001Good evening everyone. I'm Julie Yang. I'm the president of McGomery County Board of Education. Thank you for coming tonight. Um you know when I was thinking about uh tonight I say wow um what is tonight about? I think you know that tonight is about education but tonight also really is about education partnership. So before I begin, uh I would like to thank take a moment to thank Rich McGomery High School uh for hosting us here. Let's give them a round of applause. And I would like actually the principal Deanie to come up to the front and greet our legislators. Welcome to Richard Montgomery High School. I'm Alisia Deini, the principal of Richard Montgomery. Uh, Richard Montgomery is the oldest high school in Montgomery County, 1892. Don't let Blair tell you that they are older than
002us. Yeah, I was a Blair, so you all know I love Blair. Um, I really appreciate this night and I just want to say say thank you to everyone in this room for all of your hard work. Uh I was principal at Tacoma Park Middle School when we went through an addition and in that process um I looked up some history of the school and I think you'll find that the history of every school involves people like you that through decades and decades and decades paid attention to the appropriations to the funding to the needs of students um the need for a school in the first place. uh and so when we come together at these types of events that is what I'm thinking about and uh I'm thinking about how wonderful it is that
003we continue this beautiful process even if it's sometimes difficult or painful and there are hard decisions to make um that is why we're all here for that purpose so thank you for coming tonight thank you for coming to RM to enjoy one of the places that um is a result of that hard work and all of that decision-making have a great evening and I'm excited for you to continue that process on our behalf. >> Thank you. Um joining us tonight at this is the board of education event are all my wonderful colleagues. I would like them uh to take a moment to introduce themselves, say their names and the district. I will start from our vice president. >> Good evening. My name is Oen and I represent district Good evening. Rita Mononttoya, board member at
004large. >> Good afternoon everybody. Carlos, school board member at large. >> Good evening. Laura Stewart and I'm representing district 4. And maybe you could hear better if I said this. Laura Stewart and I represent district 4. >> I don't think I need a microphone. Brenda Wool and I represent district five. Good evening. Anuva Maloo, student member of the board, Blair High School. Thank you everyone. Thank you. Let's give them a round of applause. All right. Um, so as I was saying that, um, tonight is about education, but truly tonight is about partnership. Um as uh leaders in education and legislation, I think we share a we have our responsibility right to fulfill the dreams and needs and the hopes of our students, our families and our staffs and and we can only succeed if we
005can work closely uh together. So at the beginning of this school year um uh we invited uh we invited you to go on school tour with us and a lot of you join us and and that is one of the ways right we get to know our share responsibility the people we serve and the school buildings that we build together and our schools uh you know are the oh actually I missed some intro uh duction There are some county council members in the back if you want to and county exe if you want to just say hi to everyone. >> Hi. >> All right. Everyone knows who they are right there. Okay. Great. Great. Yeah. You know um our schools are not just classroom and hallways. Um they are the beating heart of our neighborhoods,
006the launch pad path of opportunity and the common ground where families of every background come together. When our schools are strong, our entire county flourishes and that strength is possible only when every level of government stands united behind public education. So that is why tonight is so important. You, the legislators, play a vital role in shaping the laws that directly impact our classrooms. The board brings the voice of students and schools and the education policy and our superintendent brings in the knowhow in education and operation. And together we have the ability to build a system that is responsive, equitable, and prepared for the future. So I want to thank you not only for your presence and but for your partnership, for the bills you you will sponsor and the funding you fight for and the
007advocacy you lead on behalf of our children. We know that when the board and our state and county delegations work hand in hand, Montgomery County will schools will thrive. So in a few moment you will hear uh we will present our 2026 legislative platform rooted in one conviction that purposeful policy have the power to unleashed student potential. So our platform is built on three commitments. Number one, to provide access and opportunity to every student. Number two, to give each school the flexibility to meet the students unique needs. And number three to celebrate the many diverse path to succeed that make our system stronger. Now, so but before we turn to policy, uh I want to take a moment to pause, uh what's already happening, a strong start of the new school year. So, um some
008of you join us on that tour and I heard that some of you spent two full days or one full day on those tours. So, maybe next year we can we can say the winner of the most school visited legislator. All right. So um now the as we are focused on building a school system that truly meets our students where they are and lift them to where they can go and and a system that believes unleashing the potential of every single child and that word is being strengthened by our superintendent Dr. Taylor. So last school year we did a lot of hire and a lot of promotion. I think that this is the best hire of last year. Come on board, Dr. Taylor. Come on up. Well, good good evening, friends and neighbors. Um, this
