OUT of MCPS!!!??? Dr. Dana Edwards, Associate Superintendent for Middle Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry but the fallout from Monifa McKnight is what is happening currently. There was plenty of griping about "white men" and curriculum 2.0 a few years ago. It's 2025 so we are dealing with POC being given positions they didn't deserve, which is becoming obvious. That's where we are now.

In my school the principal -- a woman of color -- took off the entire year last year. She used up every last minute of her leave, then she pretended her father was sick then her kids, so she could use FMLA leave time. She was at home, working on her dissertation. When she finally finished she acted like we should all cheer together -- like it was something good for society not for her. She abandoned her post all year long. She spent the year proving she was redundant. This year we're all supposed to treat her like the boss when we did fine without her all last school year. It's bizarre. This is a person with no professional (or personal IMO) integrity. No commitment to her position. No one respects her, and she is not even a member of the team anymore -- and yet she remains principal. It's wrong.

This is what the issue is. This is the kind of person who was given a leadership role simply because she was a POC and didn't live up to anyone's expectations and yet she is still there.

What school is this

Is it PC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry but the fallout from Monifa McKnight is what is happening currently. There was plenty of griping about "white men" and curriculum 2.0 a few years ago. It's 2025 so we are dealing with POC being given positions they didn't deserve, which is becoming obvious. That's where we are now.

In my school the principal -- a woman of color -- took off the entire year last year. She used up every last minute of her leave, then she pretended her father was sick then her kids, so she could use FMLA leave time. She was at home, working on her dissertation. When she finally finished she acted like we should all cheer together -- like it was something good for society not for her. She abandoned her post all year long. She spent the year proving she was redundant. This year we're all supposed to treat her like the boss when we did fine without her all last school year. It's bizarre. This is a person with no professional (or personal IMO) integrity. No commitment to her position. No one respects her, and she is not even a member of the team anymore -- and yet she remains principal. It's wrong.

This is what the issue is. This is the kind of person who was given a leadership role simply because she was a POC and didn't live up to anyone's expectations and yet she is still there.

MCPS seems to be a magnet for these type of Black women. So disappointing.

Pretty much every AP in the DCC

Yeah I was going to say that this sounds almost exactly like the principal at our non DCC school. Although I don't think that principal used her child as an excuse for FMLA and it was about a year or two earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry but the fallout from Monifa McKnight is what is happening currently. There was plenty of griping about "white men" and curriculum 2.0 a few years ago. It's 2025 so we are dealing with POC being given positions they didn't deserve, which is becoming obvious. That's where we are now.

In my school the principal -- a woman of color -- took off the entire year last year. She used up every last minute of her leave, [b]then she pretended her father was sick then her kids, so she could use FMLA leave time. She was at home, working on her dissertation. When she finally finished she acted like we should all cheer together -- like it was something good for society not for her. She abandoned her post all year long. She spent the year proving she was redundant. This year we're all supposed to treat her like the boss when we did fine without her all last school year. It's bizarre. This is a person with no professional (or personal IMO) integrity. No commitment to her position. No one respects her, and she is not even a member of the team anymore -- and yet she remains principal. It's wrong.

This is what the issue is. This is the kind of person who was given a leadership role simply because she was a POC and didn't live up to anyone's expectations and yet she is still there.

What school is this

How do you know she was pretending? You people always want to think the worst of black women. It’s gross!

[Anonymous]

I really want you white people to just admit you hate black women. It’s anonymous, say how you feel with your whole chest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really want you white people to just admit you hate black women. It’s anonymous, say how you feel with your whole chest.

If someone is going after someone’s character or how effective they are it should be fair game no matter their background. You can’t do the job? Then get out. It does a disservice to all when people who aren’t ready for the responsibility end up hurting others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really want you white people to just admit you hate black women. It’s anonymous, say how you feel with your whole chest.

If someone is going after someone’s character or how effective they are it should be fair game no matter their background. You can’t do the job? Then get out. It does a disservice to all when people who aren’t ready for the responsibility end up hurting others.

