Of critical concern is the establishment
of an upcounty high school program to align with the Roberto Clement model.”
o
The cost of this
program (expected to be less than $500,000 p.a. when fully operational; less
during its initial years of operation)
represents approximately 3/100 of 1% (three hundredths of one percent) of the
overall MCPS yearly budget of $1.7 billion; and
MCCPTA
RESOLVES,
That
MCPS should establish upcounty high school programs for the highly gifted,
along the lines of the successful middle school programs at
[1] /The word “upcounty”, as
normally used by MCPS, refers to the northern area of
[2]/the expression “along the
lines of the successful programs at
Andrea
Abrahams, Brookhaven delegate called the question. Voice vote passed calling
the question. The resolution as written passed on a standing vote.
Paul
Wexstein, Piney Branch delegate, proposed an amendment to the resolution:
WHEREAS….
The
teaching methodologies used in magnet programs, and in particular the use of sustained
student inquiry into real-world matters, would benefit all students and have
been shown to result in major boosts in achievement across all students groups
and to correspond to both adult intellectual achievement and the way the human
brain builds new knowledge.
MCCPTA
RESOLVES….
That
MCPS should establish and begin to implement a plan for ensuring that the
pervasive use of sustained student inquiry into real-world matters through
projects and other methodologies used in magnet programs for the highly gifted
not be limited to the students selected for the limited seats in those programs
but instead be provided to all students in MCPS.
It
was not seconded.
Alternative resolutions can go out in the January packet because of time constraints. David Lechner read portions of his resolution that had bee distributed. It was seconded and it will be referred to the January meeting. The operating budget committee work with him on the facts.
David
Lechner’s proposed amendment on the resolution on a new magnet high school:
Whereas
in-school programs are generally more cost-effective and can be made open to
all students willing to meet entrance requirements and pursue the more rigorous
curriculum, and
Whereas
there appears to be no “very large grants from the Federal Government”
available to create a new upcounty program (like there was for the Blair
program when originally created), and
Whereas
retention of highly capable High School students in their own home schools will
help ensure that the home schools have better MSA Test Scores to meet Adequate
Yearly Progress goals per NCLB Act, and
Whereas
an International Baccalaureate (IB) program provides a standards based and
world-wide recognized curriculum in a challenging program for highly motivated
and capable students using a criterion referenced grading system, and
Whereas
program opportunities in upcounty High Schools will open up additional program
“slots”
At
the Blair Magnet program for all MCPS students to apply towards;
Therefore:
Be
it Further Resolved:
1)
That MCPS should
alternatively consider creation IB programs at all upcounty high schools, and
2)
That MCPS shall
additionally create or maintain complementary program components that focus on
Science, Computers, and Mathematics at these High Schools, and
3)
That such new
programs shall be open to students at those schools and from any other
The
resolution was seconded. It will be referred to the January meeting and he
agreed that the operating budget will work with him for factual accuracy.
Motion to move business items to the beginning of the
Delegate Assembly:
Blair
Wilson, Sherwood Cluster, made a motion to amend the agenda from this day
forward to always have business conducted prior to any and all visitors and
other speakers. It was seconded. It passed on a standing vote.