Washington Post article about Former Farquhar Administrator

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What steps have you taken to rectify this situation other than complaining here? Discuss

Are you suggesting that parents should be able to rectify the corrupt and ineffective public school system in Montgomery County?

Please do tell us how!

Actually, I think the PP is correct. People should take action beyond complaining on this board.

One thing would be to email/call your BoE representative and tell them you want to see a hearing on this topic. They have the ability to call McKnight in front of them and ask what she knew and when.

Another would be to lean on Jawando in particular and let him know that he should be calling for an impartial and independent investigation by a firm/organization unaffiliated with MCPS.

Jawando is running for Senate. This is a chance for him to grandstand if he thinks the political winds are blowing against MCPS

There should be a protest in front of the central office on 8/24 during the next BOE meeting. Invite the media and the public officials. Let advocates give speeches... Do this at every BOE meeting. This will put pressure on the BOE.

Where are the union and the PTA, who are supposed to represent the teachers?

If you think so, then get to work and start organizing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not get everyone together for a restorative justice circle? It works for the kids!

Yup

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What steps have you taken to rectify this situation other than complaining here? Discuss

Are you suggesting that parents should be able to rectify the corrupt and ineffective public school system in Montgomery County?

Please do tell us how!

Actually, I think the PP is correct. People should take action beyond complaining on this board.

One thing would be to email/call your BoE representative and tell them you want to see a hearing on this topic. They have the ability to call McKnight in front of them and ask what she knew and when.

Another would be to lean on Jawando in particular and let him know that he should be calling for an impartial and independent investigation by a firm/organization unaffiliated with MCPS.

Jawando is running for Senate. This is a chance for him to grandstand if he thinks the political winds are blowing against MCPS

There should be a protest in front of the central office on 8/24 during the next BOE meeting. Invite the media and the public officials. Let advocates give speeches... Do this at every BOE meeting. This will put pressure on the BOE.

Where are the union and the PTA, who are supposed to represent the teachers?

If you think so, then get to work and start organizing.

Where are the feminists in this ultra-progressive county? What are they doing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What steps have you taken to rectify this situation other than complaining here? Discuss

Are you suggesting that parents should be able to rectify the corrupt and ineffective public school system in Montgomery County?

Please do tell us how!

Actually, I think the PP is correct. People should take action beyond complaining on this board.

One thing would be to email/call your BoE representative and tell them you want to see a hearing on this topic. They have the ability to call McKnight in front of them and ask what she knew and when.

Another would be to lean on Jawando in particular and let him know that he should be calling for an impartial and independent investigation by a firm/organization unaffiliated with MCPS.

Jawando is running for Senate. This is a chance for him to grandstand if he thinks the political winds are blowing against MCPS

There should be a protest in front of the central office on 8/24 during the next BOE meeting. Invite the media and the public officials. Let advocates give speeches... Do this at every BOE meeting. This will put pressure on the BOE.

Where are the union and the PTA, who are supposed to represent the teachers?

They are USELESS! Neither are there when they are needed the most.

Where are the women's groups in Montgomery County? Many female teachers have been sexually harassed for years, and MCPS have protected and promoted the perpetrators. Will there be one women's group who will lead a demonstration in front of the BOE?

The groups, like most MCPS families, are armchair activists. Central Office knows this full well and will wait it out. There will be no change in Joel’s employment status nor in central office policy.

Has anyone contacted the Montgomery County Commission for Women?
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/cfw/aboutus.html

"The Commission was established under law in 1972. The mandate of the Commission is to advise the County Executive, the County Council, the public, and agencies of the county, state and federal governments on issues concerning women in Montgomery County."

The commissions have no real power or authority

[Anonymous]

Interesting how MCCPTA has been relatively quiet on the issue. They get a huge amount of money and yet their advocacy is clearly lacking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how MCCPTA has been relatively quiet on the issue. They get a huge amount of money and yet their advocacy is clearly lacking.

Everyone in bureaucracy is waiting to see which way the winds are blowing. The first rule for any bureaucrat is self-preservation. You don’t last by taking a stand (even when that’s the right thing), especially when the situation is so sordid as this. It’s sad but don’t expect anything from this group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how MCCPTA has been relatively quiet on the issue. They get a huge amount of money and yet their advocacy is clearly lacking.

