Dr. Thomas Taylor will become the next superintendent of MCPS, the Board of Education announced on Monday, June 17. Taylor, a graduate of B-CC, was most recently the Superintendent of Schools in Stafford County, Virginia, and will be the fourth superintendent MCPS has seen in four years.
Taylor has a Doctorate in Education from the University of Virginia and a Master’s in Business Administration from the College of William & Mary. Taylor expressed a message of unity and openness as he gears up for his official Board appointment on Tuesday, June 25.
“I’m committed to fostering a culture of collaboration and engagement. I firmly believe that our students, educators and community members all have valuable insights and perspectives that can shape the future of our schools, so I will come here first to listen to your feedback,” Taylor said in a message released by MCPS.
The superintendent is both the top leader and face of MCPS and leads MCPS’ day-to-day operations throughout the year. The job’s responsibilities include proposing the annual budget, directing countywide program initiatives and representing the district at county, state and national events.
Taylor has led the over 31,000 students, 4,300 employees and 33 schools of Stafford County (data according to Stafford County Public Schools) since December 2021, and was awarded as the Virginia Association of School Superintendent’s Region III Superintendent of the Year in 2024, the second time he won the award.
SCPS is a significantly smaller school district than MCPS, Maryland’s largest school district, which has over 160,000 students in 211 schools but also shares similar demographics to MCPS, with the Virginia district being majority-minority.
The move comes after a period of turmoil in MCPS, starting when Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight parted ways with the district on Feb. 2 following concerns stemming from a report on former Farquhar Middle School Principal Joel Beidleman. Four days later, Dr. Monique Felder took over the school district as interim superintendent.
Most recently, Felder and the Board faced budget cuts in a controversial budget that saw class size increase by one student, the elimination of the Montgomery Virtual Academy and the threat of staff layoffs. While Felder’s short tenure in MCPS comes to a close, Taylor will have to navigate continued fiscal issues and a community seeking transparency from those in power.
“He’s a good trustable leader and person,” Student Member of the Board Sami Saeed said. “He has a fully clean record. He brings no baggage. The number one thing is his passion and enthusiasm for the role. We had this entire interview process with a large, large amount of candidates for this position and Dr. Taylor to me just brought the most enthusiasm.”
Sophomore Wilson Faucette, who has served as a project deputy on the SMOB Advisory Council and was a member of SMOB candidate Sam Ross’ team, emphasized the importance of Taylor making a good impression to gain the community’s trust and respect.
“It is imperative that Taylor is open and transparent because if the community doesn’t trust him … [then] he will struggle to get anything meaningful done. Also, being someone from outside, people will likely not have ‘grudges’ against him yet, which will serve to his advantage here,” Faucette said.
This story was updated on June 18 at 8:34 p.m to add a comment from Wilson Faucette and was updated again on June 27 at 9:50 a.m. to add a comment from Student Member of the Board Sami Saeed.
