On Thursday afternoon, members of the Montgomery County Council met to discuss an inspector general report, asking one very important question: Why was a school principal promoted, despite the fact he was under investigation for bullying and sexual harassment?
That principal, Joel Beidleman, had more than a dozen bullying and sexual harassment claims made against him when he was promoted last June. He's no longer with the Montgomery County Public School system.
But investigators learned that there were even more complaints that were never looked into. That inspector general report found the school system didn’t properly investigate misconduct complaints and failed to correct known problems in the process.
Three of the employees who had knowledge of the allegations against Beidleman and were involved in the promotion process, out of five total, have also parted ways with the school system.
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An hour before the hearing began, the Montgomery County Public School board put a less-redacted version of the report into Beidleman on its website. Some Montgomery County Council members were unhappy that the report was shared just one hour before the hearing when they had been asking for the report for months.
In a statement released earlier this week, the Montgomery County School Board acknowledged there were systemic failures. Employees were not always listened to, and the system did not make workers feel safe to speak up.
The hearing lasted over two and a half hours.
"[It seems] That these issues are endemic, that they're pervasive, that they've spanned for many years and they reflect a culture that has appeared to focus more on protecting the school system than on protecting the people who work and go to school in the school system," Council President Andrew Friedson said during the hearing.
"It seems that for years there has been more concern about reputational harm than actual harm, to actual people," Friedson said.
Another councilmember said this is one of the saddest moments in Montgomery County Public School History.
The Montgomery County School Board action plan includes enacting strong and comprehensive policies to address complaints, increasing oversight of the school system and bringing more transparency.
One week ago, on Feb. 2, former schools superintendent Monifa McKnight stepped down from her position. An interim superintendent, Monique Felder, was appointed this week, and was expected to testify.
