Board wants Monifa to step down

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Once the board tell you they want you out - you are out. Not really rocket science. I believe there is a sensitive issue (not race, gender) the board is tiptoeing around because that sensitive issue puts her in a protected class. Pretty obvious by them asking her to "step away". It is actually as kind a way an employer can do it. Agree with reading the room. Her tenure in MCPS is over. However, the same sensitive issue is impacting her judgment in how she has handled this in public. The media and the public are never on your side in a mess that could be handled quietly and with discretion.

+1 they gave her a chance to leave without being fired. Now it is going to be so much worse for everyone.

Exactly. The outcome will be the same but she stands to lose her dignity and the school system will suffer. This ai why contracts exist. She will be paid according to the terms of her contract and she should also honor the terms of the contract.

I don’t think it’s that simple. If she could have been fired for cause then that would have been disclosed and the resignation offered as being quiet and with dignity. And when not taken the firing would have commenced. The fact that neither of these happened tells me something else is going on.

It wouldn’t necessarily have been disclosed. They may not have had time to get a formal notice prepared and employers are better off saying as little as possible at each stage of an HR action. It’s also possible termination has commenced but the board isn’t disclosing it publicly at this stage because she’s still within her appeal window. It’s also possible she’s not being entirely truthful, just as she wasn’t entirely truthful when she testified to the council.

You don’t ask someone to resign if you can’t make the case for termination or how to it’s better for them.

If you can make that case, then you don't need to ask them to resign.

Naw, it’s pretty common to let the leader resign with dignity intact. It was probably a “we’re meeting with counsel today to draft your termination letter and notification to the state board of ed. You can do this the easy way and bow out gracefully.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once the board tell you they want you out - you are out. Not really rocket science. I believe there is a sensitive issue (not race, gender) the board is tiptoeing around because that sensitive issue puts her in a protected class. Pretty obvious by them asking her to "step away". It is actually as kind a way an employer can do it. Agree with reading the room. Her tenure in MCPS is over. However, the same sensitive issue is impacting her judgment in how she has handled this in public. The media and the public are never on your side in a mess that could be handled quietly and with discretion.

+1 they gave her a chance to leave without being fired. Now it is going to be so much worse for everyone.

Exactly. The outcome will be the same but she stands to lose her dignity and the school system will suffer. This ai why contracts exist. She will be paid according to the terms of her contract and she should also honor the terms of the contract.

I don’t think it’s that simple. If she could have been fired for cause then that would have been disclosed and the resignation offered as being quiet and with dignity. And when not taken the firing would have commenced. The fact that neither of these happened tells me something else is going on.

It wouldn’t necessarily have been disclosed. They may not have had time to get a formal notice prepared and employers are better off saying as little as possible at each stage of an HR action. It’s also possible termination has commenced but the board isn’t disclosing it publicly at this stage because she’s still within her appeal window. It’s also possible she’s not being entirely truthful, just as she wasn’t entirely truthful when she testified to the council.

Bingo.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:She should have agreed to resign effective the end of the school year with a severence so she could go quietly. She has handled this very, very badly.

Totally setting aside whether termination is justified, she must be living in some kind of crazy echo chamber to think this was the right play.

She was probably advised by an attorney to do it.

If that’s the case, she has a better chance of recovering damages from the lawyer for malpractice than she does of keeping her job or beating MCPS in court.

Winning in her case just means not being terminated for cause. And when you look at her employment contract, you'd have a hard time making that case against her.

MCPS will back down and she'll get the one-year severance.

The criteria in the statute seemed pretty broad. Stuff like “immorality” and “misconduct in office”.

And vague statements like that don't generally go over well when deciding whether termination is for cause or not. McKnight's lawyers are no doubt telling her she's got a very good chance when fighting a termination for cause.

I thought it was the opposite - that a highly specific and prescriptive definition of what constitutes Cause is harder to prove than one that leaves so much wiggle room. And of course her lawyers are telling her she has a good chance of fighting. They don’t get paid if she resigns without a fight. They’d want her to fight and litigate. After all, her contract requires a material breach by the boe be “judicially determined” before she gets her severance.

The burden would be on MCPS to argue there was cause for termination, not for McKnight to argue there wasn't. They've got the harder case to make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once the board tell you they want you out - you are out. Not really rocket science. I believe there is a sensitive issue (not race, gender) the board is tiptoeing around because that sensitive issue puts her in a protected class. Pretty obvious by them asking her to "step away". It is actually as kind a way an employer can do it. Agree with reading the room. Her tenure in MCPS is over. However, the same sensitive issue is impacting her judgment in how she has handled this in public. The media and the public are never on your side in a mess that could be handled quietly and with discretion.

+1 they gave her a chance to leave without being fired. Now it is going to be so much worse for everyone.

Exactly. The outcome will be the same but she stands to lose her dignity and the school system will suffer. This ai why contracts exist. She will be paid according to the terms of her contract and she should also honor the terms of the contract.

