Civil War-era Maryland law limiting contract could make it more difficult to hire the state’s next schools leader

State laws dating back to the 1860s are making the hunt for Maryland’s next state school superintendent more difficult because the state school board can’t appoint the next leader to a normal four-year term.

Superintendent Karen Salmon’s contract expires at the end of June, and the Maryland State Board of Education — which meets Tuesday — must choose a replacement by July.

But because the state board was having difficulty picking a superintendent at the onset of the pandemic last spring, the board decided to delay the process and asked Salmon to stay an extra year after she had completed a four-year term. She got a $40,000 pay raise on July 1 and her salary rose to $275,000.

The board then restarted its national search this year hoping it would be able to offer the new leader a traditional contract, which by law is four years beginning on July 1. But in an opinion issued last month, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said the new contract must be only three years because the new superintendent will be completing what is actually Karen Salmon’s second four-year term...

https://www.baltimoresun.com/education/bs-md-new-state-superintendent-20210525-lmrgji3yfrdanoj7vqgahaotda-story.html