Claims of corruption and grade tampering in Prince George’s County Public Schools took center stage at a meeting with Maryland lawmakers Thursday.
“You have a school year coming up fairly quickly, and I’m afraid, you know, I don’t want people to go to another county,” said Del. Joseline A. Pena-Melnyk (D-District 21).
State delegates from Prince George’s County questioned PGCPS CEO Dr. Kevin Maxwell about what he’s going to do to fix the problems his school system had this past school year.
Asked about whether he questioned graduation numbers, Maxwell replied, “In light of no evidence whatsoever to the contrary, I accept and trust the team members I have around me.”
In addition to accusations of fixing grades to boost graduation rates, delegates asked Mitchell about the loss of a Head Start grant, accusations of physical abuse and the CEO ordering police to stop a school board member from participating in a high school graduation.
“I’m absolutely OK with what happened,” Maxwell said.
Del. Dereck Davis (D-District 25) said too much time had passed since state leaders talked with the schools leader.
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“This is the kind of conversation we’re supposed to have,” he said. “The thing that’s embarrassing is that we don’t seem to do that all the time.”
Maxwell denied trying to avoid meeting with the delegates and said he looks forward to more conversations.
“I think working together to try to find the resources to complete the important work of educating our children and doing that in a collaborative fashion is really important,” he said.
Thursday was the beginning of a series of monthly meetings between Maxwell, state lawmakers and members of the county executive’s office. They hope better communication can help them avoid some of these issues.
