001Yes. Sorry. Did I show you this one? I know. It makes me smile every time I look at it. They They took that thing out and her mother shoved her right inside. Good, Maggie. You're welcome. Okay. Are we still good to go? One more. We're good. Okay. Good afternoon. This is Chairwoman Jane Licter, and I call to order the meeting of the Board of Education of Baltimore County for Tuesday, October 7th, 2025. This evening's board of education meeting is being broadcast through the BCPS online live meeting broadcast and on BCPS TV, Xfinity channel 73 and Verizon Fio's channel 34. In order to efficiently conduct this meeting, all voting items this evening will be done by roll call vote. May I have a motion to go into close session as permitted by the open meetings act
002as found in the annotated code of Maryland general provisions article sections 3-305 B1 B7 to discuss the appointment employment assignment promotion discipline demotion compensation removal resignation or performance evaluation of appointees employees or officials over whom it has jurisdiction or any other personnel matter that affects one or more specific individuals and consult with counsel to obtain legal advice. Ice. So, so moved. Harvey. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Second. Seo. Thank you. May I have a roll call vote, please? Miss Tleski? Yes. Dr. Seavoy? Yes. Mr. McMillian? Yes. Miss Pumphrey? Yes. Mr. Young? Yes. Miss Dominowski? Miss Hen? Yes. Miss Fong? Yes. Miss Fong? Yes. Thank you, Miss Harvey. Yes, Miss Agomebe. Yes, Miss Lter. Yes. Thank you. You're not Good evening. This is Chairwoman Jane Larer. I now call to order the meeting of
003the board of education of Baltimore County for Tuesday, October 7th, 2025. I invite you to recite the pledge of allegiance to the flag to be led by Miss Foresight Ang. We will then have a moment of silence in recognition of those who have served education in Baltimore County. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Tonight's board of education meeting is being broadcast through the BCPS online live meeting broadcast and on BCPS TV Xfinity channel 73 and Verizon FiOS channel 34. In order to efficiently conduct this meeting, all voting items this evening will be done by roll call vote. The first item on the agenda is the consideration of the October 7th agenda. Dr.
004Rogers, are there any additions or changes to tonight's agenda? Yes. Good evening. I would like to postpone item K1, report on school start times to a future board meeting. Thank you. May I have a motion to postpone agenda item K, report on school start times to a future board meeting? So move, Stleski. Thank you. Is there a second? Second Oumbbe. Thank you. Is there any discussion? May I have a roll call vote, please? Mask. Yes. Dr. Seavoy. Mr. McMillian. Yes. Miss Pumphrey. Yes. Mr. Young. Yes. Miss Dominowski. Yes. Miss Hen. Yes. Miss Fong. Yes. Miss Harvey. Yes, Mr. Ambbe. Yes, Dr. Seavoy. Miss Lear. Yes. Thank you. Earlier this evening, the board met in close session pursuant to the opens meeting act for the following reasons. to discuss the appointment, employment, assignment, promotion, discipline, demotion,
005compensation, removal, resignation or performance evaluation of appointees, employees or officials over whom it has jurisdiction or any other personnel matter that affects one or more specific individuals and consult with council to obtain legal advice. The close session summary and the open session information summary can be found on board docs under this board meeting agenda date. The next item on the agenda is personnel matters and for that I call on Mr. McCall. Good evening, Chair Licter, Vice Chair Harvey, Superintendent Dr. Rogers, and members of the board. Like the board's consent for the following personnel matters. Tonight, we have retirements, resignations, and leaves. Do I have a motion to approve the personnel matters as presented in exhibits D1 through D3? So move young. Thank you. Do I have a second? Second. Harvey. Thank you. Any discussion? May
006I have a roll call vote, please? Mr. Loski? Yes. Dr. Seavoy? Yes. Mr. McMillian? Yes. Miss Pumphrey, yes. Mr. Young, yes. Miss Damonowski, yes. Miss Hen, yes. Miss Framp, yes. Miss Harvey, yes. Miss Ambbe, yes. Miss Lter, yes. Thank you, Mr. McCall. Yes, sir. Our next item is public comment. This is one of the opportunities the board provides to hear the views and receive the advice of community members. If not selected to address the board, members of the public may submit their comments to the board members via email at boebcps.org. The Baltimore County Police Department's Homeland Security Unit and Office of School Safety has recommended safety and security protocols, which are posted in the boardroom and available in board docs and on the board's participation by the public website. While we encourage public input on
007policy programs and practices within the purview of this board in this school system, this is not the proper form to address specific student or employee matters or to comment on matters that do not relate to public education in Baltimore County. Inappropriate personal remarks or other behavior, such as language that promotes violence against a BCPS employee or that disrupts or interferes with the conduct of this meeting, are out of order and will not be tolerated. Persons who otherwise disrupt or disturb this meeting will not be allowed to continue their remarks and will be escorted from the meeting. Please observe the threeminut clock which will let you know when your time is up. The microphone will be turned off at the end of your time or prior to that time at the discretion of the board chair.
008We're going to start with our system affiliated groups to speak and our first ones are from the Baltimore County Junior Council. So, Miss Sierra Bohara and Charlotte Maltz. Good evening. Good evening, Chair Miss Lter, Vice Chair Miss Harvey, Dr. Rogers, student member Miss Agambe, and other members of the board. I am Serena Bora, eighth a eighth grader at Perry Hall Middle School and I'm also the Baltimore County Junior Council Chair. I'm not sure if my partner is supposed to be here. Um, she's I'm Can you hear me? Yes, we can. There she is. Okay, thank you. Um, hi, I'm Charlotte Malurus. I'm an eighth grader at Dumbartan Middle School and I'm the vice chair. First, I'd like to start off by saying that BCJC is a student-ledd organization that represents the middle school students in
009Baltimore County. BCJC strives to promote inclusivity, kindness, and diversity among students in our county. So far this year, we've elected our current officers and appointed 12 amazing executive board members who represent seven different middle schools throughout the county. At the start of the school year, BCJC hosted a staff retreat in collaboration with BCSC on August 21st at the Employee Development Center. During our retreat, members got well acquainted with their team, learned about BCJC's mission, explored effective time management skills, and learned how to effectively use technology. During our first executive board meeting last month, we reviewed our bylaws, expectations, the parliamentary procedure, and we collaborated with BCSSE and their respective departments. BCJC has a few events coming up such as our next executive board meeting which will be placed on Wednesday the 15th at 6 to
0108:00 p.m. Our fall general assembly is also coming up. It will be held at Deer Park Magnet Middle on November 8th from 9 to 1:00 p.m. Additionally, we currently don't have a community outreach director. So, we will begin posting the applications this week and the person will be elected on the November general assembly. BCJC hopes to see middle school student involvement directly. We are focused on increasing our outreach to middle middle school students by reaching out to SJA adviserss and presidents to make sure that they are well informed about countywide activities and opportunities so they can share it with their school. That's it for now. Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to attend this meeting and thank you for all that you do. Thank you. Our next speaker is Ramona Basilio from
011the PTA Council of Baltimore. Good evening. Good evening, Chair Leter, Superintendent Rogers, members of the board, parents, guest, and um visitors. My name is Ramona Arthur Basilio. I am the family, school, and community partnership chair at the PTA Council of Baltimore, Inc. I bring greetings from our president, Miss Weber, and also from the 4 million parents that are a part of the National PTA. Um, greetings. I'm here today number one to thank Dr. Rogers, members of her staff, um, this board, and others for a wonderful school startup. It has been a whirlwind for the last six weeks. But I'm also here in particular to talk about a calendar question conversation. It's not necessarily about the calendar that we're going to be talking about later or that wonderful committee that I've been a part of. It's
012about the event that's happening now, bully prevention week. I am wearing two buttons from a special needs student in a group that I call students for Kindness. Um, she has social anxiety. She's not able to really speak. She shows her kindness by doing buttons in her art. So, I promised I would wear it. And today is equity. Yesterday was civil and she made up these buttons. I'm call I'm asking if the superintendent and their staff, you're doing a great job with the calendar. For every parent that I talk to, there's something on the calendar for a workshop, for training, for face, you name it, it's there. Mind over matters. This year, bully prevention week was moved up. Normally, it happens during the week of National Unity Day, which is the third or fourth week in
013October. Since many schools staff are still in the process of welcoming kids back, getting ready for the year, planning back to school, you name it. I just want to encourage folks to elevate bully prevention week so that it remains important. Um, I know it's important because we've said it's important. Gun violence is important. Kindness is important. We really encourage the board uh the superintendent's office to look at the third or fourth week of October. That is the national bully prevention month. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, I forgot to say the things. Too late. I'll say those later. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Um our next category are our unions. And our first speaker um virtually is Mr. Billy Burke. Good evening, chair Mrs. Licer, Vice Chair, Mrs. Harvey, Superintendent Dr. Rogers, and members of the
014board. Thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening on behalf of Case. Tonight, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge both the significant work BCPS has done to implement the Oracle platform and more importantly the incredible effort of our school administrators, central office supervisors, and office staff have dedicated to putting this system into practice. First, I want to commend BCPS staff for their responsiveness. As case receives calls and emails expressing concern, both the case director and I have appreciated the timely and professional responses. I was provided with the demonstration of the Oracle platform, which has helped me better understand the system and communicate more effectively to our members. We've seen several supports put into place. School-based staff have been given access to assist. Training sessions have been offered and payroll support has been
015made available on Mondays to help meet deadlines. These are meaningful steps and we sincerely are grateful for them. That said, challenges remain, particularly around payroll reconciliation. Principles and supervisors are reporting that they're spending 90 to 120 minutes from the close of business on Friday through the time the payroll is due on Monday. These leaders understand the critical importance of accurate and timely paychecks and they are committed to doing the work. However, despite training, many are still struggling to complete the process efficiently. A frequent and frustrating issue we continue to hear is that administrators complete the work, receive an approval notification only to later be informed of errors or that work wasn't actually submitted. There appears to be system glitches that send error messages even when no mistake has occurred. Yet, when staff reach out for
016help, they are told to ignore these messages, which is understandably difficult when people's pay is on the line. I am not an enduser myself, but I would like to offer a few suggestions for consideration. First, can there be a way to set default pay schedules so staff are automatically paid for their standard hours and only adjustments need to be entered manually? If principles can delegate payroll responsibilities, do they lose access to the process once delegated? There needs to be a way for them to delegate and still retain oversight. There is a lot of confusion around this. Finally, if payroll is approved by an administrator but then reopened by another user, it appears the data disappears from the principal's view. This may be the root cause of the erroneous error messages and approvals being undone. Any
017steps that can be taken to resolve these issues would go a long way in supporting the administrators and office staff who are working tirelessly under tight deadlines. Thank you again for the opportunity to speak on behalf of case. Thank you. Our next speaker from Tabco is Miss Kelly Olds. Good evening, Chair Licter, Vice Chair Harvey, Dr. Rogers, and members of the board. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. We often hear in education that you can't have Bloom without Maslo. For anyone unfamiliar, what this essentially means is that students cannot be expected to fully engage in higher level learning until their basic needs are met. The the idea is there needs to be an emphasis on prioritizing physiological and safety needs before expecting peak academic performance. I'm sure some of you are wondering where
018I'm going with this. These educational and motivational theories don't only apply to our children. This is how humans function. Right now, we have educators throughout the system who are continuing to give everything they can for their students each day while their basic needs are not being met by the school system. At the last meeting, I read a letter from the Tabco board about the many issues around pay and Oracle implementation. Tonight, I want to remind you that these issues persist. It was shared by BCPS at the last meeting after my remarks that the scope of the concerns was known, but new issues have come up. The issues include people not getting paid, being paid at the wrong rate, not having withholdings deducted, having too many, having too much withholdings deducted, the inability to make corrections
