Dr. Monique Felder now serves as the MCPS Superintendent as of Feb 6, 2024 after the resignation of Dr. Monifa McKnight.
As of Feb 2, 2024, Dr. McKnight reached “a mutually agreed separation” with the county school board. Dr. McKnight is departing about two years into a four-year contract with the district that was set to end in 2026. The Montgomery County Board of Education unanimously appointed Dr. Monique Felder on Feb 6, 2024 as Interim Superintendent.
In a statement released by the Board of Education, “Dr. Felder brings 32 years of experience in public education, including as superintendent for Orange County Public Schools in North Carolina, where she was nominated as regional superintendent of the year.”
Prior to this role, Dr. Felder served as the Chief Academic Officer for Metro Nashville Public Schools, and as an executive director for Prince George’s County Public Schools. According to MCPS, her other credentials include: Director of Accelerated and Enriched Instruction, Director of the Interventions Network for MCPS, recipient of the International Reading Association’s Award for Exemplary Reading Programs in the state of Maryland, and finalist for the Washington Post’s Outstanding Leadership Award.
“It is nice to have a familiar face, someone who knows the MCPS culture. The day she was appointed I attended an event that night where she hit the ground running meeting people and connecting with them immediately,” Assistant Principal Ryan Graves said.
According to the Board of Education policies, the Superintendent of Schools should provide leadership, policy, guidance, and administrative direction to the school system.
Senior Faith Nah is an Upper County Representative for the Student Climate Action Council who interns under a member of the board, and has strong opinions on the future leaders of MCPS. She was also a SMOB semi finalist.
“Leaders who actually listen to students are very important. Having a leader who goes out of the way to get students more involved is special and important,” Nah said.
Although she has only been in the position for a short amount of time, Nah feels Dr. Felder is already exceeding these expectations.
“She is a leader who is interested in going above and beyond to listen to student voices when not obligated to,” Nah said.
In a statement released by MCPS, the board announced that the new superintendent will lead the system through the remainder of the 2023-24 school year. It is unknown what will happen in the next coming years.
“We have already experienced so much change these past few years. It would be most beneficial to keep her in office depending on how she fits the role,” senior Vaishnavi Banda said.
