Northwood eliminates block scheduling; Chevy Chase PTAs get creative during tough times

Two more articles from the Gazette: one about Northwood's decision to switch to a 7-period schedule, and another about how PTAs in Chevy Chase PTAs are taking on a new role. 

Northwood to eliminate block schedules in favor of everyday classes
By Jeanette Der Bedrosian

Vivian Scretchen's daughter, Vanessa, now a junior, chose to attend Northwood High School in Silver Spring because of its block schedule, and her mom says it's that schedule that contributed to her making the honor roll for the first time.

Ethan Barbee, a sophomore at the school, said the block schedule gives him an extra class he uses for an elective. And Brooks Boliek said his 15-year-old son, West, loves the school for its block schedule because it accommodates his dyslexia.

But next school year, Northwood will start operating on a daily schedule, with each student taking seven shorter classes a day rather than four longer classes a day every other day. The decision was made in an effort to help the school make adequate yearly progress on state tests, and also has a tie to labor issues—the new schedule requires teachers to teach five periods instead of six, according to Northwood Principal Dr. Henry Johnson. But parents and students who have grown to love the block schedule say they feel gypped by the change.

Johnson said the school is trying to improve athletic eligibility rates and meet state test score standards, which it has missed for the past two years. In 2010, Northwood missed adequate yearly progress for special education reading and math, according to the state testing site, www.mdreportcard.org. In 2010 reading, 51.2 percent of Northwood's special education students passed, while the benchmark for adequate progress is set at 72.7 percent. In 2010 math, 40.9 percent of Northwood's special education students passed, and the benchmark was set at 64.9 percent.

In 2009, the school failed to meet the benchmark graduation rate, the site says. Just below 80 percent of the school's students graduated that year, and in order to make adequate progress, 85.5 percent would have had to graduate.

"We've tried a number of things, but we haven't really looked at the schedule," he said about efforts to meet state test standards. "So maybe we should look at the schedule as an answer to some of these academic concerns we need to address."

The decision to change scheduling systems did not come from Johnson, he said. A stakeholder group of faculty, parents and students met in November to discuss possible changes to the schedule. That group decided to keep at least some form of block scheduling. The group then passed its findings on to the school's "instructional council," which consists of department chairs, resource teachers, supporting services members, administrators and faculty members.

The instructional council considered the recommendation from the stakeholder group but ultimately voted to institute an everyday schedule. Community Superintendant Bronda Mills signed off on the decision.

With this announcement, many parents have taken to Northwood's listserv to air their complaints about the shift. Parents involved in the stakeholder committee question why the instructional council went against their recommendation. Parents and students lament the loss of the eighth period, which many students used for theater, art or other elective classes. And they say the block schedule was one of the main reasons for picking Northwood out of the four options for high schools in the Downcounty Consortium.

"I can't escape this feeling that I'm being fed the bait-and-switch or something," said Brooks Boliek. "In my mind, I think that someone's given me a deal, and now they've reneged on that deal."

"It's a slap in the face," said Scretchen, who was on the stakeholder committee. "For them to not even come to us and let us know that these are the results before we hear it from the outside, that's a double slap. You want parents to be more involved, but why do we want to be involved when it's like this? When what we're doing doesn't mean anything?"

The change means each student will have seven 45-minute class periods a day. Formerly, each student had four 90 minute periods a day and saw each teacher every other day for a total of eight classes a week. With the new schedule, each teacher will teach five classes instead of six.

Upset parents say the shift to everyday scheduling means less instructional time—most classes take about 10 minutes for students to settle in. With longer classes, those 10 minutes don't mean much. But with 45-minute class periods, that's a substantial chunk of time, they say.

But Johnson said the instructional committee argued that it would help students to see their teachers every day, and it would cut the need for refreshers at the start of every class period.

"They felt very strongly about the decision they made," Johnson said. "I don't think it was a matter of the instructional council not listening to [the stakeholder group], I think they just felt so very strongly that a change needed to be made in order to improve instruction at the school. They're the ones with the students every day, and they see how the students perform and what challenges they face. They didn't discount it, they just felt very strongly about it."

