This article, originally published at 3:39 p.m. on Jan. 22, 2024, was updated at 5:39 p.m. on Jan. 22, 2024, to include comment from the Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations (MCCPTA). It was updated again at 5:55 p.m. on Jan. 22, 2024, to include a statement from the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA). Updated at 9:06 a.m. on Jan. 23, 2024, to include the statement from the Board of Education. Updated at 11:26 a.m. on Jan. 23, 2024, to include a statement from Councilmember Will Jawando (D-At-large). Updated at 1:42 p.m. on Jan. 23, 2024, to include a statement from Council President Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1).
Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Monifa McKnight is fighting a move from the Board of Education, she announced in a statement Monday afternoon.
“Officers from the Board of Education indicated last week their desire for me to step away from my role as superintendent, providing me with no justification for their request. The Board has never written, documented, or communicated any concern about my performance, and through the evaluation process has consistently affirmed that I have met expectations.
“For these reasons, I’m concerned that its actions are based on something other than my performance, which would constitute a violation of my contract. I will defend my reputation and my decades-long commitment to the students and families of MCPS, and will demand that any considerations of my role as superintendent are made through a fair, legitimate, and legal process — anything less would be unacceptable.”
The dispute comes amid fallout from the district’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations made against former Farquhar Middle School Principal Joel Beidleman.
According to MCPS spokesperson Chris Cram, McKnight was at the district’s office working and attending meetings Monday. Cram did not share if McKnight would be working the rest of the week.
From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Monday the Board of Education is scheduled to hold a closed session virtual meeting to “receive legal advice regarding a personnel matter regarding the status of employment for an employee,” a school board resolution stated.
In the aftermath of the scandal, first reported by The Washington Post in August, McKnight was tasked by the Board of Education with developing an action plan to address the failures of the district and attempt to rebuild the trust of the public.
Board of Education President Karla Silvestre did not immediately respond to MoCo360’s request for comment via email or phone calls on Monday afternoon.
At 7:17 p.m., after the closed session, the board released a statement in response to media reports about McKnight’s employment status.
“The Board is aware of Dr. McKnight’s recent statement to the media regarding her employment. The Board continues to fulfill its role as an employer. This is a personnel matter and in alignment with laws related to personnel matters, we, as her employer will not be providing further comment at this time.
“The Board of Education remains committed to the success of all students and staff and will continue to meet our public commitment to ensure MCPS delivers an exceptional educational experience.”
Councilmember Will Jawando (D-At-large), who chairs the Education and Culture (EC) Committee, declined to comment on Monday evening. His chief of staff said that he was in the process of gathering more information.
Tuesday morning, Jawando released a statement that said while the situation is a personnel matter with the Board of Education, McKnight should be afforded due process.
“As chair of the Education and Culture Committee, I am focused on ensuring the students and staff have the support they need during this time,” Jawando stated. “As a parent, I share the desire for more trust, transparency and accountability in the school system. I am committed to providing our 211 schools, 25,000 staff and 162,000 students with the resources they need to learn, grow and succeed.”
Jawando also shared that the Council is expecting a second report from the Inspector General on policy and procedure changes at MCPS, related to the Beidleman investigation. Following the release of the report, the council will hold a joint session with the Audit and EC committees which will be open to the public.
On Tuesday afternoon, County Council president Andrew Friedson also released a statement. Friedson stated the school board has the authority to decide personnel matters related to the superintendent and leadership and oversight of the district is their responsibility. He also echoed Jawando, stating that the council anticipates the next Inspector General’s report, “which will provide the Council and residents with a thorough and impartial evaluation.”
“The Council is committed to doing everything in our power to ensure trust in our public school system and the transparency and accountability our students, families and educators deserve,” Friedson stated.
Other members of the Committee, Councilmember Gabe Albornoz (D-At-large) declined to comment at this time and Councilmember Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5) did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday evening.
Cathy Stocker, the Vice President of Education at the Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations (MCCPTA) said the news of McKnight fighting her ouster came as a big surprise. While the school board has the right to hire and fire superintendents, Stocker said the MCCPTA is concerned that the decision was made without consulting major stakeholder groups.
“They also have another very important responsibility which is to clearly articulate expectations and deadlines and consequences to the executive leading the school system,” Stocker said. “And if the Board of Education did not, in fact, offer feedback and directly express to the superintendent the concerns of constituents or their own concerns, this kind of action runs the risk of looking politically expedient instead of a necessary action that serves their long term strategic plan and vision.”
“Our preference is that our collective time energy and money and money should be focused on the needs of our students,” she added. “And this kind of public spat between the Board of Education and the superintendent of schools is not serving our students.”
