The Blueprint Quarterly

Hello! My name is Dr. Sarah Sirgo and I am the Chief of Staff and Blueprint Implementation Coordinator for FCPS! Welcome to the 3rd issue of The Blueprint Quarterly--a communication tool dedicated to providing our students, staff, families, and community members up to date information about the Frederick County Public Schools Blueprint implementation. We have been busy at work over the last quarter, and this issue takes a closer look at what we have been pursuing. Included is information on:

• Phase 2, Part 2 Implementation Plan
• AIB and updates to minimum school funding and dual enrollment limits.
• May Systemic Improvement Team meeting updates.
• Pillar 4 Spotlight and highlights
• Pillar 2 updates on the Maryland Diversity and Hiring Report.
• Strategic Partners Grant Application intent from FCPS.

Thank you for taking time to read on and hear more about the tremendous efforts of our team!

On May 1, 2024 all school systems in Maryland submitted their Phase 2 Blueprint Implementation Plans covering the next 3 years, 2024 through 2027.

Please click this link https://www.fcps.org/blueprint/plan-phase2-part2 to review our Phase 2

plan. Reactions and comments can be sent to BlueprintComments@fcpsmd.org

The AIB is an independent unit of the Maryland State government created by the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future law to ensure successful implementation of the Blueprint. The AIB is governed by a seven-member Board supported by an executive director and staff.

The AIB is charged with monitoring progress on the implementation of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, reporting annually on progress, and recommending any legislative changes that are needed to achieve the intended results. More information about the Blueprint AIB’s charge, responsibilities, and governance is available at www.aib.maryland.gov

At the May 16, 2024 meeting there was a discussion about Minimum School Funding. This update was following approval of initial guidance approved by the AIB in March 2024, as superintendents requested more detailed written guidance/requirements.

The purpose is to address the varying degrees of school funding currently being done and tracked by addressing a three-year phase-in. The proposed joint policy provides further detail on minimum expectations for minimum school funding requirements, also known as the 75% funding level. all school systems must fully satisfy minimum school funding requirements as soon as practicable but no later than FY27. Starting next year, all school systems must submit funding data monthly for each school and in FY26, school systems must reduce the funding gap by half for the schools that did meet the requirement in FY25. If we do not meet the 75% minimum funding, the AIB is permitted to withhold up to 25% of our funding. As personnel makes up the majority of spending, the seniority and qualifications of staff affect spending across individual schools.

The AIB's monthly meeting was held Thursday, May 16, 2024. At that meeting, there was a revision to the policy on Dual Enrollment linked below Joint Policy - Dual Enrollment - April 2024 (As Approved by MSBE).pdf - Google Drive

Given that most school systems are facing fiscal challenges for FY25 and given the timing of the adoption of the new CCR standard to include more students than what will be funded, legislation was passed to authorize AIB/MSDE to limit dual enrollment for the next few years to address the budget shortfall. Key highlights include:

• The policy sets a cap of 2 courses per semester and 4 courses for the school year for students who have met CCR.
• Students may elect to take additional dual enrollment courses at their cost. In recent years, students have enrolled on average just under 2 courses per semester.
• Non-CCR students will have initial access to dual enrollment for developmental coursework to support their becoming CCR as well as introductory CTE coursework.

The intent of the policy is to provide predictability about dual enrollment guidelines for SY24-25 and SY25-26. It is possible that the policy may be revised in FY26. This policy will not impact early college.

At the last Blueprint Steering Committee meeting, feedback provided by the AIB was reviewed on the Phase 2, Part 1 submission of the blueprint plan. The official feedback was overwhelmingly positive with no edits required. Areas identified for strengthening are already captured in the work articulated for Phase 2, Part 2, which was submitted to the AIB on April 30. We met as a steering committee on Apri 30th to celebrate this milestone and look toward the work ahead!

To see a comprehensive list of our steering committee and subcommittee members, please click FCPS Blueprint Steering Committee Member List

The charge of the system improvement teams is to:

• Review each pillar’s implementation plan.
• Evaluate schedules, human resources, curriculum resources, and school structures and processes that best support Blueprint implementation recommendations.
• Consider adjustments to enhance the organizational culture of achievement in schools, upgrade the student and staff experience, maximize safety and well being, and align to Blueprint implementation.

To accomplish this work, there are three teams; elementary, middle, and high, meet quarterly to recommend strategies and actions to support the aforementioned charge.

