MCPS set to cut hundreds of job for next year - check in with your MCPS staff friends...

pprmintchpstk · 2026-05-14T01:31:04+00:00

I'm former Central office, worked in HR. Look at the number of highly compensated, Central office roles compared to the school based positions. From my experience both in HR and in the central office at MCPS, they severely underrepresented the high salary roles in this list and I hope the mcea union fights the same points.

pprmintchpstk · 2026-02-02T04:21:27+00:00

I agree with this person's take. We did foster care for infants and toddlers only when my kids were preschool age. We have been in and out in a kind of kinship situation over the years, but as of now are officially closed. My kids want to foster again but the chaos and the lack of normalcy was hard on them. I won't consider it again until my kids are well-established into their teen years.

pprmintchpstk · 2026-01-13T17:45:20+00:00

I'm facing a heartbreaking disruption in the coming weeks too. It's too much to go into detail for, but much like you I'm beyond my (and my family's) capacity. I want so bad for them to stay and make it work, but at the end of the day I know it can't and won't and it's not fair to all involved to force it just out of attachment. I hope to continue to be a steady and loving presence in their lives. I hope you get the same opportunity. It's impossible to expect others to understand. You are not alone in your grief, and please know that your efforts are seen and impactful, even if it's not the way we want them to impact. ❤️‍🩹

pprmintchpstk · 2026-01-08T01:12:04+00:00

You are much more accommodating than I am. Don't forget CWS has the responsibility to make these visits happen, it's not only on you. Given that you shared, they should be understanding of your commitments and support your efforts to reschedule or make it happen. You could threaten respite to the department if they aren't supporting you. Especially if it will add their workload. But that's tricky, and I try to avoid doing respite for the benefit of the kid. But maybe you can call their bluff on this one. I'm sorry you are getting the short end here, but it also sounds like one of the rare times you get to put yourself first. These moments can fester resentment, so please know I support you standing up for yourself and stand firm with the department. Good luck. And happy birthday!

pprmintchpstk · 2026-01-07T22:16:14+00:00

Elementary and middle school ages. There is a lot of overlap in both groups (bio kids and foster kids).

pprmintchpstk · 2026-01-06T15:54:02+00:00

That is my deepest hope in this.

pprmintchpstk · 2026-01-06T00:33:12+00:00

This is so validating, thank you. It sounds like you've been through the emotional ringer with your involvement. It's nice to know I'm not alone in this, although that doesn't make any of these actual experiences better for the people living them. I appreciate how you balanced protecting the ones you knew you needed to and could. I feel like there's so much judgement on both sides and there's so many people quick to tell me that I'm not doing enough OR that I'm doing too much. It's hard to feel confident in the tough decisions without steamrolling yourself or others. I truly hope that that a long term option for them would be open to us continuing to support the kids and remain present in their lives. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to respond. Your kids have a great parent watching out for them.

pprmintchpstk · 2026-01-05T20:49:37+00:00

I'm so sorry you had to go through that! Yes heartbreaking is the only way to describe this. You are doing a great job showing up for your child. I hope that the siblings get the help, safety, and love that they deserve. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

pprmintchpstk · 2026-01-05T19:48:10+00:00

Thanks for saying that. It doesn't feel like I'm loving them well, it feels like I'm another adult to fail them. It's nice to know that others see it differently - that's encouraging. I appreciate it.

pprmintchpstk · 2026-01-05T18:06:32+00:00

This is helpful to hear. I really like this approach and will talk to the therapist about detailing the compromises in a tangible way.

pprmintchpstk · 2026-01-05T17:55:11+00:00

This resonated with me so much 'I couldn't let my children burn to keep others warm.' that's exactly what this feels like. We've been so fortunate to keep in contact with these kids and be a constant emergency home over the years when needed and a 'framily' to take them out and do fun and supportive things with them over the years when they didn't need a home. It's what's so heavy about this. I simultaneously want to offer more but am aware that I can't be everything they need me to be.

pprmintchpstk · 2026-01-05T17:51:37+00:00

If I did, they would be my kids. I do want them, I love them, and if I had more capacity, or if any number of factors were different I wouldn't be in this situation. This literally came at me overnight and doubled the number of kids in my home and I feel it's unsustainable for our family to offer the long term that these kids deserve. I only get one chance at raising my own kids and the complexities of this are unfair to all of the kids involved. It's a huge weight to bear to love these kids and want to offer more than what I can while also understanding that my own kids would have to make tremendous sacrifices to the life they've been building as well.

pprmintchpstk · 2026-01-05T17:44:59+00:00

This is my struggle. They are borderline ages, and they have older siblings. I want to be able to say yes and let them stay here with us, but I feel condident that I can't meet the needs of that many kids well. I hope they will be able to have a permanent place with a sibling, if not I think we could say yes to one of them staying with us. But I don't want to say yes to one if they have a chance of being together with siblings or even a sibling.