The county’s teachers’ union, the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA), released a statement on Monday evening which said its members believe the school board to be justified in seeking McKnight’s resignation.
MCEA stated that members have seen “serious problems” with the superintendent’s leadership and that McKnight was “more concerned with protecting herself and her close associates than with doing right by front-line staff and students.”
“The superintendent’s overseeing body, the board, is no doubt aware of confidential information that caused them to determine this drastic step is necessary,” the statement continued. “In declaring open war with the board, Dr. McKnight threatens to further damage not only her own future, but also the board’s efforts to restore the public’s trust in Montgomery County Public Schools.”
“Right now, educators and the students we serve are the ones bearing the brunt of this disturbing chaos,” MCEA stated. “We need to put out this fire and get back to the work of educating our young people.”
The Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals (MCAAP) and the SEIU Local 500 did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday evening.
McKnight was appointed to the superintendent role in February 2022, making her the first Black woman to lead the school district. Her contract was intended to run until 2026 with a yearly salary of $320,000 as of February 2023.
Prior to her appointment, MCPS hired McKnight as deputy superintendent in May 2019. Months later when the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools in March 2020, she helped lead MCPS’ efforts to transition to virtual learning and later the reopening of schools in 2021.
McKnight was named the interim superintendent in 2021 after Jack Smith’s retirement and she continued to deal with the challenges of the pandemic and navigating new territory in a post-pandemic school system.
Just before being appointed to superintendent, McKnight and the school board faced sharp criticism of their handling of the pandemic and plans to bring students back to the classroom. In January 2022, teachers declared no confidence in MCPS due to failures to provide a reliable testing program; address student absenteeism and staffing shortages; and collaborate and communicate with the school community, leaving many with a deep mistrust of MCPS leadership.
Many parents also critiqued McKnight’s administration for a lack of two-way communication, transparency, and a perception of being closed off from external scrutiny from community stakeholders.
Prior to leading the school district, McKnight was the chief school management and instructional leadership officer at Howard County Public Schools. She also worked for MCPS as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal at Ridgeview Middle School in Gaithersburg. She later served as the director for secondary leadership development programs from 2016 to 2019 at MCPS.
Many of the issues that McKnight has faced as superintendent were described as “ticking time bombs” by Diego Uriburu — the executive director of Identity and co-founder of the Black and Brown Coalition — inherited from previous superintendents and later detonated from the pressures of the pandemic, such as chronic absenteeism and student drug use.
McKnight also navigated the handling of a shooting at Col. Zadok Magruder High School in January 2022 which left one student with life-threatening injuries. A year later, MCPS owned up to its failures in its response to the shooting and communication with families that resulted in delayed parent-student reunification.
Antisemitism and hate-based incidents also spiked across the county as well as in the school district during McKnight’s leadership. Prior to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, MCPS saw numerous antisemitic incidents from elementary to high school involving the drawing of swastikas on school property, hate-based graffiti and an incident in which students performed an antisemitic salute on school grounds. The district was also widely criticized by some in the Jewish and Israeli communities for its delayed and tepid response after the attack.
McKnight’s administration has most recently been under scrutiny for mounting legal fees – nearly half a million dollars – from various controversies and lawsuits against the district. One of the main controversies stems from the district’s use of LGBTQ+ inclusive books in the elementary English Language Arts curriculum.
On Nov. 15, McKnight announced the hiring of Nancy Navarro, a former school board member and president and county councilmember, as senior adviser for external affairs.
“The Senior [Adviser] for External Affairs in the Office of the Superintendent is a new position aimed at advancing the priorities of the Board of Education and the school system’s key objectives,” McKnight said in a statement emailed to MoCo360.
Faced with many challenges over the past two years, McKnight also saw accomplishments in raising student test scores and literacy rates after the pandemic. Under McKnight, the district began to implement the Science of Reading and use new early childhood literacy tests with the goal of having students read by third grade.
In addition, McKnight’s efforts to address racism in the school system with the anti-racist system audit and implementation of restorative justice have been praised by students at recent public hearings on the fiscal year 2025 operating budget.
McKnight has also been praised in the past for working closely with the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) on combatting antisemitism in schools and providing training for teachers, and working with the Black and Brown Coalition for Academic Excellence to address racial achievement gaps that persist.
For students, McKnight was known to have a unique ability to connect with and listen closely to students and their concerns. Some students said that they could see McKnight had “genuine love” for the students and was the superintendent who had “been most present and engaged with students,” MoCo360 reported in August.
This article will be updated.
Em Espey contributed to this report.