Washington Post article about Former Farquhar Administrator

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has the agenda for tomorrow's BOE meeting been sent out yet? It'll be interesting to see how they show up.

Yes

http://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=CTTMA95A3880

Thank you!

Jennifer Martin from the MCEA has a pretty damning video testimony:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1afKybg8aTH0u0odwgphJ-e3AhAjIuMNY/view

Great testimony.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the agenda, the board will be conducting a closed session from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm where the Beidleman issue will be discussed.

Why not just say that in the previous statements instead of acting like they've been doing something they haven't been doing?

Beidleman is not on the agenda.

Several items on the closed session agenda could be related to Beidleman. It’s going to be a transparent process held in closed session.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the agenda, the board will be conducting a closed session from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm where the Beidleman issue will be discussed.

Why not just say that in the previous statements instead of acting like they've been doing something they haven't been doing?

Beidleman is not on the agenda.

They don't spell out the specific agenda for the closed session. They just describe the KINDS of things that are eligible to be discussed during a closed session, which involve personnel, HR and litigation issues, all of which pertain to Beidleman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the agenda, the board will be conducting a closed session from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm where the Beidleman issue will be discussed.

Why not just say that in the previous statements instead of acting like they've been doing something they haven't been doing?

Beidleman is not on the agenda.

They don't spell out the specific agenda for the closed session. They just describe the KINDS of things that are eligible to be discussed during a closed session, which involve personnel, HR and litigation issues, all of which pertain to Beidleman.

None of which will be about him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the agenda, the board will be conducting a closed session from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm where the Beidleman issue will be discussed.

Why not just say that in the previous statements instead of acting like they've been doing something they haven't been doing?

Beidleman is not on the agenda.

They don't spell out the specific agenda for the closed session. They just describe the KINDS of things that are eligible to be discussed during a closed session, which involve personnel, HR and litigation issues, all of which pertain to Beidleman.

None of which will be about him.

Ok then...I guess you know something we don't. Do we have a board employee in the house?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has the agenda for tomorrow's BOE meeting been sent out yet? It'll be interesting to see how they show up.

Yes

http://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=CTTMA95A3880

Thank you!

Jennifer Martin from the MCEA has a pretty damning video testimony:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1afKybg8aTH0u0odwgphJ-e3AhAjIuMNY/view

This is excellent testimony.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think (because of the public outcry and the excellent post reporting only), that Biedleman himself will be fired. It won't be the usual course of action where is given a cushy job in central office like always. But the buck will stop with him.

No consequences for Eric Minus, McKnight keeps her gig, and no justice of course for the teachers who were wronged by Biedleman.

I'd love to be wrong about that, but thats how I see it playing out.

I hope the reporters keep digging. They may win a Pulitzer Prize.

I hope the teachers find a good law firm to represent them. The lawyers have an incentive to dig deeper to win a bigger settlement.

This! Thank you WaPo and Montgomery perspective. This is journalism at its finest. I hope it brings about the obviously much needed changes. Please keep the heat on MCPS, the BOE and the county council.

+1 If it wasn’t for the Washington Post, the teacher complaints would have been completely covered up. If an outside reporter could link the 18 cases, why couldn’t MCPS? Why was the guy given a promotion?

There’s still a lot of unanswered questions but either the top brass knew of the complaints and did nothing or they are doing a horrible job managing the school system. 18 complaints about the same staff member should have flagged their attention.

Correct. And this fundamental disconnect is not addressed in ANY of the statements that McKnight, Silvestre or the BOE has made, which is what makes them all fall flat.

Even if the investigation needs to happen to sort out ALL of the details, at this point, they should have put out SOMETHING that addresses either how the system was so poorly mismanaged and siloed that no one connected the dots, or how corrupt individuals (to be named post-investigation) purposefully failed at their job and will be held accountable.

Silvestre speaking for herself

https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2023/08/breaking-board-of-education-president.html?m=1

This letter was the same statement Silvestre read at the attendance press conference. My concern is that in the haste to cover their individual butts, evidence will be tainted and destroyed before an independent investigation can take place. Why isn’t Silvestre supporting an IG investigation if she supports accountability?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think (because of the public outcry and the excellent post reporting only), that Biedleman himself will be fired. It won't be the usual course of action where is given a cushy job in central office like always. But the buck will stop with him.

No consequences for Eric Minus, McKnight keeps her gig, and no justice of course for the teachers who were wronged by Biedleman.

I'd love to be wrong about that, but thats how I see it playing out.

I hope the reporters keep digging. They may win a Pulitzer Prize.

I hope the teachers find a good law firm to represent them. The lawyers have an incentive to dig deeper to win a bigger settlement.

This! Thank you WaPo and Montgomery perspective. This is journalism at its finest. I hope it brings about the obviously much needed changes. Please keep the heat on MCPS, the BOE and the county council.

+1 If it wasn’t for the Washington Post, the teacher complaints would have been completely covered up. If an outside reporter could link the 18 cases, why couldn’t MCPS? Why was the guy given a promotion?

There’s still a lot of unanswered questions but either the top brass knew of the complaints and did nothing or they are doing a horrible job managing the school system. 18 complaints about the same staff member should have flagged their attention.

Correct. And this fundamental disconnect is not addressed in ANY of the statements that McKnight, Silvestre or the BOE has made, which is what makes them all fall flat.

