Just released: A memo from Superintendent Jerry Weast to the Board of Education regarding the Eastern Middle School Schedule Decision.
A number of parents are now requesting that MCPS provide additional staffing for a 5/8 schedule, similar to the Middle School Magnet Consortium schools. I would caution against this course of action, especially in the current budget environment. The 5/8 schedule is significantly more costly. I am confident that the “flex schedule” option will address the concerns of parents and provide options for students at Eastern Middle School.
And I am confident that a whole lot of people are no longer going to choose to send their kids to Eastern after the shabby way they and their kids have been treated.
[Update: See the Parent's Coalition blog for a take on the financial angle. Where--anywhere--have the numbers been broken out? At the meeting in early March, parents were told that this was not a budget issue. And now they say it is. My take...circling the wagons. They can't be seen as not backing a decision taken by a principal. If it's parents vs. a principal, the parents lose.]
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