019for underpayments between pay cycles, as well as other issues. In dealing with these circumstances, some have been unable to pay mortgages and other bills on time, causing great distress. Keep in mind, this is after having to fight for raises that were promised to us by the school board, which were still not provided in full. Those who are impacted naturally speak with their colleagues about the issues that they are having, further reducing confidence in the system as there continues to be a pervasive concern about the accuracy of our paychecks. As I advocate on behalf of our members, I want to share gratitude for those who are working diligently to correct these issues. However, the errors continue as the morale continues to erode. I asked for a meeting with Oracle in an effort to directly address some
020of these concerns. This has yet not yet been scheduled. What is causing these issues? How are we holding the contractor accountable for their end of this multi-million dollar contract? Where is the support to ensure that these pervasive issues stop and everyone can get back to doing their jobs rather than correcting errors? Thank you. Our next category are nonprofit community groups and our first speaker is Kendra Brown from the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorarity Upsilon Epsilon Omega chapter. Good evening. Good evening. Um, good evening, Chair Licter, Vice Chair Harvey, and Dr. Rogers, and all who serve. It's my sincere honor to join you this evening. I'm Kendra Brown, and I serve as the connection and social action committee, chair of Oopsan Omega chapter of Alpha Cappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, serving Baltimore County. I also have the pleasure
021of being the ninth president of our chapter. Our current president is Dr. Nikia Shoell. She sends her regards. I'm grateful to also have members here who are with us, present in the room. I say thank you to Dr. Rogers and the school board for your efforts and support of the students, faculty, and staff and community of Baltimore County Public Schools. It is my honor to share on behalf of our chapter. Our chapter has served the Baltimore County area and community for 27 years. We are committed to the community through service, scholarships, and the execution of our international programs. I know firsthand the importance of ensuring that our voices are heard and that what matters to the community is on your mind. As members of the community, it is our duty to ensure that we are
022at the table forging the conversations that make a difference in our community. Our sorority has a rich legacy of service as we galvanize our sisterhood of more than 120,000 members to lead on the front lines of change, education, and advocacy. One of our core programs of service is the advocate for social justice program initiative, and we are proud to set forth this work. Our education programming is brought forward in a number of ways. We currently partner with local Baltimore County schools for our CHIP program which stands for childhood hunger initiative power pack and that is where we provide weekend and holiday meals for children within Baltimore County in the community. So it is answering the call for food and security. We also have set forth the AKA Youth Leadership Institute, a youthled and highly interactive
023leadership development program designed to empower and engage young people ages 11 through 13. We provide educational services such as conducting programs, workshops, and field trips for the youth related to STEM, the environment, culture, and careers. We've also launched our Teen Ivy Academy in the school system to ensure that we meet the needs of high school youth relative to mentoring, character development, and community service. We host our catilian with ladies of vision charities, which is a six-month program open to high school juniors and seniors where they participate in exemplary academic achievement, exceptional character building, and involvement in extracurricular activities and community service. We are committed to the education of our students in our community and we're grateful to be a part of the work of forging empowerment and justice in our community. It is our honor
024to serve you and we thank you for the continued partnership. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Janice Washington from the Rising Sun First Baptist Church. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening, Superintendent Dr. Marian Rogers, Chair Licer, Vice Chair Harvey, and distinguished board members. I'm Janice Washington, a member and chairman of the social action ministry at Rising Sun First Baptist Church 2211 St. Luke's Lane in Woodlon, Maryland. I'm a retired educator with 18 years of services as a special education, reading, and English teacher of uh from Baltimore County Public Schools. It is an honor to be here tonight and to represent our pastor, Reverend Engel D. Burns, and members of Rising Sun First Baptist Church to highlight our continued support of Superintendent Rogers and Baltimore County Public Schools. We have a special bond with
025Baltimore uh County Public Schools because 41 years ago, our church was founded and our early worship services began at Campfield and Powhattan elementary schools. And tonight we have members of Rising Sun who are here with us. Uh to uh tonight um many students of our church have attended and parents, guardians, and stakeholders have supported Baltimore County Public Schools. Uh over many years, Rising Sun First Baptist Church has a longstanding and ongoing partnership with Baltimore County Public Schools around education, career, and college readiness, employment, providing school supplies, and volunteer services to to the schools. We are here to say thank you and we appreciate the outstanding leadership and professional service of Superintendent Rogers, her staff, teachers, administrators, support staff and the school board for providing all all students uh attending Baltimore County Public Schools. Baltimore County
026uh public schools placed well in and in the annual US News and World Report which listed two high schools placed in Maryland's top five high schools, six placing within the top 50 and three among the state's top 12 school programs focused on science, technology, and mathematics. Eastern Technical High School and Western School of Technology rank uh number one and five in the state. The Maryland Department of Education reported that the MCAT scores are show showed that students have made significant gains in English and language arts uh and mathematics uh proficiency. Uh 80 Baltimore County public schools saw increases in the percentage of students scoring proficiency in both ELA and math. Baltimore County public schools graduation rates are increasing and absentee rates are decreasing. These are stellar achievements that we must celebrate and we are confident
027Superintendent Rogers and the school board will build on this success as we move forward. Rising Sun First Baptist Church continue to pledge their support and advocacy. Thank you. Our next speaker virtually is Kesha Parker from the Baltimore County Chapter Delta Sigma Theta Sorarity. Good evening. Can you hear me? Yes. Good evening. Thank you. Uh, greetings, Chair Lecter, Vice Chair Harvey, board members, and superintendent Dr. Rogers. My name is Kesha Parker, and I'm the third vice president of the Baltimore County Alumni Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. Our chapter president is Lisa Danicho. Our chapter service area is Baltimore County. We have served the families and students of Baltimore County area for close to 42 years. We want Baltimore County families to know and students to know that we provide scholarships to students. We have awarded
028each year we have awarded nearly $25,000 scholarships to our students. Our scholarship awards range from $1,500 to $2500 per academic year. We have three premier scholarships. our lead scholarship which was established as a renewable monetary award to assist students with their educational expenses while attending an accredited historically black college or university for up to five consecutive acade academic years. Our memorial scholarship which was established to commemorate the memory of BCH members who made significant contributions to the community and that's intended to help supplement one year of expenses incurred while registered student at a college university. And our Quest scholarship is intended to assist adult community college of Baltimore County students who are seeking an associate degree or certification that will enhance their career and educational goals. For the past 34 years, we have also provided
029Baltimore County students with the opportunity to participate in our Patilian Catilian program, which is designed for high school juniors and seniors and college freshmen, where young ladies and young men take part in workshops focused on communication, community service, cultural, and social awareness. This past year, we have helped these students raise over 85,000 for their elastic journey. We just want to thank Dr. Rogers for her leadership in ensuring that students have access to these scholarships and opportunities. And we are here always as a partner to Baltimore County Public Schools and look forward to continued service to the families and students of Baltimore County. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Our next speaker is Jennifer Blac from the Indivisible Parent County, Indivisible Baltimore County. Good evening, Chair Licter. Good evening, Vice Chair Harvey. And thank you,
030Superintendent Dr. Rogers. My name is Jennifer Bllelock, and I'm a very proud mom and member of the BCPS community. I want to first commend BCPS for the clarity and preparation shown through active shooter training for BCPS staff as well as the materials shared with families at the beginning of this school year. That same clarity is urgently needed when it comes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE on or near our Baltimore County school campuses. Last month in Montgomery County, masked ICE agents detained community members in front of Eastern Middle School, terrifying students and families. Just last week, ICE appeared at a Baltimore County elementary school, forcing staff to act quickly to bring children inside. To my knowledge, that information has only been shared by word of mouth, and BCPS has not shared with the wider
031community. These incidents inflict enduring harm harm on individuals and communities and I believe we must update our policies and procedures in response. I'm also a member of Indivisible Baltimore County and we started a petition signed by almost 300 BCPS caregivers and community members calling for a clear written policy and superintendent action. Specifically, we are asking for transparency on current protocols. Know your rights and ICE identification training for staff, a community developed response plan, immediate notifications for families, counseling after traumatic events, and reliable intra school communication. I am also aware this issue was raised in the policy review committee last year but never reached the full board. Tonight, I'm urging the board to take the next step, bring forward a written policy and not just a resolution, and act upon the real concerns of Baltimore County
032community members. In addition to our petition, I brought with me the policy that was previously shared and recommended by CASA. Our students deserve safety, BCPS staff deserve clarity, and our families deserve transparency. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Lynn Lawings from the Baltimore County Chapter of the Continental Societies. Good evening, Dr. Rogers, Vice Chair Licer, I got it right, Vice Chair Harvey, and members of the board. My name is Lynn Lawings and I'm the public relations officer of the Baltimore County Chapter Continental Societies. I bring greetings from our president, Michelle McCoy Jones, and our membership. Dr. Rogers, your commitment to listening, learn, and lead with humility is truly inspiring. You have opened the doors for collaboration and communication with students, staff, parents, stakeholders, showing us what inclusive leadership truly looks like. The board's
033solid foundation and your collective efforts create the stability our schools and community organizations need to make a meaningful impact. We at the Baltimore County Continentals, our children, our commitment, our conserve drives every program we implement. We believe wholeheartly that every child deserves the right to educational opportunities that inspire them, build confidence, and prepare them for bright futures. Here in the Baltimore County, we proudly support the mission through hands-on service, mentorship, and and enrichment. We host literacy initiatives to encourage children to pick up a book and fall in love with reading. Again, understanding that literacy is the foundation of a lifelong lifelong learning. We will be partnering with Featherbed Elementary School on October the 28th for their Mataween and trunker tree which we did last year and it was a success. The children were happy and
034excited and they get to make different things and have their costumes on and just learn um having fun after school. Our investments and our programs our future. None of this would be out would would be possible without the visionary leadership from the board from Dr. Rogers. Together, we share a unified purpose to every student in Baltimore County to make sure they have the tools, the opportunities, and support to thrive. Let us continue that. Let us stay focused on what truly matters, our children and their success. Dr. Rogers, your mission to listen and learn exactly is exactly what communities need. We stand proud to stand with you, to support you, and to continue working hand in hand with the board as we move forward with hope and collaboration and commitment. Thank you, Dr. Rogers, and thank
035you members of the board. Um, on behalf of the Baltimore Continental Societies, we remain committed to walking beside you because together we can make a difference. Thank you. Thank you. If you want to go ahead. Thank you for our uh public comments for this first section. Uh we did want to uh provide some feedback to all members of our community who are here and those who are watching regarding the uh comments made about an elementary school and ICE inform enforcement actions. Um it has been confirmed by a head of security who also confirmed with the police that there was uh no ICE inform enforcement on our elementary school property. And that's just important information for our community to have. That being said, we remain absolutely committed to making sure that all of our students and
