Washington Post article about Former Farquhar Administrator

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did ... did she just say towards the end that colleagues will refer to MCPS as "a family"? The most toxic, CYA statement in all of corporate America; the statement we all know is absolutely untrue? Fire her NOW. That's just not what people want to hear. I don't know about y'all, but in my family, we don't sexually harass others, let alone not handle 18 complaints. At work, you're a team. None of those people share my last name or anything about me. Seeing that was all I've needed to make my conclusion: that she won't handle it properly.

Beidleman called faculty a family despite teachers telling him it made them feel uncomfortable because it was unprofessional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I love how she's trying to spin her way out of the situation by spending half the video's duration focused on what's to come and making broad platitudes.

I thought that was tacky as well. If she wanted to address the elephant in the room, the video should have only been about the Beidleman scandal and nothing else.

The message about excitement about Back to School should have been miles away from this sh*tshow.

Correct. Put all that in the welcome video you mentioned. She knew people are only going to watch the beginning, middle, and end - not the whole thing all the way through - so she strategically placed the response in a lesser-seen part of the video. Total idiots on the comms team.

I cringed so hard at this line, "But....it can't take all of our time. We have a new school year to get started."

Which basically means, "Yeah, y'all won't shut up about this Beidleman stuff, but I have other things to worry about," which totally undercuts her insincere message earlier that she's troubled and concerned about what has taken place under her watch.

In order for her statement to be effective, she would have needed to address directly:

- Why the reports went ignored for so long, despite direct appeals to HER and the Board
- Why Beidleman was promoted to principal of PBHS despite these reports in June
- Why she believes the Jackson Lewis investigation still qualifies as "independent" even though MCPS has them on retainer as a defense firm

Without those vital things, no one cares about what she has to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did ... did she just say towards the end that colleagues will refer to MCPS as "a family"? The most toxic, CYA statement in all of corporate America; the statement we all know is absolutely untrue? Fire her NOW. That's just not what people want to hear. I don't know about y'all, but in my family, we don't sexually harass others, let alone not handle 18 complaints. At work, you're a team. None of those people share my last name or anything about me. Seeing that was all I've needed to make my conclusion: that she won't handle it properly.

Beidleman called faculty a family despite teachers telling him it made them feel uncomfortable because it was unprofessional.

Guess we know where he got it from....

[Anonymous]

21:46 has it right.

[Anonymous]

Supt. speaks of rot.

How very ironic……..


“Long used as a metaphor for leadership, “The fish rots from the head down”, refers to the impact a leader (CEO of a company, President of the PTA, or head of your household) has on everyone surrounding them”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARGq0MhkJi8

McKnights video

What utter BS!!!!

There was systemic failure to protect victims when they came forward. MCPS has other cases where bullying and harassment were reported and all levels of MCPS administration including the Superintendent and Board of Education stood by the abuser instead of protecting victims. The rot was created by a history in MCPS of self investigations with a predetermined outcome of no bullying and harassment occurred. Retaliation is real and a tool MCPS uses to make victims leave or become quiet.

I pray to God that there is oversight not just by a legal firm with a history of representing MCPS but by a truly independent agency not picked by MCPS.

[Anonymous]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/17/jackson-lewis-mcps-beidleman-investigation/?fbclid=IwAR3ZATy22bp_20wYsDCmJ8Yi-bN8HQx5kRRidnrnZfMj9nkwRtlePoX7xXU

The details in this are absolutely heartbreaking. Praying for all victims involved who may have to replay these harrowing events to a law firm who is obviously not representing their best interest.

[Anonymous]

"In emails sent to some teachers this week and obtained by The Post, Montgomery schools general counsel Stephanie Williams wrote, “Dr. McKnight has initiated an external investigation into matters involving Farquhar Middle School as recently reported in a Washington Post article. Mr. Donny English (copied) would like to speak with you about it. This meeting may take place in person at CESC [Carver Educational Services Center, one of the district’s central offices] or virtually via phone or Teams. Please let him know your availability for today, starting at noon or later.”

You CANNOT just ask someone to drop everything they're doing and see you at a moment's notice, especially when teachers are doing things before pre-service, and most especially without proper legal representation for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I love how she's trying to spin her way out of the situation by spending half the video's duration focused on what's to come and making broad platitudes.

I thought that was tacky as well. If she wanted to address the elephant in the room, the video should have only been about the Beidleman scandal and nothing else.

The message about excitement about Back to School should have been miles away from this sh*tshow.

Correct. Put all that in the welcome video you mentioned. She knew people are only going to watch the beginning, middle, and end - not the whole thing all the way through - so she strategically placed the response in a lesser-seen part of the video. Total idiots on the comms team.

