BOE meeting recap 2022-5-26

Public forum

bring police back to school, tighten covid response, transportation policy

Superintendent Report

  1. Condolence to Texas School shooting victims
  2. Protests around our schools recently
  3. Centennial High School earned top honors at the 15th regional U.S. Chinese-Bridge Proficiency Competition for High School Students of Non-Native Speakers. Thanks to Ms. Hui Liang
  4. Wilde Lake High School Spanish Teacher Maria Romano-Sweitzer and her students in Wilde Lake’s Spanish Honor Society won the 2022 Chapter Activity of the Year Award from the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese’s National Spanish Honor Society Region II Director.
  5. Beginning in July, students and families must complete a free and reduced-priced meals application form to receive meals at a reduced price or for free.
  6. The COVID positivity rate in Howard County continues to increase and it is in the high community transmission level according to the CDC.
    1. One, when a school or cohort has an outbreak, all students, visitors at the outbreak school will be strongly encouraged to remain masked at all times while indoors, except when eating or drinking. Students who are directly impacted by the outbreak will be required to mask for 10 days. Masks will be available at school for anybody who needs one.
    2. Two, we will encourage increased testing for all individuals who are part of an outbreak or who have been identified as a close contact.
    3. Effective immediately, any student or staff member who is identified as a close contact in an outbreak setting and is asymptomatic should be tested on day 1 after they are identified as a close contact, again on day three, and then again on day five. As long as all tests are negative, the individual may continue to attend school and participate in extracurricular activities –including high school graduations and other end-of-year celebrations.
    4. Last week, the CDC expanded eligibility for boosters to include children ages 5 to 11.
  7. Graduation season is coming.
  8. discussed the importance of inclusion. A new LGBTQIA+ liaison position and work done by CARY.

Annual Sportsmanship Award

  • Present the 2022 Sportsmanship Cup Trophy to Hammond High School. Principal John DiPaula and Athletics Activities Manager Michael Lerner will accept the award for Hammond High School. Acknowledge Long Reach High School for first runner-up and Oakland Mills High School for second runner-up.

Music Educator of the Year Award

  • Winner: Mr. Joseph Fisher of Mount Hebron High School. Runup: Angela Pope from Thomas Viaduct MS

Policy 5200 Student Transportation 

05-26-2022-Policy-5200-Student-Transportation-PowerPointDownload

North Columbia Fire Station Location Land Request

  • Approved with amendment

School Resource Officer Program MOU

Approved.

05-26-2022-School-Resource-Officers-SRO-MOU-PowerPointDownload

Recommendations for Final Exams and Midterms

05-26-2022-BOE-Report-Recommendations-for-Final-Exams-and-Midterms-PowerPointDownload

HCPSS/Towson Para-to-Teacher Pathways Virtual Info Session, May 25

HCPSS/Towson Para-to-Teacher Pathways Virtual Info Session, May 25

HCPSS paraeducators who wish to pursue a teaching certificate and subsequently teach in HCPSS schools are invited to a virtual information session with HCPSS and Towson University. The program will be held this Wednesday, May 25 at 6 p.m. via Zoom.

If you have earned close to 60 undergraduate credits, an Associate of Arts or Associate of Arts in Teaching degree, the Towson Special Education Cohort #2 undergraduate program may be for you. This degree qualifies you to teach as a special educator in elementary or middle school. 

More information is available in the Para to Teachers Pathways Canvas community.

The Inclusion of Asian American Studies in Schools Becomes a Reality

Our new article is published at June 2022 Issue of American School Board Journal, an affiliate of National School Board Association. The link is:

https://www.nsba.org/ASBJ/2022/june/asian-american-studies

Our 2021 Article “AAPI History is American History”, published on American School Board Journal. The link is here:

AAPI History is American History | Dr. Chao Wu

Board Meeting Recap 2022-5-12

Superintendent Report

  • celebrated school nurses
  • 22 students graduated with associate degree, partnered with HCC.
  • For the next year, food service will come back to pre-covid model. It will be more diverse, even include Asian foods.
  • School will not close, although covid cases are increasing. HCPSS is working with the county health department to manage the situation.

Certification of Election of Student Member of the Board 

  • Congratulations to Abisola Ayoola to be next SMOB. I am looking forward to working with her.
  • Another SMOB candidate, Oliver Song, was elected to the president Howard County Association of Student Councils (HCASC) last night.

