Washington Post article about Former Farquhar Administrator

[Anonymous]

Good reporting by the Washington Post.
Imagine how MCPS would behave if they knew no one was watching

[Anonymous]

I don’t think McKnight needs to resign but she needs to immediately issue an apology statement on how this was handled and what steps is she putting in place to ensure this does not happen again

[Anonymous]

FMS, and other cluster schools, are going to need to address this in some way. My former FMS students each have received the article, and are figuring out who the teachers are. It is a lesson for them about leadership, harassment and common decency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think McKnight needs to resign but she needs to immediately issue an apology statement on how this was handled and what steps is she putting in place to ensure this does not happen again

I suspect her lawyers will carefully orchestrate any and all statements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[quote/]

Hi, Alexandra Robbins here. If any of you on this thread would like to share your experiences with admin or central office for a potential future article, please feel free to email me at [e-mail]

Hi Alexandra
Below is the complaint from the parents community against Lakewood elementary school principal that was sent to her supervisors. I am sure this will be swept under the rug too:

***************************
August 5, 2023
Dear Mrs. Diane Morris and Dr. Peter Moran,
As you likely are aware, many members of the Lakewood Elementary School (LES) community have significant concerns with respect to the current leadership and trajectory of LES. Parents within the LES community have been reaching out directly to various MCPS Administration officials in order to relay a growing list of concerns, and participated in an approximately 150-person Zoom meeting with the Lakewood administrative leadership team (Principal Ebony-Nicole Kelly, Assistant Principal Leah Levy, and Acting Director of School Support and Well-Being, Michelle Schultze) on June 12, 2023. Additionally, members of the LES community have met without administration involvement (during three virtual 50-person meetings conducted on June 9, 13, and 14, 2023), as well as conducted ad-hoc engagements with teachers, administration, staff, parents, and students.
This letter is intended to summarize concerns shared repeatedly with the LES administrative team. Unfortunately, staff members have reported being targeted, bullied and retaliated against when they voiced concerns. As a result, parents fear retaliation and other negative repercussions to their children’s education and well-being. Thus we are writing this letter anonymously. On behalf of the LES parent community, we wanted to highlight a list of the concerns below, and seek your necessary engagement in these important issues that are impacting hundreds of children. We also ask that you read the notes from Michelle Schultze when she spoke to the teachers at the end of the school year.
The arrival of Principal Kelly and Assistant Principal Levy during this past ‘22 - ‘23 academic year has caused Lakewood to become a chaotic environment for our children and teachers. Parents and students reported multiple incidents of children being subjected to unjustified group punishment and public humiliation, where children were forced to perform push-ups or stand on the stage as punishment for being too loud at lunch or recess. As a direct result, some students reported feeling unheard, victimized, and traumatized to the extent that it brought them to tears and they did not want to go to school anymore. These issues were repeatedly brought to Principal Kelly’s attention, but she denied the group punishments and was wholly dismissive of our concerns; the group punishments and public humiliations continued. Another example is the new kindergarten teacher, who was not able to maintain order and the kids ran wild in the classroom, hiding under desks, screaming curse words and as a result many kids did not learn the basics, like how to read. Principal Kelly’s failure to respond to the repeated cries for help from parents resulted in a year of learning loss and both the teacher and students being neglected for the majority of the school year. Naturally, we are extremely concerned that the continuation of these incidents is causing the demoralization of students, impeding their academic and social-emotional well-being.
In July 2023, MCPS published the 2022-2023 Staff Climate Survey results for Lakewood (See Fig. 2) which illustrates and confirms the degradation of the school environment, and root causes of the exodus of nearly one third (31%) of the LES teaching and support staff during Principal Kelly’s short 10 month tenure. Principal Kelly had claimed during the June 12th town hall meeting that a certain amount of teacher attrition is typical with a transition to a new administration, and dismissed the departures as insignificant. According to the Maryland State Department of Education, the rate of teacher turnover was at its highest level in five years post-pandemic at 11.2% in Maryland state ( see Fig. 1 ), and 10% nationally. Contrary to Principal Kelly’s claim, Lakewood’s teacher turnover rate is a staggering 31%; more than triple the teacher turnover rate of schools in the U.S. Please note that this 31% figure does not include the Paraeducators, several of whom have left as well. This figure also does not include the continued announcements of departures, as more teachers have left in the summer and the parents know that many continue to look for opportunities to leave Lakewood daily.