Though some schools have shifted away from block schedules in recent years, several county high schools still have some sort of modified block schedule. Those schools include Blair, Blake, Kennedy, Watkins Mills and Wheaton high schools, according to MCPS Spokeswoman Lesli Maxwell. Maxwell said parents hoping for a change can go through the usual appeal process by filling out a complaint form that goes to school administration. The Board of Education also has the power to appeal the schedule change.

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As Chevy Chase school budgets shrink, role of PTA expands
By Sarah Gantz

As the Montgomery County Public School System continues to pare down its budgets, some Chevy Chase-area Parent Teacher Associations find themselves taking on a new role: subsidizing their schools, to make up for what the county is no longer able to provide.

PTA members say an increasing proportion of their fundraising efforts are being put toward basic school supplies and operations, rather than fun events and extras.

"In the past, the PTA has been in a role of community building and school spirit," said Jennifer Mitchell, the PTA president for Chevy Chase Elementary School. "But it's also become very important to supplement funds where the county or the school system can't get those funds."

Chevy Chase Elementary School's PTA is this year working to purchase computer carts that could be shared among classrooms to provide computer instruction. Budget cuts forced the school to close its computer lab this year, Mitchell said. The carts serve as miniature computer labs — each is equipped with a computer for teacher, a wireless printer and 10 smaller netbook laptops for students to share.

So far, the PTA has bought two carts, at about $6,000 each, and hopes to buy three or four more, Mitchell said.

In order to collect enough money for the carts, the PTA decided to scale down one of its biggest community events, a fall festival, Mitchell said. The event cost less than $1,000, she said, because the PTA was able to solicit donations from local businesses.

The Chevy Chase PTA's total revenue, which includes fundraising, member dues and program service revenue, was about $59,000 in 2008, according to the group's most recent tax filing. Mitchell said the group's revenue has remained about the same since, but declined to give a dollar amount.

The PTA at North Chevy Chase Elementary School has been adding to the list of school expenses it takes over from the county. When the county said it could no longer pay for the educational magazines teachers use, the PTA picked up the tab, about $1,300, said Sandra Chambers, the school's PTA president.

This year, the county cut the after-school bus, which brings home students who stay for a tutoring program. The PTA is paying for the bus, about $1,200.

"I think with the budget cuts, I'm not sure what's standard anymore," said Chambers. "With the budget cuts, the PTA is trying to pick up more and more."

The North Chevy Chase PTA's total revenue was about $43,000 in 2007, according to the group's tax filing. Chambers declined to discuss the group's more recent fundraising totals.

Not only are PTA's taking on more responsibility, some are raising more money and looking to alternative revenue sources.

Rosemary Hills Primary School's PTA has this school year raised more than three times as much money as years past, said the PTA's co-president, Holly Gross. The PTA has raised more than $60,000, about $18,000 of which will go toward the PTA's programs. The remainder will go to technology for the school, notably six Promethean boards, which will cost about $36,000. The school has four boards, which are interactive white boards, that are shared.

The PTA has always contributed to basic school needs, such as carpets for classrooms, but what's new, Gross said, is how they are raising money.

Standard fundraisers, such as a wrapping paper sale, have proven challenging to make profitable—people feel guilted into purchasing something they do not want to support a cause with vague definition.

Instead, the PTA has simply been asking for money — from parents, community members and even local governments.

Two parents, Sarah Brophy and Philip Giordano, addressed the Town of Chevy Chase's council in December to ask for $6,000 to put toward their goal. The town denied the request, but mentioned the PTA's request in its January newsletter and asked residents to consider contributing to their cause.

Neighboring Chevy Chase villages pitched in. Section 5 contributed $4,000 and Section 3 gave $2,500, with Section 3 residents contributing an additional $1,500, Giordano said.

"This was the easiest fundraiser I've ever done — just by asking people for the money just to write a check to the school," Gross said.

