What to Know
- NAACP says Prince George’s County residents have no confidence in Kevin Maxwell’s ability to run the school system and protect students.
- It brought up allegations of abuse on school buses and abuse allegations that led to the loss of a federal Head Start grant.
- A spokesperson for County Executive Rushern Baker said he supports Maxwell and has no plan to remove him from office.
The Prince George's County chapter of the NAACP wants County Executive Rushern Baker to remove public schools Superintendent and CEO Kevin Maxwell immediately, following a number of incidents within the school system.
At a news conference Wednesday morning, local NAACP President Bob Ross said the residents of the county lost confidence in Maxwell’s ability to run the school system.
“Right now, the citizens have no confidence in Maxwell being the superintendent of the schools, and that’s why we’re asking that Rushern Baker remove Maxwell as superintendent of schools,” Ross said. “And also we further ask that the Maryland Department of Education do an oversight of the school system, put it back on the right track.”
Maxwell has failed to protect students and failed to properly vet and oversee staff and teachers entrusted to protect children, the NAACP said.
“Children must come first,” Ross said. “It can’t be about your employees or your image.”
The NAACP brought up allegations of abuse on school buses and abuse allegations that led to the loss of a federal Head Start grant.
Local
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Just Tuesday, News4 reported on the arrest of a high school teacher for allegedly touching a student inappropriately and sending him inappropriate text messages.
Last school year, a teacher's aide at an elementary school was accused of sexual abuse of children and recording sex acts between children. He was first charged in February, and in June a grand jury indicted him on 270 counts of sex abuse of a minor, sex offenses and child pornography charges covering 23 victims.
“We reviewed the report that was done by the federal agency, and that date is Feb. 29, 2016,” said June White Dillard, of the Prince George’s County NAACP. “The schools CEO has had a tremendous amount of time to deal with these issues and has not done anything effectively until August, September, and that kind of delay is just unconscionable.”
Some members of the board of education joined in the call for Maxwell to be removed.
“The only way we can ensure our students are safe is if we call for County Executive Rushern Baker to ask Dr. Maxwell to step down and resign,” student board member Juwan Blocke said.
News4 was unable to get a comment from Maxwell Wednesday, but in the past he has refused to resign.
Baker once again supported Maxwell.
“I think Dr. Maxwell is the right person for the school system and I continue to believe that,” he said.
The Prince George’s County NAACP’s education chair shared the sentiment but was out of the county when the board took a vote. In a letter to her fellow executive board members, she said Maxwell is on the right path, and, “I urge you to reconsider calling for the removal of CEO Kevin Maxwell.
