New Chief Executive Officer Named For Prince George's County Public Schools

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — Millard House II has been named the new chief executive officer of Prince George's County Public Schools. He will begin his new role with PGCPS on July 1, 2023.

Since 2021, House has served as the superintendent of the Houston Independent School District in Houston, Texas, where he supervised 275 schools with 25,000 staff and 200,000 students, and worked with a $2 billion annual budget.

During his tenure with HISD, House’s leadership resulted in 40 of 50 schools improving from a D or F rating to an A, B or C rating, and currently, 94 percent of HISD schools have earned an A, B or C rating. He also minimized classroom vacancies by increasing investment in recruitment strategies, especially in hard-to-fill areas and creating comprehensive compensation plans that incentivized educators to commit to the district, according to Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.

“We are excited to welcome Mr. House as the new Chief Executive Officer of Prince George’s County Public Schools,” Alsobrooks said. “Mr. House is eminently qualified and has a well-rounded background that makes him the perfect fit for our school system. He’s a determined, motivated and caring leader who wants our children to win, and has a fresh perspective on how to tap into the greatness we have here in Prince George’s County. We know that he is the confident and capable leader that we need to carry on this important work and keep us moving in the right direction, and we are proud to welcome him to Prince George’s County.”

From 2017 to 2021, House served as superintendent of the Clarksville-Montgomery School System in Clarksville. As superintendent of CMCSS, his district topped the state in student academic achievement for four years in a row and he achieved an 88 percent retention rate for certified employees.

He also developed the first multi-pronged “Grow Your Own” Initiative pipeline to expand and diversify the pool of future teachers, created the only elementary Spanish immersion school in the state and developed an early college technical trade high school and a 3-year bachelor’s degree program for high performing classified employees and graduating seniors that helped build a strong and diverse internal pipeline for teaching positions. House also implemented a propane bus fleet expansion and equipped school buses with internet connection. Under his leadership, CMCSS also became one of the first school districts in the nation to partner with Google.

Prior to his work with CMCSS, House served as chief operating officer of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he oversaw facilities management, bus transportation, business operations, curriculum and other administrative details. House also served as associate deputy superintendent and deputy superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He also spent nearly 10 years as a teacher and a principal for Tulsa Public Schools.

“It is both an honor and a pleasure to join Prince George’s County Public Schools,” said House said. “I look forward to listening and learning in the days ahead in an effort to build upon a rich tradition of educating students in an equitable manner.”

House has received numerous accolades, including being recognized as the Oklahoma Magazine’s 40 Leaders Under the Age of 40, Tulsa People Magazine’s Change Agents for Education, Ebony Magazine’s Top Leaders Under the Age of 30, Tulsa Area Association Black School Educators’ Outstanding Administrator, Tulsa Public Schools’ Administrator of the Year and was nominated for Tennessee mid-Cumberland Superintendent of the Year in 2020 and 2021.

House has a bachelor of science degree from the University of Montevallo in Montevallo, Alabama, and a master of education in school administration from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He is a graduate of the Fisher School Leadership Program at the University of California at Berkeley’s Hass School of Business in Berkeley, California. House holds a superintendent certification in Oklahoma and Tennessee.

The county conducted a comprehensive national search for the next chief executive officer of the Prince George’s County Public Schools system with House named as one of the three finalists for the position.

"We conducted our search based on the process dictated by Maryland State law, which included a search firm and a search committee. In March, we selected a national search firm, Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, to assist with this search process. Following that, a three-member search committee was formed in accordance with state law," Alsobrooks said.

The search committee included two county residents, who were selected by the governor, and one member of the State Board of Education, who was appointed by the State Superintendent. The members of the search committee included Brigadier General Warner Sumpter, a member of the State Board of Education; Oretha Bridgewater-Simms, a retired educator; and Candace Hollingsworth, a parent within our school system.

The search firm conducted focus groups, interviews and surveys to engage the community and gather feedback during the search and decision-making process. A countywide online survey received responses from more than 5,400 community members and stakeholders, with the majority of the survey responses coming from PGCPS staff, followed by students, then parents.

"While all three of those finalists were outstanding candidates, I selected Mr. House because I believe he is the right person to continue leading our school system forward and to ensure the number one priority of our school system is the education of our children," Alsobrooks said. "Mr. House has a unique view of what it’s like for parents and for schoolchildren, growing up as the son of two educators.

"As a student himself, he worked hard to overcome challenges including dyslexia, so he understands the struggles our children may be going through. He knows what a safe and nurturing learning environment should feel like. As a parent, Mr. House’s own children were virtual learners during the COVID-19 pandemic, so while he was working to keep the students in his district safe, he also knew what parents were dealing with as well as administrators and teachers, who were all navigating a challenging time," she added.

"All of these experiences have helped shape Mr. House into the person that we believe is right for this role. They help him to see the many similarities that our school system shares with other systems that he has led, and he can tackle the challenges we face from a fresh point of view. Mr. House’s experiences have also informed the thinking of a leader who knows he cannot do this work alone," Alsobrooks noted.