Effects of class size increase; FY 2012 school budget battle

Today, I have two articles regarding the budget from the Gazette. One discusses the effects of class size increases, and the other describes the upcoming FY 2012 school budget. What's your opinion on the budget? Leave a comment!


Montgomery's largest class size increases seen at elementary, high school levels
By Andrew Ujifusa

Montgomery County Public Schools saw the largest jumps in average class size among its youngest and oldest students, according to a report from the schools superintendent published last month.

The average size of a kindergarten class grew by almost one student, from 18.8 students in the 2009-2010 school year to 19.7 students this year, Superintendent of Schools Jerry D. Weast reported in a Dec. 21 memorandum to the Board of Education, while the average class size in grades 1 through 5 grew from 21.3 students to 22.2 students.

At the high school level, the average non-English class also jumped by nearly a student, from 25.2 students to 26.1 students, while the average high school English class size grew less, from 24.4 to 24.8 students. English classes are broken out because the classes are kept smaller due to the amount of writing that teachers must grade.

At the middle school level, average non-English class size grew from 24.6 to 25.2 students, while middle school English class size on average grew less than half a student, from 23.6 to 24 students.

Weast put the statistics in a positive light, writing to the school board: "It was expected that class sizes would grow by 1.0 student; therefore the results are better than expected. Elementary schools had the greatest increase in class size, because most of the higher-than-projected level of enrollment was at the elementary level."

Despite the school system's decision to increase its guidelines for the largest class sizes at all grade levels this year, the percentage of classes at some levels that the school system considers "oversized" still grew in some cases.

For example, the guideline for the maximum non-English high school class also grew from 32 students last year to 33 students, but the number of those classes classified as oversized grew from 270 last year to 285 this year. The number of "oversized" kindergarten classes only grew from six to 13, but that was after the maximum guideline increased from 25 to 26 students.

After the school system increased the maximum class size guideline for English middle school classes from 28 to 29, the number of those "oversized" classes dropped from 84 to 59. Non-English middle school classes considered "oversized" decreased from 186 to 153, after the maximum guideline increased from 32 to 33.
Class size has become one of the most passionate conversation topics related to county schools, after the school system announcement earlier this year that it projected the one-student increase in average size.
Montgomery County Public Schools has an enrollment of 144,458 students this school year, an increase of 2,681 from last year, at the same time that 182 teacher positions were cut.

Weast has raised the possibility that class sizes could increase again next year if the school system receives significant budget cuts. Enrollment is expected to top 145,000. He has proposed a $2.16 billion budget for next year, $59.6 million more than this year's budget.

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Another battle shaping up this year over Montgomery County schools budget
by Andrew Ujifusa

After hearing school and county leaders argue over how much money was too much and not enough for education, one parent at a forum Monday said he was already predicting one bad outcome for next school year.

"I gather from the conversation that class size is going to go up," said Larry Edmonds of Burtonsville, the cluster coordinator for Paint Branch High School.

Edmonds spoke at a forum held by the Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations at Montgomery County Public Schools headquarters in Rockville. Leaders discussed what should happen to the school system's operating budget next fiscal year as enrollment rises, resources continue to shrink and the possibilities loom that the state will cut K-12 education aid and dump more public employee pension costs on counties.

With his proposed $2.16 billion budget for fiscal 2012 on the table, including $82 million in additional money from the county, Superintendent of Schools Jerry D. Weast counseled patience.
After noting that "no one here is an advocate on behalf of reducing staff in schools," Edmonds asked Weast whether the school system had a plan in place for determining which teachers should be let go first, if some have to be cut.

Weast replied that there was, but that the decision might have to be made in the latter stages of fiscal 2011, which ends June 30, because of uncertainty over state funding.

"We're just not going to know until maybe June this year, and that doesn't give us much time to do the processes we have to," said Weast, who is set to retire effective July 1.

Included in the list of the Parent-Teacher Association's priorities is no further increase in average class size and no reduction in academic intervention, special education and the number of reading teachers.
The average kindergarten class size was 19.7 students this year, up from 18.8 students last year. The largest class sizes this year are in non-English high school courses, with an average of 26.1 students, up from 25.2 students.

