Montgomery County Council, school system leaders hold tense discussion over report into MCPS’ handling of employee complaints
ROCKVILLE, Md. (DC News Now) — Leaders from Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and the Montgomery County Council met Thursday to review and discuss a less-redacted version of a report digging into the school system’s failures to conduct thorough investigations of employee complaints and concerns.
Members of the council pushed over the last few weeks for the county Board of Education to release the report put together by outside firm Jackson Lewis last year. The Board released a version with fewer redactions just before Thursday’s meeting started at 3 p.m.
That investigation and a report from the county’s Office of the Inspector General found the school system hasn’t been doing enough to thoroughly investigate employee misconduct, harassment, and discrimination allegations, with concerns dating back years.
These issues all came into the spotlight back in August when the Washington Post published a story detailing allegations made against then-principal Joel Beidleman.
“It pains me that more than six months after the news broke publicly, and years after leading officials in MCPS knew about allegations of misconduct and workplace harassment internally, this council and the public still don’t really know ‘who, what, when, where, and why?’ Hopefully today begins that process,” said council president Andrew Friedson.
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During Thursday’s session, other councilmembers also came down hard on the school system’s response to those findings and the time it took to get a less-redacted version of the report.
“This is about accountability and making sure there is transparency,” said councilmember Natali Fani-Gonzalez, speaking to the board members at the meeting. “At the end of the day, you’re elected officials just like we are. You have to understand the power that you have. Use it. Don’t just say yes to your staff and thinking everything’s OK and everyone’s doing their jobs.”
Responding to Fani-Gonzalez, board president Karla Silvestre said, “I do want to say we are building capacity and our staff. We need help to do this.”
Cutting Silvestre off, the council member replied, “I’m gonna push back. You don’t have a staff issue. What you have is an attitude. You gotta make sure you understand your power and demand accountability and transparency. You don’t need people to tell you that. You can do that yourself. You’re an elected official.”
Several members of the audience at the meeting cheered during Fani-Gonzalez’s response.
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Questions still remain surrounding the terms and reasoning behind the sudden departure of the school system’s former superintendent, Dr. Monifa McKnight.
The board and Dr. McKnight agreed to go their separate ways last Friday, just over a week after board members called for her to step away and she vowed to fight to keep the job.
Thursday’s session came just two days after the board appointed a new interim superintendent, Dr. Monique Felder.
During the session, councilmember Lauri-Anne Sayles asked why McKnight was asked to resign.
Silvestre replied, “It was a mutual agreement between the Board and Dr. McKnight. We’re moving on and look forward to fixing the problems that need to be fixed.”
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