009is way more formal than I like to be normally, but uh whether you felt compelled to be here out of some obligation or whether this is deep in your heart and it's rooted in your core beliefs, I'm glad that you're here. And it speaks volumes that you're here with us today because not just because it's such a huge part of uh the agenda and the work of of uh the assembly, but also because of what it means for our future in Montgomery County. So, thank you. Thank you not just for being here today, but thank you for the work that you have done to bring us to this point because we really are positioned in a great way because of your work and your collaboration to make this community much stronger for the future. So,
010thank you for that. I want to say that we have this shared commitment of uh preparing our young people to become future ready. You'll see that highlighted uh significantly in the conversations that we have today. I genuinely hope that this is just that, a conversation and an opportunity for us to exchange ideas in ways that we can support you in your work and that we can mutually build things up for Montgomery County and for the future of our youth. So, with that, I do want to take uh an opportunity um for you to introduce yourselves um and to share uh um who you are in the district that you represent and uh to answer um Miss Yang's question of who won the award for most schools visited at the start of the school year. It's
011too bad because she has an event this evening, but it was Bernice. She went to 18. >> Yeah, she kind of killed it. She did a great job. Um No, she she knocked it out of the park. Uh, but who will win next year? That's the question. Uh, you didn't know it was a competition and it's not, but maybe it is. Um, so I want to take a moment uh for um for our folks uh uh who are representing us in Annapolis uh to to stand and to to share who you are and what district you represent. We've got some microphones that I'll share on either side and we'll start with Senator King. Good evening. I'm Senator Nancy King. I represent district 39 and I chair the uh education business administration subcommittee on budget and
012tax. >> Good evening. Greg Williams, District 39. I'm on the Ways and Means Committee. >> Good evening, Delegate Lori Charudian, District 20, Economic Matters Committee. Hi everyone. Good evening. I'm Delegate Janelle Wilkins. I'm the vice chair of the Ways and Means Committee, which deals with K through2 education policy. >> I'll be your microphone carrier. >> Thank you. I'm delegate Natalie Ziggler. I represent District 9A and I sit on environment and transportation. >> Uh good evening everybody. Jared Solomon uh from district 18. Uh, I serve on the appropriations committee and I'm the dad of a proud kindergartener at Rosemary Hills. >> Hello everybody. Um, delegate David Fraser and I represent district 15 and I am also on economic matters. >> I am very obviously not delegate Leslie Lopez, but I'm her chief of staff Emily. Um,
013appropriately, she is teaching a class at GW today, so that is an appropriate reason for not being here. And she's on the um, health and government operations committee. Thank you so much, Senator Felman. >> Uh, Brian Feldman, uh, State Senate, District 15, and I chair in the Senate our Education, Energy, and Environment Committee. >> Good evening, Delegate Julie Plakovich, District 17, and I chair the Early Childhood Subcommittee. >> Good evening, delegate Lily Chi, District 15. I serve on economic matters committee. >> Good evening. Also, District 15, Linda Foley, and I serve on the Environment and Transportation Committee. >> Good evening. I'm Delegate Ryan Spiegel. Uh, I also represent District 17, which is where we are right now. Uh, and I serve on the Appropriations Committee. >> Good evening, delegate Sarah Wallik, District 16, serve on
014the Appropriations Committee. The subcommittee is education and economic development. um parent of three MCPS students, many of which were visited by the superintendent. >> Mark Corman, uh district 16, Richard Montgomery, class of 99. Go Rockets. >> Good evening. Ben Kramer, one of the team D19 that includes Bonnie Cullison, Charlotte Crutchfield, and Von Stewart, and a proud graduate of Kennedy High School, 1975. There you go. >> Hey everybody, I'm Teresa Warman, delegate from district 16, and I'm a Northwest High School class of 2009. Go Jags. Awesome. >> All right. Well, thank you so much. And >> yeah, >> since you were given awards earlier, what about the fact that District 15 is the only district legislatively that has the full complete uh delegation here tonight? Do we get an award? >> We're going to have to
015come up with something for that. >> That's That's pretty That's pretty solid. Well, here's something that we can't agree on. Uh, even if we can't agree on the awards, we're lucky to have you in Annapolis and we're lucky to have you representing us and we're lucky to be on the same team and and hopefully this is a pervasive message that also comes across tonight is that this is a team sport is that no one person does any of this alone. Certainly in the legislature that is the case. Absolutely. you need partners in this work and we hope that you consider us to be your best partners in education as you tackle these really tough uh items on your education agenda. So with that, I'm going to pass it back to our board president, Julie Yang,
016and just thank you all so much for being here tonight. Please give yourselves a big hearty round of applause. >> All right. Um as we uh tonight we will um uh unveil our priority for the year and then uh to help us during this process is Miss Patricia Armstrong. Patricia, where are you? Please come on over. Uh uh we tonight we will first uh to share a little bit the process and then we'll share the uh priorities and the last part is Q&A. So, uh, Patricia is help kick us off with with this presentation. Thank you. >> Good evening, everyone. Thank you so much for being here. We hope it's going to be an informative night. Uh, as Miss Yang said, the board has identified some ongoing interests we would like you to consider throughout