036our community members feel safe on BCPS property. Thank you. Thank you. Our next category is individual citizens or students and our first speaker is Sage Magnus Hill. Okay. Our next speaker is Sonia Busby. Good evening. Good evening, board members. We hear the word equity repeated often by BCPS leadership. In fact, today's theme in BCPS is equity. Yet, for students with dyslexia and other learning differences, equity is not what families are experiencing. I'm a parent whose dyslexic son could not get reading intervention from our school. And I'm here to speak for parents who are not getting help. Children are placed in interventions for years that are simply aren't effective. The data shows that they are falling further behind. And yet, IEP teams continue to deny access to more intensive instruction from qualified teachers or in more
037supportive environments. When parents reach out for help to the compliance department or central office, they are sent back to the same IEP teams that continue to deny their children support. The board has no visibility to these ongoing failures because the special ed department has never shared data showing progress or lack thereof from the investment in Norton Gillanham. BCPS invested in a tracking system last year, but schools did not enter the data. As a result, central office, who makes curriculum decisions, doesn't know whether students, some who are now eight years into Orton Gillingham, are making measurable progress. Meanwhile, special educators are reported reporting being pulled out consistently from intervention services to address behavior crises, leaving students without their mandated services. Even when services are provided, they are often not delivered with the fidelity required for students
038to succeed, largely because there isn't enough staff to meet the demand. We've heard directly from special educators who say they are overwhelmed and under supported. This year, conditions have worsened. IEP facilitators have been eliminated from some elementary schools. School psychologists have left after pay reductions and speech services continue to have an overwhelming case load. There have not been any Orton Gillingham trainings offered this year for special educators. So, if you are new to special ed, how would you be able to address the needs of dyslexic students in your school? We have heard that there have been many training concerns regarding the new star screener which is what schools need to be using to meet the requirements of the readyto- read law. We are hearing that pareducators who are not certified teachers are delivering interventions to
039struggling students. Let's be clear, students with the greatest needs deserve the most highly trained educators. Families are doing everything they can. Many report that the only way to get meaningful help for their child is by hiring lawyers and advocates. This is not equity. Most families cannot afford this and BC BCPS knows it. The result is a system that gives the appearance of support while in practice too many children are not receiving FAPE. Just like special educators, we are tired. We continue to hear the same stories over and over again that we have been hearing for more than a decade and BCPS continues to fail too many students. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Mark Feno and he is virtual. Yes. Can you guys hear me? Yep, we can. Good evening. Good evening board
040members. My name is Mark Verngo and I am the parent of a dyslexic child. I came to BCPS hoping my son who was struggling in a private school to learn to read would finally get the support he needed. And instead I was deeply disappointed. We initiated the child find process with BCPS. Our son was tested and found to have a specific learning disorder in reading performing at a kindergarten level while in second grade. The IEP team told me he would receive 30 minutes a day of Orton Gillingham instruction in a small group. But this was the same intervention he was already receiving. The intervention that was not working in which we had already explained to the IEP team. When I asked how these strategies would help him catch up to grade level, my question was
041dismissed. Even more troubling, the special educator told me it was acceptable for students to remain years behind as long as they made some progress. She even admitted there were fifth graders at the school still reading at a first grade level. That is not acceptable. These students being so far behind is an example of not using data schools are gathering in a way that ensures a child is making significant enough progress to close their gaps. Successful interventionists constantly monitor progress and constantly adjust to avoid stagnation. When there's little progress, immediate change is needed. Sadly, in BCPS, too many students are receiving their interventions with minimal progress year after year, causing too many to be so far behind. After learning a lot through this process, we chose not to enroll our son in BCPS, and we are
042fortunate to have that option. Most families don't, and that is why I'm here tonight. As a system, maybe it's time we stop focusing on how many students can read and instead pay attention to the larger number who cannot. Then we need to ask why is this happening and what are we going to do to change the trajectory of those students? We enrolled our son in a private school that specializes in dyslexia where teachers are certified and highly exper experienced in evidence-based multiensory programs. The difference in our son is night and day and he's finally getting what he needs but at a huge cost to our family. We should have been able to rely on BCPS to educate our son. One in five students has dyslexia. There are no that is not a small number. Our
043children deserve instruction that works without parents having to leave the system or hire advocates or lawyers in order for our children to learn how to read. This is happening way more than this board is aware of. Please, for the sake of our students, like my son and thousands of others, commit to doing better. You have the tools, but you are not implementing them with the fidelity and accountability required to be effective. I have another student enrolled in kindergarten who we suspect also has dyslexia. Should we be able to expect that this student will be able to be educated in BCPS? Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Jen Jenna Googlamini. Good evening. My name is Jenna Gugglamini and I'm a BCPS school psychologist serving childf find and infants and toddlers, both of which are
04412-month programs. I'm here to speak about the consequences of cutting us from 12 to 10 month without any database decision-making. BCPS now pays tens of thousands of dollars less than neighboring districts. Most neighboring districts have 12-month psychologist positions and their starting salaries range from $85,000 to $100,000 a year. Among the few 10-month positions, the salaries start at 82,000. Baltimore County psychologists are now 10 months with a whopping $71,000 starting salary. We aren't even close. Due to the layoff, we have already lost 20% of our staff to those neighboring districts. As of July 1st, this resulted in 27 schools losing a psychologist, impacting over 15,000 students. Full-time psychologists are now working over one FTE to serve as itinerants at vacant schools. Virtual psychologists were also hired to fill this gap. However, as the name implies, virtual
045psychologists can only provide limited virtual services. Virtual psychologists and itinerants do not provide counseling or address the mental health or climate needs of the school. These solutions are like putting a band-aid over a hemorrhage. They do not work. In a recent survey completed by BCPS psychologists, many staff are considering resigning to work for neighboring districts after this year. Several staff have confirmed they will be retiring earlier than they planned due to the cut. among um almost all respondents reported that they would stay if BCPS made our salary and benefits comparable to other districts. Unless we make changes, we will continue to lose psychologists every year, and we will never recruit enough to fill this gaping hole. New and experienced psychologists do not consider districts with poor pay and a history of cutting staff. They prioritize
046districts that offer competitive pay and respect for their employees. Unfortunately, BCPS no longer provides either. BCPS's reputation has already spread across Maryland and into neighboring states. If we don't fix this, if we don't make ourselves competitive, we will not be able to recruit and retain highly qualified experts in this field. With fewer psychologists, BCPS will see increased disproportionality in discipline and special education identification. Teachers will not have access to a dedicated psychologist for behavioral support. Students and families will have less access to mental health initiatives. Coming from birth to five, we now do not have psychologists available to cover the duration of our programs. This past summer, my infants and toddlers families only had access to me for 10 days because BCPS decided that was enough to meet the program's needs. In Childfind, families worked
047with rotating psychologists rather than one dedicated clinician because BCPS um determined that that was acceptable. Childfind and infants and toddlers are often families first experiences with the school system. How is this equitable? Please, we are asking for your support of our profession. Educate yourself on who we are and what we do. special education assessments, counseling, behavior and crisis intervention, the list goes on. Talk to a BCPS psychologist. Listen to us when we say that we need to fix these issues before more psychologists leave and more students, families, and staff lose access to the full range of psychological services. Thank you. Thank you. Our next Our next speaker is Nina Wland. Good evening, board members and staff. Happy dyslexia awareness month. My name is Nina Wland and I proudly represent the Baltimore County chapter of Decoding
048Dyslexia Maryland. We are grateful for the opportunity to speak tonight. Decoding Dyslexia Baltimore County chapter is made up of BCPS parents, teachers, administrators, and community members. We have been advocating in BCPS for more than a decade. We are deeply invested in the success of this system because our kids are your students. Our goal is to ensure that all students with dyslexia in BCPS are identified early, taught with fidelity by highly trained, certified educators using evidence-based methods for dyslexia, and given the opportunity that every child deserves and is legally required, which is to be educated and learn to read. In honor of dyslexia awareness month, we would like to dismantle persistent myths that we continue to hear. Myth number one, dyslexia is rare. Dyslexia is the most common learning disability affecting up to 20% of the
049population. That's more than 22,000 BCPS students. Whether we acknowledge it or not, students with dyslexia are in every classroom. According to 2024 MSDE data, it shows that only 2.3% of BCPS students have been identified with a specific learning disability, which leaves many children underserved. Myth number two, dyslexia can't be identified until third grade. Maryland mandates reading screening starting in kindergarten for a reason. Because early identification is critical, BCPS is a is legally required to find and identify students with disabilities. Not identifying dyslexic students as early as kindergarten is a persistent concern in BCPS. Another common misbelief we continue to hear is that students have to be two years behind in order to be tested. This is not true. Myth number three, dyslexia is linked to low intelligence. Dyslexia has no con connection to IQ. Many
050students have average or above average intelligence. When given the right instruction, our students can be successful. Myth number four, they just need to try harder. This is one of the most damaging myths. Dyslexia isn't a lack of effort. It's a lack of access to interventions or implementations of the right instruction. When students are not given the right tools and support, they experience widening academic gaps, anxiety, and preventable behavioral difficulties. Myth number five, accommodations are enough. They're not. Audiobooks, speech to text, and extra time are helpful, but they do not teach a child to read. To meet the needs of students requiring individualized instruction, we must ensure that teachers are equipped and trained to deliver effective systematic multi multiensory instruction with fidelity. Thank you. We um I just try again. is Sage Magnus Hill present. Okay,
051then I will go to the wait list. Um, next speaker is Bash Veron. [Music] We are still in the public, right? Yes. Okay. Good evening to all. I um I forgot what to tell you, but anyhow, I I I really like to praise Dr. Rogers. Um I attended the last meeting in West uh Talson Elementary, a beautiful school truly. And um you know, for your focus, Dr. Rogers um for the thoughts you you brought. Also a special thanks uh to the MC our director communication director Miss Onu Onala. Um however um I counted visually about 15 parents in their minus plus including their kids uh maybe friends and I counted the employees in the meeting and they were in the excess of 20 most employees were security communication maybe one or two teachers I don't
052think there was any board member at that time. So what I'm trying to say is that even though the communication of our superintendent is really very good, she is an excellent speaker, no doubt about it. Uh but it's really not efficient system to have all these person powers for 15 uh members of the community and of course they were in the school lots of lights and lots of other personnel the principal secretaries etc. Why am I raising that in this three minutes? You know my critiques always that the system is not really efficient. All right. This is really a sign of it and I think um it might be really good that our superintendent thinks to be more visible with the community. So the community is not lazy or apathetic. People are really busy. I
053am very busy. Everybody around me is very busy. you know, you can't just really attend meetings and expect large numbers. So, if the people don't really come to you, I think Dr. Rogers, you might want to consider you go to the people, be more available, more communicative, more mingling with people. And again, I thank you. Thank you. Next is public comment on the proposed 2026 2027 school calendar. And our first speaker is Jeffrey Freriedman. Hello. Good evening, Dr. Rogers and members of the board. My name is Jeff Freriedman and I'm a 19-year veteran teacher with BCP. Thank you again to the board for requiring the calendar committee to provide you with a post Labor Day start option. Calendar committee continues to push a false narrative that beginning 5 days prior to Labor Day holiday increases
