Policy committee advances draft on investigations of employee misconduct after public-comment revisions

The Montgomery County Board of Education Policy Management Committee on Feb. 27 reviewed public comments on draft Policy GCB, "Investigation of Allegations of Employee Misconduct," and agreed to forward the revised draft to the full board for final action.

Julie Yang, board member for District 3 (chairing the meeting), said the committee would consider updates and then asked staff to present responses to the public comments. Leslie Turner Percival, legal director in the Office of General Counsel, and James Coutos, Acting Director in the Department of Compliance and Investigations (DCI), led the presentation of recommended changes.

James Coutos said the draft should remain focused on the purpose of investigations: "to establish key facts, to address gaps in the evidence, and to resolve inconsistencies in such evidence." He summarized four themes from stakeholder comments and staff responses: requiring superintendent-issued regulations and administrative procedures; establishing timelines; addressing conflicts of interest; and training and certification for the investigation unit.

Staff proposed language requiring the superintendent to establish regulations and detailed administrative procedures for consistent implementation, and to review procedures annually. On timelines, staff recommended that the superintendent set timeframes in regulation, with the caveat that MCPS internal investigations must not begin or interfere while an external agency is leading an investigation.

On conflicts of interest, staff said employees could disclose potential conflicts to either their supervisor, the chief of the Office of Human Resources and Development, or the board ethics officer, "as set forth in the board's ethics policy." Jessica Boone, Director in the Department of Compliance and Investigations, described proposed expansion of the policy's retaliation language, including the Maryland whistleblower statute's text and cross-references in MCPS regulations and the employee code of conduct.

Staff recommended additional language to require a secured case-tracking system with access, use and disclosure protocols. "I can assure the committee that the Guardian system that went online last June does precisely that," Boone said, referring to the district's case-management platform.

Board members pressed for clarity on several points. Brenda Wolf (District 5) asked whether communication protocols with accused employees are contractual; staff described collaboration with employee associations and offered to reference related regulations. Wolf also asked whether the Office of General Counsel reviews certain cases that may lead to termination; staff said the practice exists but is not codified and agreed to consider adding a reference to regulations or policy.

Committee members supported allowing limited audits of completed investigations focused on trends, not personnel details, and asked staff to consider process-language clarifying whether a hearing officer is assigned in every appeal. Staff agreed to replace prescriptive language with statutory cross-reference language where appropriate (for example, to Education Article appeal provisions referenced in the discussion).

After discussion, the committee voted to refer draft Policy GCB to the full board for final action. The motion carried unanimously with the three members present.

The committee packet includes a five-page draft marked "response to public comments" and a 17-page stakeholder engagement summary listing outreach contacts and all received comments; staff indicated the draft inserts specific regulatory and procedural requirements at the lines cited in the packet.