MCPS tables proposal for ‘alternate meals’ for students with unpaid lunch bills
Organizations, officials criticized policy, saying it promotes ‘lunch shaming’
May 6, 2021 | 2:48 pm
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As public pushback mounted on Thursday, the Montgomery County Board of Education tabled a proposed policy on handling student meal debt from its Tuesday meeting agenda. The board was scheduled to take final action to adopt the policy.
On Wednesday, Bethesda Beat reported about a draft policy that proposed some students with more than $35 in unpaid lunch bills get “alternative meals” until their debt is paid. Education advocates had raised concerns that the policy punished students and that they should get the meal of their choosing while MCPS and their parents work out the debt.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich plans to remove MCPS SROs
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MCPS students continue push to remove SROs, adults push back
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Elrich suggests mental health professionals replace officers, but area patrols for police
February 4, 2021 | 10:47 pm
February 5, 2021
Screenshot via live stream
More than two dozen people most of them students or recent graduates pushed for removing police officers from Montgomery County Public Schools on Thursday.
The Montgomery County Council held a public hearing to get feedback about a proposed law aimed at prohibiting school resource officers (SROs). Of the 33 people who spoke, 31 were in favor of the bill.
Those showing their support for the bill included Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, a handful of student advocacy groups, two former student members of the county school board, the student member of the Maryland State Board of Education, attorneys, the Montgomery County Chapters of the ACLU and NAACP, parents, MCPS students and alumni.
County, state lawmakers’ battle over school resource officers intensifies
Council considering dueling legislation; state bills propose eliminating SROs, redirecting funding
February 2, 2021 | 6:35 pm
A community member holds a sign calling for an investment in community services rather than police at a recent protest in Gaithersburg. At the protest, attendees called for an end to the MCPS school resource officer program.
File photo
A battle among state and local lawmakers about the future of police stationed in schools is intensifying, with County Council members now considering dueling legislation.
The issue is gaining traction statewide, too. Two state lawmakers from Montgomery County are sponsoring bills that would prohibit police officers from being stationed in schools across Maryland and redirect state money that would have funded the program.