County Executive Marc Elrich said more should be shared from the Jackson Lewis law firm report investigating the promotion of a former school principal who had numerous sexual harassment complaints against him.
Last week, the school board released a less-redacted version of the report after calls for more transparency. The board previously released a version in October.
“Not only shouldn’t [it] have taken this long, it should be less redacted than it is,” Elrich said Wednesday. County councilmembers also criticized the months-long wait to receive the report.
Elrich noted the report refers to employees by numbers instead of names.
“The whole point of this is understanding who did things over there, and who made the decisions, and sheltering peoples’ names is not helpful,” he said.
In a written statement last week, the school board said, “While it still has a number of redactions to protect the identity of staff, the intent is to help create a fuller picture for the public of the investigation findings, while continuing to protect the privacy interest of our employees.”
Reports from Jackson Lewis as well as the county Inspector General were initiated following The Washington Post story exposing the promotion of former school principal Dr. Joel Beidleman — who is no longer a Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) employee. Elrich said it extends beyond Beidleman — “and goes to a deeper, more systemic problem inside the organization.”
Elrich added he believes the school board needs to be full-time — “we would be better served by having a full-time board that was paid properly and had staff so they could actually do the job that people expect them to do.”
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School Board Shares Less-Redacted Report on Beidleman’s Promotion
