State Rejects Verletta White As BCPS Superintendent

TOWSON, MD – It's back to the drawing board for Baltimore County Public Schools. The interim superintendent, whom the school board voted to instate as the permanent superintendent, has not gotten the OK from the state.

Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Karen Salmon rejected the appointment. She said that further time was needed to audit the school system and disclose the results.

"...I decline to approve Dr. White as permanent superintendent at this time," Salmon wrote in a letter to Board of Education Chair Edward Gilliss. "Instead, if the board requests such appointment, I would approve a second interim appointment for Dr. White, or for a different interim superintendent. This will allow sufficient time for completion of the audit and for full disclosure of the results."

Salmon said there was unfinished business that "causes me to pause" in considering the request to name White the permanent superintendent for Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS).

Interim Superintendent Verletta White has held that title since July 1, 2017, after her predecessor abruptly resigned. Former BCPS superintendent Dallas Dance is currently in jail due to perjury related to ethics violations.

White, too, has been scrutinized for ethics violations.

While White has not been criminally charged, the BCPS ethics panel that closed her case has not made its findings public, according to The Baltimore Sun.

The state superintendent said that it was her understanding that "she used the prestige of her office in ways that violated ethics law," adding: "I consider an ethics violation to be a serious breach of trust with the public in general and with the education community in particular. That breach of trust causes me to pause as I consider whether to approve this appointment."

After learning of Salmon's decision, White said that she was releasing the findings from the ethics panel.

"...allegations raised by some concerning my character have been based on speculation and not fact," White said in a statement to the BCPS community issued Wednesday. "To that end, I am releasing the ethics review panel’s decision in this matter. In the past, I have been hesitant to release the full decision, as it is a part of my personnel record and confidential. However, given the apparent conclusions made by the State Superintendent, I am taking the unusual step of releasing the report..."

Added White: "I have, from the outset of my appointment last year, expressed my desire to be appointed as permanent superintendent. That desire has not changed."

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, who is running for governor, attributed Salmon's decision to politics and specifically, to Gov. Larry Hogan.

"Larry Hogan has a troubling pattern of playing politics at the expense of children's education. He's created turmoil over the school calendar and the school construction process. Now he directs his schools chief to take the unprecedented step to overturn the judgment of the local school board who knows Superintendent White best," Kamenetz said. "He's shameless!"

In fact, the school board was divided about White. When it voted to offer a four-year contract to White at a meeting in mid April, the vote was not unanimous.

The governor did not have any role in the state superintendent's decision, a spokeswoman for Hogan told The Baltimore Sun, adding that it was "startling that Mr. Kamenetz does not share the superintendent's concerns, given what has gone on in the Baltimore County school system on his watch."

• BCPS Offers Superintendent Contract To Verletta White
• Ethics Complaint Closed Against BCPS Interim Superintendent
• Interim Superintendent Named: BCPS Taps Chief Academic Officer
• Superintendent Resigns From Baltimore County Public Schools
• Former BCPS Superintendent Dallas Dance Pleads Guilty To Perjury

Here is the letter, dated April 27, from the state superintendent to the BCPS Board of Education chair:

Image of Verletta White courtesy of BCPS/Flickr.