2021-2022 HCASC Report

  • Dhriti Vadlakonda, President, hcascpresident@gmail.com
  • Harshia Bhagat, Vice President
  • Shreya Dinesh, Second Vice President
  • Ashna Pandya, Corresponding Secretary
  • Allie Liu, Recording Secretary
  • Olivia Lewis, Chief of Staff
  • Christina Kodsi, Deputy Chief of Staff
  • Tamzid Razzaque, Parliamentarian
  • Peter Banyas, Student Member, Student_Member@hcpss.org
  • Cindy Drummond, Advisor, cindy_drummond@hcpss.org

Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) Chart Update

05-12-2022-APFO-Chart-PowerDownload

Policy (all were approved)

  • Policy 3040 Technology Security (Approved with amendment)
  • HCPSS Ethics Regulations
  • Policy 1050 Tobacco-Free Environment
  • Policy 9230 Alcohol, Other Drugs, Prescription Medication and Over the Counter Products
  •  Policy 9260 Student Search and Seizure
  •  Policy 9020 Students’ Rights and Responsibilities 

Public Hearing (no speakers today)

  • Policy 4050 Procurement of Goods and/or Services
  • Policy 6060 Community Improvement to School Sites or School Facilities 
Howard County Education Association (HCEA) – APPOINTMENT
  • staff absence due to quarantine, sprinkling classes

Mount View Middle School Start Time 2022 Fall Adjustment

Mount View Middle School start time will be moved to 8:00 AM to address the traffic concern in the fall 2022.

The analysis, efforts, and implementation changes over the previous years, have not produced results that eliminate the traffic and congestion. Prior to investing in a capital project, staff has been directed to adjust the start time for MVMS for the 2022-2023 school year from 7:40 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., increasing the gap between the two schools to a total of 35 minutes, potentially eliminating the community concerns.

Board-Memo-Mount-View-Middle-School-Start-Time-SY-22-23Download

2022 Columbia-Liyang Sister City Photography Contest,Light of Spring

Copied from Laura Smit’s Facebook Post. I want to let my friends who live in Columbia/Howard County know about a free photography contest that is happening in Columbia’s Sister City, Liyang, in China, that Columbia/Howard County residents are invited to participate in!

The theme is “Light of Spring”. Adult and youth photographers in Columbia/Howard County, both professional and amateur, may participate. They simply submit up to 3 photos to our Liyang sister city committee via email by May 20, and our photo contest coordinator will make sure they get to the Liyang Cultural Center in China that is hosting the Photo Contest.

Please see the description and rules for the “Light of Spring” photo contest below.

This is our first time with a virtual photography exchange/contest with our Sister City in China. It will be fun to share photos from our spring here in Columbia/Howard County with the residents and photographers of our Chinese Sister City. I know that a lot of you are great nature photographers who could easily participate in this. I have seen SO many of your lovely photos of spring scenes here on FB! Photos can be of anything related to spring. Awardees’ work will be printed and hung in the museum in Liyang in China.

Light of Spring Liyang, China Photo Contest Info and Rules

Purpose
➢ To encourage a photographic exchange between residents of the sister cities of
Columbia, Maryland, U.S.A. and Liyang, Jiangsu Province, China that illustrates the
the beauty of spring in our communities.

Organizers
➢ Liyang Cultural Center, China
➢ Columbia-Liyang Sister City Committee, U.S.

Eligible Participants
➢ Adult and youth photographers living in Columbia/Howard County. Both amateur and
professional photographers may participate.

How to participate
➢ The photos should be saved as Jpeg file and are to be submitted to
columbia_liyang@yahoo.com with the following information:
✓ Your name, contact number, email address and home street address.
✓ Title of photo
✓ Brief photo description (including location of photo taken, no more than 50
words)

Deadline
➢ All photos must be submitted to columbia_liyang@yahoo.com on or before May 20, 2022

Rules & Regulations
➢ Up to three (3) photos will be accepted from each photographer;
➢ The size of each photo (Jpeg file) should be between 2MB and 20MB.
➢ No limitation on photography category. It could be landscape, wildlife or portrait, as
long as it expresses the “Light of Spring” theme.
➢ The photo shall be not artificially framed and should not contain any text except the
signature and date;
➢ All photos must be original work, taken by the entrants. No third party may own or
control any materials the photo contains, and the photo must not infringe upon the
trademark, copyright, moral rights, intellectual rights, or rights of privacy of any entity
or person;
➢ Entries will be judged by the Liyang Cultural Center (LCC), China. All decisions are final.
The LCC reserves the right to disqualify any entry that is deemed inappropriate or does
not conform to stated contest rules.
➢ By submitting the photo(s), entrants agree that photo(s) submitted can be used by LCC
and Columbia-Liyang Sister City Committee for non-commercial advertising purposes.
➢ The winner will be contacted via the email address provided during entry.

