Washington Post article about Former Farquhar Administrator

[Anonymous]

Why only 2 council members called for IG investigation? What about others?
https://moco360.media/2023/08/22/moco-councilmembers-ask-higher-authorities-for-truly-independent-beidleman-investigation/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why only 2 council members called for IG investigation? What about others?
https://moco360.media/2023/08/22/moco-councilmembers-ask-higher-authorities-for-truly-independent-beidleman-investigation/

And it's striking that none of the members of the Education & Culture Committee (Jawando, Albornoz and Mink) signed this or have said anything to this effect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Luedtke and Glass ask IGs to take over the investigation:

https://montgomeryperspective.com/2023/08/21/luedtke-and-glass-request-ig-investigation-of-mcps-scandal/

Thank you to Luedtke and Glass! I hope MCPS will halt their investigation and turn everything to the IGs. Time for an independent investigation that MCPS cannot control the outcome.

No one trusts a school system that ignored such awful conduct of a Principal.

This is a great start! I wish other council members had signed the letter (ok maybe not Jawando for the reasons already mentioned).

I don’t like the idea of lawsuits but if that’s what it takes to change what is clearly a toxic culture at MCPS, then so be it. I hope the teachers sue and help bring about the needed changes to restore trust and accountability. My heart goes out to them.

Mcps has been sued many times and still things stay the same. Our tax dollars pay for the legal fees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why only 2 council members called for IG investigation? What about others?
https://moco360.media/2023/08/22/moco-councilmembers-ask-higher-authorities-for-truly-independent-beidleman-investigation/

And it's striking that none of the members of the Education & Culture Committee (Jawando, Albornoz and Mink) signed this or have said anything to this effect.

I am not surprised at all.

[Anonymous]

Let's get a couple more MCPS horror stories and we can max out this thread and start a new one to max out. It's so crazy that the threads that center around mcps being abusive to staff and students get maxed out so fast every time. What did you think about that central office,union, and bully sympathizers. Ya going to gaslight the selfless teachers about it. Your negligence ruins lives.

[Anonymous]

Two Montgomery County Council members requested Monday that state and county watchdogs investigate the county school system’s handling of reported allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation by former Farquhar Middle School principal Joel Beidleman.
...
In an interview, Luedtke — whose children have been enrolled at Farquhar — said she felt compelled to make the request to ensure the investigation was “truly handled independently.”
...
The county council and the county executive have little power to intervene in issues around the schools. School systems in Maryland generally have more direct supervision from the state. County Executive Marc Elrich (D) has said he would prefer for the state to investigate because of its oversight powers.

County Council members were informed about the letter and were given about three hours to decide whether they wanted to add their signatures, Luedtke said. Glass was the only council member who did.
...
County Council member Will Jawando (D-At Large) said the Education and Culture Committee, which he chairs, intends to hold a hearing in September on the school system’s handling of the complaints, which would coincide with the completion of Jackson Lewis’s investigation.

Jawando said he supported the watchdog agencies conducting their own review, but said he didn’t think it would be helpful until the law firm’s investigation is complete. Jawando, who is running for U.S. Senate, received $3,900 from “Jackson Lewis P.C. Political Action Committee” according to federal campaign contribution filings, as first reported by the website Montgomery Perspective. The PAC has contributed to the campaigns of other politicians, such as Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Jawando said he was not aware of the contribution when he spoke to The Post last week about the education and culture committee’s plans and said his campaign would be giving the money back “to get rid of the distraction.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/22/montgomery-council-inspector-generals-beidleman/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Two Montgomery County Council members requested Monday that state and county watchdogs investigate the county school system’s handling of reported allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation by former Farquhar Middle School principal Joel Beidleman.
...
In an interview, Luedtke — whose children have been enrolled at Farquhar — said she felt compelled to make the request to ensure the investigation was “truly handled independently.”
...
The county council and the county executive have little power to intervene in issues around the schools. School systems in Maryland generally have more direct supervision from the state. County Executive Marc Elrich (D) has said he would prefer for the state to investigate because of its oversight powers.

County Council members were informed about the letter and were given about three hours to decide whether they wanted to add their signatures, Luedtke said. Glass was the only council member who did.
...
County Council member Will Jawando (D-At Large) said the Education and Culture Committee, which he chairs, intends to hold a hearing in September on the school system’s handling of the complaints, which would coincide with the completion of Jackson Lewis’s investigation.

Jawando said he supported the watchdog agencies conducting their own review, but said he didn’t think it would be helpful until the law firm’s investigation is complete. Jawando, who is running for U.S. Senate, received $3,900 from “Jackson Lewis P.C. Political Action Committee” according to federal campaign contribution filings, as first reported by the website Montgomery Perspective. The PAC has contributed to the campaigns of other politicians, such as Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Jawando said he was not aware of the contribution when he spoke to The Post last week about the education and culture committee’s plans and said his campaign would be giving the money back “to get rid of the distraction.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/22/montgomery-council-inspector-generals-beidleman/

I applaud the Post for keeping the pressure on MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Two Montgomery County Council members requested Monday that state and county watchdogs investigate the county school system’s handling of reported allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation by former Farquhar Middle School principal Joel Beidleman.
...
In an interview, Luedtke — whose children have been enrolled at Farquhar — said she felt compelled to make the request to ensure the investigation was “truly handled independently.”
...
The county council and the county executive have little power to intervene in issues around the schools. School systems in Maryland generally have more direct supervision from the state. County Executive Marc Elrich (D) has said he would prefer for the state to investigate because of its oversight powers.

