Washington Post article about Former Farquhar Administrator

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"In May 2022, one of them anonymously emailed Superintendent Monifa McKnight and the school board that Beidleman emotionally abused and sexually harassed staff, according to the letter, which they provided to The Post"

This is what kills me. How the hell did McKnight approve this guy's promotion and $191K salary knowing that there are complaints about him! She's just as guilty to allow this behavior to continue. She must go. I imagine Montgomery County council will support this, for the sole reason of protecting the county's reputation.

I will cut her a tiny bit of slack on this because it was an anonymous email. It might be harder to verify claims when somebody’s name isn’t signed. They could’ve investigated, but I’m cutting her a tiny bit of slack on this.

Yes but please..this wasn't the only time she learned that something wasn't right with this guy. MCEA filed complaints about him, central office officials were informed, Compliance Coordinator, Khalid Walker was informed, the Director of School Support and Improvement was notified, Safe Schools Maryland was notified. You mean to tell me she was clueless? The very least she could have done was to investigate why the school climate survey showed 40 percent of staff didn't feel safe.

No one will ever trust MCPS ever again if she doesn't get fired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"In May 2022, one of them anonymously emailed Superintendent Monifa McKnight and the school board that Beidleman emotionally abused and sexually harassed staff, according to the letter, which they provided to The Post"

This is what kills me. How the hell did McKnight approve this guy's promotion and $191K salary knowing that there are complaints about him! She's just as guilty to allow this behavior to continue. She must go. I imagine Montgomery County council will support this, for the sole reason of protecting the county's reputation.

I will cut her a tiny bit of slack on this because it was an anonymous email. It might be harder to verify claims when somebody’s name isn’t signed. They could’ve investigated, but I’m cutting her a tiny bit of slack on this.

Yes but please..this wasn't the only time she learned that something wasn't right with this guy. MCEA filed complaints about him, central office officials were informed, Compliance Coordinator, Khalid Walker was informed, the Director of School Support and Improvement was notified, Safe Schools Maryland was notified. You mean to tell me she was clueless? The very least she could have done was to investigate why the school climate survey showed 40 percent of staff didn't feel safe.

No one will ever trust MCPS ever again if she doesn't get fired.

You are completely correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I completely agree with the PPs that call for higher pay for BOE members. It's a $3 billion budget.l, and that's just the operating side. The fact that school board members get paid so little across the country is frankly shameful and reflects how lite we care about children. No wonder MCPS lacks accountability. There is nobody with sufficient resources and power to put a check on the superintendent.

They literally are the power.

School board members get paid $25,000 a year, except for the school board president, who gets paid $29,000 a year.

No wonder we have such a poor board who can't do anything.

Yup. We need a full-time board, with quality candidates that have the knowledge and backbone to seriously hold MCPS accountable.

Is there a model for this anywhere else in the US? Or are all boards part-time and impotent like MCPS's?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I completely agree with the PPs that call for higher pay for BOE members. It's a $3 billion budget.l, and that's just the operating side. The fact that school board members get paid so little across the country is frankly shameful and reflects how lite we care about children. No wonder MCPS lacks accountability. There is nobody with sufficient resources and power to put a check on the superintendent.

They literally are the power.

School board members get paid $25,000 a year, except for the school board president, who gets paid $29,000 a year.

No wonder we have such a poor board who can't do anything.

Yup. We need a full-time board, with quality candidates that have the knowledge and backbone to seriously hold MCPS accountable.

Is there a model for this anywhere else in the US? Or are all boards part-time and impotent like MCPS's?

I don't know about all situations, but a school system with 3B plus budget needs full time otherwise we are always going to attract incompetent part timers.

[Anonymous]

Any messages to the community from MCPS? It's been 3 days. Long time to be silent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I completely agree with the PPs that call for higher pay for BOE members. It's a $3 billion budget.l, and that's just the operating side. The fact that school board members get paid so little across the country is frankly shameful and reflects how lite we care about children. No wonder MCPS lacks accountability. There is nobody with sufficient resources and power to put a check on the superintendent.

They literally are the power.

School board members get paid $25,000 a year, except for the school board president, who gets paid $29,000 a year.

No wonder we have such a poor board who can't do anything.

Yup. We need a full-time board, with quality candidates that have the knowledge and backbone to seriously hold MCPS accountable.

