Washington Post article about Former Farquhar Administrator

[Anonymous]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/11/joel-beidleman-montgomery-county-principal/

Very disturbing allegations against current administrator of Paint Branch HS, who was formerly at Farquhar MS, Joel Beidleman. I wonder what MCPS will do about this.

[Anonymous]

Hopefully this post wont be deleted....
MCPS should be ashamed of the fact that they ignored so many educators and promoted him. They screwed the middle schools he worked at, as well as Paint Branch.

[Anonymous]

It boggles my mind that any organization would continue to cover up for these types of people. Why, why, why?

[Anonymous]

MCPS teacher here. This article just exposes how corrupt and toxic the school system is. I used to be proud to work for MCPS but this just brings to life and highlights the negative work environment and lack of consequences that many of us experience. The second I’m able to retire I will leave.

[Anonymous]

As a parent of a child who will be starting K in one year, this is utterly horrifying. So many people from the very top involved in protecting this monster.

At a minimum, McKnight needs to go.

[Anonymous]

With regard to the deleting, in general Jeff removes posts that name specific individuals. I'm guessing that the rationale is that this site is anonymous and anyone could say anything about anyone.

But the WaPo article is well-researched and includes individuals willing to be named as victims, which feels much different than past posts.

Regarding the article (and the situation itself), I'm shocked. I work in a male-dominated field where some "locker room talk" is tolerated but even my workplace would never stand for this level of documented harassment.

I'm wondering how race and gender play into this. In my field, inappropriate remarks are tolerated because the entire environment is so male-dominated that women are expected to just...deal with it.

In this case, you have a young(ish) Black man in a field dominated by white women. Is there an element of "glass elevator" in play? Pushing him forward even as he faced allegations that would have killed the careers of someone who the Powers That Be had a little bit less invested in?

[Anonymous]

As an MCPS employee this is the third instance I know of where a principal wasn’t meeting standard and little to nothing was done. The two others were moved to central office in equivalent or higher paying positions - at least this one was put on leave…for now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of a child who will be starting K in one year, this is utterly horrifying. So many people from the very top involved in protecting this monster.

At a minimum, McKnight needs to go.

1000% agree. I also have a riding kindergartener and I’m very concerned about sending my child to MCPs. All trust is broken. Do I need to worry about her being called a THOT in middle school by the administration? Utterly horrifying

[Anonymous]

Anybody who ignored this shit and promoted him needs to be fired.

[Anonymous]

We need to know the name of the MCPS employee who hired this guy. Everyone likely knew what kind of guy the principal was - but it is THIS a-hole’s boss that needs to be shamed to just attempt to change a really messed up culture. To the teacher above - agreed. You should not be proud of this organization. Collect paycheck for (hopefully a year or two) and roll to South Carolina to golf.

[Anonymous]

McKnight needs to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McKnight needs to go.

+1
She is the cultivator of this unacceptable environment

[Anonymous]

There are so many shameful and damning trends on display here at MCPS that I see often as a current parent:

1) Bad performers are not only tolerated, but promoted. MCPS always knows who the troublemakers are. The problem is, for whatever reason, those people are never punished or held accountable. Rather, the whistleblowers are the ones who get punished.

2) A culture that lacks transparency and accountability. How can this guy have THIS many reports on him that lead to "no conclusion" and still get promoted repeatedly? Who is his backer within MCPS? Why is it not offering clarity and specificity to its own employees as to the results of their own internal investigations? It's all shrouded under the guise of privacy, but it's a cover to do nothing and say nothing and not have to tell people about it.

3) MCPS only responds to PR issues. Over and over again, MCPS continues to bury its head in the sand or drag its feet when you try to work within the system. But once the media starts getting involved, THEN and only then, do they start to act. This is infuriating. It shouldn't take the media, who is asking the same questions parents and teachers have been asking, for MCPS to finally do the right thing.

In reading the article, Dr. Beidelman is sociopath and an unrepentant liar. Not only does he need to be fired, but several of his enablers as well. Dr. McKnight needs to stop letting bad actors get away with murder just because they're also people of color. It's not ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are so many shameful and damning trends on display here at MCPS that I see often as a current parent:

1) Bad performers are not only tolerated, but promoted. MCPS always knows who the troublemakers are. The problem is, for whatever reason, those people are never punished or held accountable. Rather, the whistleblowers are the ones who get punished.

2) A culture that lacks transparency and accountability. How can this guy have THIS many reports on him that lead to "no conclusion" and still get promoted repeatedly? Who is his backer within MCPS? Why is it not offering clarity and specificity to its own employees as to the results of their own internal investigations? It's all shrouded under the guise of privacy, but it's a cover to do nothing and say nothing and not have to tell people about it.

3) MCPS only responds to PR issues. Over and over again, MCPS continues to bury its head in the sand or drag its feet when you try to work within the system. But once the media starts getting involved, THEN and only then, do they start to act. This is infuriating. It shouldn't take the media, who is asking the same questions parents and teachers have been asking, for MCPS to finally do the right thing.

In reading the article, Dr. Beidelman is sociopath and an unrepentant liar. Not only does he need to be fired, but several of his enablers as well. Dr. McKnight needs to stop letting bad actors get away with murder just because they're also people of color. It's not ok.

If they let her keep her job after this I have zero hope for this school system

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

In reading the article, Dr. Beidelman is sociopath and an unrepentant liar. Not only does he need to be fired, but several of his enablers as well. Dr. McKnight needs to stop letting bad actors get away with murder just because they're also people of color. It's not ok.

Ew, PP. Seriously. Yuck. Your assumption says nothing about MCPS but a lot about you.