County Council members were informed about the letter and were given about three hours to decide whether they wanted to add their signatures, Luedtke said. Glass was the only council member who did.
...
County Council member Will Jawando (D-At Large) said the Education and Culture Committee, which he chairs, intends to hold a hearing in September on the school system’s handling of the complaints, which would coincide with the completion of Jackson Lewis’s investigation.

Jawando said he supported the watchdog agencies conducting their own review, but said he didn’t think it would be helpful until the law firm’s investigation is complete. Jawando, who is running for U.S. Senate, received $3,900 from “Jackson Lewis P.C. Political Action Committee” according to federal campaign contribution filings, as first reported by the website Montgomery Perspective. The PAC has contributed to the campaigns of other politicians, such as Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Jawando said he was not aware of the contribution when he spoke to The Post last week about the education and culture committee’s plans and said his campaign would be giving the money back “to get rid of the distraction.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/22/montgomery-council-inspector-generals-beidleman/

I applaud the Post for keeping the pressure on MCPS.

In fairness, the Post isn't doing it for purely altruistic reasons. The story is generating a lot of pageviews and engagement for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Two Montgomery County Council members requested Monday that state and county watchdogs investigate the county school system’s handling of reported allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation by former Farquhar Middle School principal Joel Beidleman.
...
In an interview, Luedtke — whose children have been enrolled at Farquhar — said she felt compelled to make the request to ensure the investigation was “truly handled independently.”
...
The county council and the county executive have little power to intervene in issues around the schools. School systems in Maryland generally have more direct supervision from the state. County Executive Marc Elrich (D) has said he would prefer for the state to investigate because of its oversight powers.

County Council members were informed about the letter and were given about three hours to decide whether they wanted to add their signatures, Luedtke said. Glass was the only council member who did.
...
County Council member Will Jawando (D-At Large) said the Education and Culture Committee, which he chairs, intends to hold a hearing in September on the school system’s handling of the complaints, which would coincide with the completion of Jackson Lewis’s investigation.

Jawando said he supported the watchdog agencies conducting their own review, but said he didn’t think it would be helpful until the law firm’s investigation is complete. Jawando, who is running for U.S. Senate, received $3,900 from “Jackson Lewis P.C. Political Action Committee” according to federal campaign contribution filings, as first reported by the website Montgomery Perspective. The PAC has contributed to the campaigns of other politicians, such as Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Jawando said he was not aware of the contribution when he spoke to The Post last week about the education and culture committee’s plans and said his campaign would be giving the money back “to get rid of the distraction.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/22/montgomery-council-inspector-generals-beidleman/

I applaud the Post for keeping the pressure on MCPS.

In fairness, the Post isn't doing it for purely altruistic reasons. The story is generating a lot of pageviews and engagement for them.

Well they have to do good work in order to achieve that. That is not a given for local news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Two Montgomery County Council members requested Monday that state and county watchdogs investigate the county school system’s handling of reported allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation by former Farquhar Middle School principal Joel Beidleman.
...
In an interview, Luedtke — whose children have been enrolled at Farquhar — said she felt compelled to make the request to ensure the investigation was “truly handled independently.”
...
The county council and the county executive have little power to intervene in issues around the schools. School systems in Maryland generally have more direct supervision from the state. County Executive Marc Elrich (D) has said he would prefer for the state to investigate because of its oversight powers.

County Council members were informed about the letter and were given about three hours to decide whether they wanted to add their signatures, Luedtke said. Glass was the only council member who did.
...
County Council member Will Jawando (D-At Large) said the Education and Culture Committee, which he chairs, intends to hold a hearing in September on the school system’s handling of the complaints, which would coincide with the completion of Jackson Lewis’s investigation.

Jawando said he supported the watchdog agencies conducting their own review, but said he didn’t think it would be helpful until the law firm’s investigation is complete. Jawando, who is running for U.S. Senate, received $3,900 from “Jackson Lewis P.C. Political Action Committee” according to federal campaign contribution filings, as first reported by the website Montgomery Perspective. The PAC has contributed to the campaigns of other politicians, such as Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Jawando said he was not aware of the contribution when he spoke to The Post last week about the education and culture committee’s plans and said his campaign would be giving the money back “to get rid of the distraction.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/22/montgomery-council-inspector-generals-beidleman/

I applaud the Post for keeping the pressure on MCPS.

In fairness, the Post isn't doing it for purely altruistic reasons. The story is generating a lot of pageviews and engagement for them.