It's this, exactly. The principal at the school mentioned above should have stepped down if she wasn't able to be in the building. It's like saying her job only matters for the title -- and for the pay. I worked in a school where the principal did just that -- she stepped down to deal with a family illness. It wasn't that she didn't have leave -- it was that SOMEONE had to do the job and it couldn't be her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry but the fallout from Monifa McKnight is what is happening currently. There was plenty of griping about "white men" and curriculum 2.0 a few years ago. It's 2025 so we are dealing with POC being given positions they didn't deserve, which is becoming obvious. That's where we are now.

In my school the principal -- a woman of color -- took off the entire year last year. She used up every last minute of her leave, then she pretended her father was sick then her kids, so she could use FMLA leave time. She was at home, working on her dissertation. When she finally finished she acted like we should all cheer together -- like it was something good for society not for her. She abandoned her post all year long. She spent the year proving she was redundant. This year we're all supposed to treat her like the boss when we did fine without her all last school year. It's bizarre. This is a person with no professional (or personal IMO) integrity. No commitment to her position. No one respects her, and she is not even a member of the team anymore -- and yet she remains principal. It's wrong.

This is what the issue is. This is the kind of person who was given a leadership role simply because she was a POC and didn't live up to anyone's expectations and yet she is still there.

What school is this

Is it PC?

I hope so. I hope there's not more than one principal acting this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry but the fallout from Monifa McKnight is what is happening currently. There was plenty of griping about "white men" and curriculum 2.0 a few years ago. It's 2025 so we are dealing with POC being given positions they didn't deserve, which is becoming obvious. That's where we are now.

In my school the principal -- a woman of color -- took off the entire year last year. She used up every last minute of her leave, then she pretended her father was sick then her kids, so she could use FMLA leave time. She was at home, working on her dissertation. When she finally finished she acted like we should all cheer together -- like it was something good for society not for her. She abandoned her post all year long. She spent the year proving she was redundant. This year we're all supposed to treat her like the boss when we did fine without her all last school year. It's bizarre. This is a person with no professional (or personal IMO) integrity. No commitment to her position. No one respects her, and she is not even a member of the team anymore -- and yet she remains principal. It's wrong.

This is what the issue is. This is the kind of person who was given a leadership role simply because she was a POC and didn't live up to anyone's expectations and yet she is still there.

What school is this

Is it PC?

I hope so. I hope there's not more than one principal acting this way.

Unfortunately, there are more, particularly at the elementary level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry but the fallout from Monifa McKnight is what is happening currently. There was plenty of griping about "white men" and curriculum 2.0 a few years ago. It's 2025 so we are dealing with POC being given positions they didn't deserve, which is becoming obvious. That's where we are now.

In my school the principal -- a woman of color -- took off the entire year last year. She used up every last minute of her leave, then she pretended her father was sick then her kids, so she could use FMLA leave time. She was at home, working on her dissertation. When she finally finished she acted like we should all cheer together -- like it was something good for society not for her. She abandoned her post all year long. She spent the year proving she was redundant. This year we're all supposed to treat her like the boss when we did fine without her all last school year. It's bizarre. This is a person with no professional (or personal IMO) integrity. No commitment to her position. No one respects her, and she is not even a member of the team anymore -- and yet she remains principal. It's wrong.

This is what the issue is. This is the kind of person who was given a leadership role simply because she was a POC and didn't live up to anyone's expectations and yet she is still there.

What school is this

Is it PC?

I hope so. I hope there's not more than one principal acting this way.

Unfortunately, there are more, particularly at the elementary level.

Of all races. MCCAP pulls a lot of weight!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really want you white people to just admit you hate black women. It’s anonymous, say how you feel with your whole chest.

Based on interactions between just these two groups you speak of, the feeling seems to be mutual. Don't know where you put Latinas, African, and Asian women into this mix and how they feel about one another. And are all women, regardless of their race against all white men? Do explain.

[Anonymous]

DEI has not been pretty or effective for this school system. Too bad Dr. Thomas said we are doubling down on it irrespective of what the Supreme Court says.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DEI has not been pretty or effective for this school system. Too bad Dr. Thomas said we are doubling down on it irrespective of what the Supreme Court says.

If they really cared about diversity and equity then they have failed. They have an extraordinary opportunity to actually make a difference where it matters. With our children. Stop with the low academic expectations , dumbed down curricula, low behavior expectations. Teach better executive functioning skills and emotional management in middle school. If they are just going to pass them off even if they aren’t ready, at least give them a fighting chance. That is how to help make everyone stronger. You give people what they need to move forward. Not lower the bar for everyone. MCPS really is run by incompetent, biased ignorant people.

