By Adam Pagnucco.
Back in May, I revealed that MCPS had been using non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to protect information distributed in some of its activities. At the time, I reported:
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I have seen multiple versions of these NDAs but I have not received any materials covered by them. To avoid risk to my sources, I will not disclose their exact language or the activities they cover. Let’s describe them in general terms.
There is some variation in the language of the NDAs. Those I have seen contain the following commonalities. The NDAs describe materials that MCPS and/or a vendor deem to be proprietary and/or confidential. Signers agree to keep them confidential and not share them with anyone who is not directly involved in the activities covered by the NDA. This obligation is continuing and does not expire with the completion of the activities in the NDA.
The NDAs contain an enforcement section. MCPS is entitled to seek an injunction stopping a breach or threat of breach. Furthermore, MCPS is entitled to recovery for damages, costs and attorney’s fees from signers who violate them. This places signers in clear legal jeopardy if they violate the NDAs.
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MCPS defended use of these NDAs and sent me this statement:
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Confidentiality agreements are a natural action for any organization involved in complex and impactful decision-making. Some circumstances when we use a confidentiality agreement to safeguard proprietary information, such as during a procurement process, and to encourage open dialogue and feedback while ensuring the confidentiality of information shared during the deliberative process.
Any confidentiality agreement is governed by Maryland law and does not prohibit the release of information that would be disclosable under the MPIA.
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The county PTA pushed back against them. In June, its president testified to the school board that participants in MCPS’s program analysis and boundary study committees were required to sign NDAs. She told the board, “These projects are taxpayer-funded based on data that shouldn’t be secret. Threatening volunteers with penalties created a power imbalance and constrained participants to sharing individual feedback vs. accurately reflecting their communities.”
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Superintendent Thomas Taylor heard the criticism of the NDAs. On September 12, Taylor wrote a letter to members of the district’s Community and Staff Design Team for the Academic Program Analysis informing them that they had been released from their NDA. Taylor wrote:
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September 12, 2025
Thank you for being an active member of the Community and Staff Design Team for the Academic Program Analysis.
As was shared at the August 20, 2025, meeting, members of the Community and Staff Design Team for the Academic Program Analysis officially have been released from the Nondisclosure Agreement that you signed earlier in the spring. I want to acknowledge the undue stress and frustration this may have caused as you were trying to gather feedback and input from the community you represent.
Please know that, as superintendent, I value the connections that you have with your community, and I appreciate you taking the time and your energy to both inform our work and share important insights with your stakeholders.
Going forward, we ask that members of the Community and Staff Design Team for the Academic Program Analysis understand that written and oral information presented as part of the boundary studies is provided to support robust and candid preliminary and deliberative discussions. Therefore, materials disclosed should be considered confidential in this context.
The Montgomery County Public Schools group facilitators will identify information that can be shared widely and information that might need to remain confidential for a short period of time as we coordinate our communications with the Board of Education and the community.
I greatly appreciate your advocacy and commitment to this work and look forward to continued collaboration going forward.
Sincerely,
Thomas W. Taylor, Ed.D, M.B.A.
Superintendent of Schools
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I asked Taylor for comment. He told me, “I am very sorry this took so long.”
I don’t know if this means that MCPS will discontinue use of all NDAs in the future. But to have Taylor officially revoke one and then publicly apologize for it is a big statement.
Bravo to Dr. Taylor. This is a good day for transparency at MCPS.