WASHINGTON — In a letter to the county executive, three school board members said they fear that the outgoing chief executive officer of Prince George’s County Schools will get what they call a “massive payout.”
School board members Edward Burroughs, Raaheela Ahmed and David Murray, all longtime critics of school system CEO Kevin Maxwell, sent the letter to Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker asking him to oppose any effort to offer him a severance payment.
On May 1, Maxwell announced that he was “transitioning from the county,” in the wake of a number of scandals in the school department, including the discovery of unauthorized raises to staff members, a hidden camera found in a school’s administrative office and charges of grade manipulation caused by pressure on administrators to hit graduation goals.
In the letter, the school board members said that Maxwell’s last day has not been communicated to them, the board has not discussed his departure at all and that Baker and the school board members he appointed are orchestrating a “massive severance payment” for him.
The school board members in their letter said that under Maxwell’s contract, there is “no requirement to provide a severance payment of any kind.”
At a campaign event, Baker responded to questions about the letter saying, “that’s going to be between the school board and Dr. Maxwell.”
When asked about a date for Maxwell’s last day, Baker said, “I don’t know. That’s something that the school board and Dr. Maxwell will work out.”
In May, Maxwell said that he’d leave at the end of the year.