System Improvement Teams had their final meeting of the 2023-24 school year on May 3, 2024. During their session, they received updates of the most recent Blueprint Phase II Plan that was submitted. In addition, as they continued their work, they reviewed the student listening session data that was collected by ACTS division leaders this winter. Several themes emerged, including teacher-student relationships, friendships, student engagement in the classroom, teacher academic support, workload balance, schedule and courses, negative and disruptive student behavior, and student expectations/discipline. Elevating and integrating student voice into systemic improvement work is essential. Students want to have strong relationships with other students and teachers, they want to collaborate and create in the classroom, and ultimately, they appreciate a sense of balance and focus to their day. Finally, in light of FCPS’s current fiscal climate and to tend to all aspects of the groups charge, leveled breakouts shifted from schedules and staffing to resources, structures, and processes to enhance the FCPS organizational culture of achievement. Groups responded to 2 essential questions:

• What can we do to streamline, synthesize, and enhance our blueprint implementation that is cost neutral?
• What could teaching and learning look like across the school setting in a future education model?

The product of a family who are educators, advocates, and believers in the importance of equity for all, DeVeda Coley feels that all of her work through the years guided her towards leading the implementation of the community school strategy. Her passion has always been to ensure that all decisions are based on what is best for students, and that she and her teams hold themselves and their students to a high standard. DeVeda is proud to be a product of Frederick County Schools. She went to Walkersville Middle School and graduated from Walkersville High School-Go LIONS!! She received her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from Mt. St. Mary’s University and her Masters degree in Educational Leadership and her Doctoral Degree in Organizational Leadership from Hood College. She is committed and invested in education in Frederick County. She serves as an adjunct instructor at Hood College and on the trustee board for Mount Saint Mary’s University.

From her days at Mount Saint Mary’s College, she knew she wanted to be an elementary school principal. With the support of her family and a number of supportive and extremely talented mentors, she met that goal, and had the honor of serving as a teacher, student support/admin intern, assistant principal, and principal at various schools for 29 years. During the last two years, she has had the pleasure of serving as the Supervisor of Community Schools.

Community School work is about removing barriers and ensuring that every child has what they need to be successful. The work requires empathy and relationship building while maintaining high expectations and empowering students and families. She has always been driven to ensure that every child had what they needed to be successful, so this work is a privilege. Serving as a co-chair for Pillar 4 has been a remarkable experience, because it is all about providing resources for student success, especially for students who have been historically underserved. Being able to use all of her experiences as a teacher and administrator in a variety of schools, including Title 1 schools, and sharing her knowledge from her doctoral dissertation work in restorative practices to assist with the successful implementation of Pillar 4 is rewarding. It brings her great joy to be assisting with ensuring Student Success for all students in the County.

What is a Multilingual Learner (ML)? How many different languages are spoken in Frederick County Public Schools? What are the top five different languages spoken by students? How do we teach students who are learning English in addition to taking all of their classes? How can we communicate with families who speak languages other than English? Effectively educating and supporting our multilingual students is one of four focus areas in Pillar 4 of the Blueprint. FCPS currently educates over 4,000 ML students in schools every day in the Multilingual Education (ME) Program. Our students speak a wide variety of languages with the top five being Spanish, French, Tamil, Portuguese, and Urdu. We have ME Program teachers who receive specialized training in language development strategies that are culturally responsive and research-based, to allow students to learn language and academic content simultaneously. Our central ME Program team is composed of two parts, a leadership and instruction team, and a family and community engagement team, housed at the FCPS International Office.

The family and community engagement team supports our new families in a variety of ways. They help families complete enrollment paperwork, provide interpreting services, screen students to identify their current English proficiency levels, notify schools about new students coming their way, and fill out state required documents. One member of the team is our Multilingual Education Family Coordinator. The ME Family Coordinator is responsible for getting our families connected to their school communities, sharing resources, and answering any questions families who are new to Frederick may have. Our Family Coordinator also educates families on how school works in the United States and attends family engagement events at schools, play groups with mothers and small children, adult education English classes, and food drop-offs in the community.

When the ME Family Coordinator sees a problem or an issue, she works with community partners and schools to find a viable solution. As an example, on one occasion she noticed many of our families using expensive taxis and ride sharing services to get to school meetings. She collaborated with Frederick County TransIT services to create a rider training program for families. The program, delivered in Spanish and English, trains families on how to take full advantage of the free public transportation services available in Frederick County. This training program empowered our newest community members with the knowledge and skills to navigate Frederick’s extensive public transportation system safely and confidently. The program even includes bus riding days where families, along with representatives from County TransIT, can ride public transportation around their area.

This is a great example of the power of the work of Blueprint Pillar 4. Focusing on meeting the needs of our students and their families through education and connection to community partners increases the ability for all of our children to achieve in school. In addition, Dr. Coley will be presenting on June 25, 2024 to the Pillar 4 AIB workgroup!

