The Board of Education of Charles County held its monthly meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 13. A complete meeting agenda is posted on BoardDocs here. Board meetings are streamed live at www.ccboe.com and archived on the Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/c/ccpsmd.

The following are important meeting updates. 

Superintendent Update

Superintendent of Schools Maria Navarro, Ed.D., in her report to the Board highlighted a successful start of the 2022-2023 school year, upcoming National Hispanic Heritage Month events and the nomination timeline for the teacher and principal of the year awards programs. Read her report here.

Oral update on the opening of schools

A panel of CCPS staff presented to the Board an oral update on the opening of schools. The panel included Michael Heim, chief of operations and supporting services; Kevin Lowndes, chief of teaching and learning; and Marvin Jones, Ed.D., chief of schools. The panel covered topics such as facilities and maintenance updates, transportation, curriculum and instruction updates, school administrative information and more. Mr. Heim shared an update about school bus operations and told the Board maintenance staff ensured schools were ready to open on Aug. 29. Dr. Jones told the Board the first few weeks of school were smooth but that students have expressed concerns about book bag rules and cell phone policy. Mr. Lowndes provided the Board with an update on the prekindergarten program enrollment, a pilot program in place at two middle schools in which students have more time for math and language arts and reported the Early College program was off to a successful start. The start of the update can be found at the 18-minute mark of the YouTube recording.

Staffing, recruitment, and retention update

Nikial Majors, chief human resources officer, provided a recruitment and staffing update presentation to the Board. Majors was joined by several members of the Office of Human Resources team, who shared new hire demographic data, vacancies open by school level and subject, substitute recruitment efforts and how staff has been marketing CCPS to prospective teacher candidates. Majors and her team were also joined by Velvet Gipson, director of professional learning, who shared information with the Board about retention programs, including the system’s focus on “grow your own” teacher education programs, as well as the district’s focus on expanding the National Board-Certified teacher cohort group. Lowndes also participated in the presentation to the Board and shared information about the Maryland State Department of Education LEADS program and how CCPS plans to focus on teacher recruitment and retention. Click here to view the presentation.

Blueprint for Maryland’s Future update

Christina Miller, coordinator of district innovation, shared an update with the Board about the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. In her presentation to the Board, Miller reviewed the five policy areas under the Blueprint, discussed a list of actions taken by CCPS to date, shared the CCPS Blueprint implementation timeline and highlighted the Blueprint area of the CCPS website. Miller told the Board that all updates and progress about the school system’s implementation of the Blueprint are posted to the CCPS website at https://www.ccboe.com/quick-links/blue-print-for-marylands-future. The presentation is posted here.

Project status update

Mr. Heim provided an update to the Board about construction and renovation projects currently underway. Heim was joined for the update by Steve Andritz, director of planning and construction, and Steve Vance, supervisor of maintenance. Mr. Heim shared the state and local CIP funding report and told the Board two kindergarten addition projects were underway at Malcolm and J.P Ryon elementary schools. Heim also highlighted the progress of the renovation at T.C. Martin Elementary School and reminded the Board that Elementary #23 project status was currently in the construction documents design phase. Heim shared with the Board that the CIP outlines a March 2023 estimated construction start for Elementary #23. View the complete report here.

Comprehensive Maintenance Plan update

Mr. Vance shared a presentation with the Board that outlined the fiscal year 2023 comprehensive maintenance plan. He shared data with the Board about both preventative and corrective maintenance work orders. Vance shared with the Board that 75% of preventative work orders are closed within a 30-day timeframe, and 91% of corrective work orders are also closed within 30 days. Additionally, Vance told the Board that for corrective work orders – items requiring repair – the average time of repair was 2.89 hours. The complete report is posted here.

Recognition

During the recognition portion of the meeting, Board Chairperson Michael Lukas presented the National Hispanic Heritage Month (NHHM) resolution to Sylvia Royster, director of the Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) Office of Community Engagement and Equity. The month is celebrated Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. Royster, Lukas, Vice Chairperson Latina Wilson, Board members, Superintendent of Schools Maria Navarro Ed.D., and CCPS staff members of Hispanic descent posed for a photo holding flags from Hispanic and Latin countries to recognize the resolution. The recognition is posted on the CCPS Facebook page here.

 Action items

On the action items portion of the agenda, the Board approved minutes, personnel, Board Policy 6180, the FY 2024 CIP state/local program and a list of recurring resolutions.

 

About CCPS

Charles County Public Schools provides 27,000 students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with an academically challenging education. Located in Southern Maryland, Charles County Public Schools has 37 schools that offer a technologically advanced, progressive and high quality education that builds character, equips for leadership and prepares students for life, careers and higher education.

 

The Charles County public school system does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices. For inquiries, please contact Kathy Kiessling, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (students) or Nikial M. Majors, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (employees/ adults), at Charles County Public Schools, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, MD 20646; 301-932-6610/301-870-3814. For special accommodations call 301-934-7230 or TDD 1-800-735-2258 two weeks prior to the event.

 

CCPS provides nondiscriminatory equal access to school facilities in accordance with its Use of Facilities rules to designated youth groups (including, but not limited to, the Boy Scouts).