Latest news with #FrederickCountyBoardofEducation
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
School board adopts districtwide cellphone policy for students
After months of discussion, the Frederick County Board of Education in a split vote approved a districtwide cellphone usage policy for students. The school board began drafting Policy 118 in September 2024. Frederick County Public Schools Superintendent Cheryl Dyson at the beginning of this school year added new regulations in the Student Code of Conduct for device use in school. She has said the guidelines intended to build a foundation for the policy. The school board voted 4-3 on May 21 to approve the policy. School board members Rae Gallagher, Dean Rose, Karen Yoho and Janie Inglis Monier voted in favor of the policy. Colt Black, Jaime Brennan and Nancy Allen voted against the policy. Although expectations for device usage in school was outlined in the Student Code of Conduct, consequences for violating the policy were not enforced in Term 1, which began Aug. 21, 2024, and ended Oct. 29, 2024. The school district has said it wanted to familiarize students, staff members and families of the expectations without consequences. FCPS in Term 2 began enforcing those consequences. Consequences for violating cellphone usage expectations could include a school administrator confiscating the device. This would require a parent or guardian to come to the school and get the device back. Repeated offenses would result in an administrative referral. Guidelines for device use differ between grade levels. The word 'devices' includes smart watches, tablets and e-readers, and is flexible to include new technology created in the future. Elementary school students must have devices silenced and out of sight throughout the entire school day. This means elementary school students cannot use cellphones during non-class periods, on FCPS transportation to and from school, and at lunch. Middle school students are permitted to use cellphones for 'expressly approved instructional purposes,' as well as on FCPS transportation. They are prohibited from using devices at lunch and between classes. High school students are allowed to use cellphones also for instructional purposes, on FCPS transportation, at lunch and between classes. To create the policy, FCPS has said it spoke with community members, including school administrators and students. School board discussion At the school board meeting on May 21, FCPS chief legal counsel Steven Blivess said while the draft policy contained a mandatory annual review and potential update, staff members were recommending a two-year review instead. He said an annual review of the policy would be too cumbersome. 'Every year, the technology changes a lot, but I don't know that it changes quite that quickly,' Blivess said. He added that three school board members together can bring the policy back to the Policy Committee for further revision. Yoho mentioned at the meeting that five bills attempting to govern student cellphone use in schools all failed in the Maryland General Assembly this past legislative session. Brennan said she liked the policy, but her concern is that the school district will not be 'significantly enforcing' the policy. She mentioned an incident that happened when FCPS students accessed a video chatting website called Thundr on school-issued Chromebooks and on FCPS Wi-Fi. A parent of a student at Oakdale Middle School said he spoke with parents of students who accessed the website, and said students saw sexual content during live video chats while they watched on their Chromebooks in school and on the school bus. FCPS in response said staff members at Oakdale Middle submitted requests to block the website on March 5 and 6, and that the website was blocked on March 7. Tom Saunders, the director of middle schools at FCPS, said at the school board meeting that he meets with the middle school principals every two weeks to discuss different problems to ensure consistency across the 13 middle schools in the district. Black said at the meeting that he was concerned about the section of the policy that discusses violations because the policy reads: 'Examples of violations may include, but are not limited to ...' The policy then lists 20 examples of device use that would violate the policy, including racism, sexual harassment, and installing or using unauthorized software. Black said this part of the policy was too open to interpretation, and asked if there were more examples the school board would need to list for that section to not be open-ended. 'And if not, I think we need to close the door on that, so it's very specific and spelled out, so that this can be clearly followed by administration,' he said. Black said an open-ended section like this leaves room for uneven implementation and application across schools. Blivess said the policy has a 'pretty comprehensive list,' and there was no way the policy could predict every example of a violation of the policy. 'We have some very smart students who may find ways to make use of it that we didn't anticipate, and to create a closed system, like you're suggesting, would mean that if they found a way to use it that was outside of this 20-item list,' FCPS couldn't invoke the policy for appropriate consequences, he said.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
