After the Maryland Board of Education voted for the Prince George’s County Board of Education chair’s removal and the county executive called for her to step down, she announced she's staying.
Juanita Miller was appointed chair by County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. Almost immediately, Miller clashed with many board members, including Joshua Thomas.
“When these problems first started happening, the county executive and I were talking relatively often, and I voiced these concerns to her early on,” he said.
Several board members submitted a complaint to the state board, and after a review, the state board voted for Miller to be removed and charged her with incompetency, willful neglect of duty and misconduct in office.
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Alsobrooks followed that with a letter to Miller asking for her immediate resignation.
“Over a year of us pleading to the county executive that a change needed to be made that she finally publicly decided to ask the chair to step down,” Thomas said.
In a video posted to the Prince George's County Board of Education's website, Miller said she isn't stepping down.
“I will continue to fulfill my duties and responsibilities as board chair with transparency, integrity and dedication to principal,” she said.
“She said that we’re trying to divert the attention from the success of our students and from the success of the school system,” Thomas said. “Why would that be the intention of any of us? We all want to see our students and our school system to shine in the best light possible.”
Miller has the right to an administrative judge hearing. She said she will follow through with that process.
In December, the board will be able to appoint its own chair under a restructuring by the General Assembly.
According to the letter sent to Miller, the state board alleges that Miller withheld ethics complaints from board members and illegally procured services without the board's approval.
Miller called the charges against her unfounded and frivolous charges in her video statement. She has not responded to requests for comment.