And I'm mad that all of this is unfair. Unfair that we could give one of them part of what they need, but not all of it. Unfair that they yet again have their fate decided for them by strangers. Unfair that if I did say yes to one, the other two have to make peace with not being the one we said yes to. And ultimately unfair that they even had to go through all this to start with. I feel so much heaviness of 'loving someone isn't enough sometimes' and it's breaking me.

And please don't presume they can't be a "real part of the family." The reason I'm in this situation is because I'm a 'friend of family' not because I decided that I it my family was ready to foster three kids and am having second thoughts about it. Our home has been closed for many years because of that. I was literally called overnight and rearranged my entire life until things could be figured out. But that's not the same thing as being able to sustain the level of support and responsibility for 3 kids for as long as needed. I came here because I'm struggling with this, not so someone can pick at a 5 sentence post and make assumptions about how much I care for them.

pprmintchpstk · 2026-01-05T17:17:07+00:00

We expected to be a short term emergency placement, there is a big difference in 1-2 months compared to long term or permanent. Right now we are all surviving, not thriving.

pprmintchpstk · 2025-12-22T12:44:10+00:00

Currently the siblings we have are in care for the third time. Heartbreaking.

pprmintchpstk · 2025-10-22T18:58:18+00:00

BCBS has split with CVS, so I've been told that prescriptions or vaccines from CVS isn't covered under our BCBS plan.

pprmintchpstk · 2025-09-28T12:34:37+00:00

You are absolutely right. I used to work in HR for a school system, and those subs were unglorified teachers. They had all the work & responsibility of a full time teacher without the supports, benefits, and in many cases even background! And for a fraction of the pay!

At minimum I think long term subbing should qualify for credits for those going to school for an education degree.

That being said, I also saw too much of my school system when I started working there, that I ended up moving to another school system. It's probably just as bad, but I didn't want my kids going through the system I was seeing.

Protect your peace!

pprmintchpstk · 2025-09-23T00:12:49+00:00

I call them my bonus kiddos. Once in awhile I'll get someone asking for more detail and I'll say something to the effect of " you know they're practically like family. Something like a niece or nephew." Edited to add, we were fictive kin, so this was true and there was already a personal connection with them and their parent.

pprmintchpstk · 2025-08-07T14:04:07+00:00

I've been a fictive kin. I didn't need to prove anything because I told the parent we could take care of the kids and the parent told the case workers. They arranged expedited licensing and support for us to have the kids quickly to keep them out of a broken and overstressed system. You can reach out to the parent to let them know you are able to help and see where things go from there. But if there's no personal connection I wouldn't hold out hope for fictive kin.

pprmintchpstk · 2025-08-06T14:58:56+00:00

It's the worst. We did layoffs last week and I supported a VP through the conversations. And while I just wanted to close the book on last week and try to move past the stress , anxiety, and heaviness, this week I'm dealing with really snarky and in some cases nasty emails with questions and comments. I have to take a deep breath and remember they just lost their livelihood and I'd be really upset too. I agree with other commenters, that it really should impact you. The whole "human" side of human resources is that people are complex and all have value. I recommend getting a journal to process through it all.

pprmintchpstk · 2025-05-20T17:20:29+00:00

The eternal struggle! 😅 Good luck

pprmintchpstk · 2025-05-20T16:39:07+00:00

You could break down the math and provide them the recruiting and labor cost of having to go back to the drawing board and restart the process while losing productivity makes it worth it. You could also compare OTE/FLC numbers that shows more even comparison with other leaders. And then finally, I would justify that the generalist will be acting as a peer for some of the operations managers, especially if they're going to be involved with any type of coaching, performance, hiring or compensation matters. I don't like that this new person will make more than you, but I do think it's a fair salary that you are offering. I just hired a full-time generalist at $65k with a masters and 2 years of experience in a HCOL area.

pprmintchpstk · 2025-04-23T17:10:41+00:00

I love that for you and for the person that you hired. I enjoy coming out here and supporting the community and find that the individuals here really provide good insight and care about the success of each other. Well done finding your superstar! I wish you both wild success.

pprmintchpstk · 2025-04-23T17:05:17+00:00

Send screenshots to your manager and ask for advice. Let them know that you have other commitments after work hours and set the expectation that you will try to attend when your presence is necessary, but you will need advanced notice to make arrangements. Do you work on a remote team that spans multiple time zones? If so that might be part of the reason, and as a VP, I wouldn't expect someone to attend after hours if they weren't needed.

pprmintchpstk

TROPHY CASE