BOWIE, Md. — A day after the public schools in D.C. began their new year, one of the largest school systems in the area, Prince George’s County Public Schools, sent its nearly 129,000 students back to class Tuesday morning.
“The first day of school always brings great excitement for the children and for the teachers,” said Chief Executive Officer Kevin Maxwell. “A lot of work has gone into getting the year off to a good start.”
Maxwell planned to visit various schools around the county Tuesday, riding a bus to Pointer Ridge Elementary before traveling to Bowie High and Judge Sylvania Woods Elementary, and eating lunch with students at Suitland High School.
Members of the county’s Board of Education also planned to visit schools to greet students, families and teachers.
“We’ve worked really hard to recruit a good class of new teachers this year, so I think that our teachers and students will have a great year,” said Maxwell.
The new year begins with some challenges for education leaders: Federal officials recently terminated a $6.4 million grant to the county’s Head Start program because teachers were caught humiliating children and using corporal punishment.
And earlier this year, the school system was rocked by scandal after a school volunteer at Sylvania Woods was charged with sexually abusing students at the school and producing child pornography on school property. Prosecutors are also investigating whether any other adults, including staff at the school, knew about the abuse but didn’t stop it or report it.
“We’ve just got to make sure that we don’t continue to allow a handful of people in a staff of 20,000 people to ruin things for everybody,” said Maxwell. “That’s how you put an end to it, is you make sure that you are holding people accountable.”
Prince George’s County Public Schools is the second-largest public school system in Maryland behind Montgomery County and is among the 25 largest in the nation.
A gift of school supplies on the 1st day
Young students at Suitland Elementary School were met Tuesday morning by Prince George’s County leaders who showed up to hand out free supplies on the first day of the new school year.
The county’s Department of Corrections hosted the event as part of a long-standing effort by the agency to donate supplies to elementary school students.
“They are distributing those supplies to encourage children to have a wonderful school year,” said State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks. “Showing up on the first day is a sign of support.”
With community leaders including public safety officials helping with the effort, Alsobrooks said it creates a positive connection between young people and law enforcement and helps motivate students to stay out of trouble.
“What we understand very clearly is the connection between failed educational success and incarceration,” she said. “It is our intention to prevent as many children as we can from ever seeing us.”
As students lined up and received backpacks filled with supplies, County Executive Rushern Baker greeted them with handshakes and hugs.
“It is a chance for us to give back to the community, but it is also a chance for us to work with the community,” said Baker. “It lets them know that we are really all together in this and that every one of them are our children.”
