MCPS Principal Joel Beidelman was promoted despite allegations of sexually harassing multiple teachers at Farquhar and Roberto Clemente Middle Schools over the past seven years.
Beidleman started as an assistant principal at Roberto Clemente and Lakelands Middle Schools before being promoted to the principal of Farquhar. According to the Washington Post, “39 current and former staffers said in interviews that he directly bullied or harassed them.”
Principal Douglas Nelson worked with Beidleman at Roberto Clemente. Nelson worked there as an administrator while Beidleman was the assistant principal. “I never received any complaints. I do have a recollection of some things being said to Mr. Beidleman because of things that he said,” Nelson said.
On Jan. 31, 2018, during an assembly at Farquhar, Beidleman claimed that “Farquhar girls were dressing and acting like hoes and thots,” according to multiple witnesses. In his statement, Beidleman said he did not say that, but instead cited examples of words that had been used on social media. However, according to the Washington Post, “more than a dozen teachers in attendance, as well as parent letters and social media posts about the incident, recalled that he indeed used the slurs about Farquhar girls.”
In 2023 alone, six staff members reported Beidleman to MCPS, yet in June he was promoted to principal of Paint Branch High School and his salary would have been raised from $132,000 to $191,000. Jeanie Dawson, MCPS Director of the Office of School Support and Well-Being wrote in a letter to the Farquhar community that “Dr. Beidleman has been an outstanding leader, demonstrating unwavering commitment to students, staff, and families.”
According to the Washington Post, one social studies teacher at Farquhar had been harassed by Beidleman for four years before MCPS took action. In 2020, Beidleman showed up looking for her at a staff’s house and bellowed her name, according to two witnesses and a complaint she filed with MCPS. When he found her in the living room he said, “You should just f— me. Everybody thinks you should. Don’t you think she should just f— me?” according to the complaint, which was filed on Feb. 3, and alleges over 20 instances of further misconduct by Beidleman.
According to the Washington Post, in April of 2021, Beidleman invited a former coworker to be his assistant principal at Farquhar. That same month he started flirting with her. Later on, he suggested that the teacher owed him sexual favors. He sent her sexually suggestive texts over the next couple of weeks. When she declined his advances, she found out that she was not accepted to be the assistant principal, according to the Washington Post. “I’m concerned for the women this impacted and their careers. He should have been dealt with the first time,” social studies and psychology teacher Jennifer Bauer said.
Parents and staff are angry with MCPS for not taking action sooner. “I don’t think [MCPS] has handled it well. I think [the harassment] went on too long but they have to handle it now because it’s in the news,” Bauer said.
Jenni Coopersmith, a former MCPS paraeducator, reported Beidleman’s behavior but nothing was done. She said MCPS pledging to listen to the community sounds like empty promises, according to Fox 5.
Nelson said he was committed to speaking about the issue and the seriousness of it. “There were conversations with the administrative team and there was a specific part of the welcome back to school presentation in which I spoke about that, about how it’s wrong and how if there’s ever a situation like that, you have to say something and trust that it will be looked into seriously,” Nelson said.
Members of the community are feeling frustrated that MCPS took so long to investigate Beidleman, especially with the number of complaints about him. “MCPS should’ve paid more attention to the past concerns and conducted an investigation as soon as attention was brought to [Beidleman],” sophomore Anna Rusnock said.
MCPS hired a firm, Jackson Lewis, to complete an investigation into Beidleman. However, people are concerned about Jackson Lewis and its mission. “Jackson Lewis is representing MCPS; they are not representing the teachers. They’re going to come into it with a bias of protecting the employer,” Katherine Atkinson, an attorney, told the Washington Post.
