An outside audit of Montgomery County Public Schools found that the reality experienced by students, families and employees in Maryland’s largest school system doesn’t match up with the district’s stated goals to create an inclusive, equitable learning environment. Students, families, and staff reported that “bullying based on race is pervasive and prevents students of color from feeling comfortable in schools,” according to the 198-page audit.

“This is everybody’s problem,” said Monifa McKnight, superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools at a school board meeting this week. “We have to change. We have to change as the people in the system, and we have to change the system so that it works for all the needs of our students.”

The antiracist audit was commissioned following a series of racist incidents in 2020, and with the recognition of a persistent achievement gap. The audit was conducted over the course of two years by the Bethesda-based non-profit Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium. The group surveyed 126,000 MCPS community members, held 32 focus groups, and five community conversations.

In many areas, the researchers found that MCPS has clearly stated intentions to eradicate racism from the school system, but doesn’t have the policies and systems in place to follow through at all schools. For example, while MCPS has “a robust system for reporting bullying,” according to the report, many community members felt there was little followup when incidents were reported.

“There’s been multiple times where she’s been called terrorist in class, where the leadership like has told her to go sit down, to not make a fuss,” said one family member of a student who identified as Middle Eastern/North African, as quoted in the report. “She’s had a couple of teachers who stood up for her, but for the most part, the teachers don’t seem to care.”

Among middle and high schoolers surveyed, 42% said they had seen “students tease or bully other students because of their race, skin color, ethnicity, or culture,” while 30% said  they’d seen racist content on social media about other students.

The report found that overall, school community members were satisfied with MCPS, with 84% of families surveyed agreeing that teachers and administrators at their child’s school “are responsive to my family’s needs.” However, respondents of color were less likely to agree with the statement.

The audit found that while MCPS is “clear in its intent to be an antiracist school system,” and provides mandatory implicit bias trainings, many staff members see the trainings as one-off, standalone events.

“Other than those diversity trainings that we’re taking, just being decent human beings to our coworkers, there’s no accountability when it comes to those microaggressions, to those very blatant racist statements,” said a Black staff member in the report. “I’ve had a couple teachers this school year drop the N-word and no accountability.”

In terms of student discipline, the audit found many members of the community believe students of color are treated differently and subjected to harsher punishments. Of the middle school and high school students surveyed, 21% said they feel teachers and administrators “make assumptions about my behavior based on my racial identity.”

School staff were even more likely to report such disparities: 42% of administrators and 31% of teachers agreed with the statement, “Some students at my school are treated differently because of their race, skin color, ethnicity, or culture.”

The audit also found MCPS is lagging in terms of hiring a diverse workforce that mirrors the student body. While “progress is occurring incrementally,” the report says, 56% of the MCPS staff is white, while 70% of students are Black, Latinx, or Asian.

Additionally, the audit found MCPS could improve its curriculum to better represent the racial and ethnic identities of students. Of students surveyed, 50% of elementary school children and 60% of middle-and-high school students agreed that what they are learning at school “reflects the experiences and contributions of people from my racial, ethnic, and/or cultural background.”

The report includes numerous recommendations — first among them, MPCS should create a “systemic, coherent plan” to build racial equity in the district. Other recommendations include improving accountability mechanisms, “systematic and ongoing professional learning opportunities” for staff, and more data collection to help evaluate the effectiveness of the district’s antiracist work.

During the school board meeting, McKnight thanked the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium “for being transparent, objective partners ” in helping the district conduct an “inward analyzation of who we are, and knowing who it is that we desire to become.”