In the '22-'23 climate survey, 35 staff members responded. When asked "how positive is the tone that school leaders set for the culture of the school?" 52.9% said "not at all," 26.5% said "somewhat." When asked "how positive is the working environment at your school?" 42.9% said "not at all" and 40% said "somewhat." In contrast, 62-67% feel a strong connection between students and staff, and among each other as colleagues. (See Fig. 2) The figures speak plainly that Lakewood teachers care deeply about our school, but Principal Kelly and Assistant Principal Levy have created a toxic work environment that has forced one third of our valued teachers (many of whom have taught at Lakewood from 6 to 25 years and spanning up to 5 different Principals over their tenure) to leave within a single academic year. ( See Fig. 3 )
The disclosure of very disturbing incidents cited above, and of the sudden and continued departure of so many of our highly-experienced and valued teachers left the LES parent community feeling blindsided as news of such gravity was not forthcoming from our school principal, and was only brought to the fore by rumors circulating in the community. It opened our eyes to see that the underlying cause of all of these issues is that our school has an ineffective leader.
In language taken directly from the Maryland State and MCPS Principal Evaluation Standards1, Principal Kelly has demonstrated her failure to be an “educational leader who acts to promote each student’s academic success and well-being”. These very words are included verbatim in each of ten standards by which the performance of all MCPS school principals are evaluated. A deficiency in any one of these standards will result in the principal receiving an “ ineffective ” rating. According to MCPS protocol, a principal who receives an “ineffective” rating requires the engagement of MCPS leadership including the Consulting Principal, the Director, and Peer Assistance and Review Panel, particularly new principals who are in an active evaluation cycle their first two years, such as Dr. Kelly,
The failure in leadership by Principal Kelly (in partnership with Assistant Principal Levy) has the potential to erase a legacy of high-academic standards at Lakewood, a situation the LES Parent Community wishes to avoid. In summary, our letter specifically identifies:
● Negative impacts on student well-being and morale including group punishments, exclusionary disciplinary tactics, and public shaming. Parents are concerned about the lack of support provided to a new teacher such that children are ending their school year without meeting grade-level standards of learning.
● Administration has created an atmosphere of fear at LES, such that parents and staff feel uncomfortable addressing their concerns directly with the administration, with some staff reporting incidents of retaliation. Such an environment led to the continuing exodus of, at current, 31% of teachers and support staff, thereby impairing the academic success and well-being of students.
● Major changes made to instructional protocol by Principal Kelly while disregarding the input of staff members who have long-tenures with demonstrated success in their current teaching assignments.This has led to the erosion of a positive working environment, and overall staff morale. Some of these changes include the possible removal of departmentalization which 96% of LES parents wish to remain intact (see attached PTA Parent Survey from July 24, 2023), and the mandated rotation of approximately 44% of teachers to new grade levels during this upcoming academic year. While we respect that it is within a principal’s discretion to make staffing changes, the parents question Principal Kelly's claim that these changes benefit the students
when the teachers and staff that the students love and respect are now no longer at Lakewood.
● Principal Kelly is an ineffective and absent leader. She is often unresponsive to parent emails or
evasive in her replies, or dismisses parents’ concerns outright. She is often observed to be absent during normal school operating hours or events, where one would reasonably expect an elementary school principal to be present (Kindergarten orientation, recorder concert, spring concert assembly and multiple other special events - list of absences can be provided upon request). The combination of moving almost half the teachers to teach different grades, which resulted in a third of the teachers leaving and forcing Principal Kelly to bring in one third of teachers that are brand new to Lakewood and several that have no classroom experience, losing decades of institutional knowledge, really call into question Principal Kelly's leadership and decision making ability.
● The lack of timely concise communication by the LES administrative team has eroded community trust as parents have failed to be informed of key decisions and changes(such as the possible removal of departmentalization if not this upcoming school year then potentially next school year, for example) impacting their children’s education and well-being. When parent input is solicited, it is not apparent that it is considered by the administration.
As evidenced by the tumultuous year at Lakewood and community feedback, there is a fundamental misalignment between LES administration, led by Principal Kelly and Assistant Principal Levy, and our school community that has created a chaotic and harmful environment for our students and teachers. Based on the elements relayed in this letter, we respectfully request MCPS implement an immediate investigation into the aforementioned concerns.
Again, please understand that we have chosen to send this letter as a group through an anonymous email account instead of as individuals due to some parents' fear of retaliation by the LES administration. However, you may send messages through this email account at any time as it is monitored daily by parents. We welcome all future communications with you, including in-person meetings with members of the parent community when deemed appropriate.
We appreciated the presence of Michelle Schultze at the June 12 meeting, and thought that it was extremely helpful to have a member of the MCPS leadership facilitate the dialogue between parents and LES administration. We sincerely hope that MCPS leadership will confirm receipt of this letter, and continue to reach out to the parent community in order to collaborate on solutions for the sake of our students and teachers at Lakewood.
Respectfully,
Lakewood Concerned Parents