054student achievement. They clearly have no data to prove that this is the case. In fact, these days prior to the holiday are most often used for syllabi and getting to know you activities which have no impact. and our neighboring counties who start after Labor Day consistently have better data and higher test scores, which proves this argument invalid. Have you noticed that I'm not the only one pushing for a post Labor Day start annually? Feel free to re-watch video of the comments from the last 6 years of the October board meetings, and you will find over 95% of the speakers wanted a post Labor Day start. Have you viewed the online petition with almost 700 signatures? If that still isn't enough to convince you, then listen to the data from the most recent BCPS surveys. 64.2%
055of the entire BCPS community, they are families. 81.9% of Ask Members, 63.7% of Case members, 69.1% of ESPC members, 70.2% of OPE members, 52.9% of TAPCO members, and 71% of non-represented members all want a post Labor Day start. If we average all of these numbers together, 67.6% over twothirds of our entire community, a large majority is asking for a post Labor Day start. They are asking you to do what is currently happening every year in our neighboring counties of Carol, Harford, Cecil, and many others. In the past, the argument for not doing this was because you did not have a calendar option with a post Labor Day start. But now you have one, and there is no excuse. You can go right ahead and approve our post Labor Day option as it stands or you
056can make changes to the calendar as you've done in the past. For example, there are two extra professional days, not holidays, built into the calendar that do not need to remain there. Considering all the extra half days already built in, you can easily remove these and end school 2 days earlier. We also continue to have so many non-required closing days, long breaks, holidays, half days, and other interruptions that negatively impact the learning of our students, which is concerning to me as a teacher. If we remove some of these, not only will we shorten the calendar, shorten the year, but improve consistent instruction. We are supposed to be building our calendar around what is best for students and listening to the feedback of our community. You have complete control over what happens next, and your staff
057and families are counting on you to listen. Start after Labor Day. Cut back on interruptions during the school year and make the calendar work. Take these steps to show the community that you are listening and being responsive. This battle will not stop until this situation is resolved. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker for the proposed calendar is Ramona Basilio. Welcome back. Thank you for having me back. Thank you for being generous with your time. Um, I'm here today to talk about the calendar and two particular aspects of it. Back in 19897 there were a group of people who talked about the needs for improved literacy, the need for safety, the need for mental health, the need for protecting students. That organization was the National PTA Association. Now they're 4 million strong and one of
058their benchmark programs is National Education Week. I bring this up because it's on the calendar, but we also want to elevate it. We want to have a conversation. It is not just a nice thing to do for schools. We are pioneering in reverse in terms of the whole student, in terms of their mental health, in terms of their safety, in terms of their food, in terms of their shelter, all of those things that at one time we thought schools did not have to do, but now we're there. So I bring this up as a calendar issue because some students are looking for it to as a community builder. Some teachers and staff feel that it's one more thing to do. What we want to say is let's elevate it. Let's make it meaningful. Let's make
059it relevant. We can pioneer and reverse. It doesn't have to be the time when people can come in and look at their child. They can do that almost any time. What we want to do is look at technology. We want to look at food, clothing, shelter. We want to look at supporting teachers during National Education Week. Let's rethink how we're doing it and let's move forward. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, by the way, the date is November 17th. Thank you. The next speaker on the calendar is Dr. Feron. Madam Chair, I think you skipped one public speaker. Just FYI, one public speaker, her name is Shannon. I mean, no, her name was not on the list. Thank you. All right. Good evening. Um I know I send you a small number of pages about the
060calendar. I am very thankful to Dr. Burgerer in about 1995 to appoint me to the calendar committee at that time. It's called the holiday committee. Every superintendent after that uh has done the same and I really put my observations for you. I hope you would accept them briefly. I do not think the calendar is done with the prism of focusing on the students. The members of the committee all are good people. I'm not really criticizing anyone in there, but that's the way it is. One issue is the pre versus post. There is no proof whatsoever, not objective, that starting the calendar before Labor Day is better for education. None. It's basically personal opinion. And as far as holidays, school days, inclement weather, it's just there are so many days that the students are taking off
061under one reason or the other. The spring break is, in my opinion, is too long. Um it's about six days, I think, plus the weekends. So if you add the numbers give or take between spring break, spring vacation and professional days and professional half days, all those PDS and some others, it comes to about in a year time about 19 days that the students are taking off for one reason or the other. As you know, our administrators are rightfully so making sure that absenteeism is low. So we are giving students off for a lengthy period of time especially in spring break and those are days that they are not studying. They are not it's it's contradictory. You can't really reconcile it together. Um I think the calendar needs to be focused on students and really
062be focused on objective data and that part that uh is my observation uh about it history-wise. I mentioned that to you in the past because I believe some of the members alluded to cancelling some of the professional days for the religious holidays. Uh what brought me up to this place in 1995 is that the school system is closing on the Jewish holidays and not on the Muslim holidays. And once that taken care of in 2017, basically my interest in the education system is to contribute in any other way. So if you for reason or another considering anything in relation to those holidays, I really wish that you would stick to equality as far as treating those. But the spring break is too long. The half days are just too much. Thank you. Thank you. I'd
063just like to explain about the waiting list. So, we did have an opening for the individual citizens or students um but Miss Bonuyu had signed up as a nonprofit community group and that's why I had gone to the not on the um waiting list on the waiting list. Okay. I'm sorry. I was just going with what was on on the waiting list. So, I apologize for the confusion. Um, okay. Next on the agenda is the superintendent report. And for that, I call on Dr. Rogers. Thank you. Good evening, Chair Licer, Vice Chair Harvey, and members of the board. I'm pleased to provide the October 7th superintendence report uh to you and our community. Um if we can pull up the slides. Next slide please. We will begin with a short video around our community conversations
064and I will share more information about what our focus has been and what it will continue to be uh in over the course of the next month. Thank you. [Music] We're so excited that you're here with us tonight. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback on this process. Parents, students, teachers, and administrators united during the first of several BCPS community conversations with Superintendent Dr. Miriam Rogers. The focus developing the BCPS strategic plan, a plan for the future. Uh we can't do any of this work without dedicated people. And so we have invested heavily in professional learning to make sure that people are equipped with the updated most recent strategies that we are crystal clear about what our expectations are and that everyone is equipped to do their best work. The topics at hand,
065four key initiatives, academic achievement, infrastructure, safety and climate, and highly effective teachers, leaders, and staff. I feel like that needs to be somewhere. As much as I expect, you know, the teachers and the facilitators, right? Um, and the school um admin staff to invest in my kids, I have to be there to advocate for them as well. I can't always say, "Oh, it's it's on you. It's on you." and I'm never there to support to try to help shape our kids' future. So, you know, just, you know, want to be here. I want to be a part of how we can make our child's lives better for parents and for future. The strategic plan is still in its draft phase, but when it's passed by the board of education, this community can be proud in
066knowing they had a hand in the future of ECPS students. So, thank you for BC to BCPS TV for putting that together. Once the PowerPoint comes back up, we want to talk about our focus. Our focus is on the strategic plan. Uh, but really gathering feedback. Um, as you know, over the last three years, we have used our community conversations where families have spoken to us directly about what their needs are, what their experiences are to guide our focus areas. They are uh depicted on this slide. During these meetings where we gather feedback, we want to hear from community members. And part of that work is rewinding is to share what the differences are between what happened three years ago versus where we are now. so we can come together and uh develop a plan
067for where we need to go next on behalf of the 110,000 students that need us. As we have shared uh oftentimes, we are certainly encouraged by the data that we are seeing across the system in a variety of uh external markers and indicators. However, we know that there is much more work to do. And so, um, we heard it stated here that, um, being out in our schools, uh, is one way to engage with the community, but also going to events where staff members are is another way. And this slide simply shows, um, that this is part of the work that we do. We have regular ongoing meetings with advisories, with the council of PTAs monthly, with uh, internal staff, principles as well as central office. Uh we will be attending PTA meeting popups to
068engage with families that are already there for meetings. Um and sending a survey to team BCPS to ensure that the strategic plan that we uh present and move forward is reflective of as many voices as possible. Um, in that same vein, I want to thank uh, Miss Wheeland, Miss Wland in particular for sharing on behalf of Decoding Dyslexia the comments that you made around the myths our work has been around the last three years uh, engaging with our community. So everyone can look forward to an update um in a future board meeting where we speak specifically about special education, speak to our interventions that we're providing and what upcoming trainings are available as well as our related services um to ensure that everyone is uh aware of the efforts that we are making and what
069the uh data is looking like at this point. Uh we will continue to uh focus on all academic areas but specifically literacy, mathematics, uh meeting the needs of multilingual learners which WEDA uh results came out from the state today. And lastly, meeting the needs of our students that receive special education services. And so I thank you for your time this evening. Thank you, Dr. Rogers. Next is the chair's report. Um and so I'm going to focus on happy principal appreciation month. Um, I'd like to highlight the vital role our team BCPS principles play. Being a principal is a highly demanding and highly rewarding position, there is nothing that comes close to leading a school community. And while some of those responsibilities are visible, others would be considered other duties as required. Um, principles need the
070ability to cater. If you know a principal, you've seen him or her walk in to their school building carrying bags of food on many occasions. Whether it's the back to school breakfast, the teacher appreciation lunch, or just the my staff needs chocolate today. The skill set as principal includes catering. There's the ability to be a good sport. As a principal, you must be ready to be dressed up in a silly costume and do goofy things in front of hundreds of laughing students and staff. Whether it's being taped to a wall or told to sit on top of your school building for the amount of minutes that students have read, um the skill set of a principal must include having a sense of humor and humility. And then there's the ability to cheer the loudest, whether
071cheering at a safe racer competition, a school production, a basketball game, a dance recital, or even at the very first elementary band performance. And if you know, you know. Um principal, somebody knows. Principles possess the skill set of cheerleaders, and nobody cheers louder and with a bigger heart for their students than a school principal. But seriously, principles are the driving force behind successful schools. They shape the vision, the culture, and daily operations that directly impact students, teachers, and the community they serve. principles. Your commitment to quality instruction, your ability to inspire staff, and your tireless work to create safe and supportive learning environments do not go unnoticed. You are often the first to arrive and the last to leave. Thank you for being mentors, advocates, and steadfast leaders who build bridges between students, families, and
072staff. Your leadership transforms your schools and creates lasting opportunity for all students. A growing body of research affirms what many have long known. School principles are crucial to student success. Effective principles significantly influence student achievement. Second only to teachers among school related factors. According to research from the Wallace Foundation, schools led by highly effective principles experience stronger student learning outcomes, improved teacher retention, and better school climates. The National Association of School Principles and similar organizations consistently emphasize that schools with strong leadership see measurable gains in student performance. Principles are unsung heroes whose day-to-day efforts lay the groundwork for student achievement and lifelong success. On behalf of BCPS Board of Education, thank you for your leadership, your vision, and your devotion. The research is clear. Great principles make great schools. Your work changes lives. Thank you.
