MCPS ‘back on track’ to implementing systematic anti-racism changes 

County Council committee questions district staff on progress

February 3, 2025 10:30 a.m. | Updated: February 5, 2025 4:57 p.m.

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) staff members are now making progress in implementing the recommendations of the district’s anti-racist audit and plan after significant leadership changes last year made it “nearly impossible” to move forward, MCPS officials told the County Council’s Education and Culture Committee on Thursday.  

“We thought we would be further along by now, and to be honest, we’re frustrated about that fact as well,” Stephanie Sheron, MCPS chief of strategic initiatives, said during Thursday’s committee meeting. “The encouraging news is that we do believe we’re getting back on track to address the long-term systemic changes that are needed in our system.”  

During the meeting in the council’s Rockville headquarters, MCPS staff updated the committee on the changes related to the anti-racist audit and restorative justice practices within the school district. Council Vice-President Will Jawando is the chair of the committee, which includes councilmembers Kristen Mink (Dist. 5) and Gabe Albornoz (At-large).  

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In 2022, Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, a national nonprofit, conducted an anti-racist system audit of MCPS after a series of racist incidents occurred in schools alongside ongoing achievement gaps.  

The audit found that families and students reported a prevalence of race-based bullying and discrimination in the school district and noted that MCPS “lacks a comprehensive district-wide system” to address the dismantling of racism within the school system. 

The review of the district resulted in a three-year anti-racist system action plan in 2023 that focused on system-level, topic specific and school-level changes.  

According to Sheron, while some recommendations listed in the audit and plan have been implemented, significant shifts in MCPS leadership combined with lack of coordination in implementing the system’s strategic plan and its anti-racist action plan made it difficult to make progress.  

Former Superintendent Monifa McKnight departed MCPS in February 2024 in a “mutually agreed separation” with the county school board following scrutiny over the school system’s handling of sexual harassment allegations against former principal Joel Beidleman. Following her departure, several high-ranking officials also left, including former Chief Operating Officer Brian Hull in June. MCPS then made several organizational changes to fill the responsibilities of the chief operating officer.  

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McKnight was replaced by Superintendent Thomas Taylor, who started his new job July 1.  

Sheron told the committee Taylor directed staff to use the development of the district’s 2026-2030 strategic plan to address issues identified by the audit.  

“This presents an opportunity to incorporate the anti-racist audit findings and action plan directly into the new strategic plan that we are building,” Sheron said. “Instead of two different plans, it becomes the way to do everything in MCPS from the ground up.”  

MCPS is currently in phase three of the strategic plan, Sheron said. The first two phases included talking with the district community about skills needed by graduation, systemic issues, analysis of those themes and draft approaches to address the systemic issues.  

Wylea Chase, director of operations with the Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Equity and Excellence and a member of the MCPS Hate-Bias Advisory group, asked the MCPS staff where the funding for those efforts could be found in Taylor’s proposed $3.61 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year.  

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“Where’s the investment in the black and brown children, students who face the compounding effects of racial bias and discrimination daily in our schools?” said Chase, who attended the committee meeting. 

Following the MCPS presentation, councilmember Kristen Mink asked MCPS staff and Chase what type of mandatory training should be prioritized.  

Chase said staff need training to learn how to examine their own biases.  

“How do you show up versus how you think you show up for your students, right? Because those can be very disconnected,” Chase said.  

Albornoz said it felt like they were catching their breath and getting on track in addressing systemic barriers. But now President Donald Trump has issued an executive order threatening to pull federal funding from schools that teach about concepts such as structural racism, he said.  

“It just underscores the importance of this work, which is always important, but particularly now, when there are many forces at a national level that are going to continue to divide us and we have to remain united,” Albornoz said. “So I’m happy we initiated this prior to this administration taking office.”  

Albornoz asked how the district is ensuring that MCPS staff “who are already overwhelmed with a lot on their plate” are comfortable in addressing these issues. 

Sheron said MCPS had to make doing so mandatory and make it “ever-present” in conversation at all levels.  

“I know we do trainings, but we’re not going to train our way out of racism,” Sheron said. “What we can’t do, in my opinion, and this is me speaking, is make the statement that this is optional, or that this might not be a top priority. It is the priority. And the reason that it is —  is that racism, in particular, is a life-or-death situation for many kids and many of our members of our community.”  

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