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Student Comments Sought for Changes to Board Policies and Future Board Policy Discussions

Posted On March 01, 2022
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Draft changes to Board Policy ECA, Energy Conservation, and FFA, Naming School Facilities

https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy-public-comment

Draft changes to Board Policy ECA, Energy Conservation

The Montgomery County Board of Education is seeking comments on proposed amendments to Board Policy ECA, Energy Conservation, to meet requirements in Maryland law and to align with the Montgomery County Climate Action Plan. The policy has been available for comment since Jan. 13. Public comments are due by Friday, April 7.

A new title is proposed to reflect a focus on sustainability: Policy ECA, Sustainability. The draft policy, a video presentation and the opportunity to provide public comments are available here. 

The draft establishes a sustainability framework and decision-making priorities that:

  • identify actions that can be taken immediately and longer term to reduce the generation of greenhouse gases and consumption of nonrenewable resources;
  • equitably and strategically deploy resources, and utilize design strategies and retrofits to make new and existing buildings more sustainable, resilient and efficient;
  • actively manage energy and water consumption with enhanced monitoring technology;
  • increase the generation and production of solar energy and use of other renewable energy sources;
  • include waste reduction and greenhouse gas emissions in decisions related to purchasing;
  • convert or replace MCPS vehicles from diesel and gasoline to electric, hybrid or other more efficient or cleaner-fuel vehicles; and
  • infuse sustainability concepts across school curricula in accordance with Maryland State Department of Education Environmental Literacy Standards.

Draft changes to Board Policy FFA, Naming School Facilities

The Montgomery County Board of Education is seeking comments on proposed amendments to Board Policy FFA, Naming School Facilities, to update the criteria by which school names are selected as well as criteria for renaming schools.  The policy has been available for comment since February 8.  Public comments are due by Friday, April 7.  Please note:  The Board is not voting on renaming any schools at this time.  Instead, it is considering updated rules for how it will handle renaming requests going forward.

The draft amendments propose additions or clarifications to the following provisions:

  • A school may be named after an ideal or concept that affirms current Board policies, core values, or curricular objectives.
  • Geographic features named after historical persons must meet certain requirements.
  • Criteria for unacceptable names are set forth.
  • Petitions to rename a school must contain analysis that demonstrates how the existing name fails to meet criteria and include demonstration of support for the petition from the school community.

A two-part community engagement process is proposed for petitions received for renaming schools.

To access Public Comment:

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