McKnight Named Permanent Superintendent

by Emory Gun ‘22

Picture of newly selected Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent, Monifa McKnight.

After Jack Smith unexpectedly quit as superintendent in June of 2020, Monifa McKnight took over as the interim superintendent for MCPS. On February 8, McKnight was  named permanent superintendent of public schools in Montgomery County, the 14th largest county in the nation.This is a tough year to be superintendent in any school district  in the United States due to Covid-19 and political pressures regarding curriculum. Additionally, in MCPS there has been heightened incidents of discrimination, as well as a recent shooting of a student at Magruder.  

In McKnight’s letter to MCPS students after being named permanent superintendent, she expressed her excitement for the future and wrote, “Along the way, I may make some mistakes, and sometimes I may do things that you do not agree with; however, my decisions are always based on what is in your best interest, and all other 160,000 students in our district.” 

Although the Board of Education seems to have a great deal of faith in McKnight, some community members are not as keen on her. At the peak of Omicron transmission, many were angry about communication on McKnight’s part. Originally, MCPS made the decision that if any school reached 5-percent positive cases in a 14-day window then that school would move to virtual learning for 14 days. However, when more than 100 schools surpassed that percentage of cases, the threshold then changed to keep those schools in-person. 

“While the circumstances leading to these disruptions are beyond our control, we should have done a better job communicating with you about these challenges and clarifying our response. I apologize for any stress this caused our staff, students, and community members.” stated McKnight. 

At some point, McKnight will also have to make the difficult decision of whether MCPS is going mask-optional this school year. Many other states and counties have started to implement mask-optional protocols. There will inevitably be political pressure from both sides for McKnight.

McKnight is the first woman to serve as Superintendent for MCPS and only the second black Superintendent. No matter one’s opinions of McKnight, it cannot be denied that her new position has made history in MCPS.