The Montgomery County Board of Education unanimously appointed Dr. Monique Felder Tuesday as interim superintendent after Superintendent Monifa McKnight said Friday that she agreed to leave the position.
“I am extremely excited but I’m also extremely honored and humbled to be back in Montgomery County Public Schools,” Felder said.
Felder began her career with Montgomery County Public Schools before moving on to Prince George's County Public Schools, followed by roles with the public school systems in Nashville, Tennessee, and Orange County, North Carolina, the board said in a news release Monday afternoon.
"Dr. Felder brings 32 years of experience in public education, including as superintendent for Orange County Public Schools in North Carolina, where she was nominated as regional superintendent of the year," the board said in the release Monday afternoon.
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“I would not have been ready for the experiences that I had in the other districts that I’ve served in if it wasn’t for my beginning here,” Felder said.
The appointment comes four days after the Montgomery County Board of Education and McKnight herself said they "mutually agreed to separate."
But, "in the vein of transparency," the board said, members are aware of a prior investigation into the financial disclosure reporting of an honorarium that Felder received from an educational consulting company in 2019.
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"The Board has reviewed the findings and is confident that the findings were unsubstantiated as the report concluded. The Board is confident that Dr. Felder is a trustworthy, upstanding and highly respected educational leader who will be able to competently guide MCPS through this transition," it said in its statement.
The school board said it will begin a national search for a permanent replacement.
“The board is aware of the important work ahead,” the school board said a statement Friday. “We must rebuild trust, begin to heal and ensure that our school system is equipped to serve the students, staff and families who make up our great school community.”
Monifa McKnight announced Friday she stepped down as MCPS superintendent
Superintendent Monifa McKnight announced Friday that she had agreed to leave the position. Statements from the Montgomery County Board of Education and from McKnight herself said they “mutually agreed to separate.”
The news came after the county’s inspector general found issues with how the school district handles complaints of employee misconduct. The Montgomery County Council asked the Office of the Inspector General to investigate how the school district handled sexual misconduct complaints after former William H. Farquhar Middle School principal Joel Beidleman was promoted, despite being accused of sexual harassment and bullying more than a dozen times over seven years. Some of those complaints weren't pursued.
“It’s very important that we reset and ensure a strong emphasis on teaching and learning,” Felder said.
McKnight told a Montgomery County Council committee she did not know about the internal investigation into Beidleman when the school board unanimously approved his promotion to principal of Paint Branch High School.
"Given that I’m the superintendent today, it’s my responsibility to correct it and to ensure that this does not happen again," she previously told News4.
Two weeks ago, McKnight said the school board wanted her to resign without justification. She said she believed their reason was something other than her performance as superintendent. She said then she had no plans to step down.
The Montgomery County Educators Association said last month that they supported removing McKnight.
“New revelations increasingly indicate that the superintendent has been more concerned with protecting herself and her close associates than with doing right by front-line staff and students,” their statement read in part.
At a recent school board meeting, supporters of McKnight applauded for her.
"This is a witch hunt," community advocate Lucy Hayes said.
In her statement, McKnight said the situation had become too much of a distraction.
"When the focus is no longer on whom I have agreed to serve, I must control my own fate," she said in the statement. "I have also maintained that it is critical that my reputation remains grounded in facts and truth. Effective today, after careful reflection, prayer, and willingness to demand fairness, I have reached a mutually agreed separation with the Board of Education."
Board members refused to answer questions about why McKnight was leaving as they left a closed-door meeting Friday evening.
No details of any financial arrangement between the school district and McKnight were disclosed. She was earning $320,000 per year and had a four-year contract.
County Executive Marc Elrich said he didn't know why McKnight was out but he wanted the reasons disclosed.
“These questions have to be answered at some point," he said.
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