Tag Archives: BOE Elections

Roger Thomas Esq and Matthew E. Stanski fired.

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Mr. Roger Thomas Esq. ( former Chief legal counsel) and Mr. Matthew E. Stanski ( chief financial officer) have been fired. (Read the full story here) and (see NBC Channel 4 video here). Ms. Synthia J. Shilling also known as Synthia Kucner (Pictured below) is the cause of all these problems. Who is next? In our view, the chickens have come home to roost at Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS).  It’s about time and we can only hope that this level of accountability and transparency will continue. It’s our view in the Reform Sasscer movement for Prince Georges County that anyone associated with Synthia Schilling aka Kucner or involved in criminal activity, should be released as well. Reporters and others need to dig deep into the corrupt activities and investigate claims including involvement of Ms. Monica Goldson and her co-conspirators. We promise, you will find quite a few corrupt acts that both they and partner Synthia Kuncer have been involved with!!

The recent episode is DEFINITELY a case of “where there is smoke, there is fire.” Was the payment to Ms. Synthia Shilling “hush” money or for “special services” to pay off an attorney? To better understand the questionable timing of these shenanigans, it is important to note this payment was made in August 2012. Who was the Superintendent at the time? Was it not Dr. William Hite Jr.? What was his role in all this? Will he be made to answer to these charges? Will the Philadelphia School District be made aware of his engaging in this criminal activity and poaching staff from PGCPS School District to work in Philly? This story is both  outrageous and sad. There is another part of this story that seems ripe for comment and follow up—but so far there is only silence. Once again, Has the Washington Post staff, who have investigated this den of thieves considered what role if any Dr. William Hite Jr has had with respect to the corruption at the highest levels of the PG county public school system? Philadelphia may well ask itself what role, if any, Dr. William Hite Jr had in selecting and condoning the conduct of the senior staff of the administrative body in charge of the PG School system. This seems an obvious missing element of the WAPO story.

While we are looking into all the corruption going on in PGCPS, We want the Washington Post to investigate the top priorities we outlined in the past. Ms. Shilling Kucner was never a good hire, and those around her knew what was going on but did nothing to stop it. Now WE know that her colleagues actually tried to continue helping her, even after she had been forced to resign. Although WE are happy that they are all gone from the school system, WE have to wonder how WE keep managing to hire these kinds of people. Surely WE knew Shilling’s record of failure, because she was forced out in Anne Arundel County Public Schools before we hired her in Prince George’s County.

Finally, On November 6th, WE have the ability to win big and change the order of doing Business in Prince George’s County – Maryland. Our polls show that WE have the momentum because the issues that WE have been talking about are finally coming to light. If we, as voters and constituents, are not holding these people accountable, who will? WE must continue to push for the reform agenda which includes innovation, change and transformation in the whole PG County District. In order to overcome, WE must go door to door (canvas) and spread the word that change is needed in PGCPS. Volunteers are needed to walk the neighborhoods to register, organize, motivate and otherwise cajole voters who will decide election in November 6 2012.  (See our Top priorities here). Two weeks to the elections, stay tuned here to see our endorsements.

We have always believed that PG County School System would be held behind and stay at the bottom of the ladder in the whole of Maryland due to its poor accounting practices and other issues of concern! This is such a disgrace! There is no reason for continuous low expectations being exhibited on this level! The teachers and students of this county are the ones who suffer the most in these kinds of conditions. Our taxes must not be appropriated to be their private slush funds, as it seems to have been for the last several years. This Madness has got to stop now. It’s time!

“Let us be the generation that makes future generations proud of what we did here”  ~ President Barack Obama ~

Reform Sasscer Movement for Prince George’s County.

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Both men are pictured above with Mr. Roger Thomas in the center.

former PGCPS  Chief Human Resources Officer Ms. Synthia Shilling also known as Synthia Kucner  is pictured above.

former PGCPS  Chief Legal Counsel – Mr. Roger Thomas.

