WASHINGTON — Her resignation wasn’t a surprise — but her indictment came as a shock.
Prince George’s County Board of Education member Lynnette Mundey had announced in June that she was leaving the board, stepping down, she told the Sentinel newspapers, to get her doctorate in education.
But this week, Mundey, an employee at the Government Accountability Office, was indicted, accused of gaming the school system she was appointed to serve. The Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office announced she and four other GAO workers — all parents of children in the PGCPS school system, were charged with falsifying documents so that their children could qualify for the free and reduced meals offered for children in need in the school system.
Dr. Segun Eubanks, the chair of the Prince George’s County school board, says the board was already working with County Executive Rushern Baker to find a replacement to fill the remainder of Mundey’s term. But Eubanks told WTOP the incident pushes the board to prove “that we are indeed going to work with as much integrity as possible — and I think we will.”
As a result of changes to the school board structure enacted after Baker was elected, the county executive has the power to appoint three school board members. Mundey holds an elected seat, but according to school board officials, her resignation allows the county executive the opportunity to appoint her successor to fill the remainder of her term.
The Board of Education met in executive session at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Maryland law allows public bodies like school boards, town and county councils to meet behind closed doors in “executive session” under a number of circumstances, including personnel issues and when obtaining legal advice.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
