Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

Show NLP summaries collection recirc on article pages

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

Joey Gallo returns, but Nats endure another quiet offensive night

Bryce Harper, Joey Gallo and a bond forged by baseball since they were kids

A taco will always be a taco — no matter what we call it

Mexican taquería’s new Michelin star puts street eats on par with gourmet food

Police believe a U.S. rapist killed several women in Canada

With its energy network nearly destroyed, Ukraine already fears the winter

Blue Origin to fly again as space tourism struggles to get off the ground

These ISIS news anchors are AI fakes. Their propaganda is real.

Boeing delays spaceflight again as it continues to struggle with leak

The world’s coolest hotels want to tell you a story

Cruise ships to return to Baltimore two months after bridge collapse 

Some cruise prices are about to get a little more clear

How Jim Jordan tried to connect the dots on Biden’s $8 million book deal

Biden’s false claim that inflation was 9 percent when he took office

Did Obamacare ‘massively’ increase the cost of health care?

At campus protests, ‘DO NOT TALK TO THE MEDIA’!

Trump’s lawyer charges Michael Cohen lied to jury

CNN gets a presidential debate — and a much-needed win

Russia shows resilience. There is more to do for Ukraine.

Trump promises tax cuts and fewer rules. CEOs shouldn’t fall for it.

Tariffs against China hamstring the transition to a clean energy future

She finished chemo then got a medical degree: ‘The dream is real now’

Puppy abandoned with heart-rending note is adopted, named Minerva

Man, 91, shocks tiny firehouse with $500K gift: ‘Nobody knew how much I’d saved’

Book Tour: At home with Amor Towles

In photos: The scene in Houston after severe storms killed at least 7 people

Civilians flee new Russian attacks on Ukraine border

Carolyn Hax: Is it weird to ask other people to care about you?

Ask Amy: Can’t a single woman eat alone without interruption?

Miss Manners: Miss Manners: Gag gift falls flat

‘Never Trump?’ ‘Never Biden’ voters might loom larger.

Ukraine gamble pays off: Republicans face little backlash in primaries

Trump

Dan Gross

Montgomery County’s school board Tuesday appointed a former North Carolina schools superintendent as the district’s interim leader days after Monifa B. McKnight<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/02/02/monifa-mcknight-leaving-montgomery-schools-superintendent/" target="_blank"> stepped down</a>.

The board unanimously agreed to hire Monique Felder as Montgomery’s interim superintendent. Felder mostly recently served as superintendent of Orange County schools in North Carolina before abruptly leaving last summer.

Felder took her seat at the board table immediately after the vote. She will serve as interim superintendent at least through June.

The vote came as leaders of Maryland’s largest school district attempt to restore trust with the community after investigations into its handling of misconduct complaints involving employees, including a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/11/joel-beidleman-montgomery-county-principal/" target=_blank>former principal accused of sexual harassment and bullying</a>. The board also will discuss the watchdog investigations Tuesday.

Felder started her education career as a teacher in Montgomery County. She rose through the ranks as an assistant principal and principal, the district said, before becoming an elementary program supervisor in the school system’s division of accelerated and enriched instruction. She eventually became director of interventions for the school system before departing in 2014 to become an executive director in the Office of the Deputy Superintendent for Teaching and Learning for Prince George’s County Public Schools.

Montgomery school board president Karla Silvestre touted Felder’s 32 years of experience in public education — particularly within the county.

“We are confident that her background in district leadership, instruction and administration makes her the right person to carry us through this transition and begin the work to rebuild trust among staff and the community, while we identify the next permanent superintendent,” Silvestre said in a statement.

The school board has said it will also launch a national search for a new leader.

Felder’s appointment follows <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/02/02/monifa-mcknight-leaving-montgomery-schools-superintendent/" target="_blank">the departure of McKnight</a>, who on Friday left her four-year term appointment about two years early after reaching a “mutually agreed separation” with the school board. Brian Hull — the system’s chief operating officer — has served as acting superintendent since.

