MoCo OIG Blasts Taylor and MCPS for lies over backlog and non-compliance with background and CPS checks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let’s keep in mind that Taylor made clear to all employees that compliance training needed to be completed before interacting with students. Meaning that they all needed to be well-versed in gender identity language and gender affirming terms.
But backgrounds checks….who cares??
Inexcusable.

Compliance training before interacting with students has been in placed long before Taylor became superintendent. In fact, they used to pay SEIU staff to do the training before first duty day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s keep in mind that Taylor made clear to all employees that compliance training needed to be completed before interacting with students. Meaning that they all needed to be well-versed in gender identity language and gender affirming terms.
But backgrounds checks….who cares??
Inexcusable.

Compliance training before interacting with students has been in placed long before Taylor became superintendent. In fact, they used to pay SEIU staff to do the training before first duty day.

That is true as well. Taylor was also made aware in December that there were major flaws in the background check system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s keep in mind that Taylor made clear to all employees that compliance training needed to be completed before interacting with students. Meaning that they all needed to be well-versed in gender identity language and gender affirming terms.
But backgrounds checks….who cares??
Inexcusable.

Compliance training before interacting with students has been in placed long before Taylor became superintendent. In fact, they used to pay SEIU staff to do the training before first duty day.

Meaning the sex offenders were trained in what MCPS was looking for before they started work.

They weren’t background checked and let in classrooms.

[Anonymous]

Not surprised about them using a paper system. They were still using paper pay stubs until recently. Many of their online systems are archaic or just don't work correctly (Hub).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:State law requires CPS and criminal background checks for new employees in school districts.

MCPS can not do them on its own. The state has to complete the background check. The IG report reveals the school district's CPS clearance is backlogged

https://wjla.com/features/i-team/montgomery-county-public-schools-background-checks-sex-offender-mcps-education-marc-elrich-child-protective-services-safety-education-classroom-maryland-oig

I urge everyone to read this article, especially those who continue to make excuses for MCPS. Using a paper system in 2025? Physically transporting the papers between agencies? It’s inexcusable and embarrassing. MCPS has a 5000 person backlog while PGCPS is fully up to date.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s keep in mind that Taylor made clear to all employees that compliance training needed to be completed before interacting with students. Meaning that they all needed to be well-versed in gender identity language and gender affirming terms.
But backgrounds checks….who cares??
Inexcusable.

Compliance training before interacting with students has been in placed long before Taylor became superintendent. In fact, they used to pay SEIU staff to do the training before first duty day.

Meaning the sex offenders were trained in what MCPS was looking for before they started work.

They weren’t background checked and let in classrooms.

They were screened, please read more carefully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given recent MCPS history and the reason that we needed to hire a new superintendent, you would think Taylor would have stayed on top of this.

Right! That was my confusion too. He fully knew the mess he was walking in to and saw how similar missteps took down McKnight, so why wasn’t he more prepared and vigilant?

Perhaps he thought he wouldn’t be held to the same standard?

Maybe he was sabotaged by his lieutenants?

His lieutenants are good at hiding their own incompetence from the higher up, and so he is sabotaged. And Taylor can't get on top of it - whether it's background checks, payroll systems, or what will get him fired: a new regional system, cancellation off the countywide magnets, and replacement programs that are poorly implemented by teachers incompetently trained. Chaos reigns.

[Anonymous]

Divide up the district

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s keep in mind that Taylor made clear to all employees that compliance training needed to be completed before interacting with students. Meaning that they all needed to be well-versed in gender identity language and gender affirming terms.
But backgrounds checks….who cares??
Inexcusable.

Compliance training before interacting with students has been in placed long before Taylor became superintendent. In fact, they used to pay SEIU staff to do the training before first duty day.

Meaning the sex offenders were trained in what MCPS was looking for before they started work.

They weren’t background lchecked and let in classrooms.

They were screened, please read more carefully.

Read the IG’s report.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s keep in mind that Taylor made clear to all employees that compliance training needed to be completed before interacting with students. Meaning that they all needed to be well-versed in gender identity language and gender affirming terms.
But backgrounds checks….who cares??
Inexcusable.

Compliance training before interacting with students has been in placed long before Taylor became superintendent. In fact, they used to pay SEIU staff to do the training before first duty day.

Meaning the sex offenders were trained in what MCPS was looking for before they started work.

They weren’t background lchecked and let in classrooms.

They were screened, please read more carefully.

Read the IG’s report.

CPS checks are separate from general background screenings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s keep in mind that Taylor made clear to all employees that compliance training needed to be completed before interacting with students. Meaning that they all needed to be well-versed in gender identity language and gender affirming terms.
But backgrounds checks….who cares??
Inexcusable.

Compliance training before interacting with students has been in placed long before Taylor became superintendent. In fact, they used to pay SEIU staff to do the training before first duty day.

Meaning the sex offenders were trained in what MCPS was looking for before they started work.

They weren’t background lchecked and let in classrooms.

They were screened, please read more carefully.

Read the IG’s report.

CPS checks are separate from general background screenings

So not important to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s keep in mind that Taylor made clear to all employees that compliance training needed to be completed before interacting with students. Meaning that they all needed to be well-versed in gender identity language and gender affirming terms.
But backgrounds checks….who cares??
Inexcusable.

Compliance training before interacting with students has been in placed long before Taylor became superintendent. In fact, they used to pay SEIU staff to do the training before first duty day.

That is true as well. Taylor was also made aware in December that there were major flaws in the background check system.

What background system?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Divide up the district

Sounds like that 'sell the team' campaign DC area saw not too long ago

[Anonymous]

“Don’t worry, it’s a snow day.”

[Anonymous]

Bieldeman case showed what was not happening when complaints were being made --block, bury, deflect. This report shows what was not happening --block, bury, deflect. What's next to uncover in MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So am I understanding correctly that the main issue here is that when MCPS started participating in the "Rap Back" system in 2019 that automatically notifies them of new criminal background check issues that come up for staff, they didn't go back and add existing employees to that system, and still haven't as of 2025? And the OIG notified Taylor of this a few months ago but he decided that since it would be expensive/inconvenient to assign a ton of CO staff to get them all entered ASAP (or hire a bunch of temps to do so), and since his predecessors since 2019 hadn't treated it with that level of urgency, he wouldn't either? And then in the last month (presumably because of the report coming out) he decided to do it after all?

You got that right for most part. Don't leave out the CPS check portion of the story as well, which is a state law requirement.

It seems like the issue with the delays on CPS checks is with the county/state offices who actually do them and are understaffed and way behind, right? I guess MCPS could be prohibiting people from working until the checks go through but that sounds like it would cause a huge staffing hole if they're really thousands of new hires behind.

I guess also you could argue Taylor should have been raising the alarm and lobbying harder and sooner for the other offices to handle this better, like he started doing in July. (It sounds like he is claiming he didn't know about it until now, though, and that he didn't get a heads' up on it from the OIG until last month. How could he not know though? I guess HR staff treated it as normal since it had been that way for years so didn't raise it to him as a problem, and he never asked?)

My kid had to do a CPS check to be a summer camp counselor, and it took maybe 4 weeks to get it back.