This article was updated at 12:38 p.m. to include additional comment from Councilmember Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7) and Board of Education President Karla Silvestre (At-large).
One week after Montgomery County Public Schools announced its law firm pick for an “independent investigation” into the many sexual harassment allegations made by educators against principal Joel Beidleman, two county councilmembers are appealing to higher authorities for a new probe.
“As the new school year is about to begin, our educators, staff, students, and families need to know that someone truly independent is tasked with conducting this investigation in order to restore public trust,” the letter reads.
On Monday, County Councilmember Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7) and Council President Evan Glass (D-At-large) sent the letter to the County Inspector General Megan Limarzi and State Inspector General for Education Richard Henry requesting they investigate both the alleged reports of sexual harassment made against Beidleman and the school system’s procedures and systems for handling such reports.
Luedtke told MoCo360 she authored the letter in the interest of soliciting a thorough and impartial investigation into allegations and the district’s handling of them. Luedtke’s district covers Farquhar Middle School in Olney, where Beidleman most recently served as principal.
A Washington Post investigation recently revealed that at least 18 reports of sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation had been made by MCPS educators against Beidleman over the course of seven years, including six 2023 complaints. The councilmembers’ letter describes four formal processes through which these incidents had been shared with MCPS seemingly without effect, including:
- Complaints to the Department of Compliance and Investigations
- Advocacy by the teachers’ union to the school system’s Labor Relations Office
- Individual complaints to the Safe Schools Maryland anonymous reporting system that were then sent to the MCPS Department of Safety and Security
- One parent’s request to transfer their student out of Farquhar based on allegations that Beidleman made “derogatory comments of a sexual nature” about a female student
Despite these reporting processes allegedly being followed on multiple occasions, Beidleman was promoted to serve as principal of Paint Branch High School in June—a move that would have meant a $32,000 promotion, according to The Post. Following queries from The Post about the allegations against Beidleman, he was placed on administrative leave. MoCo360 has made unsuccessful attempts to contact him for comment.
In a lengthy response to questions from The Post, Beidleman largely denied the allegations made against him, saying that he has “always been rated as meeting standard or a highly effective principal.”
On Aug. 14, the school district announced it had tapped the Baltimore offices of Jackson Lewis, a law firm specializing in employment law, to conduct an independent investigation into the Beidleman allegations and the school district’s handling of them.
The decision was met with public scrutiny, particularly given the firm’s existing relationship with MCPS—a relationship that’s earned them at least $110,000 over the past two years, records show.
Publicly-available government documents also reveal an even deeper relationship between the law firm and county officials. According to a March 2023 meeting notes, the County Council approved the potential hiring of Jackson Lewis as special counsel for the Office of the County Attorney in an insurance-related matter.
The firm and several of its individual attorneys have also made financial contributions to County Councilmembers Will Jawando (D-At-large) and Gabe Albornoz (D-At-large), according to publicly-available Federal Election Commission and State Board of Election data. The most recent donation — a $3,900 sum — was sent to Jawando’s campaign for U.S. Senate May 24 on behalf of the firm.
In recent statements, Superintendent Monifa McKnight has emphasized the need for objectivity in the Jackson Lewis investigation and pledged “open communication” and “active listening” throughout the process. Luedtke and Glass’ letter is copied to McKnight and Board of Education President Karla Silvestre (At-large) requesting they halt the law firm’s investigation and turn the firm’s work product over to both inspectors generals.
The letter asks both inspector generals to combine forces for a “neutral, truly independent investigation” into the matters and requests that the findings be referred to the State Superintendent, the State Board of Education, Governor and General Assembly.
Luedtke told MoCo360 her chief of staff sent the letter to each of her fellow councilmember’s offices on Monday to give them the opportunity to sign onto it. She said she heard back “one way or the other” from each councilmember, but only Glass elected to add his name. She said she has not yet had any communication with MCPS officials regarding the letter.
“We believe your offices are best suited to investigate these widespread and extensive allegations because you are independent of MCPS and the Montgomery County Board of Education, are tasked with providing accountability and transparency in the expenditure of public funds for education, and have legislative mandates to examine and investigate complaints related to the management and affairs of County boards of education, local school systems and public schools,” the letter reads.
When asked Tuesday whether the school board would honor Luedtke and Glass’s request to halt the Jackson Lewis investigation if the inspectors general choose to launch their own probe, Silvestre it would be “ultimately the Board of Education’s decision” and that they would “welcome the collaboration” and support of the higher officials, adding that those conversations have already begun.
Silvestre reiterated that Jackson Lewis is reporting directly and exclusively to the school board as it conducts its ongoing investigation, which she said can be split into “two lines of inquiry” running on separate timetables. The first phase will scrutinize any potential failures of MCPS connected with Beidleman’s Paint Branch promotion. She said the board expects to have its first report on this phase by Sept. 8.
The second phase will be a Title IX investigation into any potential violations by Beidleman, which she said will likely take longer. When asked to address community concerns about Jackson Lewis’s potential conflict of interest, Silvestre said the board “acknowledges the concerns” and are taking them seriously, adding, “We’re confident [Jackson Lewis] can undertake a fair and impartial process.”
