The 2024-2025 salary and step information is now available for employee review. Please use the attached Workday instructions to generate and review the “Compensation Review” report with your compensation information. Contact the Office of Human Resources at humanresources@hcpss.org with questions.
NOTE: Leave balances may be accessed by viewing Time Off in Workday. This information reflects leave balances for the 2024-2025 school year.
The Maryland State Retirement Agency (MSRA) has changed their requirements for FY25 that may impact your biweekly pension deduction. To comply, HCPSS must make changes to our Maryland pension deduction schedule. See attached for full details.
Changes to Number of Pension Deductions
This message provides HCPSS staff with an annual update about the Low Performing Schools identified for the 2024-2025 school year and the impact of these changes on National Board Certified (NBC) teachers. Learn more about Maryland’s Blueprint for the Future and the NBC teacher pay.
The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) created two categories of Low Performing School identification:
The HCPSS schools designated as locally Low Performing Schools for the 2024-2025 school year are:
Swansfield Elementary School is no longer identified as a Low Performing School for the 2024-2025 school year. HCPSS NBCT staff, in eligible roles, at Swansfield Elementary School:
The Blueprint increases the salary by $10,000 of National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) who are actively teaching in Maryland public schools. For the purpose of identifying which NBCTs will receive the $10,000 income supplement, Maryland House Bill 1300 (p. 122) defines “teacher” as “a certified public school employee who is primarily responsible and accountable for teaching students in the class.”
NBCTs staying or moving to a Low Performing School will receive an additional $7,000 added to their salary. As long as they stay at that school, an NBCT will continue to earn the salary increase, even if the school shows improvement and is no longer identified as a low performing school. A new list of possible schools for designation will be provided each year by MSDE. The HCPSS Board of Education will then make decisions on which schools will be designated as low performing.
While HCPSS honors and supports the Blueprint distinction and incentives to recruit NBCTs to work in low performing schools, NBCT certification isn’t the only distinction that determines teacher mastery or responsiveness to students and community. For this purpose and aligned with provisions in the teacher contract and HCPSS policy, staff selection remains a school-based decision. NBCTs who express an interest in transferring to an identified school will be considered along with all other transfer candidates and will not receive special consideration due to their NBCT status.
Any desired supplemental digital tools that are not currently on the approved/not approved tools list should be submitted using the new Digital Tools Request form found in the Service Request (SR) System by May 30.
Additional Information: A digital tool is an interactive website, application including Google services, or software that requires an account with a username and password. HCPSS categorizes digital tools as Supplementary or Essential.
More information, including currently approved tools, can be found on the HCPSS Digital Tools public website and the Digital Tools Canvas community. If, after reviewing the information, you have questions regarding the approval process for digital tools, please email Julie Wray.
HCPSS Acting Superintendent William J. Barnes on April 22 announced the recipients of the school system’s annual principal and teachers of the year award:
Each recipient was named during surprise visits at their respective schools, and will be recognized at an upcoming Howard County Board of Education meeting. The three also serve as the HCPSS nominees for Washington Post Principal of the Year, Washington Post Teacher of the Year (Swank) and Maryland State Department of Education Teacher of the Year (Nichols).
Read more about these outstanding staff members online.
Staff should be aware there is the potential for meaningful emails to be directed to staff members’ junk folders.
Because email providers and their users are inundated with unsolicited email, providers use various strategies to try to help their users focus on the email that are important to them, and to block or sort malicious and/or unwanted correspondences. One effective strategy is an automation that sorts messages that have a high likelihood of being spam into a Junk or Spam folder. At times, this automation may lead to meaningful emails to be directed to a junk folder.
Recommendations:
Please contact HCPSS Technology Support at techsupport@hcpss.org if you require technical assistance.
Staff emailing external recipients should be on the lookout for bounce back messages and seek alternative means of communications and/or try again later if bounce back messages are received.