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“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” – President Barack Obama

Vote 2012 Primary Election Results BOE

BOARD OF EDUCATION 1

Murray, David Henry
Epps, Zabrina
McLaughlin, Michael
NP
NP
NP

3514
1974
813

55.77%
31.33%
12.9%

Total:

6301

100%

Prince George’s County Public schools (PGCPS) District.

BOARD OF EDUCATION 4

Watson, Micah
Vaughns, Sandy John
Eubanks, Patricia
Smith, Dennis C.
Kitchen, Joseph
NP
NP
NP
NP
NP

2077
1320
1310
1269
157

33.87%
21.52%
21.36%
20.69%
2.56%

Total:

6133

100%

Prince George’s County Public schools (PGCPS) District.

BOARD OF EDUCATION 5

Ahmed, Raaheela
Jacobs, Jeana
Jackson, Deidre Nata
Theodore-Lewis, S.
Taylor, Sherine Nata
NP
NP
NP
NP
NP

3606
2634
2165
1150
901

34.49%
25.19%
20.71%
11%
8.62%

Total:

10456

100%

Prince George’s County Public schools (PGCPS) District.

BOARD OF EDUCATION 7

Fellows, Carletta
Armwood, Henry P JR
Richardson, John Edw
Walker Thompson, Lyd
Perkins, Lykisha
NP
NP
NP
NP
NP

2143
1492
1007
922
765

33.86%
23.57%
15.91%
14.57%
12.09%

Total:

6329

100%

Prince George’s County Public schools (PGCPS) District.

BOARD OF EDUCATION 8

Burroughs,Edward III
Nottingham, Andre T D.
Walcott, Erika
Hurley, Eric R
Bego, Orlando J.
NP
NP
NP
NP
NP

6693
1555
887
562
328

66.76%
15.51%
8.85%
5.61%
3.27%

Total:

10025

100%

 Courtesy: Prince George’s County Board of elections

 TOP PRIORITIES FOR THE INCOMING BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS IN PGCPS.

  1. Restore sanity to PGCPS discourse (Addressing corruption, nepotism and professional misconduct at Sasscer Administration Building).
  2. Re-Evaluate Dr. William Hite’s contract.
  3. Evaluate unprofessional relationship between Dr. William Hite and various unions representing employees as well as some young female Principals.
  4.  Review activities of Chief legal counsel Mr. Roger Thomas and Chief Human Resources Officer - Synthia J. Shilling (formerly deputy legal counsel). These two have cost the school system millions of dollars.  
  5. Create a strong antidiscrimination and harassment policy in PGCPS. Obey state and federal laws.
  6. Access certification credentials held by senior management including Dr. William Hite, Ms. Monica Goldson etc.
  7. Limit the purchasing power for Dr.William Hite when purchasing school system merchandize. ( He abuses this power and he is currently without oversight).
  8. Find ways to address and help reduce high suspension rate throughout the PGCPS District. Suspended students become a problem to the community.
  9. Examine closely all contracts over $10,000 signed off by Dr. William Hite and Ms. Verjeana Jacobs (Corrupt BOE Chair).
  10. Consider the following points as they impact the entire school District.
  • A.)   Adding tighter campaign finance rules to avoid repeats of the Thatcher campaign donations fiasco. 
  • B.)    Lobbying the county council and the county executive (Rushern Baker) to appoint an Inspector General (IG) to address waste, fraud, and abuse issues for all county agencies at Baker’s Office (including School Board). (These steps necessary because an I.G. has not been appointed and there are an abundance of attorneys). Yes we can!
  • C.)    Enforce the existing Codes of Ethics for all central office employees. Report infractions that go unpunished to MSDE.
  • D.)   Report all concerns to MSDE so the state department is more accountable to us in enforcing state laws and policies at the local level.
  • E.)    Ask tough questions about Ms. Elizabeth Davis, alleged lover to Tony Liberatore. His wife allegedly walked up on those two kissing at Sasscer. Ms. Davis does EEOC hearings/mediations. What are her qualifications and credentials for that role with such low morals?