073And next is our student member of the board report. And for that I call on Miss Unave. Good evening board chair Mrs. Lter, Vice Chair Mrs. Harvey, Superintendent Dr. Rogers, members of the board, staff, families, and the BCPS community. Over the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity to attend various committee meetings where we discussed important updates to policies and curriculum that directly shape the student experience in BCPS. These conversations are essential to ensuring our system remains responsive to student needs. Recordings of these meetings can be found under the board of education tab on the BCPS website for anyone interested in following along. Looking ahead later this month is filled with exciting events that highlight both student voice and opportunity. In October, I'll be attending the first BCPS mental health advisory council meeting for the
074school year, which brings together educators, students, and community members to discuss how we can better support mental health in our schools. On October 22nd, BCPS will be hosting an H.B.C.U college fair at New Town High School. This is a powerful event and a great opportunity that connects students with representatives from historically black colleges and universities and encourages exploration for high higher education pathways. Later this month, I'm especially excited to see the BCPS marching band showcase on October 25th, where our student musicians will share their hard work and school spirit with the entire community. This month also marks the start of one of my biggest schools for the school year. Visiting a wide variety of secondary schools in BCPS. I'm eager to hear directly from students across the county. These visits will allow me to learn
075more about each school's unique culture, challenges, and successes, and to ensure your voice is represented at the board table. I'm also looking forward to the first board of selected students meeting of the year and the upcoming BCSSE seminar focused on school safety on October 22nd. Both will give students a platform to share their perspectives and ideas on how we can make our schools more supportive, inclusive, and secure. Lastly, I would like to wish our administrators a happy principal appreciation month. Your contributions to Baltimore County are essential to the success of our students, schools, and community. As we continue through the fall semester, I'm grateful for all the students, educators, and community members who continue to engage in meaningful conversations about what makes our school stronger. Thank you. Thank you. Next on the agenda is action
076taken in close session. And for that I call on Mr. Burns. Good evening. Good good evening, Chair Licter, uh, Vice Chair Harvey, members of the board, Dr. Rogers. In closed session tonight, the board took action on two matters of appeal. One was HA25-014 and the other HA2-02. Thank you. May I have a motion to approve the action taken in close session on hearing examiner's case HA25-014 and authorize Miss Gowbert to sign for those board members not physically present. So move Pumprey. Thank you. May I have a second? Second. Young. Thank you. Any discussion? We have a roll call vote, please. Miss Tleski, yes. Dr. Seavoy. Mr. McMillian. Yes. Miss Palrey. Yes. Mr. Young. Yes. Miss Dominowski. Yes. Miss Hen. Yes. Miss Frampong. Yes. Miss Harvey. Yes. Miss Abe. Yes. Dr. Seavoy. Yes. Thank you. Miss
077Leicter abstain. Thank you. May I have a motion to approve the action taken in close session on hearing examiner's case HA25-02 and authorize Miss Govert to sign for those board members not physically present. So move Stleski. Thank you. May I have a second? Second Harvey. Thank you. Any discussion? May I have a roll call vote, please? Musleski? Yes. Dr. Seavoy? Yes. Mr. McMillian, yes. Miss Pumprey, yes. Mr. Young, yes. Miss Dominowski, yes. Miss Hen, yes. Miss Framp, yes. Miss Harvey, yes. Mr. Abe, yes. Miss Lter, abstain. Thank you. The next Thank you, Mr. Burns. The next item on the agenda is contract awards. And for that, I call on Mr. Young, chair of the building and contracts committee. Thank you, members of the board. The board's building and contracts committee met on Monday, October 6,
0782025. Items J1 through J12 were forwarded to the full board for approval. Thank you, Mr. Young. Board members, are there any additional separations? Okay. Do I have a motion to approve items J1 through J12? So move stles. Thank you. No second is needed since the recommendation come. Any dis discussion? May I have a roll call vote, please? Mr. Loski? Yes. Dr. Seavoy? Yes. Mr. McMillian? Yes. Miss Pumphrey? Yes. Mr. Young? Yes. Miss Dominowski? Yes. Miss Hen? Yes, Miss Fmpong. Yes, Miss Harvey. Yes, Miss Mumbbe. Yes, Miss Leicter. Yes. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is the report on the progress of the enterprise resource planning ERP system. And for that, I call on Mr. McCall, Mr. Korns, and Mr. Tantliff. Dr. Rogers. Good evening again, Board Chair Licker, Vice Chair Harvey, members of
079the board. As everyone is aware, three years ago, we began this mission uh with the goal of impro improving infrastructure in Baltimore County Public Schools. This is the third year in a row that members of this team are coming forward to bring to the board and members of our community an update of the enterprise resource planning um system in Baltimore County Public Schools. Um I do want to bring forward for everyone's awareness that our ERP system, our legacy system, uh represents a longstanding issues that we had in infrastructure in Baltimore County public schools. uh the ERP system and the deficiencies were noted uh as early as 2015 in the OA report. They were also noted again in 2019 and repeated in the efficiency study. And so this team was charged with leading an effort across
080divisions, human resources, information technology, fiscal services to um overhaul the entire system. when we moved from our legacy system of CGI um to Oracle. Uh we moved as a school system from um an antiquated system to industry standard. Uh and this involved well over a hundred staff members countless hours of meetings and planning. Uh and this team will go through uh some of the work that they've been doing uh over the year. With that being said, we value all of our employees. I believe uh when they talk about uh the pay uh events that we've had, it represents more than 21,000 employees. And um while we don't want anyone to have uh pay that is not accurate and that is not timely, 100% is always our goal as it is the right thing to do.