Even if the investigation needs to happen to sort out ALL of the details, at this point, they should have put out SOMETHING that addresses either how the system was so poorly mismanaged and siloed that no one connected the dots, or how corrupt individuals (to be named post-investigation) purposefully failed at their job and will be held accountable.

Silvestre speaking for herself

https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2023/08/breaking-board-of-education-president.html?m=1

This letter was the same statement Silvestre read at the attendance press conference. My concern is that in the haste to cover their individual butts, evidence will be tainted and destroyed before an independent investigation can take place. Why isn’t Silvestre supporting an IG investigation if she supports accountability?

Evidence will be tainted and destroyed and victims will be discouraged if not intimidated.

Silvestre isn’t supporting an IG investigation because she’s culpable in the Beidelman promotion and in maintaining a culture that was deliberately indifferent to Biedelman’s victims.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Video testimony by Jennifer Martin of MCEA:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1afKybg8aTH0u0odwgphJ-e3AhAjIuMNY/view

+1000 Spot on! MCPS and the Board is loosing all credibility if they won’t step aside for an independent investigation.

Just so no one forgets - the Board unanimously approved his promotion to Principal at Paint Branch. Shouldn’t they have been aware of the 18 complaints?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Video testimony by Jennifer Martin of MCEA:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1afKybg8aTH0u0odwgphJ-e3AhAjIuMNY/view

+1000 Spot on! MCPS and the Board is loosing all credibility if they won’t step aside for an independent investigation.

Just so no one forgets - the Board unanimously approved his promotion to Principal at Paint Branch. Shouldn’t they have been aware of the 18 complaints?

Sounds like central office folks didn't include info about the complaints in the materials they sent to the board. I know there were anonymous emails sent to them, but they may have been screened out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Video testimony by Jennifer Martin of MCEA:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1afKybg8aTH0u0odwgphJ-e3AhAjIuMNY/view

+1000 Spot on! MCPS and the Board is loosing all credibility if they won’t step aside for an independent investigation.

Just so no one forgets - the Board unanimously approved his promotion to Principal at Paint Branch. Shouldn’t they have been aware of the 18 complaints?

Sounds like central office folks didn't include info about the complaints in the materials they sent to the board. I know there were anonymous emails sent to them, but they may have been screened out.

Yes, the Washington Post reported that emails went to Board members’ emails. The Post however didn’t state whether the emails were anonymous or not, but emails disclose the sender’s email address.

As far as what records were provided to the Board when reviewing a candidate for an administrative position, shouldn’t they receive all the information available for that decision? If I was a Board member, I would want to fire the person who withheld key information that would have changed my mind about the appointment.

If Board members had the information and they chose not to either read the whole file or point blank ignored the complaints then they should resign.

[Anonymous]

Elrich supports an IG investigation. Silvestre says it’s the Board’s decision.

https://www.mymcmedia.org/elrich-reiterates-calls-for-true-independent-mcps-investigation/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Video testimony by Jennifer Martin of MCEA:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1afKybg8aTH0u0odwgphJ-e3AhAjIuMNY/view

+1000 Spot on! MCPS and the Board is loosing all credibility if they won’t step aside for an independent investigation.

Just so no one forgets - the Board unanimously approved his promotion to Principal at Paint Branch. Shouldn’t they have been aware of the 18 complaints?

Sounds like central office folks didn't include info about the complaints in the materials they sent to the board. I know there were anonymous emails sent to them, but they may have been screened out.

Yes, the Washington Post reported that emails went to Board members’ emails. The Post however didn’t state whether the emails were anonymous or not, but emails disclose the sender’s email address.

As far as what records were provided to the Board when reviewing a candidate for an administrative position, shouldn’t they receive all the information available for that decision? If I was a Board member, I would want to fire the person who withheld key information that would have changed my mind about the appointment.

If Board members had the information and they chose not to either read the whole file or point blank ignored the complaints then they should resign.

The Post story said:

"In May 2022, one of them anonymously emailed Superintendent Monifa McKnight and the school board that Beidleman emotionally abused and sexually harassed staff"

[Anonymous]

More pressure for an IG investigation today:

https://wjla.com/news/crisis-in-the-classrooms/montgomery-councilmembers-continue-to-push-for-new-investigations-evan-glass-dawn-luedtke-maryland-mcps-paint-branch-high-school-principal-joel-beidleman-sexual-harassment-claims-inspector-general

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More pressure for an IG investigation today:

https://wjla.com/news/crisis-in-the-classrooms/montgomery-councilmembers-continue-to-push-for-new-investigations-evan-glass-dawn-luedtke-maryland-mcps-paint-branch-high-school-principal-joel-beidleman-sexual-harassment-claims-inspector-general

From the WJLA Report -

Janis Sartucci of the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland is opposed to Jackson Lewis conducting the investigations.

When asked if she believed it was a good move by the councilmembers to request the inspectors general investigate the case she said, "Absolutely. I think that at this point, the Board of Education has shown they cannot be trusted to handle this."

Maryland's Office of the Inspector General for Education responded to 7News and told us it does not discuss investigations.

7News emailed the school board to find out when it plans to make a decision on the councilmembers' request.

We're still waiting to hear back, but checked the board's calendar and learned it meets Thursday August 24 at 9 am.