Comment Period Closing Today for Two BOE Policies

The Board of Education is seeking comments on proposed amendments to three policies— Policy IKB, Homework; Policy GEA, Board Appointment of MCPS Leaders and Policy IOD, Emergent Multilingual Learners. 

Draft amendments to Policy IKB and proposed Policy GEA have been available for comment since March 20, 2024, and the comment period closes today, April 24, 2024. 

Draft amendments to Policy IOD have been available for comment since April 12, 2024, and the comment period will close on May 6, 2024. 

The Board’s Policy Management Committee is tentatively scheduled to review public comments for all three policies at its May 16, 2024, meeting.

Details for each policy are outlined below:

Policy IKB, Homework, have been developed to update the Board’s priorities for homework assigned to MCPS students. These revisions affirm the value of homework that is purposefully designed to attain curricular objectives, in a manner that is consistent with established Board commitments and research-based best practices. Submit comments on Policy IKB. 

Policy GEA, Board Appointment of MCPS Leaders, is a new policy to ensure effective and informed Board decision-making regarding candidates for MCPS leadership positions recommended by the MCPS superintendent of schools. The new policy establishes criteria for leadership positions subject to appointment by the Board, requires due diligence in vetting prospective candidates, sets forth processes to appoint leaders in a timely manner, and identifies information to be included in the superintendent of schools’ recommendation of any candidate. Submit comments on Policy GEA.

Policy IOD, Education of English Language Learners. Draft amendments have been developed to update the Board’s approach to the education of students learning English. Proposed amendments change the name to Policy IOD, Emergent Multilingual Learners, and adopt an asset-orientation view of students who are learning to listen, speak, read and/or write English. This asset-orientation seeks these students as becoming multilingual, in recognition that such children are simultaneously learning at least one other language in addition to the English they are learning at MCPS. These revisions align with guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, the Maryland State Department of Education, the Center for Applied Linguistics evaluation of MCPS programs, and current research. Submit comments on Policy IOD.

Policies for Public Comment webpage