School board adopts districtwide cellphone policy for students
After months of discussion, the Frederick County Board of Education in a split vote approved a districtwide cellphone usage policy for students. The school board began drafting Policy 118 in September 2024. Frederick County Public Schools Superintendent Cheryl Dyson at the beginning of this school year added new regulations in the Student Code of Conduct for device use in school. She has said the guidelines intended to build a foundation for the policy. The school board voted 4-3 on May 21 to approve the policy. School board members Rae Gallagher, Dean Rose, Karen Yoho and Janie Inglis Monier voted in favor of the policy. Colt Black, Jaime Brennan and Nancy Allen voted against the policy. Although expectations for device usage in school was outlined in the Student Code of Conduct, consequences for violating the policy were not enforced in Term 1, which began Aug. 21, 2024, and ended Oct. 29, 2024. The school district has said it wanted to familiarize students, staff members and families of the expectations without consequences. FCPS in Term 2 began enforcing those consequences. Consequences for violating cellphone usage expectations could include a school administrator confiscating the device. This would require a parent or guardian to come to the school and get the device back. Repeated offenses would result in an administrative referral. Guidelines for device use differ between grade levels. The word 'devices' includes smart watches, tablets and e-readers, and is flexible to include new technology created in the future. Elementary school students must have devices silenced and out of sight throughout the entire school day. This means elementary school students cannot use cellphones during non-class periods, on FCPS transportation to and from school, and at lunch. Middle school students are permitted to use cellphones for 'expressly approved instructional purposes,' as well as on FCPS transportation. They are prohibited from using devices at lunch and between classes. High school students are allowed to use cellphones also for instructional purposes, on FCPS transportation, at lunch and between classes. To create the policy, FCPS has said it spoke with community members, including school administrators and students. School board discussion At the school board meeting on May 21, FCPS chief legal counsel Steven Blivess said while the draft policy contained a mandatory annual review and potential update, staff members were recommending a two-year review instead. He said an annual review of the policy would be too cumbersome. 'Every year, the technology changes a lot, but I don't know that it changes quite that quickly,' Blivess said. He added that three school board members together can bring the policy back to the Policy Committee for further revision. Yoho mentioned at the meeting that five bills attempting to govern student cellphone use in schools all failed in the Maryland General Assembly this past legislative session. Brennan said she liked the policy, but her concern is that the school district will not be 'significantly enforcing' the policy. She mentioned an incident that happened when FCPS students accessed a video chatting website called Thundr on school-issued Chromebooks and on FCPS Wi-Fi. A parent of a student at Oakdale Middle School said he spoke with parents of students who accessed the website, and said students saw sexual content during live video chats while they watched on their Chromebooks in school and on the school bus. FCPS in response said staff members at Oakdale Middle submitted requests to block the website on March 5 and 6, and that the website was blocked on March 7. Tom Saunders, the director of middle schools at FCPS, said at the school board meeting that he meets with the middle school principals every two weeks to discuss different problems to ensure consistency across the 13 middle schools in the district. Black said at the meeting that he was concerned about the section of the policy that discusses violations because the policy reads: 'Examples of violations may include, but are not limited to ...' The policy then lists 20 examples of device use that would violate the policy, including racism, sexual harassment, and installing or using unauthorized software. Black said this part of the policy was too open to interpretation, and asked if there were more examples the school board would need to list for that section to not be open-ended. 'And if not, I think we need to close the door on that, so it's very specific and spelled out, so that this can be clearly followed by administration,' he said. Black said an open-ended section like this leaves room for uneven implementation and application across schools. Blivess said the policy has a 'pretty comprehensive list,' and there was no way the policy could predict every example of a violation of the policy. 'We have some very smart students who may find ways to make use of it that we didn't anticipate, and to create a closed system, like you're suggesting, would mean that if they found a way to use it that was outside of this 20-item list,' FCPS couldn't invoke the policy for appropriate consequences, he said.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Activist flouts decorum with protest at school board meeting
