WASHINGTON — During a school board meeting Thursday, parents and other speakers expressed outrage at leaders within Prince George’s County Public Schools over recent revelations of misconduct in the Head Start program.
The Prince George’s County Board of Education heard comments from members of the public who demanded that leaders, including the CEO of schools Kevin Maxwell, resign.
The angry reaction was part of a lingering controversy over the school system’s Head Start program, which educates more than 900 children from low-income families.
Last month, federal officials with the Department of Health and Human Services terminated a $6.4 million grant for the program, saying some Head Start instructors had engaged in misconduct that included using humiliation and corporal punishment on preschoolers.
Prince George’s County has since turned over control of its program to a Denver-based organization called Community Development Institute Head Start.
The school system’s CEO Kevin Maxwell said he has taken disciplinary action against six educators involved in the misconduct, but many speakers at Thursday night’s meeting said more needs to be done. One woman even called for the county executive to step down.
