MADE IN MARYLAND Gaithersburg production company wraps up filming. A-3
NEWS: Gaithersburg Marriott Washingtonian Center to open bar in shipping container. A-4
The Gazette GAITHERSBURG | MONTGOMERY VILLAGE DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Suspension rates fall in schools
25 cents
Former teacher ordered to prison for molestation
Crowning achievement
Board officials describe ‘misinformation,’ ‘urban legends’ about discipline n
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Gaithersburg man to serve five years for sex offenses against children n
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
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DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Graduate Brittney Gibbs (right) poses with Quince Orchard High School principal Carole Working after receiving her diploma during the Quince Orchard High School graduation ceremony at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., on May 27.
Natali Collazos (left) looks for family in the audience before the ceremony. The commencement featured student speakers Henry Peck and Alyssa Winderlich. The guest speaker was Major League Baseball analyst for ESPN Tim Kurkjian.
See SUSPENSION, Page A-10
Woman dies Sunday after Derwood crash Other driver taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries
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FROM STAFF REPORTS
A woman was killed in a two-car crash on Muncaster Mill Road in Derwood on Sunday night, Montgomery County police said.
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VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
The victim’s name and hometown were not released on Tuesday, as police worked to contact her family. Police said the crash happened shortly before 11:30 p.m. A white Ford Taurus driven by the victim collided with a black Ford Focus just north of Bowie Mill Road, police said in a news release. Police did not know on Tuesday what caused the crash.
The driver of the Ford Focus — identified as Juan Francisco Diana, 34, of the 3000 block of Aquarius Avenue in Silver Spring — was taken to Suburban Hospital with injuries that were not considered life threatening, police said. Police have asked anyone who might have seen the collision to call them at 240773-6620.
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ONE LOVE Area actors perform in premiere of new Bob Marley musical in Baltimore. B-4
Volume 28, No. 22 Two sections, 28 Pages Copyright © 2015 The Gazette
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RECYCLE
A judge sentenced a Gaithersburg man on Friday to serve five years in prison for sexually touching two girls in county middle schools in 2004 and in 2014. The sentence satisfies the terms of a plea agreement reached in April between defendant Jose Pineda, 50, of Gaithersburg, a former substitute teacher, and the county’s state’s attorney’s office. The plea means that Pineda will not go to trial on charges of third-degree sex offense and sex abuse of a child, sparing the victims from having to testify. “I’m thankful they will not have to relive [the experience],” the mother of a girl who was molested last year said in court. The Gazette does not usually identify by name the victims of sex offenses. The mother is not being named to protect the identity of her daughter. Pineda, who taught math and other middle school subjects, repeatedly brushed his arm or hand across the victims’
buttocks, in one case squeezing them, according to charging documents. In another case, he stuck his hand up a victim’s shorts and touched her buttock, charging documents said. Members of Pineda’s family spoke at the sentencing hearing, saying he has a good character. His son, Jose Pineda Jr., said he believed his father could change. But Assistant State’s Attorney Timothy Hagan said Pineda violated the trust students put in their teachers. He said Pineda had been reprimanded by administrators at two schools for inappropriate sexual conduct. “He kept putting himself in that situation all day long. ... He betrayed that trust for his own sexual pleasure,” said Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Dugan Jr., who sentenced Pineda. The victim who was molested in 2004 said she and her mother had reported the incident to school officials, but Pineda was allowed to continue teaching. “I’m just happy that it’s all taken care of,” the victim, now an adult, said in an interview after the sentencing hearing. “It’s been 10 years. I’m just happy something was done.” vterhune@gazette.net
Slipping, sliding with Ambassadors Mom hosts Gaithersburg event exclusively for those with autism, families
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SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER STAFF WRITER
On Saturday evening, the Waterpark at Bohrer Park was buzzing with excitement and, most importantly, not an ounce of judgement as the Autism Ambassadors took over in Gaithersburg. “I started the events about eight years ago. At the time, I only knew about 15 families of children with autism,” said Whitney Ellenby, of Bethesda, the organizer of Autism Ambassadors. She and her husband Keith Rueben have a 14-yearold son, Zack Reuben, who has autism, and a 9-year-old daughter, Cassie Reuben, who is “typically developing,” according to Ellenby. Ellenby explained that she wanted to put together activities solely for those with au-
GAZ LADIESNIGHTOUT FRONT
Suspension rates in Montgomery County Public Schools fell this year as the district continues work tied to a code of conduct meant to guide disciplinary decisions. As the district nears the end of its first school year using the code, some school officials say that some staff and others don’t understand the new approach to student discipline. Data presented May 26 at a school board meeting showed that, with the new code in place, the district reduced suspensions overall and within student groups based on race from the 2013-14 school year to the current year. The system created its code of conduct in response to regulations the state school board adopted last year. The regulations are aimed in part at reducing suspensions and expulsions and giving administrators greater discretion to determine discipline. The regulations require the county district to include a range of consequences in its code and use suspensions as a last resort. From 2009-10 to the current school year, the rate of students suspended or expelled dropped 47 percent at high schools, 42 percent at middle schools and 50 percent at elementary schools, according to information presented at the board meeting. For each year, the measurement period was the first day of school to March. From last school year to this year, the system decreased suspensions across student groups of different races, though the percentages of black and Hispanic students who were suspended remained higher than the percentages of white and Asian students, according to a May 26 memo to the school board. As of March, the suspension rate for special education students also went down, but was nearly three times as high as the rate for students overall. “We’ve seen the gap closing, but it’s still there,” said Debra Berner, director of special education and student services, referring to disproportionate suspensions and discipline for black, Hispanic and special education students.
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SPORTS: Former Gaithersburg High receiver settles in after transferring to Seneca Valley. B-1
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Pape Gueye, 15 of Burtonsville splashed in the pool with his brother Cheikh, 11 (not shown) during an Autism Ambassadors event at Bohrer Park on Saturday in Gaithersburg. tism and their family members in order to provide stress-free, embarrassment-free events closed to the general public. She hosts events such as movie
See AMBASSADORS, Page A-10
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