Montgomery County's Office of the Inspector General issued a damning report about how the public school district handles sexual misconduct complaints.
The report comes as Superintendent Monifa McKnight fights to hold onto her job.
The OIG was asked by the Montgomery County Council to investigate how the school district handles sexual misconduct complaints after former principal Joel Beidleman was promoted despite being accused of sexual harassment and bullying more than a dozen times over seven years. Some of those complaints weren't pursued.
“It’s very concerning,” said Karla Silvestre, president of the Montgomery County Board of Education, which unanimously approved the promotion for Beidelman. “We want our employees to feel that they can come forward and that their concerns are going to be taken seriously.”
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She now says he should not have been promoted.
“I think the reports have shown that the Board of Education was not informed of all this when we took the vote,” she said.
The OIG acknowledged the review was prompted by concern over how Beidleman's case was handled but said its office didn't look into that matter specifically. Instead, it examined how the school responds to allegations of misconduct by its employees.
The OIG examined more than three years of complaints and investigations, spanning July 2020 to September 2023. As a result, the OIG found "numerous issues with the manner in which MCPS" and its Department of Compliance and Investigations handle complaints of employee misconduct.
The report reveals many of those deficiencies were "previously identified" by others and reported to MCPS, yet MCPS "failed" to implement corrective actions.
Specifically, the OIG found MCPS does not have a comprehensive protocol for tracking complaints. The Department of Compliance doesn't follow defined criteria for what to do with complaints and doesn't have comprehensive policies for conducting and documenting investigations.
In response, Montgomery County Council Vice President Kate Stewart said the Audit and Education and Culture committees will review the report on Feb. 8.
“Here is an impartial in depth look at the processes and the lack thereof, quite frankly,” Stewart said. “Having these types of deficiencies that have been brought to light to MCPS in the past but have not been addressed is very serious.”
During the joint session that’s open to the public, the Council will do a deep dive into the report’s findings.
“We’re looking to get answers from MCPS leadership and the board of education,” Stewart said.
In a statement, the Council said it would "continue to push for the increased accountability and transparency from MCPS that our educators and families deserve.”
The OIG recommends improving procedures for complaints and documenting investigations, as well as more training for staff.
In a statement, McKnight, who has vowed to fight to keep her job and said she’s already implementing corrective actions, said the OIG's report "represents an important step toward updating processes ... so no one within the MCPS has to endure unchecked abuse, harassment, bullying or retaliation again."
“If they have already started to address some of these issues, we want to know that, and also know what else they’re going to be doing,” Stewart said.
Sylvestre said she couldn’t talk about McKnight, though she acknowledge the school board does have the authority to remove her.
She said the board will work with the inspector general to make needed changes that include bringing in human resource expertise, thoroughly reviewing HR policies and having more public oversight of the administration.
“So that we are confident that this is done right, and we hope that this will begin to restore the trust and heal our community,” Silvestre said.
News4 is working to reach Beidleman for comment.
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