081I uh also believe that we should um allow the team to share in earnest uh the scope of uh what has occurred in this implementation as well as um that it is to be expected that moving from our systems which was very much paper and pencil uh we were still using up until uh July Buff index cards for um leave and faxing in time sheets. uh that there is going to be a learning curve even with a year's worth of communication and training in a variety of modalities that there is going to be a learning curve that comes with that and our commitment remains to our people um in team BCPS uh both the uh supervisors that now have a role in this as well as the employees as everyone is required to use the
082electronic system including myself um supervisors for a second level that help us to address um some issues that are long-standing around um accountability with uh fiscal measures that there is going to be a learning curve with that and I applaud the team's effort and comm uh commitment to responding in real time to the needs that come forward of individual employees as well as groups of employees like supervisors to which uh Mr. Burke spoke to uh the uh the team being so nimble that they're able to stand up support to respond to the needs as they arise during this transition. And so with that, I'll turn it over to I think Mr. McCall or Mr. Kors is on first. Thank you. Good evening, Chair Lector, Vice Chair Harvey, Superintendent Rogers. Um we're going to start off
083our presentation as we have with each one of them as a reminder of what an ERP system is. Um so our enterprise resource planning uh system or ERP from Oracle has uh multiple components. Uh you would traditionally consider them HR, payroll, finance functions. Um our uh implementation has multiple phases and so the first two phases which were our human capital management HCM which would be our traditional HR roles and our payroll system were implemented uh in in uh this past July July 1st 2025 uh with phases three four and five being our finance uh budget and our procurement modules going live with uh July 1st of 2026. So those implementation milestones uh are represented in this chart. Uh there's uh a list of the services that you would find under each one of those. Um
084it's important to note here that with our implemented um uh HR and payroll modules uh we have postgo live support from our vendor that is uh uh takes two forms. One of which is our hyperare which allowed us to have individuals from the implementation team stay with us for three months as well as managed services which is going to span the next three years which gives us basically a uh hotline to call if we need support on a new implementation or a process change or any uh questions we might have about the systems implementation or how to uh uh adeptly manage uh its its um use. So we reached out to our partners at AST uh who have recently been uh purchased by IBM for a quote about our implementation. Uh we anecdotally had um
085been told that this is considered one of their top percentages of implementations uh with the speed at which it was done that was on time and on budget and uh that they were very pleased with the way that it went. Um the the quote itself uh IBM as IBM being grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Baltimore County Public Schools on their Oracle cloud ERP and HCM implementations. Dedic dedication and hard work of the BCPS team was instrumental in the success of the HCM phase. The engagement stands out as one of the most efficiently executed K12 HCM implementations by AS IBM and it's from Daryl Cochran who's their vice president of sales who uh has been working with us. So with that I'm going to hand this presentation over to Mr. McCall. Good evening. I
086don't understand how things could actually be long yet short, but it was a productive I would say within the last three years and it was a heavy lift. um across divisions as Dr. Rogers mentioned earlier uh over a 100 uh BCPS employees directly were involved in the HCM uh payroll implementation. Um when you look across the entire divisions, of course, there were individuals who were also behind who were working the behind the scenes that made sure that the continuity of operations continued because these individuals in payroll as well as human resources had to dedicate 60% of their time to the implementation of this of the uh of this project. And so with that, of course, we have our subject matter experts as well as our business process leads who actually had to devote that time
087to the implementation. But yet, of course, as we look forward to the uh implementation, it d as Dr. Dr. Rogers also mentioned, it directly addressed several of the OA audit findings from 2015 as well as 2019 and also those studies actually that were uh those issues that were actually identified in the efficiency study. uh and that goes across all the divisions from human resources to fiscal as well as um and in the department of information technology. Um also I wanted to al highlight that there were several of upwards of a hundred separate communications written as well as video that were actually sent out via school messenger uh through the principal's weekly uh the newsshub as well. And of course the screenshot here is of a video that was uh uh produced by BCPS TV where
088highlighted some of those changes that were coming from as we transition from CGI to uh to Oracle. In addition to that, um we wanted to make sure that everyone understood that um that we do provide uh timely as well as uh accurate uh responses to those individuals who may have experienced some of the issues as we transitioned. So as we look to transition to industry standards, one of the things I want to highlight here is that Oracle is a product that allows us to our applicants to be able to apply submit their application online through single incumbency. They are also able to identify that position for which they're applying to and it's a seamless flow of transition from that applicant submission of application to identify the supervisor as well as the FTE and that title
089code that helps us to prevent overstaffing for uh for our individuals also related to the efficiency study. Then training and HR community SharePoint was created so that those individ uh forward phasing on our website to public view is now um on our SharePoint site where those who have BCPS credentials can actually then uh go to find information about Oracle also submit documents. For instance, if somebody's looking for tuition reimbursement, be able to submit those documents directly through the SharePoint site. We want to make sure that everyone is aware that we do have the customer service center for support for not only our active employees, but also for our retirees. They've been very uh instrumental in providing responses to those individuals who may have experienced some challenges. Uh and with that uh their first um uh
090triage is there within the customer service center and then if they're uh of course if a ticket has to be elevated to that specific department or that office then of course it is elevated to that specific uh office for a specialist to be able to handle. But our first line of defense is for our customer service center to be able to provide that support to those individuals who are calling active employees as well as retirees. And then of course uh I believe Mr. Korn's mentioned about the hyperare support that AIBM is providing for our humorous resources as well as payroll for that intensive support that is beyond our go live date so that they're readily available to us to be able to help solve those uh any of challenges that that may arise. This uh
091slide here is our union collaborations. Want to make sure that everyone's aware that meetings began with our unions back in November 2024. Our union leaders reviewed and they vetted the communications that actually have been sent out to team BCBS and were able to provide input and ask questions as we uh transition to to Oracle and staff held sessions with our union leaders uh regarding pay and rears and met with them and membership as requested. Then communications for members and system communication to membership highlighting the key information. As you see here, these are screenshots from several of our uh union partners that were sent to their respective uh memberships. Went too fast. And of course here wanted to also highlight the uh communications that were sent out. Various communication was sent out to team BCPS and
092our update express as well as uh information about moving to pay and arars and then accessing Oracle cloud on the go. So I just wanted to bring this to your attention and of course this is a perfect segue for my colleague um Mr. Wood Tentliff. Thank you. Um as it's been alluded to and mentioned earlier, we h have had a significant employee engagement. Um, we've had lots we have lots of online resources that we've pushed out that uh employees can jump into and get trained on almost any aspect of the system at any time. Um, we've had for the past several weeks dropin sessions with supervisors where we had a wide range of employees from around the organization that could answer any questions at all that supervisors uh might have. We did some hands-on with
093them. uh paying a rears uh the notice went out to employees uh last June and we've had lots of communications on a rears and tried to explain that to employees. Uh we offered an advance to employees to bridge the gap when we first went to Arers um both at the principal's leadership uh development training next week and the central office uh counterpart that we have coming up. We will offer training and dropin sessions there where we can answer questions. Uh we've had uh tons of communications as been mentioned earlier today uh and earlier in the presentation by the superintendent uh since last November and we've had uh working with our bargaining unit partners as Mr. McCall just mentioned. Um so here's just kind of a few highlights on the payroll system. Since uh July when
094we went live, we've had seven pay dates, almost 95,000 pay events that have occurred for close to 22,000 uh BCPS employees. So, a tremendous amount of transactions. Um the payroll process is the data that we received from the school and offices. Good data leads to good outputs. Uh as has been mentioned a little earlier today, there have been challenges at times when uh things uh have gone off. We've tried to walk people through the system besides the group trainings we've had. If uh anyone gets stuck at some point, if a pay is wrong, we're reaching out to employees, reaching out to schools, and trying to provide one-on-one training uh as much as possible, addressing any issues that come up. Um, we went from weekly payroll. So, I think everyone here knows we uh half employees
095got it one week, half the next week. So, payroll was going every week doing a payroll. We now do it every other week. So, it should be much more efficient once um we get all the bugs worked out of the system. And we have had an accuracy rate of about 98%. We absolutely want to get that to 100%, but with this many transactions, um 2% is, you know, 2% too many. And these are some of the um things that have been uh highlighted uh earlier this evening. Um process and procedures as I mentioned when we have uh pay issue we're trying to address that as quickly as possible either through the payroll team. I get um questions HR gets questions Mr. Kors gets questions and we we really try to turn those around as quickly
096as possible. might not be the same day, uh, but we'll get them done quickly and addressed and hopefully get, if there is a pay issue, get it all chewed up by the next pay date. Um, so let's see, did I miss one? Okay. um as we transitioned from our legacy payroll system to um our our payroll and human capital systems from CGI to Oracle um CGI as the superintendent had mentioned had reached its end of life. We've had several um audit findings on the system that we needed to make some improvements. the transition uh provided us with the opportunity to standardize our practices and procedures, build efficiencies and use industry standards. So when you go through a a process like this, you kind of try to do everything from scratch. Um figure out what you
097have to do, but build everything as efficiently as possible using the standards that uh our consultants have from other implementations they've done. Um this slide represents some of the results we've had today as we implemented the first two phases of the project um human capital and payroll. So standardization as I mentioned we've gone to complete electronic time and attendance as superintendent mentioned we used to have a lot of paper going back and forth um we went to pay in a rears we went to the bi-weekly payroll from weekly which has been mentioned and we're really um trying to get everything fully uh automated as the system goes forward. So I think that uh is everything that we have for you today. Thank you. And I wanted to take a moment just to to add I
098wanted to thank the team uh the gentlemen here presenting tonight as well as the other uh folks who were engaged in this work. Uh as they indicated more than a 100red BCPS staff have been working on this for over a year and so it has indeed been a herculean effort. Um and the the move to industry standard is certainly not without a glitch here or there, but I think that the overall work is exemplary and a testament to the uh work of the team. We heard tonight remarks from uh both uh the head of Tabco and the head of case related to concerns or things that have come up. And I think what's key in both of those and I and I appreciate them acknowledging the outreach that has occurred on behalf of this team
099and others to collaboratively problem solve to address issues as they arise. And so just to humanize you know what is happening I do want to state as I did at the last board meeting that while this is not a pervasive issue it is critically important that we recognize that you know behind every issue no matter how small is an individual who is impacted in some way and it is critically important that we respond quickly and we respond with compassion and so I will say that even in my office uh Joel Bilski I want to just certainly mention her name I know she has personally taken calls, walked people through processes. She is not alone. She is just an example of BCPS staff who've picked up a phone and walked an employee from beginning to end
100to resolution to make sure that they are whole and they are okay. Uh we heard tonight people being concerned about being able to pay bills. I will tell you that I know this team has written to mortgage companies. They have contacted creditors. They've done things on behalf of BCPS employees to make certain that they were okay as we go through this transition. Again, not a pervasive issue, but it is critically important that people understand that we value BCPS employees, that it is all hands on deck, that we are committed to doing everything we can to maintain the integrity of this implementation, but also to assure our employees that we are absolutely committed to making sure that they have what they need as we go through this process. So, thank you for allowing me to to
101sit in really quickly uh and to make that point and to to publicly thank the team uh those sitting here as well as those who are not for all of the work they've done. Thank you. Um and thank you for the report and for all the hard work that's gone into this um this system. Are there questions or comments from board members? Miss Pumprey. Hi. Thank you first of all for the presentation and also as um Miss Charlie Green mentioned for the hard work that you've put in this past year. you and also staff members who aren't present. Um we know that um change is always can be difficult even when it's necessary. So um I appreciate that the super both the superintendent and Miss Charlie Green acknowledge the humans human individuals behind the issues
102that are going so regardless of how small of a number that is. We have to acknowledge that each of these people some of them may be working paycheck pay paycheck to paycheck and that we recognize that difficulty. So I also wanted to um acknowledge them as well. Um so my questions are first when there is a mistake made and as one of you mentioned we've moved from h paying every week to every two weeks is there something that can be done in between that period to reimburse employees or do they have to wait the two week the full two weeks to be reimbursed for any um corrections that need to be made. Um what what we've been doing is if someone doesn't get paid, we're cutting them a manual check. If there's a hardship situation,
