The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) President, Jennifer Martin, released a statement on Thursday regarding Montgomery County Public School’s response to sexual harassment allegations. The full statement by the head of the teacher’s union can be seen below:
“As we have done from the beginning, MCEA will continue to provide support to our members and ensure that they receive what they need to navigate an awful situation, one that MCPS chose to make worse by ignoring credible allegations and overwhelming evidence.
MCPS must fulfill its duty to protect its employees through a truly independent investigator, one with extensive experience in victim-focused sexual misconduct investigations and one that does not have a pre-existing relationship with the district. We encourage the public to join us in calling for a truly independent investigation, and for MCPS to work with us on reforming their policies so that this never happens again.
Given the scale and scope of allegations employees provided to MCPS, an investigation needs to focus on why MCPS management failed to protect staff and instead promoted the principal. MCPS has now chosen to conduct a second investigation of their complaints using a firm that specializes in protecting management from sexual harassment claims, not in ensuring safe working conditions for employees.
Our members displayed extraordinary courage in reporting, through the appropriate MCPS channels, the abuse they were facing. It should not take media attention for MCPS to suddenly recognize and address such an egregious problem that is harming educators, students, and our community.
In Solidarity,
Juniley Mastin, MCEA President”
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