Shaun Porter, a confrontational activist, walked up to the Frederick County Board of Education dais at a meeting on Wednesday, turned around so that his butt faced them and pulled his shorts down, as part of a protest of recent board actions. As he addressed the board during a public comment period, Porter used vulgarities while expressing his disapproval for the school district's gender identity policy. School board member Janie Inglis Monier said in an interview on Thursday that Porter did not also pull his underwear down, and board members 'just saw his gray boxer briefs.' Porter said in an interview on Thursday that his goal was to draw attention to First Amendment rights regarding the district's gender identity policy, the removal of a school board candidate from a recent meeting and an investigation into a school board member's language from earlier this year. 'An outrageous First Amendment-protected demonstration of my artistic free expression was needed, and that is exactly what transpired last evening,' he said. Katie Robine, a spokesperson for the Frederick County Sheriff's Office, wrote in a text message on Thursday that the sheriff's deputy at the school board meeting did not take any action against Porter. She wrote that under current legal standards, 'exposing one's buttocks in public is not considered a criminal offense under state law.' 'However, exposing one's genitalia in public is against the law and can result in criminal charges,' Robine wrote. Heather Fletcher, a registered school board candidate for the 2026 election, at a May 7 board meeting, was removed by a Frederick County Sheriff's Office deputy for sitting at the dais and claiming to be an elected school board member. FCPS requested a trespass order against her because of the incident, but the order was lifted after one day by the Sheriff's Office because Fletcher did not have ongoing charges. At the school board meeting on Wednesday, Porter greeted the board members by calling them 'c---suckers' and 'carpet munchers.' Porter scolded school board members for the Title IX investigation into a comment that board member Colt Black made in January of this year regarding the gender identity policy for Frederick County Public Schools. Policy 443 was created to 'prevent discrimination, stigmatization, harassment, and bullying of students who are transgender or gender nonconforming' and to 'create school cultures that are safe, welcoming, and affirming for all students.' The policy compels students, staff members and teachers to use students' preferred names and pronouns, and allows students to use restrooms, changing facilities and be on sports teams that match their gender identity. This week, the board's Policy Committee said it is considering amending the policy to no longer compel the use of preferred pronouns. Referring to compelled speech, Black at a Jan. 8 school board meeting said about transgender and gender non-conforming students: 'Just as much as you have a right to be you, we have our right to be free from you.' FCPS received 32 Title IX Discrimination and Harassment complaints that alleged Black's comment violated the policy and law. But an independent investigation — which other board members said was necessary due to the volume of complaints — found that Black's comments from that meeting did not violate Title IX. At Wednesday's meeting, Porter said the independent investigation 'backfired' on the school board members. 'Why don't you just let us do whatever the hell we want, as long as we're not breaking the law?' he said. 'And stop telling us what to do.' Calling the school board 'stupid' and 'childish' for 'going after' Black, Porter said he was going to 'artistically' express his disapproval of the investigation and of Policy 443. 'It's real simple,' he said. 'I am not going to use they/them pronouns, and you can't make me.' 'I'm going to do something really stupid and childish, too,' he added while approaching the dais. Porter then pulled his shorts down in front of the school board members and Superintendent Cheryl Dyson. Black said in an interview on Thursday that he supports Porter's rights and anyone else's right to 'redress grievance with government under the First Amendment.' He said he laughed when Porter pulled his shorts down because he found Porter's freedom of expression 'rather amusing.' 'I found his particular antics humorous and within reason under the First Amendment,' Black said. 'I think it's wonderful that individuals have that right in our country.' School board Vice President Dean Rose said in an interview on Thursday that it was a 'shame' that students, parents and staff members were at the meeting to get work done. 'There are a few individuals who are only interested in how many clicks, likes, views and retweets they get on social media,' he said. 