Former Superintendent Dallas Dance Indicted On Perjury Charges

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — Shaun Dallas Dance has been indicted on multiple counts of perjury, according to the Office of the State Prosecutor. Dance was the superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools until he resigned effective June 30, 2017.

The indictment stemmed from financial disclosure statements submitted to Baltimore County Public Schools related to his income in 2012, 2013 and 2015, the state prosecutor said.

Dance allegedly said he had not received pay other than from the school system; however, he allegedly owned a consulting company and received thousands of dollars from companies that did business with Baltimore County Public Schools.

"Parents of Baltimore County Public [School] students should be able to trust that their superintendent of schools is carrying out his duties honestly, with transparency, and in the best interest of students and the schools," State Prosecutor Emmet C. Davitt said in a statement. "Any violation of that trust is intolerable."

Dance swore under oath that he had no source of income other than provided by Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS), according to the Office of the State Prosecutor.

He was indicted on four counts of perjury related to the disclosure statements:

• In 2012, despite saying he had no income other than from BCPS, he earned $500 from SUPES Academy LLC and $13,500 from Synesi. Both are education services companies based in Illinois whose owners have been convicted of bribery, promising kickbacks to superintendents in exchange for no-bid contracts.
• In 2013, despite saying he earned no income from Deliberate Excellence Consulting, which he owned, Dance was paid almost $72,000 for services rendered to the City of Providence Public Schools, Synesi and Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga Board of Cooperative Education Services, according to the Office of the State Prosecutor. Dance allegedly filed an addendum in August 2016 swearing that he did not earn any income from Deliberate Excellence Consulting in 2013.
• In 2015, Dance said he did not own any businesses on his financial disclosure form yet he allegedly continued to own Deliberate Excellence Consulting and said his income came solely from Baltimore County and "DEC LLC," according to the state prosecutor. He also allegedly received $12,000 from other entities, despite reporting on his 2015 financial disclosure statement, which he filed in April 2016.
• He allegedly earned $47,000 from Deliberate Excellence Consulting in 2015 despite stating his income was from BCPS alone, in a statement filed under oath in August 2016.

Dance came to Baltimore County in July 2012 after serving in leadership roles in Texas and Virginia. After working for Baltimore County for less than five years, he announced in April 2017 that he would be retiring to "transition to another chapter of my career where I will specifically use my passion for equity and access to a quality education to ensure it is provided to all students through school, district, and community leadership."

Since 2017, Dance has been operating The DDance Group, an educational consulting firm based in Glen Allen, Virginia. According to WTVR in Virginia, he also worked in a consulting position in 2017 to assist the interim superintendent for Richmond Public Schools, for which he received $25,000 in two months, a stint that led to discussion of the school board, which was unaware, having more oversight over contracts.

This is breaking news and will be updated.

RELATED: Superintendent Resigns From Baltimore County Public Schools

Photo courtesy of Baltimore County Public Schools.