Several audience members, in support of the association's priorities, sported bright yellow shirts with a "Got Staff?" sticker pinned on the back, above the slogan "Smarter Growth for Smarter Kids."

The association's goal of preventing another class size increase dovetails with the 152 new classroom positions Weast plans to create in fiscal 2012 to keep up with a growing student population, projected to increase from 144,458 this year to more than 145,000 next year.

But the association's desire to stave off classroom staff cuts easily could wilt. When the school system's budget shrank by $96 million this fiscal year, 182 teacher positions eventually were cut.

While Weast assumes a $28 million increase in total state funds for the school system, school board member Philip Kauffman (At large) of Olney raised the possibility of a 5 percent cut in public school aid from the General Assembly. This fiscal year, the state provided $488 million in total funding.

"My fear is that we may be looking back on this time as the beginning of the end," Kauffman said.

County Councilman George Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park said Weast's budget, which assumes $1.497 billion in county funding, did not match with fiscal facts and the needs of police and fire departments, libraries and other county agencies.

"We are not going to fund his budget, because we don't have the money," Leventhal said.

He said the county should get credit now for past generosity, because in the decade prior to 2009 the county funded schools on a per-pupil basis by $577 million more than state law required. As a result, the school system qualified for state aid increases, which occur when enrollment increases.

Leventhal added that some form of pay cut was on tap for fiscal 2012 for all public employees, in the form or furloughs or other cuts. Raising taxes, meanwhile, simply would cause the county to fall further behind Fairfax County, Va., in the quest to attract new businesses, he said.

For fiscal 2011, all county employees except school system employees were required to take furlough days. County Council members did suggest teachers take furloughs on classroom planning days, but school officials balked at the idea.

"We're all going to take home less in our paychecks," Leventhal said.

But school board members said Weast's budget, while it carried a big price tag, simply kept the school system from losing ground.

Referring to the conflict between the school board and council last year, which culminated in the threat of a lawsuit by the school board against the council over cuts, school board member Laura Berthiaume (Dist. 2) of Rockville commented, "It's certainly better to do it with us than do it to us."

But without knowing what burdens state government will ask counties to bear, school board members said trying to read the tea leaves was very difficult.

Weast's budget still needs the school board's approval. The board will vote on the budget Feb. 8, after public hearings, hosted by the Board of Education, on Jan. 12 and Jan. 19.

Describing the substance of the conversation between the school board and council members, Ted Willard, the association's curriculum coordinator, observed, "This feels to me like a game of chicken with two school buses."

Montgomery County Honor Rolls

Check out the list of students on the honor roll as of December 2010! It's located on the Gazette's website, and includes most high schools and some middle and elementary schools. Click here to see.

Debate: Teacher Pay and the Budget

This was a piece today in the Rockville Patch by Brandon Rippeon and Saqib Ali. What would you cut from the budget? Post a comment!

Rippeon's point:

The Gazette's Dec. 22nd issue said County Council members said teachers should make the same sacrifices as county employees, who are giving up pay raises. What should be the focal point is not the compensation of MCPS' overworked and underpaid classroom teachers, but the overwhelming number of administrators and bureaucrats whose titular positions and ridiculous pay packages are sapping the school system of badly needed resources.

Here are just a few of the outlandish positions and salaries one could only find in Montgomery County where the entire school system is run to benefit the few (administrators and bureaucrats) at the expense of the many (students and classroom teachers).

• A "video services technician" who received $81,899 last fiscal year to convert VHS material to DVD.
• An "information technology specialist" who for only $103,609 provided telecommunication services.
• An "instructional specialist" and a "coordinator" in the Office of School Performance who received a combined $282,807 to work on curriculum development.
• And a "web producer" whom I am confident earned every dollar of his/her $102,997 taxpayer funded compensation package.

These are not individual positions. There are thousands of them throughout the 22,000 strong MCPS work force.

