Washington Post article about Former Farquhar Administrator

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

No, I think it's more cronyism than left agenda. I have heard other reports from admin insiders about various factions and favoritism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

The article said it's now been referred to the county inspector general. That's not central office.

The fox article, quoting an MCPS statement, said MCPS is hiring an external firm. That’s not the OIG.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

The article said it's now been referred to the county inspector general. That's not central office.

The fox article, quoting an MCPS statement, said MCPS is hiring an external firm. That’s not the OIG.

So in essence, Khalid and his office couldn't do a job they are paid to do, so now we are spending more $$$ and bringing in an external entity. It sounds like Khalid's position and office should be terminated. Give the funding to the special education office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First of all, Khalid Walker take the claims but does not determine whether they move forward into an investigation. That is up to Michaels Simmons and Greg Edmundson who should be directly responsibility and the most heat for this. Their names should be plastered all over the news regarding the gross mishandling of this scandal

This was written by Khalid Walker or his partner/friend. Khalid should have disagreed with his superiors if they told him this case was closed. Otherwise, Khalid is just collecting a paycheck.

How do you know he didn't?

Khalid, if you had the evidence reported in WAPO (I assume you had more) and you still went along with the decision to close the case, you are part of the problem my friend.

I'm not him, but you knew that. I'm just pointing out that it seems from the article that he was initially validating of the reports, and then after a time the cases were closed. What happened at central office in the intervening time? Who are his supervisors, what other departments were involved, and what did they do or not do about the claims of abuse? The inspector general should be looking into that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

The article said it's now been referred to the county inspector general. That's not central office.

The fox article, quoting an MCPS statement, said MCPS is hiring an external firm. That’s not the OIG.

The Post article: "The district said it asked the county’s inspector general to look into the matter"

[Anonymous]

If there are other staff with reports of abuse to share, I suggest you contact the OIG directly.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/oig/hotline.html

[Anonymous]

I just read the article. I am shocked and disgusted. I am so disappointed in MCPS.
McKnight is a career bureaucrat. She is not going to change the status quo unfortunately

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just read the article. I am shocked and disgusted. I am so disappointed in MCPS.
McKnight is a career bureaucrat. She is not going to change the status quo unfortunately

Seven years ago she was a middle school principal herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If there are other staff with reports of abuse to share, I suggest you contact the OIG directly.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/oig/hotline.html

This seems about as trustworthy as the Safe Schools reporting system.

[Anonymous]

McKnight and Beidleman were middle school principals around the same time. I guess she hasn’t made a statement yet but when she does, she cannot say she had no idea about him. Worst kept secret ever

Also, where is the damn Board in all this? They should be demanding answers. MCPS is so messed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McKnight and Beidleman were middle school principals around the same time. I guess she hasn’t made a statement yet but when she does, she cannot say she had no idea about him. Worst kept secret ever

Also, where is the damn Board in all this? They should be demanding answers. MCPS is so messed up.

8/24 is the next board meeting...

[Anonymous]

The Board should be demanding answers.

McKnight is the Superintendent, not a low-level bureaucrat. Surely she had visibility on this once complaints were made.

I can't think of any legit reason why action wasn't taken immediately. For situations like this, allegations aren't taken as fact and you are innocent until proven guilty, but action must be taken nonetheless. While investigations take time, it seems (given the timelines and multiple incidents) that MCPS leadership did have knowledge and failed to address it.

Why?

I can only think of two (maybe three) logical explanations:

1. Protecting a friend/one of your own

2. Protecting yourself because the person has something on you and has threatened to take you down with them

3. Incompetence

Regardless of which one is at play here, McKnight has to go. You cannot leave her in place given what we know. She cannot effectively lead, and now her failure has led to a very costly situation for MCPS as funds will be diverted to hire outside counsel to the tune of millions for not only litigation, but also payouts to the impacted staff.

My two cents: let's bring in a highly qualified CEO with a proven track record of managing budgets, people, and outcomes. Set race and gender aside; we have plenty of diversity across MCPS and at this point I think we just need a highly qualified leader with judgment and a strong moral compass.

People need to ask why MCPS has devolved to such a bad place--both in terms of personnel issues and education outcomes. Truly depressing.

[Anonymous]

https://mocoshow.com/blog/statement-from-montgomery-county-councilmember-will-jawando-chair-of-the-education-and-culture-committee-regarding-serious-allegations-related-to-mcps-principal/

Funny he says this now when he kept trying to silence teachers speaking on behalf of MCEA just a few months ago!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Not just because he was black, but because he promoted equity aggressively - refused to keep certain kids in regular, not advanced, classes, because that would skew race ratios and put more non-whites in regular, fewer in advanced. This despite post-pandemic teacher concerns that some kids needed more support.

As long as someone pays lip service to equity, MCPS will ignore EVERYTHING ELSE!

Yes and this is a direct reflection of the larger politics in this area.
Our local principal is a justice warrior who tweets non. Stop. About social justice but has yet to deliver a message encouraging academics or "hey kids! Read a book this summer!"
I'm so tired of the negative fallout in our lives, our children's lives, our neighbors and teachers lives from this disastrous political agenda.
I'm a moderate Democrat. I've had enough of this.

+a million. My 11 year old did just finish the school assigned summer reading book. It had the “n” word in it 6 times! Not exaggerating. I’m over the agenda. -another moderate Democrat

[Anonymous]

The whole mcps is so corrupt. At least it's better than Baltimore.