I don’t think it’s that simple. If she could have been fired for cause then that would have been disclosed and the resignation offered as being quiet and with dignity. And when not taken the firing would have commenced. The fact that neither of these happened tells me something else is going on.

It wouldn’t necessarily have been disclosed. They may not have had time to get a formal notice prepared and employers are better off saying as little as possible at each stage of an HR action. It’s also possible termination has commenced but the board isn’t disclosing it publicly at this stage because she’s still within her appeal window. It’s also possible she’s not being entirely truthful, just as she wasn’t entirely truthful when she testified to the council.

You don’t ask someone to resign if you can’t make the case for termination or how to it’s better for them.

If you can make that case, then you don't need to ask them to resign.

Naw, it’s pretty common to let the leader resign with dignity intact. It was probably a “we’re meeting with counsel today to draft your termination letter and notification to the state board of ed. You can do this the easy way and bow out gracefully.”

$320k is worth more than whatever dignity she has left. More than $320k, actually, since she can drag out the termination process.

I agree with you that it would be absurd to fight this if the Board was agreeing to the one-year severance. But I think that implies they're trying to get out of paying severance. Or at least trying to make it look that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once the board tell you they want you out - you are out. Not really rocket science. I believe there is a sensitive issue (not race, gender) the board is tiptoeing around because that sensitive issue puts her in a protected class. Pretty obvious by them asking her to "step away". It is actually as kind a way an employer can do it. Agree with reading the room. Her tenure in MCPS is over. However, the same sensitive issue is impacting her judgment in how she has handled this in public. The media and the public are never on your side in a mess that could be handled quietly and with discretion.

+1 they gave her a chance to leave without being fired. Now it is going to be so much worse for everyone.

Exactly. The outcome will be the same but she stands to lose her dignity and the school system will suffer. This ai why contracts exist. She will be paid according to the terms of her contract and she should also honor the terms of the contract.

I don’t think it’s that simple. If she could have been fired for cause then that would have been disclosed and the resignation offered as being quiet and with dignity. And when not taken the firing would have commenced. The fact that neither of these happened tells me something else is going on.

It wouldn’t necessarily have been disclosed. They may not have had time to get a formal notice prepared and employers are better off saying as little as possible at each stage of an HR action. It’s also possible termination has commenced but the board isn’t disclosing it publicly at this stage because she’s still within her appeal window. It’s also possible she’s not being entirely truthful, just as she wasn’t entirely truthful when she testified to the council.

You don’t ask someone to resign if you can’t make the case for termination or how to it’s better for them.

If you can make that case, then you don't need to ask them to resign.

Naw, it’s pretty common to let the leader resign with dignity intact. It was probably a “we’re meeting with counsel today to draft your termination letter and notification to the state board of ed. You can do this the easy way and bow out gracefully.”

$320k is worth more than whatever dignity she has left. More than $320k, actually, since she can drag out the termination process.

I agree with you that it would be absurd to fight this if the Board was agreeing to the one-year severance. But I think that implies they're trying to get out of paying severance. Or at least trying to make it look that way.

Agreed. I’m sure they’d happily settle out of court for $320k. But wouldn’t have been a great look for the boe to fire her and talk about how awful things are with this sexual harassment scandal but also have to say “we did agree to pay her severance tho”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS needs to hire someone who cares about educating all kids without dumbing down the curriculum and instituting equity measures. The smart kids need just as much as the dumb kids. Yes. There are dumb kids..

You can’t educate all kids without equity measures.

Sure you can.

Okay so let’s say you purchase a very rigorous reading curriculum. Great. Everyone is happy until someone says, well what about the blind kids they can’t read the curriculum.
So either you buy the same curriculum in Braille and supply teachers capable of teachers/technology capable of knowing that the kids are making progress with Braille, or the teacher reads everything out loud and then allows the blind kid to respond out loud and also offers audio books or maybe you purchase a completely separate curriculum for the blind students

The above is equity at work.

Well if that happened at MCPS the entire class of kids who can see would be forced to just sit there while the blind kid is taught with a brand new rigorous curriculum meant for blind kids that all the teachers are struggling to learn. Then when they find out it doesn't actually work for blind kids in a real life classroom either, they continue making teachers use it and insist the science says it works and anyone who disagrees may get fired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every year the reputation of MCPS declines a little bit. No final exams, 50% rule, attendance means nothing, Beidleman scandal, etc.

We need a complete reset

When I was in school in Baltimore in the 80s, MoCo had the reputation of being the top county school system in the country.

Not so much anymore.

Unsurprisingly, many things change in 40 years.

For those of us in MCPS back then, it was pretty bad then too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once the board tell you they want you out - you are out. Not really rocket science. I believe there is a sensitive issue (not race, gender) the board is tiptoeing around because that sensitive issue puts her in a protected class. Pretty obvious by them asking her to "step away". It is actually as kind a way an employer can do it. Agree with reading the room. Her tenure in MCPS is over. However, the same sensitive issue is impacting her judgment in how she has handled this in public. The media and the public are never on your side in a mess that could be handled quietly and with discretion.

+1 they gave her a chance to leave without being fired. Now it is going to be so much worse for everyone.