Is there a model for this anywhere else in the US? Or are all boards part-time and impotent like MCPS's?

I don't know about all situations, but a school system with 3B plus budget needs full time otherwise we are always going to attract incompetent part timers.

Easy. I'm sure they can find 8 useless and high paid roles in Central Office that should be eliminated. Move that budget to fund the salaries for full time BOE members who are actually competent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I completely agree with the PPs that call for higher pay for BOE members. It's a $3 billion budget.l, and that's just the operating side. The fact that school board members get paid so little across the country is frankly shameful and reflects how lite we care about children. No wonder MCPS lacks accountability. There is nobody with sufficient resources and power to put a check on the superintendent.

They literally are the power.

School board members get paid $25,000 a year, except for the school board president, who gets paid $29,000 a year.

No wonder we have such a poor board who can't do anything.

Yup. We need a full-time board, with quality candidates that have the knowledge and backbone to seriously hold MCPS accountable.

Is there a model for this anywhere else in the US? Or are all boards part-time and impotent like MCPS's?

I don't know about all situations, but a school system with 3B plus budget needs full time otherwise we are always going to attract incompetent part timers.

Or even competent part-timers. The most competent person in the world would be ineffective, the way the BoE is currently set up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I completely agree with the PPs that call for higher pay for BOE members. It's a $3 billion budget.l, and that's just the operating side. The fact that school board members get paid so little across the country is frankly shameful and reflects how lite we care about children. No wonder MCPS lacks accountability. There is nobody with sufficient resources and power to put a check on the superintendent.

They literally are the power.

School board members get paid $25,000 a year, except for the school board president, who gets paid $29,000 a year.

No wonder we have such a poor board who can't do anything.

Yup. We need a full-time board, with quality candidates that have the knowledge and backbone to seriously hold MCPS accountable.

Is there a model for this anywhere else in the US? Or are all boards part-time and impotent like MCPS's?

I don't know about all situations, but a school system with 3B plus budget needs full time otherwise we are always going to attract incompetent part timers.

Easy. I'm sure they can find 8 useless and high paid roles in Central Office that should be eliminated. Move that budget to fund the salaries for full time BOE members who are actually competent.

Or we could also not opt to pay for AP/IB exams for all students and only cover those who qualify for FARMs. There’s lots of loose change in MCPS to fund a quality BOE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I completely agree with the PPs that call for higher pay for BOE members. It's a $3 billion budget.l, and that's just the operating side. The fact that school board members get paid so little across the country is frankly shameful and reflects how lite we care about children. No wonder MCPS lacks accountability. There is nobody with sufficient resources and power to put a check on the superintendent.

They literally are the power.

School board members get paid $25,000 a year, except for the school board president, who gets paid $29,000 a year.

No wonder we have such a poor board who can't do anything.

Yup. We need a full-time board, with quality candidates that have the knowledge and backbone to seriously hold MCPS accountable.

Is there a model for this anywhere else in the US? Or are all boards part-time and impotent like MCPS's?

I don't know about all situations, but a school system with 3B plus budget needs full time otherwise we are always going to attract incompetent part timers.

Easy. I'm sure they can find 8 useless and high paid roles in Central Office that should be eliminated. Move that budget to fund the salaries for full time BOE members who are actually competent.

"They" who? As I understand it, the BoE could decide to make the BoE full time with commensurate salaries and staffing. It doesn't seem likely that the current part-time BoE would actually do that, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"In May 2022, one of them anonymously emailed Superintendent Monifa McKnight and the school board that Beidleman emotionally abused and sexually harassed staff, according to the letter, which they provided to The Post"

This is what kills me. How the hell did McKnight approve this guy's promotion and $191K salary knowing that there are complaints about him! She's just as guilty to allow this behavior to continue. She must go. I imagine Montgomery County council will support this, for the sole reason of protecting the county's reputation.

Because anonymous complaints don't mean anything. No victim, no crime. You can't investigate when people don't want to speak out. Police don't investigate anonymous complaints either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"In May 2022, one of them anonymously emailed Superintendent Monifa McKnight and the school board that Beidleman emotionally abused and sexually harassed staff, according to the letter, which they provided to The Post"

This is what kills me. How the hell did McKnight approve this guy's promotion and $191K salary knowing that there are complaints about him! She's just as guilty to allow this behavior to continue. She must go. I imagine Montgomery County council will support this, for the sole reason of protecting the county's reputation.

