By Adam Pagnucco.
In response to today’s bombshell article in MoCo360 detailing alleged retaliation against an MCPS investigator looking into sexual harassment, the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) has sent a message to its members asking them to insist that the school board “hold top leaders accountable.” Among other things, the union told its members:
“MCPS leaders who let unethical behavior go unaddressed are unworthy of our respect and must be held to account.”
“The fact that a top leader was not disciplined or dismissed for failing to cooperate fully with the Montgomery County Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigation indicates a lack of integrity at the highest levels of the system. The improper dismissal of sexual harassment charges shows a blatant disregard for the safety of our members and our school communities.”
“While we don’t yet know what sordid details may come to light, we already have substantial evidence of mismanagement and unethical actions at the highest levels of the system.”
The full email by MCEA to its members is reprinted below.
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Subject: Hold MCPS Executive Leadership Accountable
Dear Colleagues,
In the past several days, there have been new revelations implicating MCPS executive leadership as failing to serve the best interests of the school system. MCPS leaders who let unethical behavior go unaddressed are unworthy of our respect and must be held to account.
We educators, who give our all each day to the young people in our care, deserve honesty and courage from executive leadership. We need leaders who put the wellbeing of staff and students above self-interest.
It’s time for all of us to contact the Board of Education at boe@mcpsmd.org and insist that they hold top leaders accountable and put structures in place to ensure that integrity is restored in MCPS.
Recent news has brought the problems into high relief. First, we learned from the January 8, 2024, report by the Montgomery County Office of the Inspector General (OIG) that persons in top leadership were questioned about accusations of misconduct by administrators. The OIG’s report states that one of these high-level officials “provided evasive answers to direct questions and made the unlikely claim that they did not recall memorable events.” (You can read MCEA’s response to this report here.)
Then, today in MoCo360, Alexandra Robbins reported new allegations from an MCPS employee, Khalid Walker, who formerly served as an investigator assigned to the Beidleman case. Robbins provided new details as to how leaders in MCPS overruled Walker’s findings that there was “stone-cold sexual harassment” by Beidleman. Walker stated to MoCo360, “…I believed the behavior alleged was sexual harassment, and the staff members deserved better.”
The fact that a top leader was not disciplined or dismissed for failing to cooperate fully with the Montgomery County Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigation indicates a lack of integrity at the highest levels of the system. The improper dismissal of sexual harassment charges shows a blatant disregard for the safety of our members and our school communities.
Soon we expect the release of a final report from the OIG that will reveal what went wrong in MCPS’s initial investigation of Beidleman and why there was a longstanding failure to protect our colleagues at Farquhar Middle School, and elsewhere, from harassment and bullying. While we don’t yet know what sordid details may come to light, we already have substantial evidence of mismanagement and unethical actions at the highest levels of the system.
In solidarity,
Jennifer Martin
President