Compare those positions and salaries to the income of a classroom teacher with BA degree who is paid a whopping $46,410.

The current county revenue shortfall and budget crisis have given the County Council a fortuitous opportunity to exert control over the selfish and reckless school board and MCPS leadership. The council should mandate a total budget and personnel review by an outside auditor. I would be very curious to see how those 1,000-plus MCPS issued credit cards are being used. The taxpayer has overfunded MCPS maintenance of effort requirements by over $500 million over the past decade; we have done our part.

Throughout the upcoming negotiations MCPS should remember only 25 percent of Montgomery County residents have children in the public school system, yet MCPS is spending more than 55 percent of our total budget.

Ali's counterpoint:

Let me get this straight: You think the real problem with MCPS's budget is that there are too many administrative and overhead expenses when compared against classroom teachers' salaries?

That's certainly an original argument. But I suspect it's wrong.

A certain amount of overhead positions are necessary for smoothly running one of the country's larger school system. It's easy to lampoon and demagogue them as you have done. I would actually agree that no-one should be getting paid $82,000 a year simply to transfer VHS to DVDs, but I doubt that is their only duty. I certainly can't find anyone willing to substantiate that.

The issue that the County Council is currently wrestling with is how to close next year's $300 million dollar deficit (out of a total budget of $4.3 billion). There are only two choices: increasing taxes or deeply cutting services. Cuts are more likely since many politicians read the victory of the 2008 "Ficker Amendment" to be a mini-tax rebellion by the county's residents — a sort of "We can't take it any more!" moment.

So the four-point-three-billion-dollar question is: Where will these cuts fall? Will they come out of the school system's hide? Or the non-school system county employees (firemen, policemen, other civil servants)? Will they take the shape of layoffs, furloughs, reduced employee benefits or increased employee contributions?

These questions will be resolved by byzantine maneuvering and vicious knife-fights in the County Council and among various labor unions over the coming months. All the while players in this tense drama will be positioning themselves to run for higher office in 2014.

These budget-balancing votes in Annapolis and Rockville in 2011 might be the most significant (and controversial) votes these politicians take their entire four year terms.

MCCPTA Operating Budget Forum

Tonight, I went to the MCCPTA Operating Budget Forum. Members of the Board of Education and County Council were present for questions about the Operating Budget from MCCPTA. It was a very exciting and interesting event, to say the least.

There was some debate between the Board and Council about meeting Maintenance of Effort, which I explained in my previous post today. Can we meet it? At the forum, Councilmember Leventhal stated that the council would be unable to fund MCPS at the level proposed in Dr. Weast's Operating Budget. This level is $10,664 per student, for a total projected contribution of $1.497 billion.

Members of the Board stated that meeting Maintenance of Effort is a requirement under law and is necessary to maintain the quality of education in Montgomery County, especially because we are projected to have an increase in enrollment next year of over 2,800 kids.

However, councilmembers also brought up several important points. The school system's current budget is around 57% of the county's, and Dr. Weast's proposed budget would bring the school system's operating budget to approximately 62% of the county's budget. Many other departments in county government will have to suffer cuts, including the library system. In addition, last year all county employees (except those in the school system) had furloughs.

As you can see, there's merit to both arguments. However, I do believe that the school system should be funded at Maintenance of Effort. In the end, this budget forum's really helped me to understand other points of view. It was informative, and I encourage everyone to show up to the Board's Operating Budget hearings on January 12th and 19th.

Young Activists Card

I received this card from the Takoma Park Young Activists Club. It looks great! Thanks for taking the time to contact me. Your concerns are being heard, and I really appreciate your advocacy!

What is Maintenance of Effort?

If you're keeping up with the budget, you're probably curious what Maintenance of Effort is.

Well, what is it? Maintenance of Effort is essentially a state law that sets a funding "floor" for county governments. It requires them to spend at least the same amount per student as the previous fiscal year. More students (such as the projected increase of 2,585 in 2012) results in more money.