Awards by Liyang Cultural Center
✓ 1st Place or Gold: 1 Award Winner
✓ 2nd Place or Silver: 2 Award Winners
✓ 3rd Place or Bronze: 3 Award Winners
✓ Excellence Award: 20 Award Winners
✓ All awarded photos will be displayed in the Liyang Museum for a month.

Disclaimer
By submitting your photo, you affirm and certify that you have read the contest
information and understand the rules to the best of your knowledge. You understand that
any misrepresentation, falsification, or omission of any facts called for in the submission
may render this submission void.

For more information, please contact:
Ms. Jun Han, Coordinator of Columbia-Liyang Sister City Committee Photo Contest
Cell: 202-288-8228; Email: columbia_liyang@yahoo.com

Guest Article: Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month by Amy Liao

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

By Amy Liao

The month of May was officially designated as Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage month under the George H. W. Bush administration with the passing of Public Law 102-540. The month of May was chosen to coincide with two important milestones in Asian/Pacific American history: the arrival in the United States of the first Japanese immigrants (May 7, 1843) and contributions of Chinese workers to the building of the Transcontinental railroad, completed May 10, 1869.

Since the middle of the 19th century, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders charted their unique journey in American history. The multi-ethnic communities (from east and south Asian immigrants to the native Hawaiian and other Pacific islanders) endured many institutional discriminations such the infamous “Chinese Exclusion Act” in 1882 and the Japanese Encampment during World War II. Yet the AAPI communities thrived in this great nation that many times corrected paths and embraced differences into the melting pot.

Throughout the 180-year history, there were many AAPIs left their marks. From the 16-year-old Chinese immigrant Mabel Ping-Hua Lee who helped lead a 1912 Suffrage march, to Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu, honored by the US Postal Service by featuring in the Forever Stamps as the Manhattan project contributor and one of the most influential nuclear physicists in the 20th century. According to the Census Bureau, by 2019, there were more than 22 million residents in the US who identified as of AAPI origin or descents. This vibrant community has been weaved in every part of the American society, from Silicon valley big tech executives to the half a million business owners; from military service men and women to the doctors and nurses who fought in the frontline against Covid-19 and many others who are active contributors in the workforce of industries and government agencies.

This year, we celebrate AAPI heritage with a special highlight! On Tuesday, April 26, 2022, the US House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill to study the creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American history and culture. Let’s all learn from history, embrace diversity, and build a bright future together.

Board meeting recap 2022-4-28

Public forum:

  • topics: SRO, student safety, special education

Reservoir High School Report

SMOB report

  • student leader meeting with the board ( three students from each school, ARL and Homewood)

Superintendent Report

  • Howard High is a new green school.
  • HCPSS is increasing mental health support for our students.
  • Covid data: uptick cases in schools, HoCo county and Maryland. Keep the current school operating practice.
  • Stabbing incident at Long Reach High School. Schools went into lockdown and modified lockdowns.

HCEA Appointment

HCASA(Association of Supervisors and Administrators)

Proclamation: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 

Proclamation: Mental Health Awareness Month

HCPSS is going to implement multi-factor authentication very soon as the board just approved the MFA purchase order.

HCPSS Discipline Data (school suspension)

04-28-2022-Disproportionate-Discipline-Data-Board-PresentationDownload

FY 2023 Operating and Capital Budgets & FY 2024-28 Capital Improvement Program 

04-28-22-Board-Memo-FY23-Budget-Adoption-ScenariosDownload

For scenario 2, we assume the county will give us extra money by keeping(not decreasing) the HCPSS spending percentage(51%) in the total county spending, which is 14.5 million dollars. This now falls to the county council’s hand.

Montgomery County Meet and Greet with Dr. Chao Wu, 2022 MD State Delegate 9A Candidate

Montgomery County Meet and Greet with Dr. Chao Wu, 2022 MD State Delegate 9A Candidate

The new 9A State Delegate District covers part of Clarksburg and Damascus of Montgomery County. This is a perfect opportunity to meet your state delegate candidate.

Time: Sunday 6-8PM, May 1st, 2021

Location: Wilson Wims Elementary School, 12520 Blue Sky Dr, Clarksburg, MD 20871

Free to attend and food is provided.

