It was listed as a meeting of the Education and Culture Commitee, but on Thursday morning the full Montgomery County Council met with Board of Education President Karla Silvestre, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight and Inspector General Megan Limarzi. Their objective – to discuss the recent summary offered on findings by the law firm of Jackson Lewis in the matter of the promotion of Joel Beidelman to principal of Paint Branch High School.
Without exception, councilmembers recommended to Silvestre and McKnight they forward the full redacted report to the Council and the public for their review.
As Councilmember Andrew Friedson succinctly remarked, “People cannot trust what they cannot see.”
Several councilmembers expressed their dismay at the situation that allowed a person to be promoted within MCPS after years of complaints about their conduct. As Council President Glass stated, “The reason teachers went to the Washington Post was because their complaints fell on deaf ears. As noted in the very comprehensive Washington Post article, there were 18 complaints made over seven years.”
In the course of the meeting, it was clear no system to review anonymous complaints was in place over that time period. In addition, emails submitted were erased from the system after a year, which made tracking complaints over an extended time period impossible.
Councilmember Friedson remarked, “People didn’t feel safe going to the people in power, using the processes you had in place.” He later cautioned against ignoring anonymous reports. “Organizations that care about a culture of accountability and transparency treat anonymous complaints the same. They look inward. And organizations that don’t treat anonymous complaints the same way don’t want to look inward, don’t want to make changes.”
School officials voiced their concerns as well. Karla Silvestre concluded “We are in this to get it right.”
Superintendent McKnight added, “This is a very serious matter and I know our role coming here today is to share our role in what we all will do in the future to address the necessary changes as soon as possible.”
While school officials await final recommendations from the Office of the Inspector General, other mechanisms for feedback have been put in place on the MCPS website. The Office of the Inspector General offered two phone numbers where reports can be received, anonymous or otherwise. You can call 240-777-7280 or 240-777-7644 to confidentially share information.
To watch the entire County Council session, go here.
