ROCKVILLE, Md. — Montgomery County Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight denounced the rise in hate and bias in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) during a speech at Rockville High School Thursday evening.
"Let me be clear, these mean and unacceptable actions have no place in MCPS," said Dr. McKnight.
Maryland's largest school system is seeing one incident of hate or bias per day, which is three times more than before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Superintendent. "Students spewing bigoted language degrading the color of their peer's skin, ethnic heritage, gender identity or faith," she said.
McKnight referenced the several incidents where schools reported finding swastikas drawn on desks, and comments made by students at Walt Whitman High School about burning Jewish people.
Richmond Montgomery High School student Sami Saeed says the rise in hate comes as no surprise to him. "I ran for student member of the board, someone made a fake account and texted me bomber, acknowledging, because I'm Arab American."
The eleventh grader says social media is contributing to the escalation of these hateful messages, "The reason is because students have a cover. They don't have to deal with the consequences of what they say in person, this happens all the time," said Saeed.
Dr. McKnight rolled out a plan that focuses efforts on both staff and students. The strategy identifies key leaders to coordinate system responses and also provides professional development for all staff members. MCPS will conduct training for all employees about how to respond to hate and bias incidents in schools. McKnight will establish a Multicultural Advisory Group that monitors the plan. As for the students, they plan to strengthen and expand student curriculum to ensure historical context, and they will conduct events like assemblies to discuss issues like race, religion, and gender identity.
The Chair for the Montgomery County Council's Education Committee, Will Jawando called the plan "essential" and celebrated the emphasis on student education. "It's a plan to make sure we are educating about history, context is everything. We didn't just get here," he told WUSA9.
The conversation to address hate and bias will be furthered at the next school board meeting on May 11.
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