I will cut her a tiny bit of slack on this because it was an anonymous email. It might be harder to verify claims when somebody’s name isn’t signed. They could’ve investigated, but I’m cutting her a tiny bit of slack on this.

Yes but please..this wasn't the only time she learned that something wasn't right with this guy. MCEA filed complaints about him, central office officials were informed, Compliance Coordinator, Khalid Walker was informed, the Director of School Support and Improvement was notified, Safe Schools Maryland was notified. You mean to tell me she was clueless? The very least she could have done was to investigate why the school climate survey showed 40 percent of staff didn't feel safe.

No one will ever trust MCPS ever again if she doesn't get fired.

You are completely correct.

MCPS Policy ACI indicates the following below. She's either incompetent, clueless, asleep, or deliberately protected him.
Either way, this is grounds for termination. I also hope someone has submitted FOIA requests to find out how the Dept of Compliance and Investigation came to the conclusion that Beidleman did not do anything that constitutes harassment or misconduct.

"The superintendent will report quarterly to the Board on reported sexual harassment
incidents and other compliance efforts, as required in this policy. The incident
reports shall include aggregated incident data from the preceding quarter. The
compliance report shall include complaint and resolution process evaluations and
improvements; training statistics and schedules; ongoing evaluation of work
environments in all MCPS schools, offices, and work locations; and any other
activities being planned or carried out by MCPS that are relevant to the successful
implementation of this policy."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"In May 2022, one of them anonymously emailed Superintendent Monifa McKnight and the school board that Beidleman emotionally abused and sexually harassed staff, according to the letter, which they provided to The Post"

This is what kills me. How the hell did McKnight approve this guy's promotion and $191K salary knowing that there are complaints about him! She's just as guilty to allow this behavior to continue. She must go. I imagine Montgomery County council will support this, for the sole reason of protecting the county's reputation.

Because anonymous complaints don't mean anything. No victim, no crime. You can't investigate when people don't want to speak out. Police don't investigate anonymous complaints either.

Not according to MCPS Policy ACA: "MCPS will make reasonable efforts to maintain the confidentiality of
investigations, including claims by employees and third parties of sexual
harassment. MCPS shall review all reports of sexual harassment, even
when the complainant has made an anonymous report, and take appropriate
action, including requesting a formal complaint, investigating complaints,
and offering supportive measures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"In May 2022, one of them anonymously emailed Superintendent Monifa McKnight and the school board that Beidleman emotionally abused and sexually harassed staff, according to the letter, which they provided to The Post"

This is what kills me. How the hell did McKnight approve this guy's promotion and $191K salary knowing that there are complaints about him! She's just as guilty to allow this behavior to continue. She must go. I imagine Montgomery County council will support this, for the sole reason of protecting the county's reputation.

Because anonymous complaints don't mean anything. No victim, no crime. You can't investigate when people don't want to speak out. Police don't investigate anonymous complaints either.

Anonymous complaints with no track record behind them, sure. Ignoring those messages makes sense.

But anonymous complaints against a man with a paper trail like Beidleman's? No, that makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"In May 2022, one of them anonymously emailed Superintendent Monifa McKnight and the school board that Beidleman emotionally abused and sexually harassed staff, according to the letter, which they provided to The Post"

This is what kills me. How the hell did McKnight approve this guy's promotion and $191K salary knowing that there are complaints about him! She's just as guilty to allow this behavior to continue. She must go. I imagine Montgomery County council will support this, for the sole reason of protecting the county's reputation.

I will cut her a tiny bit of slack on this because it was an anonymous email. It might be harder to verify claims when somebody’s name isn’t signed. They could’ve investigated, but I’m cutting her a tiny bit of slack on this.

I'm not. How often is it that you get an email of that nature, sent directly to you as the top decision maker? When it comes to the anonymous part, I get that it might be a little suspicious, but it was out of desperation -- her admin asst. should at least confirm receipt and pass it on. I know she gets hundreds of emails a day, but still.

[Anonymous]

Teachers put in a vote of no confidence for McKnight a long time ago. The public didn't back it because the public hates the union. Maybe if people stopped and paid attention instead of just being angry at the union, she would have been gone way back when.