Exactly. The outcome will be the same but she stands to lose her dignity and the school system will suffer. This ai why contracts exist. She will be paid according to the terms of her contract and she should also honor the terms of the contract.

I don’t think it’s that simple. If she could have been fired for cause then that would have been disclosed and the resignation offered as being quiet and with dignity. And when not taken the firing would have commenced. The fact that neither of these happened tells me something else is going on.

It wouldn’t necessarily have been disclosed. They may not have had time to get a formal notice prepared and employers are better off saying as little as possible at each stage of an HR action. It’s also possible termination has commenced but the board isn’t disclosing it publicly at this stage because she’s still within her appeal window. It’s also possible she’s not being entirely truthful, just as she wasn’t entirely truthful when she testified to the council.

You don’t ask someone to resign if you can’t make the case for termination or how to it’s better for them.

If you can make that case, then you don't need to ask them to resign.

Naw, it’s pretty common to let the leader resign with dignity intact. It was probably a “we’re meeting with counsel today to draft your termination letter and notification to the state board of ed. You can do this the easy way and bow out gracefully.”

$320k is worth more than whatever dignity she has left. More than $320k, actually, since she can drag out the termination process.

I agree with you that it would be absurd to fight this if the Board was agreeing to the one-year severance. But I think that implies they're trying to get out of paying severance. Or at least trying to make it look that way.

Agreed. I’m sure they’d happily settle out of court for $320k. But wouldn’t have been a great look for the boe to fire her and talk about how awful things are with this sexual harassment scandal but also have to say “we did agree to pay her severance tho”

Not, not a great look. But very, very common in these situations.

[Anonymous]

https://x.com/allisonpapson/status/1749993072153256430?s=46&t=VdI4RenOrHVV8qT8bniHxg


Interview w Dr. McKnight and her attorney

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She showed up to the BOE meeting after they called for her resignation. What is going on?

She showed up with her supporters who packed the audience and heckled the BOE members during the meeting.

Did you miss that?

Who are her supporters? The other central office leaders who would go with her to happy hour, get drunk and then bully and harass subordinates regularly?

NAACP Montgomery County chapter members. Lucy Hayes, who is an executive committee member of the NAACP MC: https://naacp-mc.org/index.php/officers/

At today's meeting, she called the board's request for her to resign a WITCH HUNT.

SOURCE: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/mcps-superintendent-says-school-board-wants-her-to-resign/3523305/

"This is a witch hunt," community advocate Lucy Hayes said.

It's always been a witch hunt. Nothing new to see here.

She was a promising superintendent who did a terrible job, focused only on her own interests, used an entire school system to further her own social agenda, then got involved with a sexual harassment scandal and cover up. That's a witch hunt on par with you-know-who.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every year the reputation of MCPS declines a little bit. No final exams, 50% rule, attendance means nothing, Beidleman scandal, etc.

We need a complete reset

When I was in school in Baltimore in the 80s, MoCo had the reputation of being the top county school system in the country.

Not so much anymore.

Unsurprisingly, many things change in 40 years.

For those of us in MCPS back then, it was pretty bad then too.

I feel my kids are getting a much better education today than I did in MCPS 40 years ago but we also value education. The problem today is a lot of families and students just don't care about school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://x.com/allisonpapson/status/1749993072153256430?s=46&t=VdI4RenOrHVV8qT8bniHxg


Interview w Dr. McKnight and her attorney

That was surprisingly awkward considering it was arranged by McKnight and her lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every year the reputation of MCPS declines a little bit. No final exams, 50% rule, attendance means nothing, Beidleman scandal, etc.

We need a complete reset

When I was in school in Baltimore in the 80s, MoCo had the reputation of being the top county school system in the country.

Not so much anymore.

Unsurprisingly, many things change in 40 years.

For those of us in MCPS back then, it was pretty bad then too.

I feel my kids are getting a much better education today than I did in MCPS 40 years ago but we also value education. The problem today is a lot of families and students just don't care about school.

If we got rid of virtual academy we could get educational outcomes up a bit. But there are still parents that would rather send their kids off on a ski trip than to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://x.com/allisonpapson/status/1749993072153256430?s=46&t=VdI4RenOrHVV8qT8bniHxg


Interview w Dr. McKnight and her attorney

After seeing this, my take is that Dr. McKnight is mad because she thinks she’s being held to a double standard and as a result is willing to burn it down behind her.

What she seems to have wanted was to have the BOE allow her to serve out her term “with her reputation intact” and then she could leave at the end and presumably apply for other Supt jobs.

It’s quite a bizarre, ludicrous and self-centered view of the world. Through this I am begging to see a lot more of the outlines of her personality and it’s a bit disturbing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://x.com/allisonpapson/status/1749993072153256430?s=46&t=VdI4RenOrHVV8qT8bniHxg


Interview w Dr. McKnight and her attorney

That was surprisingly awkward considering it was arranged by McKnight and her lawyer.

It doesn’t surprise me that she has hired such an obviously and laughably bad attorney.