In January, McKnight said that school board members requested she step away from her role as superintendent. But McKnight said the board had not properly offered justification for the request, and said she would defend her reputation.

School board members have not publicly explained the reasoning behind their request, citing it as a personnel matter. But it came after the school system was the subject of two investigative inquiries by the county inspector general related to its handling of sexual harassment and workplace bullying complaints filed about former <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/11/joel-beidleman-montgomery-county-principal/" target=_blank>middle school principal Joel Beidleman</a>.

After leaving the Prince George’s school district in 2016, Felder served as chief academic officer for Metro Nashville Public Schools in Tennessee. A few years later, she was one of several employees investigated for allegedly receiving undisclosed consulting fees from the Educational Research and Development Institute, a business that tests educational products and provides feedback. An audit posted by WTVF NewsChannel 5 in Nashville found that Felder received $2,000 in honorariums and other money from the institute but did not correctly report it on a conflict of interest form.

The forms are supposed to “be done retrospectively,” to include money from the previous year according to the audit. Instead, the audit found Felder disclosed “possible future compensation” on the reporting form for January 2017. She fixed the issue in an addendum in October 2018.

In their announcement Monday, Montgomery school board members wrote they were aware of the audit’s findings. They added that they were confident that Felder is “a trustworthy, upstanding and highly respected educational leader.”

Felder left the Nashville district in 2019 to become superintendent of Orange County Public Schools, a system of about 7,000 students west of Durham, N.C. During her tenure, the district reported a nearly 50 percent increase in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate course enrollment for students of color over two school years, according to reporting from <a href="https://chapelboro.com/news/pre-k-12-education/monique-felder-out-as-orange-county-schools-superintendent" target=_blank>97.9 FM, a Chapel Hill radio station</a>. Graduation rates rose from 84 percent to 90 percent in 2022.

But Felder abruptly left the system in early August following conversations with the school board, according <a href="https://abc11.com/orange-county-superintendent-monique-felder-nc-leaving-school-board/13564638/" target="_blank">a local ABC affiliate</a>.

In an <a href="https://www.theassemblync.com/education/orange-county-schools-diversity-education/" target=_blank>interview that month with the Assembly</a>, another North Carolina news outlet, Felder recounted some of the pressures of the post. Felder was hired by a school board that crafted a new school system equity policy but the board’s political makeup became more moderate after the 2022 election. Some of the candidates were endorsed by Moms for Liberty, which argued those equity efforts were too extreme. Tensions increased when an independent financial review reported that the school system was heavily relying on its rainy-day fund at an unsustainable level, the Assembly reported. Felder reportedly defended the spending.

In leaving the district, Felder received $195,454 in severance pay and $2,600 to help continue health and dental insurance coverage, according to <a href="https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article277842903.html" target=_blank>reporting from the (Raleigh) News &amp; Observer</a>. She also received compensation for any unused leave time she had.

University of Kansas, BS in journalism

Nicole Asbury is a local reporter for The Washington Post covering education and K-12 schools in Maryland.

Nicole Asbury

washpost

Montgomery school board appoints Monique Felder as interim superintendent

the-washington-post

Monique Fender, Ph.D.

Montgomery County Public Schools 

Valerie Strauss

Jay Mathews

Education

prism://prism.query/site,/local/education&limit=20

Local Education

The Washington Post Local Education section provides coverage and analysis of schools, home school and education policy for DC, Maryland and Virginia. With in-depth coverage and analysis of Washington, DC education and schools, including DC charter schools, DC Schools Chancellor, DC teacher contract news and map of DC schools.

Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning.

D.C., Md. & Va.

The Washington Post offers breaking local news, weather and traffic information for the DC, Maryland and Virginia metro areas, plus information about school districts, crime, government, religion, the lottery,restaurant reviews and obituaries.

prism://prism.query/local-states,/local/maryland,/local/maryland/md-politics,MD&limit=20

Maryland

The Washington Post is your source for Maryland news. Find breaking news, political reports, school information and check Maryland traffic and crime reports.