Meet and Greet with Dr. Chao Wu, 2022 MD State Delegate Candidate

Meet and Greet with Dr. Chao Wu, 2022 MD State Delegate Candidate

Time: SATURDAY AT 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM, 4/23/2022

Location: 10745 MD-108, Columbia, MD 21044-1015, United States, Cedar Lane Park East Pavilion

Spend a sunny spring afternoon at Cedar Lane Park Pavilion East with Dr. Chao Wu, 2022 Maryland State Delegate Candidate, and enjoy Chinese cuisine.

Free to attend. Donations are appreciated at www.chaowu.org/donate 

May be an image of ‎1 person and ‎text that says '‎Meet & Greet with Dr. Chao Wu When: 3:30~5:30PM April 23rd, 2022 Where: Cedar Lane Park Pavilion East 10745 MD-108. Columbia, MD21044 Spend a sunny spring afternóon with 2022 State Delegate Candidate Dr. Chao Wu and enjoy Chinese cuisine. Dr. Wu would like to hear your concerns and share his visions for Maryland for this campaign. Scan QR code to register. Chao Wu ه pecial thanks Zen Garden Dr. Chao Wu 2022 Candidate for Maryland State Delegate Authority: Friends to Elect Chao Wu:Xia Chen, Treasurer‎'‎‎

Board meeting recap 2022-4-7

Friends of Education Award

  • Awardee: Ying Matties
  • Nomination: Amanda Wang, Okinawan Karate Dojo, EnRich Minds

Long Reach High School Presentation

Superintendent Report

  • HCPSS is giving out covid test kids to students. HCPSS is encouraging students to test themselves after the spring break.
  • screen time and school lunch discussions

HCEA appointment

Legislative Report

  • The board support: CB26-2022, introduced by the Howard County Council Member Walsh during their April 2022, Legislative Session is presented to the Board of Education of Howard County in the attached Legislative Report. The Legislative Committee met on March 30, 2022, and recommends that the Board adopt the position indicated in the attached. Original language for the bill is also attached to this report.

MABE BOD

  • The board nominated Ms. Mosley to the MABE Board of Directors.

Policy Activities

  • Direct the Superintendent to review the policies that address screen time.

HCPSS Musgrove Farms Community Shared Septic System

  • The Board is requested to approve the Option 1 Fee Structure so that the accounting department may implement the fee structure for billing and receivable activities to commence for FY2022 (and beyond).

Policy

  1. (Approved) Policy 9090 Wellness through Nutrition and Physical Activity
  2. (Approved) Policy 9100 Education Programs for Pregnant and Parenting Students
  3. (Report) Policy 6060 Community Improvement to School Sites or School Facilities
  4. (Report) Policy 4050 Procurement of Goods and/or Services

Proposed Instructional Materials and Review Schedule

Final Exam

  • Some board members proposed cancelling the final exam again. Motioned made and failed.

Pledge to No Developer Money

Many residents know that in Howard County, developers have a controlling influence in local politics, especially campaign donations and housing development, so there is now a “No Developer Money” movement. Here is a national developer with a local branch, boasting their influence in their shareholder meeting “control cities and monopoly-like control“. https://chaowu.org/2021/04/13/control-the-city/

I have been using data and voice to explain the correlation between overdevelopment and school overcrowding on the school board. Here is my pledge:

I pledge not to take developers’ campaign donation. Our campaign should be Of the People, By the People, For the People. The same for our government and legislatures. #wu4delegate

Maryland 2022-3 Poll from Goucher College

The Goucher College Poll measures the opinions of Maryland residents and voters on important policy, social, and economic issues.  The poll results and a methodology statement are released to members of the media and other interested groups as a public service to the state. Goucher students help research survey questions, design the questionnaire, and analyze the results.

  • Maryland residents feel impact of price increases, a majority hold a positive view of the state economy; Residents divided over how state should spend the budget surplus, view crime and public safety as the top priority; Hogan remains popular, opinions divided on Biden; Residents support the legalization of recreational cannabis
  • Marylanders support local jurisdictions ending mandates and restrictions, give their local health departments and Gov. Hogan high marks on handling of the pandemic; Concern over contracting COVID-19 in decline; Residents see the most significant impacts of climate change on sea level, wildlife and ecosystems, and weather patterns in Maryland

https://www.goucher.edu/hughes-center/goucher-college-poll/

Board meeting recap 2022-3-24

Public forum:

Musgrove Farm HOA shared septic cost

Report:

Glenelg High School:

Two candidates for SMOB election: Oliver Song and Abisola Ayoola from Wilde Lake High School

Superintendent Report:

  • For Unvaccinated Staff and Volunteers, they will no longer be required to provide proof of vaccination or undergo weekly testing. •Additionally, we announced that school visitors and volunteers will no longer be required to provide proof of vaccination before entering the school building.
  • The quarantine policy keeps the same.