This year's Maintenance of Effort requirement is $10,664 per student. What does that mean? Well, it means that we spent $10,664 per student in fiscal year 2010. Why 2010? Last year we didn't meet Maintenance of Effort and faced a possible fine. Luckily, the fine was waived. So, the requirement for Maintenance of Effort this year is at the level from 2010.

What have we learned? Well, in 2010 we tried to shift $79 million in school construction debt into the operating budget. However, the Attorney General said this was illegal because it "artificially" satisfies the Maintenance of Effort requirement.

How is this issue important this year? Well, the county needs to provide $1.497 billion in local funding. Otherwise, we could face a penalty of up to $27 million in loss of increased state aid.

To sum it all up, the County Council is our local funding body. As stakeholders in the school system, it is important that we convey and emphasize the importance of being funded at Maintenance of Effort level.

So, to the County Council: please fund us at Maintenance of Effort level! Our educational system needs it, even in such dire economic times. Thank you!

A piece by Arne Duncan

Today I encountered an interesting essay on the Washington Post written by current Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Tell me what you think!

School reform: A chance for bipartisan governing

By Arne Duncan

With a new Congress set to begin, key members on both sides of the aisle are poised to rewrite the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). In fact, the work has been underway for much of the past year, and few areas are more suited for bipartisan action than education reform.

On many issues, Democrats and Republicans agree, starting with the fact that no one likes how NCLB labels schools as failures, even when they are making broad gains. Parents, teachers, and lawmakers want a system that measures not just an arbitrary level of proficiency, but student growth and school progress in ways that better reflect the impact of a school and its teachers on student learning.

Most people dislike NCLB's one-size-fits-all mandates, which apply even if a community has better local solutions than federally dictated tutoring or school-transfer options. Providing more flexibility to schools, districts and states - while also holding them accountable - is the goal of many people in both parties.

Both Republicans and Democrats embrace the transparency of NCLB and the requirement to disaggregate data to show achievement gaps by race, income, English proficiency and disability, but they are concerned that NCLB is driving some educators to teach to the test instead of providing a well-rounded education.

That is why many people across the political spectrum support the work of 44 states to replace multiple choice "bubble" tests with a new test that helps inform and improve instruction by accurately measuring what children know across the full range of college and career-ready standards, and measures other skills, such as critical-thinking abilities.

NCLB's accountability provisions also prompted many states to lower standards, but governors and legislators from both parties in all but a handful of states have rectified the problem by voluntarily adopting higher college and career-ready standards set by state education officials.

Finally, almost no one believes the teacher quality provisions of NCLB are helping elevate the teaching profession, or ensuring that the most challenged students get their fair share of the best teachers. More and more, teachers, parents, and union and business leaders want a real definition of teacher effectiveness based on multiple measures, including student growth, principal observation and peer review.

These issues are at the heart of the Obama administration's blueprint for reauthorizing ESEA: more flexibility and fairness in our accountability system, a bigger investment in teachers and principals, and a sharper focus on schools and students most at risk.

This common-sense agenda also reflects the quiet bipartisan revolution underway at the state and local level. With the incentive of the Race to the Top program, governors, states and districts across America are implementing comprehensive plans to reform education systems and boost student achievement.

School districts and their local partners in inner cities and rural communities are overcoming poverty and family breakdown to create high-performing schools, including charters and traditional public schools. They are taking bold steps to turn around low-performing schools by investing in teachers, rebuilding school staff, lengthening the school day and changing curricula.

In partnership with local teacher unions, districts are finding new ways to evaluate and compensate their teachers and staff their schools. Some districts have reshaped labor agreements around student success - and teachers have strongly supported these groundbreaking agreements. On Capitol Hill, numerous internal meetings with staff as well as external meetings with educational stakeholders have occurred, several hearings have also been held, and some legislative language has been drafted and shared at the staff level.

The urgency for reform has never been greater. Today, American students trail many other nations in reading, math and science, and a quarter of them do not graduate high school on time. Many college students do not finish, despite the clear national need for more college-educated workers who can successfully compete in the global economy.

