A proposed policy aiming to strengthen the school board’s oversight of appointing Montgomery County Public Schools leaders is available for public comment through April 24.
The proposal, which was introduced during the school board’s March 19 meeting, was developed in response to the county Office of the Inspector General’s investigations into the district’s mishandling of sexual harassment and bullying complaints against former middle school principal Joel Beidleman.
In 2023, the school board approved Beidleman’s appointment as principal of Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville while the district was investigating the complaints against him. The resulting controversy led to the February resignation of former Superintendent Monifa McKnight. Former MCPS administrator Monique Felder is serving as interim superintendent while the board conducts a national search for a new superintendent.
School board member Rebecca Smondrowski (Dist. 2), who chairs the board’s Policy Management Committee, told MoCo360 that the policy was developed because the board “felt that it was imperative that there be something that these [appointment] decisions could be based [on].”
The proposed policy is important because the district needs to have “standards and procedures that are practical and clear to staff and the system,” said Smondrowski, who described the board’s past role in the appointments process as “fluid.”
Jennifer Martin, president of the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA), wrote in a text that the teachers union is glad that the school board is “finally working to make changes.”
“MCEA is keenly aware of the need to prevent a repeat of the situation revealed by the case at Paint Branch [High School] last summer,” she wrote. “… Promotion policies and procedures must ensure that leadership is highly capable and of good character.”
Under the proposed policy, the district would create an appointments committee and be required to give the board more information about prospective candidates. The policy also requires the district to establish procedures that make the application and interview process more efficient to avoid delays or poor communication.
The required information would include whether the recommended candidate has met eligibility qualifications, whether background checks have been completed (including offender registries and fingerprinting), and whether finalists are clear of any pending or open investigations.
Other information would include candidates’ resumes and cover letters, concerns or questions raised during the appointments committee deliberations and letters from the MCPS chief of the Office of Human Resources and Development attesting that each candidate has been appropriately vetted.
Another aspect of the policy would allow the school board to approve acting positions in the district if the position is “anticipated to be occupied in an acting capacity for more than 45 days,” according to the proposed policy. Currently, the superintendent of schools can appoint people to acting roles within the school system.
Smondrowski noted that while McKnight was leading MCPS, several people were appointed to acting positions and there were concerns that they were not qualified or experienced for the roles.
“The board needs to have better oversight for who’s doing what positions,” Smondrowski said. “And so we can’t do that if we are being told, as opposed to consulted with.”
During policy committee meetings on the proposed policy, MCPS officials also said they wanted to have “guardrails” on acting positions for added protections to the process.
When the controversy over the Beidleman appointment erupted, the county Office of the Inspector General launched two investigations into the district’s handling of complaints and investigative processes. The final investigation found the district did not have a comprehensive protocol to address the receipt, evaluation, tracking and disposition of complaints and that previously identified deficiencies in the district’s handling of complaints had not been addressed.
Sami Saeed, the student member of the board, praised the proposed policy for aligning with recommendations made by the Inspector General’s report and feedback from the school community.
“This is a first draft, but it’s a fantastic start and a lot of these processes are now being strengthened and codified and I really appreciate that,” he said. “Looking at this I feel a lot more confident in our system.”
The timeline for approving the proposed policy will depend on whether the board decides to revise it after receiving public input, Smondrowski said. Comments can be submitted in an online form.