Washington Post article about Former Farquhar Administrator

[Anonymous]

I think people are too focused on the POC aspect of this. First and foremost he was a narcissistic abuser who could easily lie and charm everyone supervising him into believing he was a totally different person. Haven’t we seen this pattern before where women are not believed by men in power? And this was especially compounded by his supervisor being a personal friend. Yes, MCPS should have caught this earlier, but also, he was a master manipulator of people and the system.

I hope the independent investigation recommends changes to prevent this in the future.

[Anonymous]

To my knowledge, he preyed on white women. Was this part of his plan to have an easy out of accused of wrongdoing? And what about the women enabling his behavior that are still employed by MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To my knowledge, he preyed on white women. Was this part of his plan to have an easy out of accused of wrongdoing? And what about the women enabling his behavior that are still employed by MCPS?

This is where an intersectional lens can be helpful. He had power as an administrator, and as a man. He used that power against staff (mainly white women) but also against female students (mainly BIPOC girls). So, he may have experienced marginalization on the axes of race, but the inherent power of his role and his entrenchment in broader MCPS power systems meant that he was able to prey on staff and students with impunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people are too focused on the POC aspect of this. First and foremost he was a narcissistic abuser who could easily lie and charm everyone supervising him into believing he was a totally different person. Haven’t we seen this pattern before where women are not believed by men in power? And this was especially compounded by his supervisor being a personal friend. Yes, MCPS should have caught this earlier, but also, he was a master manipulator of people and the system.

I hope the independent investigation recommends changes to prevent this in the future.

So MCPS was manipulated into flat out ignoring proof of misconduct? This guy is terrible, but this is negligence on MCPS's part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a school based administrator in MCPS and I can tell you, the motto at central office is "Screw up, move up". Nobody is surprised to see this man's name in the press. The fact that he has so many complaints against him with no action taken is disgusting.
PP mentioned the fact that he's a man of color in a predominantly white female-dominated line of work and that's why things were ignored. I have to agree to an extent. MoCo residents might not want to believe this, but MCPS overlooks a lot to keep a diverse looking leadership staff. I've seen many overly qualified white candidates not even considered for leadership positions due to optics. There are absolutely times that lesser qualified candidates of color are given the jobs so that our system looks like the community we serve.

This is insightful. Why does MCPS promote toxic admin instead of getting rid of them? Is it because they fear MCAAP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people are too focused on the POC aspect of this. First and foremost he was a narcissistic abuser who could easily lie and charm everyone supervising him into believing he was a totally different person. Haven’t we seen this pattern before where women are not believed by men in power? And this was especially compounded by his supervisor being a personal friend. Yes, MCPS should have caught this earlier, but also, he was a master manipulator of people and the system.

I hope the independent investigation recommends changes to prevent this in the future.

So MCPS was manipulated into flat out ignoring proof of misconduct? This guy is terrible, but this is negligence on MCPS's part.

I don't even think he was that manipulative. I've had the displeasure of working with truly gifted liars and manipulators, and they don't barge drunkenly into large gatherings and engage in sexual harassment. They don't send 400 explicit text messages. They don't make sexist racialized comments in front of 1000 students at an assembly.

No, this guy was not a manipulator or a master liar. He was being protected and knew it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To my knowledge, he preyed on white women. Was this part of his plan to have an easy out of accused of wrongdoing? And what about the women enabling his behavior that are still employed by MCPS?

This is where an intersectional lens can be helpful. He had power as an administrator, and as a man. He used that power against staff (mainly white women) but also against female students (mainly BIPOC girls). So, he may have experienced marginalization on the axes of race, but the inherent power of his role and his entrenchment in broader MCPS power systems meant that he was able to prey on staff and students with impunity.

But he bent the rules in favor of black staff and to my knowledge, didn’t harass them. Yet he had affairs with and bullied white staff members.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people are too focused on the POC aspect of this. First and foremost he was a narcissistic abuser who could easily lie and charm everyone supervising him into believing he was a totally different person. Haven’t we seen this pattern before where women are not believed by men in power? And this was especially compounded by his supervisor being a personal friend. Yes, MCPS should have caught this earlier, but also, he was a master manipulator of people and the system.

I hope the independent investigation recommends changes to prevent this in the future.

So MCPS was manipulated into flat out ignoring proof of misconduct? This guy is terrible, but this is negligence on MCPS's part.

I don't even think he was that manipulative. I've had the displeasure of working with truly gifted liars and manipulators, and they don't barge drunkenly into large gatherings and engage in sexual harassment. They don't send 400 explicit text messages. They don't make sexist racialized comments in front of 1000 students at an assembly.

No, this guy was not a manipulator or a master liar. He was being protected and knew it.

Yes he was boldly displaying his power and knew he would face zero consequences

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people are too focused on the POC aspect of this. First and foremost he was a narcissistic abuser who could easily lie and charm everyone supervising him into believing he was a totally different person. Haven’t we seen this pattern before where women are not believed by men in power? And this was especially compounded by his supervisor being a personal friend. Yes, MCPS should have caught this earlier, but also, he was a master manipulator of people and the system.

I hope the independent investigation recommends changes to prevent this in the future.

I am hopeful about the external investigation as well. Will he be paid the entire time he’s on leave? Just collecting a paycheck for absolutely nothing ?

[Anonymous]

Anyone paying into this corrupt system should be at the next board meeting demanding transparency.

[Anonymous]

The board should take the investigation out of the central office’s hands because they’ve already been implicated in the Post story.

[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.

My former principal brought vodka to school and was just as vindictive as this guy. Just as many complaints. He is going to be admin at a different school now. We are scared of retaliation so in same position.

[Anonymous]

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

Mcps has the fringe left agenda in mind which says "promote and protect minorities at all costs." This man got away with what he did because he's black.

[Anonymous]

So the post saw the texts right? And 3 am calls? I can’t see how the case was closed-what more could a teacher have?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a school based administrator in MCPS and I can tell you, the motto at central office is "Screw up, move up". Nobody is surprised to see this man's name in the press. The fact that he has so many complaints against him with no action taken is disgusting.
PP mentioned the fact that he's a man of color in a predominantly white female-dominated line of work and that's why things were ignored. I have to agree to an extent. MoCo residents might not want to believe this, but MCPS overlooks a lot to keep a diverse looking leadership staff. I've seen many overly qualified white candidates not even considered for leadership positions due to optics. There are absolutely times that lesser qualified candidates of color are given the jobs so that our system looks like the community we serve.

This. It's obvious in the anti-racist spending. In the meantime, we are starved of paraeducators. The special needs staff and teachers we do have are massively under qualified and the "special ed" classrooms and busses are the graveyard that dangerous, incompetent workers are shuffled over to to keep them away from students who might tell on them.

The board is the ultimate point of responsibility in mcps. Start voting differently.