Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is prepared to welcome back more than 160,000 students Monday for the first day of school, according to Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight.
While the school system continues to address vacancies, “every single classroom is going to be staffed with a qualified instructor and all schools are going to have an adequate number of support staff ready to welcome our students,” McKnight said at a media briefing on Wednesday.
MCPS will implement several measures to ensure success among its students. According to the school system, a full-time staff development teacher will be instituted at every school to support educators and meet student needs. There will also be a full-time reading specialist at every elementary school.
“We know that we are looking at literacy and want to make up for the learning disruption that was caused by COVID-19. And, so we are making sure we are putting the resources in our elementary schools to address that specifically,” McKnight said.
The school system also announced that they reached an agreement with the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) on incentives for special education teachers. “One of the most significant hiring challenges has been for those who work in special education,” an MCPS press release said.
The agreement between MCPS and the teachers union states that a $5,000 incentive will be awarded to dual-certificated general education teachers who volunteer to transfer to fill a special education vacancy. A quarterly incentive will be given to current special education teachers who become responsible for additional students as a case manager for special education student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP). The compensation ratios will be the following:
- 1-3 students = $350
- 3-6 students = $675
- 6+ students = $1,000
“MCPS expects that the incentive for dual-certificated teachers to move into special education roles will alleviate some of the remaining 102 full- and part-time special education vacancies. Since Friday, Aug. 19, MCPS has received more than 40 responses and the district is working to determine if those transfer requests fit within the parameters of the agreement,” an MCPS press release noted.