**************

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[quote/]

Hi, Alexandra Robbins here. If any of you on this thread would like to share your experiences with admin or central office for a potential future article, please feel free to email me at [e-mail]

Hi Alexandra
Below is the complaint from the parents community against Lakewood elementary school principal that was sent to her supervisors. I am sure this will be swept under the rug too:

***************************
August 5, 2023
Dear Mrs. Diane Morris and Dr. Peter Moran,
As you likely are aware, many members of the Lakewood Elementary School (LES) community have significant concerns with respect to the current leadership and trajectory of LES. Parents within the LES community have been reaching out directly to various MCPS Administration officials in order to relay a growing list of concerns, and participated in an approximately 150-person Zoom meeting with the Lakewood administrative leadership team (Principal Ebony-Nicole Kelly, Assistant Principal Leah Levy, and Acting Director of School Support and Well-Being, Michelle Schultze) on June 12, 2023. Additionally, members of the LES community have met without administration involvement (during three virtual 50-person meetings conducted on June 9, 13, and 14, 2023), as well as conducted ad-hoc engagements with teachers, administration, staff, parents, and students.
This letter is intended to summarize concerns shared repeatedly with the LES administrative team. Unfortunately, staff members have reported being targeted, bullied and retaliated against when they voiced concerns. As a result, parents fear retaliation and other negative repercussions to their children’s education and well-being. Thus we are writing this letter anonymously. On behalf of the LES parent community, we wanted to highlight a list of the concerns below, and seek your necessary engagement in these important issues that are impacting hundreds of children. We also ask that you read the notes from Michelle Schultze when she spoke to the teachers at the end of the school year.
The arrival of Principal Kelly and Assistant Principal Levy during this past ‘22 - ‘23 academic year has caused Lakewood to become a chaotic environment for our children and teachers. Parents and students reported multiple incidents of children being subjected to unjustified group punishment and public humiliation, where children were forced to perform push-ups or stand on the stage as punishment for being too loud at lunch or recess. As a direct result, some students reported feeling unheard, victimized, and traumatized to the extent that it brought them to tears and they did not want to go to school anymore. These issues were repeatedly brought to Principal Kelly’s attention, but she denied the group punishments and was wholly dismissive of our concerns; the group punishments and public humiliations continued. Another example is the new kindergarten teacher, who was not able to maintain order and the kids ran wild in the classroom, hiding under desks, screaming curse words and as a result many kids did not learn the basics, like how to read. Principal Kelly’s failure to respond to the repeated cries for help from parents resulted in a year of learning loss and both the teacher and students being neglected for the majority of the school year. Naturally, we are extremely concerned that the continuation of these incidents is causing the demoralization of students, impeding their academic and social-emotional well-being.
In July 2023, MCPS published the 2022-2023 Staff Climate Survey results for Lakewood (See Fig. 2) which illustrates and confirms the degradation of the school environment, and root causes of the exodus of nearly one third (31%) of the LES teaching and support staff during Principal Kelly’s short 10 month tenure. Principal Kelly had claimed during the June 12th town hall meeting that a certain amount of teacher attrition is typical with a transition to a new administration, and dismissed the departures as insignificant. According to the Maryland State Department of Education, the rate of teacher turnover was at its highest level in five years post-pandemic at 11.2% in Maryland state ( see Fig. 1 ), and 10% nationally. Contrary to Principal Kelly’s claim, Lakewood’s teacher turnover rate is a staggering 31%; more than triple the teacher turnover rate of schools in the U.S. Please note that this 31% figure does not include the Paraeducators, several of whom have left as well. This figure also does not include the continued announcements of departures, as more teachers have left in the summer and the parents know that many continue to look for opportunities to leave Lakewood daily.