017the legislative session. By now, all of you have been introduced to these, many of you, a number of times. So, we're not going to spend too much time going through these, but we do want to quickly address the interests and why they are so important. While the priority issues we will share in a few moments cover topics where we see a current need, our ongoing interests are stalwarts in the area of education. These items remain largely unchanged year after year because they are so core to our mission of educating students. in this section of the platform that determines many of our platform positions during the legislative session. Items like local autonomy and adequate funding, including our reluctance to support bills that include unfunded mandates, are central to our mission and belief that local boards are
018best positioned to address the needs of our students and school community. While this does at time lead the board to oppose well-intentioned bills, not because of what they are trying to achieve, but because they would result in a directive on the school system, we are always open to conversations about ways to work together to achieve the same desired outcome. I look forward to working with you all to further these interests and the priority issues we are sharing this evening. This year, you will find a new section in our platform, areas where we intend to focus some increased attention. These areas for increased advocacy are ones where we see a need for some legislative intervention, but the issue did not rise to the level of a priority issue for the school system this year. Take some
019time to review these items. If any one of them piques your interest, please reach out. We would be happy to partner with you with the goal of moving these needs forward. And don't worry, if none of the items of increased advocacy strike your fancy, there's still plenty of opportunity to partner. One great way is through our priority issues. At this time, I'm going to ask Miss Yang and Dr. Taylor to come forward and present the board of educations and MCPS's priority issues for the 2026 session of the general assembly. >> Thank you, Patty. Now, this um year, so this year um is the second annual legislative priority summit. So, last year we have a few priorities. This year we made it two tiers. So we have a priority and a a section of increase advocacy.
020So that's in your handout. But tonight we'll only talk about the first tier, the first uh four uh legislative priorities. Okay. Each priority contributes significantly to empowering MCPS and school system around the state in the mission to provide excellent education. So we present these priorities in no particular order. All right. So for priority number one, so our school system is ready for the future, but the state graduation requirements aren't keeping up. If we want our students to succeed tomorrow, we have to update requirement today. So let's take a look at what our student member of the board says on this video. Please roll the video. 7 years ago, Maryland initiated a review and update to graduation requirements. I was still in elementary school. Since then, a lot has changed. A global pandemic changed the world
021and the definition of Zoom. The blueprint for Maryland's future changed public education in our state. And technology has changed everything else from the way we communicate and distress to what current and future career options may be. It's really exciting. But then I wonder with all the changes in the world, how are we making sure our graduation requirements are keeping up? Students frequently tell me that the current requirements don't prepare them for the future or are so rigid that they don't have any opportunity to explore the options that are available after graduation. If we don't feel like what we're learning is going to help us in the future or it's not engaging our interests, it's hard to stay motivated. Graduation requirements need to be regularly reviewed and updated to keep up with our everchanging world and
022to ensure school is a place that will prepare us to thrive in our futures, not highlight the needs of the past. So I think that video says it very well. Our students want to learn something that is useful that prepare them for the future. What we are really asking is to have a regular review of graduation requirement. What you have learned, Senator King, when you went to school, when I went to schoolages, >> yeah, uh might not be what's useful and and applicable prepare them for the future. So that's really what this uh uh this uh uh priority is about. it's about so >> can I ask a question so are you looking at a difference in credits or what is the change that you're looking for >> so I think it's both both uh
023whether certain courses requirement for example uh I have heard from many students like there is a technology requirement and and really what is a technology requirement if the technology requirement is only about how to use the computer our kids know how to use the computer, right? And also about credits. So, right now it's 22 credits. So, let's take a look at uh you know different states have different credit requirement. Uh is it all 22 credits needed or how they distributed uh prepare our students for the future and meet their needs? And I wonder whether Dr. Taylor have anything to add. Um, >> so I, so I think that there's a wealth of opportunity that's kind of gone unexplored and it's an opportunity for us to catch up and look at things like industry certifications as