Staff are seeing an increased number of bounce back messages when emailing some external addresses that say “Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups: <email address>...Your message couldn't be delivered. Despite repeated attempts to contact the recipient's email system it didn't respond.” Reports have shown that some yahoo.com and aol.com addresses have been impacted and there may be others. Microsoft has confirmed that a third-party anti-spam service is blocking a portion of Microsoft’s servers to protect organizations that use their services. Microsoft is working with the anti-spam service to rectify the issue.
Please email HCPSS Technology Support at techsupport@hcpss.org if you require technical assistance.
Using unknown USB drives poses a significant security risk, as they may contain malware or other malicious software.
To safeguard our network and protect your data, please adhere to the following guidelines:
A new resource: USB Attacks: Small Devices, Big Threats, has been added to your KnowBe4 library. The resource can be accessed by navigating to the Staff Hub > Services > KnowBe4 Cybersecurity Resources > Library.
By following these guidelines, we can collectively enhance the security of our systems and ensure a safe working environment.
Please contact HCPSS Technology Support at techsupport@hcpss.org if you require technical assistance.
The Get To Know series was created to help staff learn more about HCPSS leaders in schools and offices with whom they may not typically interact. HCPSS leaders answer a mix of personal and professional questions in an effort to let all employees get to know them better.
Why did you choose to work in education?
As a student at University of Maryland, I led lobbying efforts to improve access to education and that fueled my passion to get involved in public service. That led to a career in public policy at the federal, state and local levels and in each of those roles, the most rewarding work I did was around education initiatives and I believe I have now come full circle.
While I'm not an educator, my job is to ensure that our educators, support staff, administrators, and students have the resources, services and access they need to ensure a high quality of education and supports. Whether it's enhancing existing programs or supporting a new program, opening a new building, or even navigating an emergency situation, I get to see the positive impact of our work every single day.
What is the best professional advice you've ever received?
Senator Barbara Mikulski had some of the best guiding principles and I continue to use at least three of them on a regular basis:
What is something you like a lot that would surprise people?
Ketchup on pasta. I will probably regret putting this in writing.
What is on your bucket list?
I love music and would love to learn to play the guitar.
What is the most interesting place you’ve ever been?
Rio de Janeiro. Beautiful city with a lot of culture, history and amazing food. I would love to go back and spend some more time there.
Why did you choose to work in education?
Originally, I wanted to go into the field of Criminal Justice to eventually become an FBI agent, while somehow being an obstetrician. Go figure! While studying at Alabama State University, I had a few field assignments. One was to go to an elementary classroom to observe children learning. I will never forget that day! When I walked into the classroom at that moment, I knew that the classroom was where I was meant to be! My passion for foundational education began right there. Because of that experience, upon returning to campus that day, I went to my advisor and changed my major to Elementary Education.
What is the best professional advice you've ever received?
"Be the educator you needed when you were in elementary school."
What is something you like a lot that would surprise people?
I really love dinosaurs! I am sure this will surprise many that know me! I thoroughly enjoy watching movies with dinosaurs in them and find time to watch a particular movie series each week.
What is on your bucket list?
1. Learn to speak Spanish fluently
2. Educate aspiring teachers at the collegiate level
3. Take a mission trip to Africa with my husband
4. Take a religious trip to Jerusalem with my husband and three sons
5. Open a few restaurants in Alaska
6. Learn Sign Language
7. Have my own clothing line
8. Attain a sizable dinosaur statue/sculpture at home
What is the most interesting place you’ve ever been?
I am originally from Anchorage, Alaska. I was blessed to be born and raised in such an amazing place. I recommend that you visit at least once in your lifetime. It is a beautiful, mountainous and majestic state. I am still amazed by its beauty when I go back to visit my parents and family members.
What is something you are proud of?
I have been an HCPSS educator for 18 of my 21 years in public education. I am truly blessed, honored and proud to be a part of a public school system that prioritizes the humanness of its students and staff members. I appreciate the investment into the “whole person” and the value of what each individual brings to the table. Not only am I a proud employee of HCPSS, I am a proud HCPSS parent. I am so proud of the fact that by the end of this school year, I will have had the unique privilege of handing all three of my sons their high school diplomas. I am #HCPSSProud.