President Obama in 2009 set a national goal that America will once again lead the world in college completion by 2020. With our economic and national security at risk, this is a goal Republicans, Democrats and all Americans can unite behind.

Since coming to Washington, I've been told that partisan politics inevitably trumps bipartisan governing. But if I have learned anything as education secretary, it is that conventional wisdom serves to prop up the status quo - and is often wrong.

In the past two years, I have spoken with hundreds of Republican and Democratic mayors, governors and members of Congress. While we don't agree on everything, our core goals are shared - and we all want to fix NCLB to better support reform at the state and local level. So, let's do something together for our children that will build America's future, strengthen our economy and reflect well on us all.

Budget cuts and school gardens

I have two interesting articles today. The first is a piece from the Baltimore Sun about our state's budget crisis.

Budget cuts loom, taxes possible as Annapolis takes on shortfall

By Julie Bykowicz, The Baltimore Sun

A gaping budget gap awaits Gov. Martin O'Malley and Maryland lawmakers when they return to Annapolis this month — a problem that persists even after three years of recession-driven trimming and now amplified by the evaporation of federal stimulus aid.

But fresh from re-election to four-year terms, officials have the political capital this year to make unpopular choices.

O'Malley, a Democrat who campaigned heavily on his commitment to education and secured the backing of the state's largest labor union, is considering cuts to schools and reductions to the state work force. And the Democratic-controlled legislature, emboldened by its immunity to November's national Republican tide, is weighing tax increases, including those on alcoholic beverages and gasoline.

"The general rule is, get the hard decisions out of the way early," said former Gov. Parris N. Glendening, a Democratic elected official for 31 years. "Even if there are budget-balancing gimmicks left, it's still better to just make the tough calls now so that voters can see the full benefits of what you've done by the next election."

Such was the case with O'Malley's first term. He called a special session of the legislature in 2007, pushed through a billion-dollar tax plan and laid the foundation for a slot machine gambling program.

Due largely to a national recession and a slow start for gambling, the state's budget remains awash in red, with as much as a $1.6 billion shortfall in the next fiscal year's $13 billion operating budget and a structural deficit — the persistent difference between state revenue and state spending — of about $2 billion, legislative analysts say.

A committee of top legislators recently recommended that the governor shrink the structural deficit by at least one-third this year, meaning that O'Malley would need to reduce spending by about $667 million, in addition to closing the gap in the operating budget.

The governor has said that his fiscal 2012 spending plan, to be unveiled this month, reflects the "new normal" of more than 7 percent unemployment and lower revenue from income taxes and other sources. He has pledged not to introduce new or increased taxes, though he has said that he would be open to revenue proposals approved by the General Assembly.

In recent memos and conversations with agency leaders and advocates, state officials have revealed some of O'Malley's options for cost savings.

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This second article discusses the ongoing issue of school gardens.

Frustration sprouts in Montgomery County over resistance to school gardens

By Michael Birnbaum

Charlotte Schoeneman thought her daughter's Takoma Park school would welcome a parent proposal to start a vegetable garden; the city typically embraces all things green.

But she and other Montgomery County parents were rebuffed, told that one person's tomato is another one's maintenance nightmare. School officials cited allergies, pests and possible summertime neglect as reasons for concern.

The parents, who were inspired in part by first lady Michelle Obama's national campaign to fight childhood obesity, said they're puzzled by the school system's decision. In D.C., which has the highest rate of adolescent obesity in the country, several public schools have gardens, and a recently passed law encourages more. Arlington County boasts about 25.

"Vegetable gardens teach kids that there's more to a meal than just chicken nuggets on a plastic tray," Schoeneman said.

Schoeneman said that she and other members of the Takoma Park Elementary School PTA have worked to improve food at the school, though their victories have been minor at best. The school's principal nixed a proposal to use school property for a garden, Schoeneman said, saying she was worried about attracting pests.

Schoeneman said she enjoys spending time with her second-grade daughter in their own Takoma Park vegetable garden, which attracts nary a rat.

