By Betselot Wondimu ‘ 15 and Brian Hughes ’15

On October 29, Superintendent Joshua Starr and MCPS Board of Education President Philip Kauffman held the annual Student Media Roundtable at the Carver Educational Services Center in Rockville, where they discussed various pressing topics that MCPS plans to tackle in the near future with student journalists from Montgomery County high schools.

Starr emphasized MCPS’s plans regarding technological innovations in schools. He began by touching on MCPS purchasing about 40,000 Chromebooks to distribute throughout its schools, since their educational potential was the highest for the most acceptable financial cost. Starr further noted that MCPS’s increasing technological push will help solve important interdisciplinary problems. With a dramatic increase in ESOL students in MCPS, for example, Starr stated that the universal nature of technology will allow students “to express their learning” in a more effective manner to their teachers and peers.

MCPS also plans to launch its Cybercivility initiative in December at all school levels, acting as a resource for students, parents and teachers to consult for advice about cyberbullying and emphasize to students the effect of their “cyber footprint,” as Starr called it. MCPS plans to incorporate student contests such as PSAs, pledge campaign videos, community forums and the like to increase its efforts to help students deal with cyberbullying.

Kauffman also touched on the topic of reconstruction and accommodations for growth both now and in the future, discussing mainly the Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) for the county. The CIP is the Board’s list of revitalization projects, a list that Kauffman said was “established several years ago.” When the list was revisited years later by consultants, Kauffman explained that there were no major changes at the high school level.

“The order of priority for high schools is currently Edison and Wheaton, then Seneca Valley, Wootton, Poolesville and eventually Damascus in 2024,” said Kauffman. “We roughly do a high school every two years if we have the money. We had to push back high schools last year because we didn’t have it.”

Starr added that redistricting is also an option to accommodate growth, but not usually a first choice because it is too disruptive and would hurt schools already projected to grow by giving them more students.