Todd Watkins was the man who was responsible for making sure the fleet of school buses for Maryland’s largest school district ran on time. And in 2021, he struck a deal that was lauded as the biggest single-district transition from a diesel-powered to an electric-powered school bus fleet.
On Friday, Watkins, 56, entered a guilty plea to a charge of misconduct in office linked to his failure to — according to prosecutors — “properly manage the contract for the purchases of school buses and the use of purchasing cards” in his department. The charge is a misdemeanor and carries a penalty that ranges from probation to six months in jail.
Watkins, who lives in Jefferson, Maryland, will be sentenced on Sept. 11. He entered his plea in Montgomery County Circuit Court on Friday.
It’s the second guilty plea from a former school official in the MCPS transportation department in three months.
Charles Ewald of Knoxville, Maryland, served as Assistant Director of Transportation under Watkins and in May, the 37-year-old entered a guilty plea to stealing $320,000 from the department, partly through the use of purchasing cards.
Ewald will be sentenced on Sept. 6 and faces up to 20 years in prison in a felony theft scheme.
In a statement released after Watkins entered his plea, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy thanked the detectives who worked on the case “after being alerted to the possibility of fraudulent activity by Montgomery County Public Schools.”
McCarthy said his office would “provide further comment in open court” when Watkins is sentenced in September.
