MCPS Confronts Systematic Failures in Light of Investigations into Farquhar Principal

by Evelyn San Miguel ‘26

MCPS is currently under fire for the promotion of former Farquhar Principal Joel Beidleman, whose years of alleged bullying and harassment were made public in August in a lengthy investigative article by the Washington Post. In the following weeks, the county responded by hiring Jackson Lewis law firm to investigate the allegations, whose full, though heavily redacted, report was released in mid October. Both MCPS executive staff and the elected Board of Education have faced backlash, with members of the community left wondering how Beidleman’s promotion in June to principal of Paint Branch happened in the first place, and how far the cover-up of his harassment, misconduct, and bullying goes. 

Following the release of the report, Board of Education President Karla Silvestre apologized for MCPS’ shortcomings, as well as reassuring staff about the reconstructive measures they would be taking in a statement at an October 12 Board meeting. Silvestre addressed MCPS staff directly, “We are deeply sorry that these processes … failed to ensure that all complaints were fully investigated and resolved.”

MCPS had been found to have significant systematic issues that went unresolved until the Washington Post went public with the allegations into Beidleman, Jackson Lewis’ report concluded. “Key decision makers did exercise enough diligence to ascertain important details about the investigation,” they said, adding that the county “has long standing practices and processes in place that resulted in some of the complaints against [Beidleman] not being formally investigated.” The firm also found foul play by an anonymous senior staff member who, in tampering with the investigations during the promotion process, prevented the Board from knowing about the allegations against the former Farquhar principal. However, Jackson Lewis found that, though there was higher management who knew about the investigations, the Board hadn’t been aware of Beidleman’s misconduct prior to or during the process of approving his promotion. Jackson Lewis law firm concluded that for every member of MCPS leadership they interviewed, they expressed “genuine remorse, accountability and indicated that they have learned from [the] situation.” 

MCPS Superintendent Monifa McKnight responded at the October 12 Board meeting, “There are many holes in the system, and we need to fix them, and there needs to be accountability.” Both McKnight and the MCPS Board of Education have been admonished by the community for their involvement in approving Beidleman’s promotion. The Washington Post, in their scathing exposé, initial reported 18 complaints of sexual harassment, bullying, and inappropriate conduct over the span of twelve years across two schools, Roberto Clemente Elementary and Farquhar Middle. In a later article after the redacted report came out, the Post updated its reporting that there were 25 complaints. The article verified two emails sent to the MCPS Board of Education: one anonymous email allegedly sent to the Board on May 3, 2022, and another from a Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) representative on May 9, 2022. Jackson Lewis found no evidence of these emails being received by the Board or Superintendent McKnight in their investigation. 

The MCEA, the union that represents the district’s teachers, has publicly questioned how it was possible that the MCPS had no knowledge of Beidleman’s misconduct prior to the publication of the allegations. They criticized the firm’s report, saying that “Despite all the blank spaces in the redacted report, it’s appallingly apparent that MCPS’ central office culture is corrupt and corrosive.” The union’s president, Jennifer Martin, demanded that staff members feel respected, safe, and empowered in their work environment and that MCPS students “deserve no less.” 

Discontent with the Board’s process has come not only from the community, but county leaders as well. On September 28, the Montgomery County Council held a hearing where they reprimanded the Board for their negligence in which they found the Board’s lack of transparency in Beidleman’s investigation troubling, largely due to its reluctance to release full reports and investigation details. “I find that very frustrating in trying to restore the public’s trust,” said County Council member Marilyn Balcombe (D-District 2). Distrust with the Board and Jackson Lewis’ report has also come from County Inspector General Megan Davey Limarzi as well, who announced on September 20 that she would begin her own independent investigations in the coming months. 

When the article detailing Beidleman’s harassment was published, members of the community reacted in shock, concern, and disgust. Thousands of comments from outraged parents flooded the comment section of the first Washington Post investigation that enumerated Beidleman’s misconduct. Several parents voiced concerns about the safety of their children, and how MCPS was going to handle the incident moving forward. Many teachers, however, stated in the comment section and on social media that they aren’t surprised. “There’s a real fear that there’s no one above you that you can go to,” Jean Cashin, a veteran teacher who had left Farquhar in June 2021, told the Washington Post. Several former Farquhar teachers spoke about Beidleman on the condition of anonymity, out of fear for their jobs. Others reported that they had felt no one would listen to their concerns.

The reporting by the Washington Post identified MCPS supervisors who appeared to not pursue the allegations against Beidleman. Former Sherwood Principal Eric Minus was Beidleman’s direct supervisor before becoming the principal at Sherwood from 2018-2020. The Washington Post reported that Minus told parents that he was a “close personal friend” of Beidleman. Additionally, Khalid Walker, formerly of the Office of Compliance and Investigations,  was the lead investigator in some of the teachers’ complaints against Beidleman. However, the Post reported that Walker found the investigations into the allegations inconclusive and no action was taken. Recently on October 7, the Washington Post reported that Walker was promoted and given a raise of $11,983 despite his involvement in Beidleman’s case. After inquiries from Post reporters, MCPS spokesman Chris Cram texted the Post three hours later that Walker had once again been moved to the Office of Human Resources and Development at his previous $132,166 salary.

McKnight, immediately after the release of Jackson Lewis’ full redacted report, sent an email on October 12 to principals regarding leadership changes. “Dr. Patrick Murphy, deputy superintendent, is no longer employed by the district,” McKnight said. She also mentioned personnel members on leave, whom the Post confirmed had been placed on administrative leave. “Dr. Redmond Jones and Dr. Eugenia (Jeanie) Dawson are currently on leave,” she said. Prior to their absences, Jones and Dawson were school supervisors assigned to Paint Branch and Farquhar. Additionally, the Post reported that Diane Morris, former Farquhar principal and person in charge of Beidleman’s standard five-year evaluation, was also placed on administrative leave. 

MCPS also failed before Beidleman’s promotion to notice worrying numbers in the annual staff climate survey for 2022-23, where 40.6 percent of Farquhar teachers last Spring responded “Not at all” to a question regarding how positive the tone is that leadership sets among their school. For comparison, at Farquhar’s neighboring school, Rosa Parks, only 2.7 percent of teachers responded “Not at all” to the same question. 

“This situation is a reflection of the fact that MCPS needs an entire culture change,” said Sherwood English teacher Shelley Jackson. Jackson, who has been following the Washington Post’s coverage of Beidleman closely, said that she was appalled but not surprised that such an incident could happen in MCPS. Jackson said she had heard rumors of Beidleman long before his misconduct was exposed, and heard about other instances of sexual harassment in the county. She was disappointed in MCPS’ lack of communication, and believes that the county owes an apology to the community for allowing Beidleman to get away with his behavior in their system. 

Jackson said that to remedy the damage, MCPS needs to implement “clear and transparent processes … for dealing with complaints and investigations into [those] complaints.”  In this case, Jackson said because the investigators had been friends of Beidleman, an objective process was impossible. However, Jackson believes that with hard work, transparency, and communication to constituents the Board can be held accountable, “It takes will to do the right thing.”