'It's just a distraction.' Rose said he supports First Amendment rights, but does not 'support the way they're going about it.' 'I think it's important that we continue, as board members, to talk about decorum,' he said. Porter said he splits his time between Frederick and Washington counties. The Herald-Mail in April reported that three Washington County employees filed for peace orders against Porter because of his use of profanity at Washington County Board of Commissioners meetings. A Washington County District Court judge ruled against the request for peace orders. Porter has also confronted Washington County Board of Education members in similar ways by speaking at their meetings. He said in the interview that 'everything I do is stupid, childish, and most people find it hilarious.' Porter said 'it doesn't get any dumber than' what he did at Wednesday's meeting. 'But if you get upset about it, I win,' he said.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
In new run for school board, Fletcher focuses on fiscal responsibility
After an unsuccessful run for school board last year, Frederick County Board of Education candidate Heather Fletcher said she needs 'every minute' of campaign time before 2026. Fletcher, a former air traffic controller at Joint Base Andrews, said she pulled her children out of Frederick County Public Schools in 2021 because 'I didn't feel like it was a safe place.' 'They weren't listening to the parents,' she said. 'They had no concern over the parents.' Fletcher ran for a seat on the school board in 2022, but lost in the primary. She ran as a write-in candidate in 2024 and lost again. She received 21,185 votes, or 6.42% of all votes cast for school board candidates in the election. Fletcher said after the COVID pandemic, she made it her full-time job 'to inform the public about what's really happening in the schools.' 'I feel like if they know, and they still choose to elect these candidates, and they are informed voters, then that's their choice,' she said. 'But I feel like there's been so many lies and so much deceit that the regular person might not be researching these policies and the curriculum and have no idea what's going on in these schools.' Fletcher said her biggest priorities for the school system were school safety, fiscal responsibility, academic excellence and parental rights. She explains her priorities on her website, She said it was not fair to students or staff members at Brunswick High School, who deal with 'asbestos tiles crumbling on their heads and a roof leaking,' because the school board's room in the FCPS central office underwent construction last year. The Frederick News-Post reported in 2023 that community members advocated to the Frederick County Council about asbestos in Brunswick High School. In 2024, the school board met virtually from late February to early May, with one in-person meeting in April. The construction was for 'modernization ... including the installation of new audio and video equipment, to replace dated infrastructure utilized since the building opened in 2010,' according to an FCPS Facebook post. Fletcher said the construction was 'just a humongous waste of our taxpayer money.' She said she would 'cut absolutely everything that wasn't down to bare basics' in the budget if she were elected. 'Get rid of everything that is not absolutely necessary to improve our test scores, to help our teachers out,' she said. Fletcher said she volunteers as a teacher's assistant and a substitute at her children's school. FCPS said in 2023, 17 out of 42 elementary schools, excluding charter schools, had more students than state-rated capacity, according to the 2024 Educational Facilities Master Plan. 'I would much rather pay to have assistants' helping with teachers and class sizes than pay administrator salaries, she said. She said teacher's assistants could help with overcrowded classrooms. Fletcher has been outspoken against a districtwide transgender and gender nonconforming affirmation policy. Policy 443 was created to 'prevent discrimination, stigmatization, harassment, and bullying of students who are transgender or gender nonconforming' and to 'create school cultures that are safe, welcoming, and affirming for all students.' The policy compels students, staff members and teachers to refer to students by their preferred names and pronouns. Fletcher said that part of the policy is unconstitutional. 'They cannot force speech,' she said. 'In Policy 443, it says that whatever pronouns somebody wants to use, that the staff and teachers have to use it. You are violating our constitution.' The policy also allows students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that align with a student's gender identity, and allows students to bunk with students of the same gender identity for overnight field trips. She said if a student does not feel comfortable using the girls' or boys' bathrooms, they can use a private bathroom. 'If they're LGBTQIA, they identify as whatever. ... I don't want any person harmed,' she said. 'Nobody should be bullied.' In 2022, Fletcher checked out around 20 LGBTQ books from a pride month display at the Brunswick Library, saying she was 'disturbed' and worried it would prompt 'age-inappropriate' questions from young children. She returned the books a few days later. For the 2026 election, four seats are on the ballot. Casey Day, Jess Douglass, Chad King Wilson Sr. and David Migdal have filed as school board candidates. Current school board members Karen Yoho and Nancy Allen have said they are not running again. Board President Rae Gallagher and Vice President Dean Rose have said they are unsure if they will run again. The deadline to file to run is 9 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2026. The primary election is on June 30, 2026, and the general election is on Nov. 3, 2026.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