024uh, and potential externships and internships as part of the the requirement mix. Um, I know that this is a little bit of lightning in a bottle, but it's worth having a conversation about financial literacy and what that might mean on a broader scale. Uh, and how we work that into our our entire structure. And I think it really is maybe in the our best interest to just take a step back and say, are we preparing kids that we know with the with the durable skills that we know are going to make them successful in life after high school? and do the does the current pathway of courses and credits really prepare them with those durable skills to be successful? >> So, I think we can all agree um that it's important that school leaders who
025know their students best have the flexibility to use resources in ways that meet their students needs. Right? So, here's the controversial part. Community schools receive substantial funding through the through uh the concentration of poverty grant to provide essential wraparound services that by large address nonacademic barriers to learning. While these supports are critical for student well-being, many students also need additional academic interventions to succeed. However, the current guidelines for community schools restrict grant fundings to wraparound services only, preventing their use for many valuable academic support options. As a result, many students receive extensive non-academic assistance while struggling to meet the academic benchmarks. For us, this is even an efficacy issue tied to community schools to promote tangible goals and tangible achievement tied to the success of community schools. We're going to hear from one of our
026principles. >> I am the proud principal of Joanne Lelik Elementary School of Broadacres, one of more than 75 schools in our system that's designated as a community school. Community schools offer vital services and resources to students and their families, ensuring that every child has an opportunity to succeed. We're able to do this through the use of specially designated grant funds. These funds help meet students non-academic needs, including free meals, counseling services, health care services, and before and afterare. At Leic, we've seen firsthand how this model transformed lives, not just for students, but their families and communities. Unfortunately, these funds cannot be used to support academics directly, such as by hiring additional classroom teachers to reduce class sizes or bring in specialized instructors to provide individualized academic support. So, when I see students who are eager
027to learn but struggle to keep up, we are often left with few options and even fewer resources to step in and help. That's a difficult place to be in as a school leader. knowing your students needs but being unable to intervene because you're constrained by how funding can be used. If we truly want to give every child an opportunity to succeed, we must make room for academic support to stand alongside the critical services that community schools already provide. Having some additional flexibility in determining what resources would be most beneficial for students in my individual school would give me the ability to tailor what the school offers to what my students need. Community schools are amazing. The concept is utterly phenomenal. It provides an opportunity for students to receive the support that they need to be
028successful in school. However, in some cases, student success is stifled by the inability for us to use the grant funds that in the most effective ways that actually meet student academic needs. We know what works. We know that strategies like high dosage tutoring are highly effective at meeting the needs of young people in an academic setting, but these funds don't allow for the things that we know work. They only allow for part of the strategies that work. Increased flexibility could be the difference maker in Montgomery County and across Maryland. The Montgomery County Board of Education supports expanding the use of state grant monies to provide greater flexibility for schools with community school designation to address the needs of students and their schools in the academic and non-academic settings. Um I'll pass this to uh um
029yep to Julian. >> Yay. All right. All right. Um that was priority number two and we are going into priority number three. So this is a item that we had last year. It's about API exam fees. So um we would like to for all our students we want to increase accessibility for this uh highlevel exams. Uh however we are advocating to do it on a uh income sliding scale. Please watch the video. Access to advanced placement and international balora programs represent an invaluable resource for our students. As the principal of Richard Montgomery High School, home to the MCPS IB Magnet program, I know how impactful an IB education can be and how expensive. Last year, MCPS spent more than $4.2 million on AP and IB exams. This includes covering costs for families who need the
030financial support and those who don't. Access to opportunity is a foundational principle of public education. For many of our families, the school system covering AP and IV test fees provides their children with the chance to take these courses and possibly earn college credit. For other families in our county, this financial assistant isn't necessary. As districts make tough budget decisions, helping those in need is a top priority. But it is important that school systems maintain a level of flexibility that allows them to best allocate available dollars to maximize student opportunity and success. [Music] >> Thank you, Principal Deini. So, we all know in this county we have a wide spectrum of families in terms of social economic uh abilities. Some family need some help, others don't. And as uh policy makers and overseeing a school budget,