In the '22-'23 climate survey, 35 staff members responded. When asked "how positive is the tone that school leaders set for the culture of the school?" 52.9% said "not at all," 26.5% said "somewhat." When asked "how positive is the working environment at your school?" 42.9% said "not at all" and 40% said "somewhat." In contrast, 62-67% feel a strong connection between students and staff, and among each other as colleagues. (See Fig. 2) The figures speak plainly that Lakewood teachers care deeply about our school, but Principal Kelly and Assistant Principal Levy have created a toxic work environment that has forced one third of our valued teachers (many of whom have taught at Lakewood from 6 to 25 years and spanning up to 5 different Principals over their tenure) to leave within a single academic year. ( See Fig. 3 )
The disclosure of very disturbing incidents cited above, and of the sudden and continued departure of so many of our highly-experienced and valued teachers left the LES parent community feeling blindsided as news of such gravity was not forthcoming from our school principal, and was only brought to the fore by rumors circulating in the community. It opened our eyes to see that the underlying cause of all of these issues is that our school has an ineffective leader.
In language taken directly from the Maryland State and MCPS Principal Evaluation Standards1, Principal Kelly has demonstrated her failure to be an “educational leader who acts to promote each student’s academic success and well-being”. These very words are included verbatim in each of ten standards by which the performance of all MCPS school principals are evaluated. A deficiency in any one of these standards will result in the principal receiving an “ ineffective ” rating. According to MCPS protocol, a principal who receives an “ineffective” rating requires the engagement of MCPS leadership including the Consulting Principal, the Director, and Peer Assistance and Review Panel, particularly new principals who are in an active evaluation cycle their first two years, such as Dr. Kelly,
The failure in leadership by Principal Kelly (in partnership with Assistant Principal Levy) has the potential to erase a legacy of high-academic standards at Lakewood, a situation the LES Parent Community wishes to avoid. In summary, our letter specifically identifies:
● Negative impacts on student well-being and morale including group punishments, exclusionary disciplinary tactics, and public shaming. Parents are concerned about the lack of support provided to a new teacher such that children are ending their school year without meeting grade-level standards of learning.
● Administration has created an atmosphere of fear at LES, such that parents and staff feel uncomfortable addressing their concerns directly with the administration, with some staff reporting incidents of retaliation. Such an environment led to the continuing exodus of, at current, 31% of teachers and support staff, thereby impairing the academic success and well-being of students.
● Major changes made to instructional protocol by Principal Kelly while disregarding the input of staff members who have long-tenures with demonstrated success in their current teaching assignments.This has led to the erosion of a positive working environment, and overall staff morale. Some of these changes include the possible removal of departmentalization which 96% of LES parents wish to remain intact (see attached PTA Parent Survey from July 24, 2023), and the mandated rotation of approximately 44% of teachers to new grade levels during this upcoming academic year. While we respect that it is within a principal’s discretion to make staffing changes, the parents question Principal Kelly's claim that these changes benefit the students
when the teachers and staff that the students love and respect are now no longer at Lakewood.
● Principal Kelly is an ineffective and absent leader. She is often unresponsive to parent emails or
evasive in her replies, or dismisses parents’ concerns outright. She is often observed to be absent during normal school operating hours or events, where one would reasonably expect an elementary school principal to be present (Kindergarten orientation, recorder concert, spring concert assembly and multiple other special events - list of absences can be provided upon request). The combination of moving almost half the teachers to teach different grades, which resulted in a third of the teachers leaving and forcing Principal Kelly to bring in one third of teachers that are brand new to Lakewood and several that have no classroom experience, losing decades of institutional knowledge, really call into question Principal Kelly's leadership and decision making ability.
● The lack of timely concise communication by the LES administrative team has eroded community trust as parents have failed to be informed of key decisions and changes(such as the possible removal of departmentalization if not this upcoming school year then potentially next school year, for example) impacting their children’s education and well-being. When parent input is solicited, it is not apparent that it is considered by the administration.
As evidenced by the tumultuous year at Lakewood and community feedback, there is a fundamental misalignment between LES administration, led by Principal Kelly and Assistant Principal Levy, and our school community that has created a chaotic and harmful environment for our students and teachers. Based on the elements relayed in this letter, we respectfully request MCPS implement an immediate investigation into the aforementioned concerns.
Again, please understand that we have chosen to send this letter as a group through an anonymous email account instead of as individuals due to some parents' fear of retaliation by the LES administration. However, you may send messages through this email account at any time as it is monitored daily by parents. We welcome all future communications with you, including in-person meetings with members of the parent community when deemed appropriate.
We appreciated the presence of Michelle Schultze at the June 12 meeting, and thought that it was extremely helpful to have a member of the MCPS leadership facilitate the dialogue between parents and LES administration. We sincerely hope that MCPS leadership will confirm receipt of this letter, and continue to reach out to the parent community in order to collaborate on solutions for the sake of our students and teachers at Lakewood.
Respectfully,
Lakewood Concerned Parents