School board candidate hopes to focus on budget issues, overcrowded classes
As a special education teacher and a mother of four students in Frederick County Public Schools, Jess Douglass said she felt a compulsion to 'do something.' For her, doing something meant filing as a candidate for the Frederick County Board of Education race in the 2026 election. 'I've been attending board meetings, and the tenor and the tone of some of the things that I'm hearing from elected board members has been very concerning to me,' Douglass said in an interview on Monday. 'I just felt the absolute need to step forward.' Four school board seats are on the ballot. Current school board members Nancy Allen and Karen Yoho have said they are not running for reelection. Members Rae Gallagher and Dean Rose have said they are unsure if they will run again for their seats. Casey Day is the only other candidate besides Douglass who has filed to run so far. Douglass, who lives near Mount Airy, is a math special education teacher at the John L. Gildner Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents in Montgomery County. She also spent over five years as the local leader for the Frederick group of the Maryland chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a nonprofit organization working to prevent gun violence. She describes that experience on her campaign website, In 2018, Douglass ran as a Democrat for state Senate in District 4. She lost to incumbent Michael Hough, a Republican. From that experience, her first foray into politics, Douglass said, the most effective tactic she learned was to listen to what her potential constituents had to say. She said during her campaign for state Senate, 'I knocked on over 5,000 doors, and every one of them ... who answered the door and wanted to talk had something to say.' 'For me, it felt like a skill that I built and that I'm taking with me into this campaign,' Douglass said. 'I think listening to people builds their trust in you. People talk, and so I think as a candidate, it lends me some credibility with voters.' She said her main concern with the school system is ensuring safe and accessible school buildings. FCPS is among the fastest-growing school districts in Maryland. Douglass said the school district needs 'to address construction issues' to make sure schools are 'welcoming and conducive to learning.' 'There are a lot of buildings that need to be replaced,' she said. 'There's a lot of overcrowding. So, there are buildings that need to be either renovated to address that, or new construction for that.' Douglass added that overcrowding leads to increased class sizes, which are 'a big strain on teachers.' 'To have 40 kids in the classroom, you're just not getting the attention and differentiated instruction that students deserve, and students with [Individualized Education Plans] are legally obligated to receive,' she said. 'We really need to make sure that we're doing that for our students and for our staff.' Douglass said a growing school system also means budgetary constraints, especially 'with the cutbacks from the federal government and the budget issues that the state's having.' She said the current school board usually covers important issues, such as budgetary or staffing concerns. However, Douglass said, 'sometimes it feels like we're getting sidetracked by other concerns about policies that are already in place, and that are already working for our students and children.' Over the past four months, some school board members have renewed a fight against the school district's gender identity policy — Policy 443. 'Can we just move forward with the bigger issues of staffing and school construction and class sizes?' Douglass said. 'I would really like to put the focus back on improving the schools in ways that are meaningful for our families and for our children.' She said she wants to ensure that the priorities for the school board are 'those of our students and our staff and our families, and that Frederick County Public Schools is doing everything it can to support this massive influx of residents and this budgetary crisis that's coming our way.' 'That's serious, and needs to be handled seriously,' Douglass said. 'That's my intention.' The deadline to file for candidacy for the gubernatorial election is 9 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2026. The primary election is on June 30, and the general election is on Nov. 3.