031we want to be able to use our resources most effectively, meet the needs where they are, meet the needs where they are. My children each take many AP classes in high schools, but I gladly pay them. Even though they were expensive, my family could afford it. I'm happy to pay them. So we are saying that it is our responsibility to increase access for our students but we would like to do it where it matters to the family. >> Can I ask a question? So what would the what would the total ask be for covering all the AP exams? >> So right now our system last year spent about uh $4.2 million to cover all the AP and IB exams all of it. But I think last session uh delegate Wilkins uh took on this in
032the house and there was a proposal of doing it based on some income level and it will save the system u million or over a million dollars in in this area. >> You >> she needs a Senate sponsor. >> Oh, she needs a Senate sponsor. I'm saying it through the the speaker. All right. Okay. All right. So, so right. So, so uh uh so uh this this is one that uh is the round two for this priority and we're going to move to the next uh priority. >> All right, last one. Uh and you may be asking why on earth is MCPS advocating for a change in the instructional time requirement? Well, the law requires that schools be in session for 180 days and and 180 hours uh every year. And if you're wondering how
033long MCPS is in schedule is scheduled to be in session, it's over uh,70 hours, far exceeding the hour requirement of 1080, but yet we still meet the the arbitrary uh time period of 180 days to ensure that students have enough time for a full and effective education. That's what the law requires. But is it possible, even likely, that a school system may meet one requirement but still be short of another? Why yes, MCPS faced this exact scenario this last school year when we met the minimum hours requirement, but we were short two days due to inclement weather emergencies. We were snowed in for quite a while. In a minute, you'll get uh additional details about the operational cost, but I wanted you to hear first from one of our principles to see what the impact
034of having an arbitrary set number of days actually means uh in the school setting. And what you may realize after listening to Principal Shin uh from Parkland Middle School is that test dates don't move. uh a formalized instruction doesn't change an awful lot and teachers can adjust but the school is left uh having to deal with a a set of additional challenges. [Music] Last year we had several weather related closures enough that even though we met the required instructional hours we were still short two school days under state law. That meant extending the school year by two more days in June. Our last day was supposed to be Friday, June 13th, but the last day of school got pushed back to Tuesday, June 17th. Although I'm always happy to continue working and supporting our students,
035the truth is continuing our instruction was very challenging. By this point, all of our state and district assessments had been finished, our end of year field trips had already been completed, and our eighth graders already participated in their promotion ceremony. As a result, asism was very high on the last two days, and our teachers were not able to utilize this time effectively for instruction. While we were able to fulfill the technical requirements, the reality was that there was very little instruction and student learning occurring on these last few days of school. By Friday, June 13th, all of our students, staff, and families were ready for summer to begin to recharge for another successful school year. So, Parkland's experience is not unique. Uh, absenteeism across the county uh was extremely high over the last two school
036days. So much so that MCPS's reduction in chronic absenteeism, which would have been uh a little over 2% uh reduction, was reduced by half just in two days. It uh also cost the school system more than $1.75 million in additional personnel costs to staff the schools for an additional two days because some of our employees are paid by the hour and they had to work on the snow days in addition to working the two additional days. These addition additional costs associated with keeping up our buildings to make sure that they were student ready. And that's also two additional days of running HVAC in the summertime as well. I got to tell you, um, coming from another state which had an eitheror, uh, policy versus an and policy of you either meet the instructional hours or
037the instructional days. um did allow localities the flexibility to adjust while also keeping a schedule that parents found to be predictable without upsetting uh uh traditional schedules for assessment at the end of the year. Uh as we all know, we work with partners outside of the state whose assessment schedules do not change even though we have the the flexibility to do so in Maryland and our state assessment schedules do not change. Last year, Anna Rundle County was granted this flexibility and we are advocating for the same flexibility in MCPS. The Montgomery County Board of Education supports a local bill that would allow MCPS to comply with the minimal instructional hour requirement uh through being in session for either a minimum number of days or a minimum number of hours, but not both. to wrap up
038uh tonight. So um while we must conclude tonight, it's 7:30. Um and this conversation is certainly not over. Uh we are very accessible. My colleagues and I and Dr. Taylor always welcome you to give show us an email, call us on the phone. Uh we want to continue this conversation and we really look forward to this session of uh working together. uh whether to support the bills you put out or work together to draft these bills or get you the information you need so that uh so that you can uh uh help us um uh fulfill the dreams of our families and students. So, thank you very much for coming tonight and thank you for the staff. Thanks so much. [Applause] [Music]