...It was not clear whether MCPS Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight will be in attendance at the Feb. 8 Council session...
https://www.mymcmedia.org/friedson-wants-to-see-redacted-beidleman-investigation-report/
...Walker told MoCo360 that he would return to his former job on Monday. “I am looking forward to returning to DCI,” he said. “The recent OIG report highlighted many issues that some of us in the office had voiced concerns about for a long time. I am very much looking forward to participating in making all of the recommended changes.”..
...In September, the Office of the Montgomery County Inspector General (OIG) announced that it would open two investigations related to allegations against Farquhar Middle School Principal Dr. Joel Beidleman and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) handling of misconduct complaints. Officials claimed he was unanimously promoted during a June meeting to become the principal at an area high school – all while being under investigation for sexual harassment.
You can read more about that investigation here.
"It's basically the Real Housewives of Rockville at the moment. It's a big soap opera," said Janis Zink Sartucci, a member of the Parents Coalition.
She told WUSA9 that this is "a huge distraction," and said "whatever is going on and whoever was involved, the school board should just handle it."..
The Board of Education is calling on the superintended to step down. The sudden move is now causing people to ask what Dr. Monifa McKnight knew about the harassment scandal involving former middle school principal Dr. Joel Biedleman and how she may have been involved. FOX 5's Sierra Fox has the story.
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With a huge amount of help from the Public Access Ombudsman at the Maryland Attorney General's office, the Parents' Coalition has finally obtained a copy of the contract between the Montgomery County Board of Education and the Jackson Lewis law firm.
The contract, which was never approved by the Board of Education as required by law, is dated August 24, 2023 but covers the period July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. To be clear: The Jackson Lewis law firm began their work long before the contract was signed. We're not sure that matters much, though, since the contract has never been approved by the Board of Education — unless they approved it in secret, which would be a violation of the Open Meetings Act.
Since the contract was never approved by the Board of Education, there is literally no executed contract between the Board of Education and Jackson Lewis. The Board of Education isn't obligated or even authorized to pay Jackson Lewis for their services...
Full story at: https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2023/12/after-months-of-stonewalling-mcps.html
Five key MCPS leaders knew of these allegations and apparently did not push for answers
This led to Beidleman being promoted to Principal at Paint Branch High School which has since been pulled. Dr. Beidleman remains on leave and the Montgomery County Office of the Inspector General is picking up the investigation into how the situation was handled. They said they would investigate every allegation made against Beidleman to set the record straight...
Montgomery Co. releases redacted report on MCPS principal misconduct investigation | WJLA
...The report also listed six complaints to the district about Beidleman that were not included in The Post’s original story: five via Lighthouse Hotline, a third-party complaint hotline service, and a third Maryland Safe Schools report. A Feb. 7 Lighthouse Hotline account obtained Thursday by The Post described a “hostile work environment” at Farquhar “for at least 5 years.” The complaint alleged that Beidleman “sexually harasses, gaslights, and manipulates his staff on a daily basis. Both men and women. If he does not get his way, there is bullying and vindictive behavior (removal from leadership positions, stipends taken away, grade level changes etc).”
MCPS also twice ignored inquiries from Maryland’s Office of the Inspector General for Education (OIGE) about a complaint it had received against Beidleman — once June 28, the day after Beidleman’s promotion, and another June 30. These additional notifications add up to 25 reports of misconduct submitted to MCPS about Beidleman since 2016, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Post...
Five complaints were reported anonymously through the Lighthouse Hotline, an independent third-party hotline provider. Investigators say those complaints, as well as an email that included several anonymous allegations, were received by the MCPS's Department of Compliance (DCI).
"All of these anonymous complaints were received by DCI, but none were formally investigated because DCI has a long-standing practice of not formally investigating anonymous complaints," the report reads.
As for the student complaints that were investigated, the report redacted what exactly those allegations were but says all three were investigated and resolved...
