MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION

The Board of Education of Montgomery County met in retreat on January 26 and 27, 2009at the Rockville Public Library, Rockville, Maryland.Present:Ms. Shirley Brandman, Presidentin the ChairMr. Christopher BarclayMs. Laura BerthiaumeDr. Judy DoccaMr. Philip KauffmanMs. Quratul-Ann MalikMs. Nancy NavarroMrs. Patricia O’NeillDr. Jerry Weast, Secretary/TreasurerStaff Present:Mr. Larry Bowers, Chief Operating OfficerDr. Frieda Lacey, Deputy Superintendent of SchoolsMr. Brian Edwards, Superintendent’s Chief of StaffMr. Roland Ikheloa, Board’s Chief of StaffMs. Suzann King, Staff AssistantMs. Laura Steinberg, Staff AssistantMrs. Glenda Rose, Board’s Administrative SecretaryFacilitators:Dr. Barbara Anderson, Panasonic FoundationMr. Andrew Gelber, Panasonic FoundationDr. Larry Leverett, Panasonic FoundationOn January 26, 2009, the retreat began at 9:06 a.m. with a warm up exercise and statedground rules for interaction at the retreat.

BACKGROUND/CONTEXT/HISTORY

Board members discussed the history of how the Board had arrived at the vision, goals,priorities, and strategic plan for the school system. A “journey map” of critical events andtheir significance on what has shaped the school system was created.

CORE VALUES

Through small-group discussion and the whole group synthesizing the results, the followingcore values were developed:1.What ever it takes!2.Serve the neediest first3.Early years as the bedrock of success4.Review, renew, refocus5.One size does not fit all

Board Minutes- 2 -January 26 and 27, 20096.High expectations for all7.Student outcomes not predictable by race, class, or disabilityEach Board member explained what the statement meant to them in order to operationalizea core value and, if desired, incorporate into the strategic plan. The retreat ended at 5:10p.m. on January 26, 2009.On January 27, 2009, at 8:55 a.m., the Board continued the agenda items not covered onthe prior day.

LEADING TO EQUITY

Ms. Navarro gave a brief description of the Public Education Leadership Project (PELP)Team’s Equity Framework. The Board discussed developing a clear and shared definitionof “equity” that can be embedded in the strategic plan and used as a guide for decisionmaking.The Board broke into small groups for discussion and reported out for a consensus buildingsession. The small groups reported the following with the consensus marked by an arrow:

Vision of equity must encompass equity and excellence

Equity and Excellence for each and every student (all means all, 100% targets)

Equity recognizes that the playing field is unequal and attempts to address theinequity

Equity is raising the achievement of all students, eliminating the predictability byrace and class of which student groups occupy the highest and lowest achievementcategories

Maintain rigorous and high standards for all

All students achieve high standards with appropriate opportunity, access, andsupports

No gate keeping

Recognition of societal, institutional race-based entitlement that impacts the district’spolicies, procedures, programs, and community perceptions

Vision takes a belief that there can be excellence for every child

We believe that differentiated resources and equal treatment ….

Removal of institutional barriers

NEXT STEPS

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Review strategic plan to include polished two drafts on core values and equity(Strategic Planning Committee)

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Board goes through the “study circle” process (officers)