What shocking is that MCPS and the Board are not stepping aside their investigation for a truly impartial and independent investigation in light of the public scrutiny. They truly are in their own little world where they keep trying to control the outcome versus getting rid of the staff that stood by and didn’t protect the victims. Lookup the chain of command and at every level there were failures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Two Montgomery County Council members requested Monday that state and county watchdogs investigate the county school system’s handling of reported allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation by former Farquhar Middle School principal Joel Beidleman.
...
In an interview, Luedtke — whose children have been enrolled at Farquhar — said she felt compelled to make the request to ensure the investigation was “truly handled independently.”
...
The county council and the county executive have little power to intervene in issues around the schools. School systems in Maryland generally have more direct supervision from the state. County Executive Marc Elrich (D) has said he would prefer for the state to investigate because of its oversight powers.

County Council members were informed about the letter and were given about three hours to decide whether they wanted to add their signatures, Luedtke said. Glass was the only council member who did.
...
County Council member Will Jawando (D-At Large) said the Education and Culture Committee, which he chairs, intends to hold a hearing in September on the school system’s handling of the complaints, which would coincide with the completion of Jackson Lewis’s investigation.

Jawando said he supported the watchdog agencies conducting their own review, but said he didn’t think it would be helpful until the law firm’s investigation is complete. Jawando, who is running for U.S. Senate, received $3,900 from “Jackson Lewis P.C. Political Action Committee” according to federal campaign contribution filings, as first reported by the website Montgomery Perspective. The PAC has contributed to the campaigns of other politicians, such as Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Jawando said he was not aware of the contribution when he spoke to The Post last week about the education and culture committee’s plans and said his campaign would be giving the money back “to get rid of the distraction.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/22/montgomery-council-inspector-generals-beidleman/

I applaud the Post for keeping the pressure on MCPS.

In fairness, the Post isn't doing it for purely altruistic reasons. The story is generating a lot of pageviews and engagement for them.

What shocking is that MCPS and the Board are not stepping aside their investigation for a truly impartial and independent investigation in light of the public scrutiny. They truly are in their own little world where they keep trying to control the outcome versus getting rid of the staff that stood by and didn’t protect the victims. Lookup the chain of command and at every level there were failures.

It's their organizational culture.

When this alarming incident happened at Springbrook HS where front office staff's incompetence allowed a security breach to happen: https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/maryland/springbrook-high-school-intruder-cited-trespassing-no-arrest-man-experiencing-homelessness/65-5f31e7a3-2019-48ee-a2d2-73e09cb2a35c

MCPS CO admin and security leadership said they were "moving forward" and just encouraging more training in a "no blame" manner. An organizational that held itself to standards and accountability would have seen someone severely reprimanded or fired for such a massive failure. But not MCPS! Everybody is protected and mediocrity or failure is no reason to dismiss an employee.

[Anonymous]

MCPS doesn’t admit to problems with staff and therefore MCPS doesn’t fix problems with staff. This has made MCPS a safe haven for sexual harassers, bullies, and predators.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS doesn’t admit to problems with staff and therefore MCPS doesn’t fix problems with staff. This has made MCPS a safe haven for sexual harassers, bullies, and predators.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Two Montgomery County Council members requested Monday that state and county watchdogs investigate the county school system’s handling of reported allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation by former Farquhar Middle School principal Joel Beidleman.
...
In an interview, Luedtke — whose children have been enrolled at Farquhar — said she felt compelled to make the request to ensure the investigation was “truly handled independently.”
...
The county council and the county executive have little power to intervene in issues around the schools. School systems in Maryland generally have more direct supervision from the state. County Executive Marc Elrich (D) has said he would prefer for the state to investigate because of its oversight powers.

County Council members were informed about the letter and were given about three hours to decide whether they wanted to add their signatures, Luedtke said. Glass was the only council member who did.
...
County Council member Will Jawando (D-At Large) said the Education and Culture Committee, which he chairs, intends to hold a hearing in September on the school system’s handling of the complaints, which would coincide with the completion of Jackson Lewis’s investigation.

Jawando said he supported the watchdog agencies conducting their own review, but said he didn’t think it would be helpful until the law firm’s investigation is complete. Jawando, who is running for U.S. Senate, received $3,900 from “Jackson Lewis P.C. Political Action Committee” according to federal campaign contribution filings, as first reported by the website Montgomery Perspective. The PAC has contributed to the campaigns of other politicians, such as Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Jawando said he was not aware of the contribution when he spoke to The Post last week about the education and culture committee’s plans and said his campaign would be giving the money back “to get rid of the distraction.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/22/montgomery-council-inspector-generals-beidleman/

I applaud the Post for keeping the pressure on MCPS.

In fairness, the Post isn't doing it for purely altruistic reasons. The story is generating a lot of pageviews and engagement for them.

I hope it continues to generate page views! Thank you WaPo!! Let’s keep the pressure, and great journalism, going.

[Anonymous]

Rest assured they will resolve to have already overworked teachers do more compliance and reporting training. This will become their problem even though they're the victims here.