I’m disappointed MCCPTA’s statement is not on their website or their social media.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how MCCPTA has been relatively quiet on the issue. They get a huge amount of money and yet their advocacy is clearly lacking.

I’m disappointed MCCPTA’s statement is not on their website or their social media.

MCCOTA seemed like they wanted to be on record but not make too much noise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What steps have you taken to rectify this situation other than complaining here? Discuss

Are you suggesting that parents should be able to rectify the corrupt and ineffective public school system in Montgomery County?

Please do tell us how!

Actually, I think the PP is correct. People should take action beyond complaining on this board.

One thing would be to email/call your BoE representative and tell them you want to see a hearing on this topic. They have the ability to call McKnight in front of them and ask what she knew and when.

Another would be to lean on Jawando in particular and let him know that he should be calling for an impartial and independent investigation by a firm/organization unaffiliated with MCPS.

Jawando is running for Senate. This is a chance for him to grandstand if he thinks the political winds are blowing against MCPS

There should be a protest in front of the central office on 8/24 during the next BOE meeting. Invite the media and the public officials. Let advocates give speeches... Do this at every BOE meeting. This will put pressure on the BOE.

Where are the union and the PTA, who are supposed to represent the teachers?

If you think so, then get to work and start organizing.

No one in MoCo is going to protest over this. It’s not the character of people who live here. CO knows this well.

[Anonymous]

I wrote to the BOE. Let's everyone write to BOE. They are responsible for oversight and direction over MCPS and have the authority to take action. Let's use the Beidleman case as the tip of the iceberg - we keep reading in this forum thread that teachers who filed complaints in other cases are blown off and faced retaliation - so he is a symptom of a more systemic problem. Demand independent investigation, not an employer-selected firm. Demand that the BOE carry out its oversight responsibilities including robust follow-up after the facts are known. Demand that the BOE be transparent about the scope and how it will carry out its oversight, as well as making public its findings and follow-up actions. These are reasonable and fundamental demands they can agree on. Do it today!

[Anonymous]

forgot to include in my comment above, BOE email is [e-mail] - it will go to all members.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how MCCPTA has been relatively quiet on the issue. They get a huge amount of money and yet their advocacy is clearly lacking.

Everyone in bureaucracy is waiting to see which way the winds are blowing. The first rule for any bureaucrat is self-preservation. You don’t last by taking a stand (even when that’s the right thing), especially when the situation is so sordid as this. It’s sad but don’t expect anything from this group.

That was exactly my point. We need new blood in MCCPTA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What steps have you taken to rectify this situation other than complaining here? Discuss

Are you suggesting that parents should be able to rectify the corrupt and ineffective public school system in Montgomery County?

Please do tell us how!

Actually, I think the PP is correct. People should take action beyond complaining on this board.

One thing would be to email/call your BoE representative and tell them you want to see a hearing on this topic. They have the ability to call McKnight in front of them and ask what she knew and when.

Another would be to lean on Jawando in particular and let him know that he should be calling for an impartial and independent investigation by a firm/organization unaffiliated with MCPS.

Jawando is running for Senate. This is a chance for him to grandstand if he thinks the political winds are blowing against MCPS

There should be a protest in front of the central office on 8/24 during the next BOE meeting. Invite the media and the public officials. Let advocates give speeches... Do this at every BOE meeting. This will put pressure on the BOE.

Where are the union and the PTA, who are supposed to represent the teachers?

If you think so, then get to work and start organizing.

No one in MoCo is going to protest over this. It’s not the character of people who live here. CO knows this well.

They protested against Trump, abortion, guns... but they won't protest against their own public school system protecting and promoting a serial sexual predator harassing many women over many years...

Wait. The superintendent is a big SJW, and all BOE members are SJWs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What steps have you taken to rectify this situation other than complaining here? Discuss

I’ve actually utilized the complaint process for an employee at a different school. Same result as the teachers in the Washington Post article. I was ignored and faced harsh retaliation.

