WASHINGTON — “You walk into any classroom throughout Montgomery County Public Schools and that classroom has changed.”
That was the message sent by County Councilman Craig Rice, a black man who grew up going to school in Silver Spring.
Demographics have changed the county, and it looks much different than it did when he attended Montgomery Blair High School.
On Monday, during a briefing before the council’s Education Committee, the school system’s long-range planning director Bruce Crispell broke down the numbers: Of the 156,000 students in county schools, 30 percent are white and 29 percent are Hispanic.
Twenty-one percent are black, 14 percent are Asian and nearly 5 percent are bi- or multi-racial. There are 158 countries and 127 languages within the student population right now. The differences affect teacher training and instruction, Rice said.
Thirty-five percent of students qualify for free and reduced-priced meals; of those, a whopping 83 percent of students qualify for completely free meals.
The briefing also focused on the economic squeeze the school system faces when it comes to paying for school construction. With thousands of new students entering the school system each year, the issue of balancing the budget and building or renovating new schools becomes more challenging.
After the briefing, school board president Michael Durso, a veteran educator with years as a principal under his belt, was asked about the board’s selection of a new superintendent.
Given the increasing diversity of the school system, how was it that the board chose Jack R. Smith, a white man who served as the school chief in Calvert County, among the smallest and least diverse counties in the state? Durso said that was simple: “He won the day.”
Along with serving at the state level as interim state superintendent, Smith’s pedagogical credentials were rock-solid.
As for diversity, Durso says “the board did take that into account.” Durso says potential candidates reflected the makeup of the student body; but when it came down to it, Durso said it was Smith’s expertise that won out.
Durso was also asked about the lack of transparency in the selection process. The county school board has been criticized for secrecy in the past, but Durso says recruiting top management for any public agency can be tricky–especially when it becomes news.
He referred to the recent search to lead the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority: A candidate dropped out when his name became public.