Annually, each December 1, all school systems in the state of Maryland provide data on their teacher workforce to the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). This data is compiled and organized into a statewide portrait of the educator workforce.

On May 21, 2024, MSDE released the 2024 Report on Marylands Teacher Workforce.

Some key highlights are:

• As of October 2023, there were 63,220 teachers in Maryland Public Schools.
• After a sharp increase from the 2020-2021 school year to the 2022-2023 school year, teacher attrition rates have begun to stabilize.
• Vacancy rates have experienced a 9.8% decline in the current school year.
• Enrollment in educator preparation programs (EPPs) has continued to grow, reversing a prior downward trend.
• The teacher workforce in Maryland is gradually diversifying, but it remains predominantly white, both for teachers overall and for first-year teachers.

We encourage you to review the presentation with additional notations for our local work in FCPS.

The Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB) made grants available to school systems to support their Phase II Blueprint Implementation. FCPS has submitted interest to be a grant participant for Strategic Resource Allocation, alongside and in partnership with the Frederick County Government. The goal of this effort will be to work with an external partner, and expert, to help us consider, evaluate and refine our resource model from a budgeting perspective to ensure we are thinking creatively about how to achieve the expectations of the Blueprint within the fiscal realities we face. To learn more about this grant, click here. We will keep you posted on this potential partnership!

There are now six episodes of the Blueprint Unlocked Podcast available on YouTube. Join Dr. Sarah Sirgo, Chief of Staff and Blueprint Coordinator, along with her panel of special guests, as they discuss FCPS' progress and development of the Blueprint for Maryland's Future.

Episode 1 - Pillar 1

Episode 2 - Pillar 5

Episode 3 - Pillar 3A

Episode 4 - Pillar 3B

Episode 5 - Pillar 4

Episode 6 - Pillar 2

Check these resources and all others at www.fcps.org/Blueprint and click on "Stakeholder Resources"

Kalman Hettleman: Can billionaires save public education? Commentary

Academia willing to help with Blueprint education reform plan Teacher career ladder framework released from UMD's College of Education

Blueprint implementation continues: New plans reveal ongoing challenges for schools

Youths raise voices in climate crisis for people of color like themselves BIPOC Montgomery County Green New Deal program created

Kalman Hettleman: School policymakers need to attend more to attendance Commentary

Local School Systems Updating the State on Blueprint Plans Plans posted online show enrollment data and estimated costs

MD Public School Superintendent announces accountability task force to assess academic achievement Also wants to incorporate a program to bring in more teachers of color and more men.

• MSDE Publishes Graduation and Dropout Rates for the 22-23 School Year The percentage of students who graduated within four years from Maryland public schools was 85.8% in the 22-23 school year
• MSDE to Adopt New Kindergarten Assessment for School Readiness Study concluded current KRA indicates potential bias
• Maryland Selects Finalists for Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching Six finalists announced for 2024 Awards
• Summary of Actions Taken by the State Board of Education on April 30, 2024
• Overview of the 2024 Legislative Session
• MSDE Announces $6.85M Philanthropic Partnership to Increase Literacy Outcomes Grant invests in high-quality, professional learning grounded in the Science of Reading

The following links, reports, and resources available for review if you would like to learn more about Marylands Blueprint legislation, research, and reports.

• Maryland State Department of Education Blueprint Site
• Neighborhood Indicators of Poverty Report – Updated
• Prekindergarten Sliding Scale Methodology
• Ninth Grade Tracker
• Blueprint Funding

We want to hear your thoughts on the FCPS implementation of the Blueprint. Please click on one or more of the links to share thoughts on the Blueprint pillar areas of focus. The responses to any of the following will be reported back to FCPS staff directly.

• Pillar 1: Early Childhood (Pre-K expansion, Kindergarten Readiness, Judy Centers) Pillar 1 Reflections
• Pillar 2: Elevating Educators (Career Ladder, Diversity Recruitment and Retention, Talent Pathways) Pillar 2 Reflections
• Pillar 3: North Star (College & Career Readiness, Post-CRR Pathways, Support Pathways, Career Coaching, High-Quality Curriculum) Pillar 3 Reflections
• Pillar 4: Student Supports (Behavioral and mental health, Special Education, English language learners, Students experiencing homelessness, Communities experiencing poverty, Community Schools) Pillar 4 Reflections

You are also welcome to email us directly at the link in the box below.

The Blueprint Quarterly - Issue 1

The Blueprint Quarterly - Issue 2