**************

Wow...this is terrible. I hope Ms. Robbins looks at the dcum thread "mcps is atrocious" and writes a story about how our schools are falling apart at the seams. I am an mcps staff member and am looking into private schools for my kids. I feel demoralized having to work for an employer I no longer trust, who has failed to adequately educate my own kids, and who continues to fail so many others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beidleman and Minus together at Sherwood's graduation a year ago

Weird that he's wearing sunglasses inside

Things drunks do

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think McKnight needs to resign but she needs to immediately issue an apology statement on how this was handled and what steps is she putting in place to ensure this does not happen again

What will an apology do? It’s just lip service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone checked with PG and a Fairfax County about this guy? Sure seems like he moved around a lot before coming to MCPS, but specially as a career switcher. How did he even get certified to teach in the first place? Then why did he change schools so much? Did PG and Fairfax see what MCPS didn’t?

https://www.hood.edu/cohort-3-doctoral-bios

Not trying to defend the guy, but when you're young, you have the ability to move where the better pay is at the time. PG is not for everyone and maybe after he got the school experience, that is when he went into admin. I don't think there is a big cover up in multiple school systems. There is a cover up in MCPS. Once he got the power that comes with the territory, he ran with it.

[Anonymous]

For the people thinking they can avoid these problems in private school….you can’t. I came to MCPS after experiencing similar incidents in a private school and naively thought MCEA would protect me in MCPS. Private schools are all about keeping secrets and their “independent investigations” just led to faculty being silenced, a lower level staff member becoming the scapegoat with a big severance package, and one additional training on abuse during pre-service week.

At least in MCPS there are many of us that can speak out together, even if we have to do it anonymously.

[Anonymous]

I bet Joel Beidleman is in one of the divine 9 fraternities and thats why he could get away with so much because mcps leaders who are also in the divine 9 knowingly covered for him. Dr. McKnight is in one of the divine 9 sororities. They all cover for each other and promote within.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I bet Joel Beidleman is in one of the divine 9 fraternities and thats why he could get away with so much because mcps leaders who are also in the divine 9 knowingly covered for him. Dr. McKnight is in one of the divine 9 sororities. They all cover for each other and promote within.

He is in a fraternity. Which are the divine 9? There is a group of central office women who look at for each other. Check out Dr. Handy who was president of their principals' union too. Known to help her sisters out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McKnight’s people are promoted and protected. I hope this is the first step in the discovery process and her entire squad is exposed for their predatory and corrupt practices. Learning and achievement specialists and directors have so much power and yet do absolutely NOTHING other then take away funds from students and teachers that actually work with kids. Look who has been promoted these past two years- it’s all on Twitter (X). It’s all public info on the MCPS website. Unfortunately there are also a handful of principals that also behave this way and have blackballed teacher’s careers for attempting to get the union involved. I am a few years into an admin like role and have personally witnessed how these people get into these positions of power and how central office ignores complaints and does not follow through. Those that try to speak up or go against the status quo of mcps will never make it to higher positions and so the good ones never make it to the top.

Hi, I'm interested in hearing more about this at your convenience, if you're interested in sharing what you witnessed. - Alexandra Robbins ( [e-mail] or via Alexandrarobbins.com)

I'd love for someone to investigate Kemp Mills principal who is a notorious bully. 100+ staff members have fled under his tenure and MCEA and higher ups have told staff it's not him it's them and they are not meant to work at a title 1 school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think McKnight needs to resign but she needs to immediately issue an apology statement on how this was handled and what steps is she putting in place to ensure this does not happen again

What will an apology do? It’s just lip service.

An apology would be insulting. She needs to leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d love an ama with that teacher who praised him to wapo (though apparently knew the allegations were true.) girl, you need to run your media decisions by someone else next time.

Yes.

But it’s also interesting and I want to know why he chose his victims.

I was wondering about that too. Maybe he wasn’t all bad but it seems a weird time to praise him.

Did I read here or was it in the article that all his victims were white women?

I had a hunch about the teacher who defended him. I googled her to see if my hunch was correct or not. Oh geez, my hunch was correct. This is such a bad look and will do so much damage to racial progress.