[Anonymous]

It should be refreshing and reassuring of our humanity that black people have proven themselves equally as corrupt as white people in regard to coverups and disregarding mandatory reporting. Further, they have been promoted, paid out, and golden parachuted just like white people. Free at last to negatively affect lives and be promoted for corruption just like the whites. Pat yourselves on the back!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it concerning that you all celebrate Black women losing their jobs, but you don’t have this energy for white people (especially men) that are predators.

The relevant fact here is how well someone did their job. Content of their character, not the color of their skin.

This may sound a bit racial.

But before I worked at MCPS, I was at a really progessive workplace with a lot of great people of all ethnicities. Went to a nondiverse place that I hated and didn't last too long there.

And was initially happy when I went to MCPS and saw all of the people of color in leadership positions and thought that MCPS must've been really progessive too.

Only to later determine that a lot of those people must've been tokens and were really unqualified for their jobs. There were some good people (all races) but some really bad ones (all races too). The environment there really was full of nepotism and cronyism long before Monifa but she was part of the environment. There were people being groomed for the superintendent position, who didn't last too long after getting it.

The issue with the way things are nowadays is that you can't criticize certain people without being accused of racism. So they have a level of protection around them where they can't be touched. And to be frank it gives them a level of entitlement too. It's what happens when the pendulum swings too far one way or another.

But MCPS does really have a bad environment and I could spill the tea about a lot of the going ons behind the scenes that I see post complaints about. But don't want to cause problems for people that I know and like there.

Which people? McKnight was the only recent superintendent hired from within MCPS.

It's been a little while since I've been there.

I was originally thinking of Kimberly Statham but looked her up and saw that she never had a turn at superintendent.

Like I said it's been a while and if I saw a list of names could probably pick it out. But can't really remember for sure who it was off of the top of my head anymore. I remember they were in some type of executive position and people would talk about how they were being groomed to be the next superintendent. But maybe they never got the position.

And that's pretty much how it was in MCPS, even before Monifa. If you were in with the right group, you were pretty much set regardless of what/how you really did with your job.

Yes but with Monifa McKnight if you had the right skin color you were in the right group. How is this different from old fashioned racism? (It's not.)

That may or may not have been the case with Monifa. But there were a lot of groups in MCPS of different races. And it's as mentioned, once you were in, you were good and could get away with anything as long as it wasn't something outrageous or crazy.

So is not just a race thing. And is something indicative of the culture that MCPS had back then and likely still does.

Agree with above, but there has been a significant change-over in executive and senior MCPS leadership since McKnight left. There are a few leftovers, but hopefully the culture at CO is improving, just not nearly fast enough!

What significant change in CO and leadership are you talking about?

Chief of Staff Essie McGuire (was a former Associate Superintendent)
Chief of Schools Peter Moran (serving in his same role)
Associate Superintendent Sean McGee (serving in his same role)
Associate Superintendent Donna Redmond-Jones (serving in her same role)
Associate Superintendent Tamitha Campbell (serving in her same role as before the reorg)
Chief Academic Officer Niki Porter (rose up from being former CAO Peggy Pugh's number 2)
Senior Community Advisor Elba Garcia (same role as before the reorg)
Director of Communications Chris Cram (same role as before the reorg)

DP. You're being very selective with your grouping, which includes only three of the chiefs reporting to Taylor. He also hired several new chiefs, including:

Chief Student Support Officer Margaret Cage
Chief Talent Management Officer Kaylan Connally
Chief Equity and Development Officer Nyah Hamlett
Chief Technology Officer Kimberly Fields
Chief of Legal Services Robyn Seabrook
Chief of District Operations Adnan Mamoon

And every single one of them is already proving to be a horrible choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really want you white people to just admit you hate black women. It’s anonymous, say how you feel with your whole chest.

Really? We have several black women administrators who are not very kind to the white students and regularly deny support, IEPS or addressing parent concerns, including mental health (I reached out due to a disability and mental health issues and she told me too bad, cannot help you figure it out).

You sound really racist.