103um we're cutting a manual check in between pays. But for most situations, uh the system self-corrects the next pay. So um we are trying to make all the corrections on the next pay and let the system uh roll the way it was designed but we are addressing any hardship or extreme examples. Okay. So if there are extreme examples um educators can or staff members can reach out to you all and ask for a a manual check to be cut in between those two week pay in between that twoe pay period. Is that correct? Yes. the communication comes through a variety of channels to us and then we'll reach out to them and discuss the situation. Okay. Thank you. And one other question. Um are employees able to see their paycheck in advance or pay stub
104in advance so that they can be aware as soon as possible of any differences that may come whether it's a fault of their own or a fault of the system. Um are they able to see that in advance to be prepared for when the next paycheck comes that may be incorrect or may need need to be adjusted? uh payubs in Oracle right now are available on payday. So that Friday that is a change from what we had with CGI. We may be able to make it a little earlier over time but right now it's not available till Friday. Okay. So when you say not available is that through Oracle through the system or just that's our process at this point. Miss Pumprey if I could jump in. It's through Oracle that it's not available until
105the day of. But I think what the team should highlight and um especially for people who do their payroll is Oracle, you've heard to some points are is even um annoying because it always gives you a confirmation email. So, part of the communication that we've sent and part of the training that we're trying to have everyone do is once you put your pay in, when you see that confirmation email, double check it to make sure that the hours that show up on that email are the hours that you put in. That's one of the ways that we're training um staff members because that's the first your first alert um that something is wrong. If you've put in a certain number of hours or you thought you put in a c certain number of hours and
106there's an error and you didn't catch that message, we're asking people to go back in and confirm that. Um, Oracle, we we did talk about this probably uh more than a month ago about how early people can see pay slips because in the past in the CGI system uh people could see them at the beginning of the week. Um, as uh Mr. Dr. Tantliff has said, you know, they went back, I think, and pushed a little harder to see if we can uh extend that beyond the day of uh but the response the last time we requested was um you know, that systems have it the day of is the uh standard. I know with many financial institutions people are able to see the amount of funding a few days in advance as another alert
107and so in the interim we are sending out communication about different way check maybe it's not the traditional uh seeing the entire payub with all of the details as uh they were used to previously but are some of the other ways that they can be flagged um alerted to a concern before the day of. Thank you. And just to make sure I'm clear, the confirmation email that staff receives, that's just shows their hours that they've put in, is that correct? Or does it does it give any other information? Yes. After you put in your hours, after you, um, you know, uh, put in leave, once that's approved, you get an email back automatically that your leave has been approved. Um, if you've put in your hours, um, and your supervisor then approves your hours, then
108you get an email from Oracle saying exactly, um, how many hours you were scheduled for, how many hours you worked, and then it gives you every single day the number of hours that you put in, if 30 minutes was deducted for lunch, what the actual hours is for the day that is counting towards your paycheck. All of those details are available and it's automatic. Thank you. You're welcome. M Miss Pumprey, I I want to um uh just there was one clarification as as I listened to what you were feeding back. Uh Mr. Tantliff spoke about doing payroll every week. U we had a split system where the salaried employees were paid and then the next week the the hourly employees were paid and then the next week the salaried. So every employee was always on
109a two-eek cycle. It was just different uh parts of the system were paid on a different week cycle. So we didn't employees weren't receiving paychecks on every week. They were still in a a bi-weekly process, but two different groups being paid and we merged them all into one. I understand. I'm sorry if I didn't Well, I I mainly asked the question just to see because if we were on a on the old system, would there be a difference in being able to reimburse when there was a mistake? That was the reason for my question. Thank you. I just wanted to make sure. Yes. Thank you. I appreciate that. Miss Sleski, thank you. Thank you for the presentation and in response to um the the offer or the the wonderful thing that you've done on behalf
110of employees in terms of reaching out to mortgage companies, etc. And I know that um we've received commentary regarding that concern. Is there somebody specific that a staff member should reach out to if that is a need that they have? Thank you. So, we do have a customer service center and we invite staff to go there, but we also know that when we get inquiries through our associations, those are funneled through um our manager for um staff relations, Miss Joel Bilski. And so, she's been working directly with the associations because we do payroll matters. We do work directly with the employee. And so, those are the two avenues, CSSE being first, and then certainly anything that comes comes to us through the associations that goes to Miss Joel Bilski. And we did uh Miss Delesky
111provide an FAQ for staff members that was sent directly to them that includes that information as well. Great. Thank you so very much. You miss Harvey. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you everyone for providing this information. I am glad to hear as well that uh we're acknowledging that even one person not receiving the pay that they've earned deserves an individualized response. So I have uh two questions. One is uh when you prepare for a transition this big and a system this big, you anticipate that there are going to be some glitches and challenges and you've set up a system to be responsive to it now that we are so many weeks pays into this. How are you adjusting your responsiveness to reduce that number from 2% to 0% of glitches? And then my second
112question is can you just talk a little bit about the switch to pay in a rears what that means and what impact it has on the staff. Um, well, the f the first thing I'd say is most most of the errors that come up are um, think about it this way. When when iPhone pushes out a new iOS, Apple is the most sophisticated company in the world. They think it's perfect, but once you have millions of users, little bugs open up that need to be addressed. And that's sort of what we saw especially when all the teachers came back and our uh number of employees expanded. So as we find issues, most of them can be resolved and prevented from happening again in the in the future. Some of it's training. So we reemphasize that
113in the weekly communications. Some of it may be uh a fault of a system that our consultants need to work on programming. They may may need to go back to Oracle to get some information. But we try to get rid of those, you know, if you want to call them bugs, glitches, or just human error each week. And so as we go on each week, most of those get pushed to the side. Uh there's some we're still trying to work on, but that number should keep getting smaller and smaller every paycheck as we get smarter as we uh address the the different issues as they come up. So hopefully weeks from now, the the number will be very very small. Um, some of it's just system things that our consultants didn't realize, a flag that
114needed to be triggered and they didn't realize they needed to do it or it got overlooked. So, we think those things will get much improved in the coming weeks. There's another thing if I could just add to this. Um, every week we have I want to say probably at least three times a week we have a payroll review meeting uh across the across divisions human resources staff from payroll uh staff from CSC actually review any of those challenges or issues in consultings as well. Thank you for that. Yeah, I actually are part of those review meetings to see if there's any uh consistencies or something that looks um um where somebody's not getting paid and why. So we go into a deep dive into those meetings and then of course like I said that's at
115least three times a week that we're meeting with our consultants and and across divisions to look at those challenges that have been elevated potentially either to us directly or through the CSC. And so, um, that's just something I wanted to add to that, uh, to this discussion. And and so, Miss Harvey, when we went to pay in a rears, um, previous to that, uh, all salaried employees had been being paid to date and all of our hourly employees had gone to pay in a rears in I believe 2012. A while ago. Yeah, a while ago. So pay to date meant that we would generate payroll on a Tuesday or a Wednesday, but we were paying employees for the rest of the week because we were issuing pay on Friday. So let's say there's a scenario
116where I might take a day off, but I had no more days off. So I had to take a pay a day without pay. Uh but I'd already been calculated earlier in the week to be working all five days. And so then there became a payroll uh issue that had to be adjusted because I had taken a day without pay but I'd already been calculated. That's where our payto date really was causing us the most problems. So we went to pay in a rears um in the be at the very end of June and into the July 11th payday in order to minimize that. apologies. Um to go to true pay in a rears, we would have had to skip a payday and then pay two weeks after that skipped payday for the pay for
117the two weeks that were for the skipped week. So we would have uh gapped our employees by about a month. So we were able to work with our vendor to identify that if we were to move to pay a rears, we could have that July 11th payday represent a pay cycle that occurred at the end of June, but employees had already received um pay for part of that. So for five days in June, I had received my my pay for those days. When we moved into our rears, we we lapped that plus a week where we had not paid the employees yet. So, we were able to skip only three weeks and then we issued paychecks to employee salaried employees that represented five days of their salary. We then turned around and went to employees
118and said, "If this is going to pose a hardship, we would like to offer you a pay advance that would allow you to have close to a full check." So that pay advance then was issued to the employees on that July 11th paycheck and then the pay advance is being collected back from each of their paycheck for for 20 paychecks until the end of this school year so that we were able to uh have that conversation because uh there was a very healthy conversation in cabinet about the idea that we didn't want to judge anyone's uh ability to have that gap. So we were to offer that pay advance to whomever. So that's how we went into a rears. Then we did that for our 12-month employees and then we turned right around and when
119the teachers came back, we had to do the same basic process for them where there was a gap. We gave them a paycheck for five days. We offered to pay advance and then they were in a rears as well. So what this will look like is as I work through my career um at at at some point um I may choose to retire or you know whatever it might be and um I will receive a paycheck two weeks after I leave the employee of Baltimore County because I am I am in a rears and so that's how that works and uh Baltimore County is my fourth school system and every other school all other three school systems I've worked in have all been in a rears for for multiple multiple years. So it is a
120standard that we do. Thank you. Other questions? Let me check the teams. Mr. Million, I'm sorry. Thank you. Uh Mr. Tantliff, about four years ago, the previous board voted on an option for 10-month employees to have their money stretched out over 12 months. Is that still in effect? Yes, it's still in effect. And uh this year ESPBC employees could do it also this school year that just started meaning that any 10-month employees within that group then had that option available to them. Correct. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Other questions? I don't see any hands on teams. Okay. Thank you very much for that and we will look forward to your next your next visit with us. And Mr. McCall, don't go anywhere. anywhere. The next item on the agenda is the report on human resources
121update and for that I call Mr. McCall and Miss Hanssbury. Good evening. So tonight we want to bring an uh human resources update to you. Of course, today I have with me uh Miss Susan Stanberry. I say the competent Susan Stanberry who's the director of staffing and lensure. To be careful about that because she was the one who actually filled my shoes when I left the director uh position. So I don't want to say too much about that. So we're going to talk about that next. All right. So next slide. Here we go. Thank you. So good evening. We're going to start off talking about um the last few years of teacher staffing staffing on opening day of school. And you'll see on this chart that in 2223 school year, we started with over 300
122vacancies for teachers. And this year, we actually made great strides and um started with 34.4 vacancies. And as of the end of last week, I'm happy to say we're down to 28. So, we've really um made some great great wins across um the teacher staffing for the start of the school year. So, I see why you're saying that that was the reason. I think 2023 home might have been the director of staffing just, you know, that could be the the piece, right? Well, I want to bring to your attention on the teacher resignations over the last um three years. Of course, we've seen a uh decrease of 27% in our teacher resignations from 20 school year 22 23 at 74746 to 2425 at 543. The one thing I want of course uh which I think
123has been asked before is about the exit surveys. currently in Oracle. We do have a link that is provided in Oracle for our uh staff members who do uh resign or retire what have you from the system to actually commit to complete information on um reasons that go beyond the uh reasons that are exhibited for uh for resignations or retirements. And in this particular um survey of course it is completely voluntary. uh so that information that we collect from them uh is uh at will for that employee as they uh submit their resignations. More importantly, what we like to include is information about the state conferences. That is something that we've instituted of course to see those reasons why uh individuals are staying with uh team BCPS. In this next slide, you see the teacher
124retention rates. I think this may have been shared with you previously. Over the last uh three years, of course, we see a steady increase in our BCBS teacher retention rate. In 2223, we're at 89.91. The following year at 90.98 uh excuse me, 84 90.84 and then 2425 at 93.5%. And as we look across nationally as well as the state, we do see that uh we are above that for the for the nation as well as for Maryland which is at 89.3. So what are some of the reasons why we're able to retain these teachers? We have, of course, at the beginning of our school year, mandatory NEO or new educator orientation week and then the skillful training uh tr uh teacher training, year-long NEO supports for our teachers, then the revised mentorship program. But also
125keep in mind that we still have our consulting teachers, uh staff development teachers, and educator retention teachers. Those are school-based positions there. Turn it back over to Susan. Thank you. Next, I want to talk about our recruitment. So, with, as you know, we're into Oracle and our online recruitment cloud and our candidates now have a great opportunity. It's a a smooth, user-friendly um system where it's fairly intuitive and they start with their application there. They go through the hiring process right in Oracle. They begin their onboarding journeys and they become an employee all right within the system to smoothly transfer over all their information and have accurate information. um and employees in the right positions as we bring them on board. Both candidates um and current employees have the opportunity to utilize the talent community.
