The Montgomery County school system is working on a plan to address bullying and hate.
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is developing a new district-level bullying, harassment and hate/bias plan, Associate Superintendent Damon Monteleone said during an Anti-Hate Task Force meeting Tuesday.
Last October, a systemwide antiracist audit of MCPS was released. In April, MCPS Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight said schools were averaging more than one hate or bias incident per day, which is a rate tripled from past years.
“We are essentially a county that is as diverse if not more diverse than any place in the United States of America,” Monteleone said on Tuesday. He said the work to address hate is “really, really important to us.”
He said the new plan will be shared once it goes through the school board process this month.
The county council voted in June to create the Anti-Hate Task Force, which Council President Evan Glass called for in February. The group held its first meeting last month, during which County Police Chief Marcus Jones said he was “flabbergasted” this past school year to see the amount of hate and bias incidents that occurred at schools or in the school community.