I cringed so hard at this line, "But....it can't take all of our time. We have a new school year to get started."

Which basically means, "Yeah, y'all won't shut up about this Beidleman stuff, but I have other things to worry about," which totally undercuts her insincere message earlier that she's troubled and concerned about what has taken place under her watch.

In order for her statement to be effective, she would have needed to address directly:

- Why the reports went ignored for so long, despite direct appeals to HER and the Board
- Why Beidleman was promoted to principal of PBHS despite these reports in June
- Why she believes the Jackson Lewis investigation still qualifies as "independent" even though MCPS has them on retainer as a defense firm

Without those vital things, no one cares about what she has to say.

+1 Well said. A good follow up investigation would be the number of harassment and bullying complaints regarding MCPS staff that have the predetermined outcome at all levels of appeals that no harassment or bullying occurred.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did ... did she just say towards the end that colleagues will refer to MCPS as "a family"? The most toxic, CYA statement in all of corporate America; the statement we all know is absolutely untrue? Fire her NOW. That's just not what people want to hear. I don't know about y'all, but in my family, we don't sexually harass others, let alone not handle 18 complaints. At work, you're a team. None of those people share my last name or anything about me. Seeing that was all I've needed to make my conclusion: that she won't handle it properly.

Beidleman called faculty a family despite teachers telling him it made them feel uncomfortable because it was unprofessional.

Beidleman called faculty a family despite teachers telling him it made them feel uncomfortable because it was unprofessional.

But they are family! Congrats to Joel on his new position!

https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2023/08/beidleman-moved-to-new-position-with.html

[Anonymous]

If anyone wants to tell the BOE directly how they feel about this situation, sign up for public comments for the 8/24 session is open: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScH5gYFeOPOonGBr2DZdaMrYVd2OE1HuTYpgpXtzbv3-sXnJw/viewform#responses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did ... did she just say towards the end that colleagues will refer to MCPS as "a family"? The most toxic, CYA statement in all of corporate America; the statement we all know is absolutely untrue? Fire her NOW. That's just not what people want to hear. I don't know about y'all, but in my family, we don't sexually harass others, let alone not handle 18 complaints. At work, you're a team. None of those people share my last name or anything about me. Seeing that was all I've needed to make my conclusion: that she won't handle it properly.

Beidleman called faculty a family despite teachers telling him it made them feel uncomfortable because it was unprofessional.

Beidleman called faculty a family despite teachers telling him it made them feel uncomfortable because it was unprofessional.

But they are family! Congrats to Joel on his new position!

https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2023/08/beidleman-moved-to-new-position-with.html

I’ve known teachers accused of far less who were put on administrative leave, but he gets assigned to some unspecified HR position?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did ... did she just say towards the end that colleagues will refer to MCPS as "a family"? The most toxic, CYA statement in all of corporate America; the statement we all know is absolutely untrue? Fire her NOW. That's just not what people want to hear. I don't know about y'all, but in my family, we don't sexually harass others, let alone not handle 18 complaints. At work, you're a team. None of those people share my last name or anything about me. Seeing that was all I've needed to make my conclusion: that she won't handle it properly.

Beidleman called faculty a family despite teachers telling him it made them feel uncomfortable because it was unprofessional.

Beidleman called faculty a family despite teachers telling him it made them feel uncomfortable because it was unprofessional.

But they are family! Congrats to Joel on his new position!

https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2023/08/beidleman-moved-to-new-position-with.html

I’ve known teachers accused of far less who were put on administrative leave, but he gets assigned to some unspecified HR position?

WTAF this is just a big FU to teachers, students and the community at large

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did ... did she just say towards the end that colleagues will refer to MCPS as "a family"? The most toxic, CYA statement in all of corporate America; the statement we all know is absolutely untrue? Fire her NOW. That's just not what people want to hear. I don't know about y'all, but in my family, we don't sexually harass others, let alone not handle 18 complaints. At work, you're a team. None of those people share my last name or anything about me. Seeing that was all I've needed to make my conclusion: that she won't handle it properly.

Beidleman called faculty a family despite teachers telling him it made them feel uncomfortable because it was unprofessional.

Beidleman called faculty a family despite teachers telling him it made them feel uncomfortable because it was unprofessional.

But they are family! Congrats to Joel on his new position!

https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2023/08/beidleman-moved-to-new-position-with.html

This is totally outrageous!

[Anonymous]

I don't think he's been moved to the HR department. He is "unassigned" aka you aren't going to be at PB or a principal anywhere, and while you're on leave and we figure out what to do with you, we have to give you some title. That's what this is. As much as I hate MCPS, this isn't malicious intent.