Alexandra Robbins here. Teachers, admins, staff, parents: I'm interested in hearing more about experiences like these. You can reach me at [e-mail] or through the contact form on my website at alexandrarobbins.com - or if you're concerned it's not really me, you can also send an email to my attention via [e-mail]

It seems like the MCCPTA knows of similar cases - https://www.thesentinel.com/communities/statement-regarding-the-board-of-education-oversight-responsibilities-relating-to-allegations-of-sexual-harassment-and/article_3a9b8b38-3d57-11ee-a756-1b538eccf70b.html

Lynne Harris has experience as a 3 term president of the MCCPTA and she has been on the Board of Education since November 2020. She also has 14 years of experience as an attorney at the US Department of Justice. What is she saying about how MCPS handles these types of complaints? Does she know of systemic problems with how these cases are handled? Surely she must have knowledge of other cases with similar patterns.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/14/mcps-joel-beidleman-investigation-firm/

When elected members of the county school board reviewed materials submitted to approve Beidleman’s appointment as Paint Branch principal earlier this year, no complaints about him were mentioned, member Lynne Harris (At Large) said. She did not recall reading an email sent anonymously on May 3, 2022, by a Farquhar teacher to the board that alleged Beidleman sexually harassed and emotionally abused staff. She looked through her inbox to try to find it but could not, she said. She said the goal for the school board is to “move forward with transparency” and “get the full story.”

“I want to know what happened — who said what, when, where, how. What was the response after that?” Harris said. “That’s what Jackson Lewis is supposed to do for us.”

Of course she couldn't find it if it was sent to her individual MCPS email address, or the BOE MCPS address, on 5/3/22 and she only looked recently; MCPS has the Outlook accounts set to only hold emails for 1 year, then they disappear. I really hope she is not this dumb and isn't implying that it wasn't sent because she doesn't know the deletion policy of her email account and thinks "absence of evidence" is the same as "evidence of absence." Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What steps have you taken to rectify this situation other than complaining here? Discuss

I’ve actually utilized the complaint process for an employee at a different school. Same result as the teachers in the Washington Post article. I was ignored and faced harsh retaliation.

Alexandra Robbins here. Teachers, admins, staff, parents: I'm interested in hearing more about experiences like these. You can reach me at [e-mail] or through the contact form on my website at alexandrarobbins.com - or if you're concerned it's not really me, you can also send an email to my attention via [e-mail]

It seems like the MCCPTA knows of similar cases - https://www.thesentinel.com/communities/statement-regarding-the-board-of-education-oversight-responsibilities-relating-to-allegations-of-sexual-harassment-and/article_3a9b8b38-3d57-11ee-a756-1b538eccf70b.html

Lynne Harris has experience as a 3 term president of the MCCPTA and she has been on the Board of Education since November 2020. She also has 14 years of experience as an attorney at the US Department of Justice. What is she saying about how MCPS handles these types of complaints? Does she know of systemic problems with how these cases are handled? Surely she must have knowledge of other cases with similar patterns.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/14/mcps-joel-beidleman-investigation-firm/

When elected members of the county school board reviewed materials submitted to approve Beidleman’s appointment as Paint Branch principal earlier this year, no complaints about him were mentioned, member Lynne Harris (At Large) said. She did not recall reading an email sent anonymously on May 3, 2022, by a Farquhar teacher to the board that alleged Beidleman sexually harassed and emotionally abused staff. She looked through her inbox to try to find it but could not, she said. She said the goal for the school board is to “move forward with transparency” and “get the full story.”

“I want to know what happened — who said what, when, where, how. What was the response after that?” Harris said. “That’s what Jackson Lewis is supposed to do for us.”

Of course she couldn't find it if it was sent to her individual MCPS email address, or the BOE MCPS address, on 5/3/22 and she only looked recently; MCPS has the Outlook accounts set to only hold emails for 1 year, then they disappear. I really hope she is not this dumb and isn't implying that it wasn't sent because she doesn't know the deletion policy of her email account and thinks "absence of evidence" is the same as "evidence of absence." Ugh.

Emails to the boe address go to staff and have to be forwarded or printed out for boe members. Staff can and do screen out emails.