Since the Montgomery County Office of Inspector General issued a report criticizing the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) for the way it handles complaints, 203 matters have been dealt with.
There were 88 instances where employees were placed on administrative leave. Since then, 48 of those cases were closed and 40 remain, according to Dr. Darlene Harris, executive director of MCPS Department of Human Resources and Development.
Seventeen sexual harassment and 114 workplace bullying complaints also were resolved, she said.
Currently, 171 complaints concerning administrative leave, sexual harassment and workplace bullying still are under investigation.
Harris’ report to the Board of Education Thursday followed the public unveiling of the Corrective Actions Progress Report category that is posted on MCPS’ website.
Explanations on how to file a complaint as well as reports on how MCPS is progressing on adopting recommendations from the Inspector General’s office can be found on this site.
According to the color-coded report section of the website, completed matters are registered in green, those still in progress are yellow and those not yet begun are orange. An item cannot be given a green mark until the OIG agrees that the matter is completed.
“I want the public to really understand our progress,” said Board President Karla Silvestre when noting why the website was created for all to see.
The OIG report was issued following a review of misconduct allegations determined that the school district “does not have a comprehensive protocol addressing the receipt, evaluation, tracking and disposition of complaints.”
The review noted “numerous issues” dealing with employee misconduct related complaints and investigations, “many” of which were previously brought to MCPS’ attention.
The report was conducted, in part, following complaints concerning former Principal Joel Beidleman, who was promoted despite numerous harassment and sexual harassment complaints filed against him.
The report determined that MCPS’ Department of Compliance and Investigation “does not follow defined criteria when determining what actions to take with complaints.” That department also “does not have comprehensive policies for conducting and documenting investigations.”
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