11. Consider rules and regulations by federal, state and BOE policies.

  • A.)   Abide by state law for Hite’s contract. The verbage for the state law is on the BOE webpage.  see the attached link.
  • B.)    Establish more precise criteria so we can get a better leader. Attract qualified, traditional candidates from other than Broad Group and other such organizations.
  • C.)    Elect a BOE that will supervise rather than fraternize with Superintendent.
  • D.)    Complete THOROUGH background checks to avoid embarrassment of incidents like Deasy’s questionable doctorate.

12.  Examine closely appointments of personnel –

  • A.)   Look into the growing number of personnel in PGCPS like Jim Whattam, Esq., and Baker’s appointees like Mr. Christian Rhodes, Education Liaison, who have extensive ties to Prince George’s County Educator Association (PGCEA). Be fair to all unions without over representing the teachers.
  • B.)    The serious allegations of misconduct with Dr. William Hite and some female employees need to be investigated. The concerns need to be put directly in writing to the BOE members and a demand for an investigation launched right away. A Copy needs to be forwarded to Mr. Rod Rosenstein’s office if the BOE does not act. The man is worse than Dr. Hornsby.

13.  Require Hite to appoint only qualified, credentialed personnel according to state law. BOE should supervise him and force HR compliance. In the current format, Dr. Hite tells the BOE what to do. This is unacceptable.

14.  Review the following deals:

  • A.)  WashingtonPlaza, lobbyist ties and campaign donations
  • B.)    H-1B
  • C.)    The 27 administrators currently in arbitration
  • D.)    Lack of due process among ALL employees for hearings, terminations, etc under Mr. Roger Thomas, Synthia J. Shilling and Mr. Jim Whattam
  • E.)    OIA number of lawsuits and EEOC complaints. There are so many EEOC complaints, they now have outsourced to other field offices throughout the country.
  • F.)    Review overlap of Legal department for attorney duties for waste
  • G.)    The Thatcher contract was a no bid contract, totally against BOE policy. It needs to be cancelled.
  • H.)   The $90 million Dr. Hornsby left behind that has been squandered.

15.  Contact state and federal officials (FBI, DOJ) about the broken laws, policies and procedures.

16. Go to Dept of Labor, MSDE, EEOC and any other organizations like NAACP, Casa de Maryland and La Raza about discrimination and hiring. Demand to know about credentials and licensure. The State Dept is already doing an audit.

17. Report any information to Miranda Spivack or Ovetta Wiggins of the Washington Post so they may do a story on misappropriation of funds. (After the incident with Dr. Hornsby occurred, BOE policies/procedures were implemented to prevent a reoccurrence. These procedures have yet to be followed.

18. Stop empowering Principals who harbor strong biases and use the system to destroy teaching credentials in order to remove teachers who don’t appeal to them. Test scores rise because of teachers and not because of the Principals. Administrators should be receptive helpers and not feared executioners.

19. Investigate Office of Constituent Services which acts as a campaign tool for Dr. William Hite and does very little to promote the interests of the PGCPS. The said office was only created to promote William Hite’s personal agenda and the staff overpaid to sit around to help put out fires touching on Dr. William Hite. Several staff members were given huge raises with no justification by Superintendent Hite personally.

20. Investigate IT Department and the relationship between some BOE members connected to fired IT Director Mr. Pierre Dickson. Verify what damage caused by the said Director and his lover Ms. Shanita Anderson.

21. Investigate nepotism beginning with Dr. William Hite’s office for the following reasons;

  • A.)   The Director of communications Mr. Briant K. Coleman is a close family member to second in command.
  • B.)    Several Instructional Directors have spouses who are either Principals or administrators within PGCPS.
  • C.)    The previous Director was fired to create room for the current Communication Director, who is family member of  the Deputy superintendent.
  • D.)    Previous Director of Communication was unjustly terminated in pretext for raising a discrimination issue.(see attached ~>    Breedon vs PGCPS Bd. of Ed Hite)
  • E.)    Investigate Ms. Monica Goldson Assistant superintendent for High School Consortium. She has several relatives in high level positions beginning at Sasscer – HR and in various schools.

Investigate, investigate and change things immediately.