WASHINGTON — Maryland’s State Department of Education hired a firm to investigate allegations of grade fixing in the Prince George’s County school system back in August and set up a tip line for whistleblowers in September.
But several Prince George’s County school board members — who have been critical of the school system’s CEO Dr. Kevin Maxwell — said they have serious concerns that auditors might not hear from teachers or principals who want to report irregularities.
“I am still meeting teachers who said, ‘I had no idea that the hotline number was in place,'” said school board member Edward Burroughs.
Burroughs said the hotline number should be sent along to teachers in an email blast on an employee listserv — one he said Maxwell has used when sending out important notifications in the past. Burroughs and fellow board members David Murray and Raheela Ahmed have voiced concerns about the issue.
John White, a spokesman for Maxwell, said the school system has done everything it has been asked to do by the state Department of Education and the auditors conducting the check into reported grade fraud. White said the school system has been “cooperating fully since the beginning of this process” and added that the state publicized the hotline number when it announced it hired the firm of Alvarez and Marsal to conduct the audit.
White also said the board of education office shared the hotline number on each board member’s listserv, which “reaches thousands of people in all corners of Prince George’s County.”
Burroughs countered the information put out in news releases and individual board member’s listservs doesn’t necessarily reach teachers in schools.
But White added, along with the state hotline, there is an internal “compliance” hotline, one White said is “well-known and utilized by employees.”
The Maryland State Department of Education will operate its hotline until the end of the month, and the auditors are expected to wrap up their work by the end of the year.
Here’s the MSDE Hotline number: 1-833-535-6103. The email address is PGCPSSpecialReview@alvarezandmarsal.com.
For the PGCPS Office of Internal Audit, call 1-866-646-2512 or visit their website here.