Dr. Martirano will provide guidance on how to reduce screen time shortly.

Howard County Association of Supervisors and Administrators (HCASA)

3_24_22-HCASA-Board-Appt.-Download

Portable class room update

Approve the recommendations for installation of relocatable units for the school year 2022–2023. In total, there are 212 units, 255 class room spaces and 7650 seats for the portables.

Blueprint Local Flexibility – Low Performing Schools 

  • The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future requires the annual identification of schools with low performance to initiate $7,000 incentive pay for Nationally Board Certified (NBC) teachers at those schools. Schools selected would be designated as low performing for the 2022-2023 school year.
  • Elementary School: Cradlerock, Swansfield, Middle School: Harper’s Choice, Lake Elkhorn, Oakland Mills, Wild Lake, High School: Oakland Mils, and Homewood Center.

School Start Times Format/Template (Brian Nevin; Tom Platt, Decision Support Group LLC) – REPORT

03-24-2022-School-Start-Times-Decision-Briefing-BRDownload

Proposed Instructional Materials and Review Schedule

03-24-2022-Proposed-Instructional-Materials-and-Review-Schedule-BRDownload

Result from 2022 internal audit of COVID-19 relief fund’s usage

With such a big chunk of new money coming into the school system and to be used in a fixed time frame, we want to make sure HCPSS is using the money correctly. So we had an internal audit.

Summary: HCPSS has clearly defined planning and budgeting, accounting and reporting, and auditing processes for the use of relief funds. HCPSS recognizes the risk on operations when relief funds expire and is planning to use them in a manner which reduces or eliminates the risk to the extent practicable.

COVID-19-Relief-Funds-Letter29979Download

Polygon numbers for the HS 13 impact area

A few people approached me with questions for the presentation on HS 13 impact areas by our consultant during the HS 13 redistricting community meetings. Here is my 2019 post on this topic. You will find the polygon numbers and other relevant info.

Superintendent’s proposal for High School 13 boundary

A side note: Readers should not use that map as reference since that map was presented before the last redistricting. Many things has changed. It is unfortunate they used that map for illustration which causes confusion.

The latest redistricting information could be found out: https://www.hcpss.org/school-planning/redistricting-for-23-24/

Here is the link to find your own polygon:

https://hcpss-gis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=b1d3153921514fbead0abb0f92090217

Opportunity for Juniors to attend US Service Academy

Dear Education Leader:

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen would like to share information on an exciting opportunity that may be of interest to your students.

Juniors (students in the Class of 2023) who have an interest in learning about opportunities to attend a U.S. Service Academy for college are encouraged to apply to participate in a summer program. Each Academy’s summer program provides a week-long immersion into the academic, military, and social life of that Academy.  The Academies are ranked among the top undergraduate public universities in the country. The U.S. Naval Academy also offers a Summer STEM Program for rising 9th-11th graders. (Please see below.) 

Participation in a summer program is considered a student’s first step in navigating their future to becoming one of our nation’s next generation of leaders. Summer programs introduce one to life at an Academy, where they will experience first-class academic, athletic, and professional training at one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the country

Summer program applications are now being accepted for the U.S. Military Academy (Summer Leaders Experience, West Point, NY), U.S. Naval Academy (Summer Seminar, Annapolis, MD), and U.S. Coast Guard Academy (AIM Summer Program, New London, CT). 

U.S. Military AcademySession ISession II 
Deadline: March 15, 2022 May 28 – June 3, 2022June 4-12, 2022

Additional information and the application for the Summer Leader Experience (SLE) are on West Point’s website at https://www.westpoint.edu/admissions/summer-program

MW art work

HCC Summer language program STARTALK application starts

Howard Community College’s STARTALK (Chinese and Arabic) summer application just started.

Would you please help us spread the news among HCPSS students and parents?

Pease see the flyers attached.

We have scheduled an information night on March 22, 6:00-7:00 PM. This is the Zoom link: 

https://howardcc.zoom.us/j/95848346720?pwd=MEo0UDVDQkx0NkxaOGZKaDhpUzh5dz09

Thank you so much for helping us reach out to the Howard County learning community!

Yulan

Yulan Liu, Ph.D.

Director, StarTalk Student Engagement Program

Coordinator, Asian Languages, English/World Languages Division

Howard Community College