WASHINGTON — More than 12,000 callers connected with the leaders of Prince George’s County Public Schools Tuesday night in an hourlong telephone town hall meeting on student safety.
The session was led by school system CEO Kevin Maxwell, who pledged to improve the safety of the 130,000 students in 209 schools.
“It is my commitment to you that we will make sure that you only receive the highest quality instruction and that your students are safe in our classrooms,” Maxwell said.
In August, the school system lost federal funding for its Head Start program because of alleged incidents of abuse and poor teacher training. Earlier this year, former school volunteer Deonte Carraway was indicted on 270 counts in a child sex abuse case that centered on the Judge Sylvania Woods Elementary School.
“My heart goes out to children and families who have not been treated the way they should be treated,” Maxwell said.
Parents were told that training of teachers and staff has been sharply increased.
“Some of our employees didn’t understand their responsibilities under the law to report suspected child abuse or neglect,” Maxwell said.
The telephone conference also included a snap survey, which returned instantaneous results.
When callers were asked what measure they were most interested in that would improve school safety, 36 percent favored requiring background checks for all school employees.
The conference reported that callers also voted for putting more police in the schools and outfitting the schools with more security cameras.