126Um that's an opportunity where they can go on and express interest in different types of positions. They may not see something posted today that they're looking for and then they will get an alert when we do post a position within that type of um employment that they're looking for. Thank you. Another piece of our recruitment is our um partnerships with our colleges and universities. Um we do have our BTAP program continuing. That's a real focus for our PAR educators to become teachers and we work closely with Loyal that um we work with Talson University to be able to offer um administrator and supervisor endorsements to for many of our teachers to extend their careers with us. This year we had a great opportunity to work with Talson for their fedtoed program to identify federal workers
127who were looking to transition into education. Um and as you know we have a national shortage still. So gaining more and more people to come to education is critical and a lot of our partnerships do focus on how our teachers can then become professionally certified. Um with Goucher we have programs for people to become professionally certified through secondary content areas as well as special education. And then we also have um Morland University is a new partnership that we've just established this year and they are helping us to um be able to professionally certify um both elementary and ESOL um content teachers. Another partnership that we have is with CCBC. They do a lot of work for all of our teachers who are conditionally certified to work through their own individual programs. In addition, we are
128working on a Maryland approved alternative preparation program with them um in order to become professionally licensed for special education. Buoie State University has been an ongoing partnership for us and there we work with specifically a master's program for special education and McDaniel has been a partner over the years as well and we have secondary content um areas to become again professionally certified as well as word languages. So, those are just some of the the important pieces of how we can continue to um retain our teachers u to what Mr. McCall was um discussing as well as ensure that they're professionally certified. A big piece of our fall recruitment um is also hosting different fairs. Uh we have this month we're working on a related services fair that'll be coming up. We are working um we
129work in conjunction with our schools and our students to participate in the annual H.B.CU college fair. And then we also have in November a fall fair where we will be working to recruit for all of our different positions throughout the district. Um we will be attending uh career fairs at H.B.CU this year. Morgan State University, we actually were just there last week. Coppen State University, Delaware State University, and Buouie State University. we will be working with all of their career fairs and attending those events. Um in addition we also attend a large number of education fairs. Um to highlight a few this um fall we have the University of Maryland their um college of education always asks us to participate in an evening with their students. We meet students from a variety of different like
130they could be sophomores, juniors and seniors. Uh we have an opportunity to interact with them through the evening. We sit on a panel there where we are able to answer questions with other employers and then we help them prepare for interviews for their future as well. So, we really get a nice evening um with students at at the University of Maryland. Um we're going to be attending the education fair with Frostber State University and then we also have the American Association of Employment where we'll be attending that fair as well. In addition to those fairs, we also continuously are working with social media and online opportunities um through LinkedIn, Indeed, and then diversity and ed. We are a member and have a great opportunity to work through their candidate pools and reach out to candidates
131for all of the host events that we host. They help us to um really publicize that through their their membership. And with that, of course, we thank you. So, thank you for that presentation and um the outreach that you just described is very exciting. So, um thank you. I'm sure that is a tremendous amount of um work to be at all those um events. Questions or comments from board members? Mr. McMillian, thank you. I got real excited Sunday I ran into a Chesapeake graduate who's a PAR educator and she's in the grow your own program. Great. So she's t she's been in the classroom for eight years as a par educator. She has one year to go to get her degree. And I question about student teaching. If she had to student teach considering that
132she had spent eight years in the classroom and she responded yes. Is there are there any waiverss for something like that or is that strictly up to the college that she's associated with? It is. It depends on the program that the individuals are with. Okay. Sometimes the undergraduate is a little um less likely to allow them to opt out. Whereas if they're in if they've already completed a bachelor's program and they're in a master's program, sorry, they can teach simultaneously while they complete their student teaching. Back in the day, and I admit that I'm older than dirt, that I was certified K through 12 and we had to spend 16 weeks in student teaching. We had a student teach eight weeks in elementary and eight weeks in a secondary setting. I'm curious. I don't know
133what they how long they have to student teach now, especially considering that she's going to be an elementary major. She is an elementary major. If if there's no waiver, what happens to her pay? If she was a parah and now she has to do the student teaching piece in order to get the degree, do we do we pay her in any form? So, what we could do if you want to send her our way and we could actually talk with her directly on her specifics, we'd be happy to to She didn't ask me to do anything. It was just in conversation, right? You know, it came about and then I of course I spent hours thinking about it. So, Oh, absolutely. No, no, we certainly don't want to lose anyone, but we certainly be happy
134to follow up with her to to explore what those options for. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Sure, Miss Donowski. Yes. Um I just had one question about our partnerships with the colleges and universities. What steps are we taking to ensure that these programs uh for our educators to get certified and or master's degrees or whatever that these um courses are aligned with best practices for our educators that they're not learning something that you know we necessarily don't want to the the incorrect way of teaching. I know there's there's different like so science of reading and we want to make sure that they're being taught that the correct way of for science of reading or um practical math applications. Um how we how are we making sure what are our steps to make sure that those you
135know are aligning with the best practices and standards for teaching. Sure. I'll get started. So, um, two things. Uh, I think Miss Stanbury will probably speak to the rubric that is used, um, that the team goes through before even making a recommend recommendation of a cohort to their chief before it comes to the board of education. That is a part of our rubric. But um additionally we are fortunate in the state of Maryland that the state department is making these uh things that you mentioned specifically around standards of mathematical practice science of reading a requirement um across the state. So I think those two things if I missed anything please add I think those two things are the ways that we're ensuring that the partnerships that we engage in are preparing our staff members to
136meet the needs of the students in our classrooms. It's cross-divisional when we look across to determine which cohorts we want to work closely with. So we ensure that it is meeting the needs of the teachers office as well. You you go I I know the state's making that a requirement. I'm just making sure that the college and university is making sure it's a requirement in their course to align with that standard. Yes. Yes. And they provide us when when we work with them as a partnership, they provide us exactly what their programs are going to entail and then we have a rubric that we look across and it's crossdivisional. It's just not HR looking at it to say is this something that we we work with um you know all the divisions to ensure. Thank
137you. Other questions? Um I had a question. you had mentioned the um stay conferences that you so I know exit conferences but so how do you determine who gets a stay conference or how are you doing that sampling? Um so when we look across the uh the system we see individuals who are actually at least we say 10 years or more uh and you may look at critical need areas like math or science um which everything's critical now right so uh we definitely uh uh use those as factors to determine which individuals uh we uh we do survey for those state conferences and that's not just with teachers because we also look across the system as well um when you're looking at other u positions in operations. So uh to that point though we have
138number of different factors 10 plus years critical need areas uh that we're looking at as well. Thank you. Let me see if we have anybody on teams that with a question. Don't see anybody anybody. Okay. Thank you very much for that report. Thank you. Um the next item on the agenda is board member comments and agenda setting if you have any. So if you do have a comment or an agenda setting item, please raise your hand or you can email me the agenda item. We will meet later in the week. Miss Harvey. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh a few things. one uh just thank you to our principles for all the work you do for our students and our families and for the system. Uh two, I wanted to thank those uh public those persons
139who spoke on public comment around the need for um services in special education. I appreciate the dialogue and I was encouraged to hear uh Dr. Roger state that they are already working on providing some updated information to us. And the last thing is a agenda request, agenda item request. I would uh like to have an update on the Northwest uh career and technical education, CTE for short, uh center that is in development, uh the funding, the planning, and where we are in the process for that. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else at this time? Miss Pumphrey? Yes. Um, I would like a report regarding any procedure changes that may have come regarding immigration enforcement. Um, I know that there was an emergency House Bill 10006. I'm not sure if it affects us or not, but
140I'd like to find out if it does. Um, and of course that would be anything that um is would be safe to to announce publicly as far as procedure is concerned. um specifically training for faculty um and our response procedure and any counseling for students or faculty members if detention occurs. Thank you, Miss Alleski. Thank you. Um uh just two quick things. The first thing I'm sure that Dr. Rogers would do this because she's terrific about it, but definitely um given the um the 21,000 uh employees that are currently impacted with um their paycheck, just regular updates. I know that you normally do, but you know, maybe let me clarify that, Miss Stleski. There are 21,3 I think it's 368 employees who receive paychecks. That's not people who have had issues with paychecks. Okay, that's
141how many people receive a paycheck every two weeks. Okay, thank you. I know it's a very, very small percent, but certainly as you work through the issues, just a regular update as you normally do would be greatly appreciated. And then the second thing just piggybacks on what Miss Harvey said about special ed. And I want to thank all of the community members that have spoken um both in email and in person tonight. And I just think specifically it would be really important to have specific data on speech and language, school psychologists, and special ed in general, including the changes in the percent of virtual employees compared to previous years and workload and case load changes as well from previous years. And thank you very much. Thank you. Still waiting. Um, let me check teams to
142see if anyone's hands up. Do you see anybody? Miss Harvey. Okay. Okay. The next item on the agenda is announcements. The board's next meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 21st, 2025 at 6:30. Thank you for joining us tonight, everyone. Um, the meeting is now adjourned.