by Genevieve Demos Kelley

What are your favorite corners of the pgcps.org website? What do you find most frustrating? What links need to be updated? Tell us in the comments section below.

Just for fun, here is my personal “best and worst” list. The list reflects my own opinions and preferences and is not an official position of PGCABS.

Best:

• Employee Directory. Not a list of employees, but a search bar that taps into an amazing data base. Type in the name of an employee and find his/her email, phone number, job location, official job title, and place in the PGCPS hierarchy (e.g. immediate supervisor).

• Constituent Compliment Form. Now, you can not only submit your concerns but also praise outstanding employees. The compliment will be conveyed to the employee and his/her supervisor.

• Solicitations and Awards. Curious about which high school is getting a new barber and cosmetology classroom renovation, who’s doing the work, and how much it costs? This is the place to find answers about a wide range of contracts between PGCPS and outside firms. Major contracts awarded for things like construction and renovation, consulting services, equipment, and food purchases are listed here. (The answers, by the way, are Bladensburg HS, Rich Moe Enterprises, and about $521,000 initially, though the Board later voted to increase that amount.)

• Videos of Board of Education meetings. For example, watch the first few minutes of the September 10 work session, where Board Chair Segun Eubanks explains the new “work session” format. Continue watching to see Board Members and employees talk about literacy goals for the next five years.

Worst:

• Department of Testing. These pages badly need updating. Links take users to information on tests that are no longer adminstered (including a 2008 fact sheet about the old HSA exams), and the testing calendar for the 2015-2016 school year is empty except for the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment and the Dual Enrollment Placement Exam. I’d love to see PGCPS publish something similar Montgomery County’s elementary school testing schedule.

• Department of Mathematics. This has the potential to be the go-to resource for kids and their parents who are struggling with concepts or preparing for standardized tests. But it’s not. It’s poorly organized, infrequently updated, and still directs users to information about the mathematics MSA and HSA — tests that Maryland students no longer take. This is a missed opportunity for PGCPS to provide parents with up-to-date information on the math that their kids are learning. Let’s hope for a reboot soon!

What’s on your “best and worst” list? Tell us in the comments.