"If you had a fruit tree, you could see the fruit growing on the tree," Schoeneman said. "If you had a little plot, you could have beans and some chard and some onions. You could watch those things growing on their own."

Montgomery County's handful of school vegetable gardens came about only because some schools went rogue and built them without central office permission. Parents whisper about them and try to shield them from publicity.

A February letter from Superintendent Jerry D. Weast to the school board outlined his concerns.

"Because vegetable gardens are a food source for pests, create liabilities for children with food allergies, and have other associated concerns, the Department of Facilities Management staff has not approved gardens designed to produce food," he wrote.

He suggested instead that the school system work with the Montgomery Department of Parks to build gardens on park property near school sites. Parents say that's not a meaningful option for teachers who want to make growing food part of the school day.

When the gardens are off school grounds, "it's kind of pointless, because it's not acting within the curriculum, and the teachers couldn't embrace it," said Kristen Dill, another Takoma Park Elementary parent. She has a degree in horticulture and grew up in Nebraska. But she's been stymied in the suburban wilds of Montgomery County.

"Elsewhere, there's so much energy right now" around vegetable gardens at schools, Dill said. In Montgomery, by contrast, "it feels like molasses," she said.

School officials said they are working to develop standardized plans for container gardens that schools could use as soon as this spring. The school system also has allowed some property near administrative buildings - not schools - to be used for community vegetable gardens. But many parents and community advocates say that's not enough.

"There are school systems around the country that are embracing this," said Gordon Clark, director of Montgomery Victory Gardens, a group pushing for community gardens. "Any school that wants to do it should have some support from the school system to do it any way they want."

Parents and teachers around Montgomery County, including at Takoma Park and Piney Branch elementary schools and Montgomery Blair High School, have tried unsuccessfully to start vegetable gardens.

Montgomery officials said there is no ban against vegetable gardens and cite the schools that have them to prove their point. But they said they have discouraged them until now due to concerns about pests such as rats and groundhogs, who might be attracted to the vegetables, and with student allergies to certain crops. Nevertheless, they're committed to the idea, they said.

"Any school in Montgomery County that wants a vegetable garden, there will be a way for them to have a vegetable garden," said Sean Gallagher, assistant director of the school system's Department of Facilities Management.

Initially, he said, schools will have an approved template for a portable container garden. Later, "if a school has shown they can do really well with a container garden," they might be able to move on to more traditional raised beds. "We just want to give them the right guidance to be successful."

Many other local school systems have embraced gardens without such caveats. The first lady made headlines when she invited students from Bancroft Elementary School in the District to help plant the White House vegetable garden, and she made more headlines when she in turn visited Bancroft to help students plant theirs.

The D.C. Healthy Schools Act, passed in May, created a program that gives grants to D.C. schools to help them set up school gardens and encourages them to create compost piles as part of them. At least nine schools have vegetable gardens.

And in Arlington, the school system has encouraged gardens without exerting significant direct control.

"There's no central policy of 'this is where your garden's going to be, this is what you're going to grow.' It's up to the school," said Frank Bellavia, a spokesman for the school system.

Bellavia said he had not heard of any issues with pests or allergies and that someone from the community typically maintains the gardens over the summer. Vegetables from the school gardens usually are donated to a food bank, he said.

Meanwhile, Montgomery parents have lowered their expectations.

"I'm not really hoping for much," said Schoeneman. "I just keep plugging away, and maybe something good will happen as the tides turn."

Meetings

Hey everyone!

It's time to kick off the year with a few announcements.

First, there will be an informational meeting for all who are interested in becoming the next SMOB! It'll be on January 4th from 5-6 PM at Carver Educational Services Center (850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, MD 20850).

Second, there will be a SMOB Council meeting on January 6th from 6-8 PM at CESC. We will be discussing our new outreach program targeted at specific schools (morning announcements and newspapers) as well as the SMOB voting rights bill. We will also begin preparations for the May town hall. Anyone is welcome to come and provide their opinion!

I'm looking forward to seeing everybody there. Happy new year!