MoCo BOE Members Decamp to Delaware
Members of the Montgomery County Board of Education fled to Bethany Beach, Delaware this week in the wake of former MCPS administrator Joel Beidleman's recent appeal of his firing.
“Sure, we’ve been successfully dodging this conversation for nearly two years, but we really came to Delaware to show support for Texas Democrats” said Board President Julie Yang, sipping from a 64-ounce Moscow Mule on the patio at Mango's. “Like in Rockville, here on the open deck overlooking the ocean it's just transparency and tranquility.”
Beidleman, who was fired following a scathing internal investigation and a backlog of ignored complaints, formally lost his appeal last week. With the decision now final, parents, staff, and journalists began asking a deeply unsettling question: “So, what does the Board have to say about all this?”
Faced with this horrific possibility, the four Board members in office during the scandal—Yang, Karla Silvestre, Brenda Wolff, and Grace Rivera-Oven—decamped for a seven-day Communication-Free Leadership Enrichment Experience hosted at the adults-only wing of the Atlantic Sands Resort in Rehoboth.
Silvestre assured the public that was not a retreat, but rather a “pause for policy reflection in a distraction-reduced environment, which just happens to include a swim-up bar."
While Superintendent Thomas Taylor remains in Montgomery County, he reportedly told colleagues he’s “fine with the arrangement,” adding, “At least when they’re on the beach without cell bars, they can’t say things I have to explain away later.”
Community members also took an optimistic view. “Frankly, it’s kind of refreshing to know where they are,” said parent activist Liza Guzman. “For once, they’re being clear: they’re on a beach, and they don’t want to deal with us.”
As of press time, Board members were seen at Seacrets in Ocean City posing for a group photo beneath a banner that read: “Strategic Silence: It’s a Lifestyle.”
