MCPS

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.

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) will be hosting a press conference to introduce a comprehensive Attendance Action Plan titled “ALL TOGETHER Now: In School Together, Learn Together, Achieve Together / Attendance Action Plan” This multifaceted initiative aims to address a significant problem faced by school systems across the country – student attendance in school.

During the press conference, MCPS Superintendent Dr. Monifa B. McKnight and MCPS Staff will unveil the Attendance Action Plan, which encompasses various strategies and interventions to promote consistent attendance and enhance student learning outcomes. The plan focuses on fostering a collaborative effort among students, parents, educators, and the wider community to ensure all students have equal opportunities to succeed academically. Chronic Absenteeism is defined as 18 or more days absent in a school year without permission (10%).

The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) President, Jennifer Martin, has released a statement in response to the allegations made against an MCPS principal. The full statement by the head of the teacher’s union can be seen below:

“The recent exposure of allegations against a principal in MCPS shines a light on the school system’s failure to fulfill its fundamental duty of protecting staff, students, and the school community from bullying and harassment. When members raised their concerns to us, I met with them, and provided guidance and assistance from union staff to again bring their complaints to MCPS management’s attention.

In 2022, after seeing a similar Facebook group in Frederick County reach over 3,000 members, MCPS teachers Jennifer Wilson and Kate Stone decided to create a Montgomery County version that allows community members to “adopt” an MCPS teacher and support them buy purchasing items for the teacher off of the teacher’s Amazon wishlist. “People have always want to donate to teachers, so we just wanted to make it easier for them to be able to do it.” Wilson told us. In less than three days, the Facebook group had over 1,000 members. The group is still going strong with almost 4,000 members and thousands of dollars in donations to local teachers.

Here’s how it works: Teachers create and share their public wishlist in a post, making sure to include the wishlist link in a post. Teachers are encouraged to include information about themselves and the school they teach at. Community members then have the option to purchase one or more items from any wishlist they choose to support. Community members are encouraged to let the teacher know they purchased something from the wishlist. If they choose to, multiple people can adopt one teacher and one person can adopt multiple teachers. Everyone is encouraged to be nice to each other.