$800K severance deal negotiated for PGCPS CEO Dr. Kevin Maxwell, sources say

Superintendent Searches: "...head hunters who seek out candidates rather than opening up the job to any and all comers...:

Same Names, Different District: Why Superintendent Searches Can Be a Game of Musical Chairs

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/District_Dossier/2018/05/different_district_same_name_why_the_same_names_keep_popping_up_in_school_districts.html

#Breaking: Prince George’s County School’s CEO Kevin Maxwell tells News4 he is preparing to leave the school system at the end of the school year. In our exclusive interview, he calls it a “transition.” Our story at 4, 5 and 6.

#Breaking: Prince George’s County School’s CEO Kevin Maxwell tells News4 he is preparing to leave the school system at the end of the school year. In our exclusive interview, he calls it a “transition.” Our story at 4, 5 and 6. pic.twitter.com/jRLwXuKdh3

— Tracee Wilkins (@TraceeWilkins) May 1, 2018

Report questions grade changes in Prince George’s

State education officials say they are deeply concerned about the findings of an investigation into alleged grade-fixing in Maryland’s second-largest school district.

An audit released Friday says almost 5,000 students graduating from Prince George’s County schools this year and last year had late grade increases after final cutoff dates.

A sampling of roughly 1,200 students from that group found that the late changes affected final grades for more than 400 students. Half of them had grade changes with no documentation, and scores more had only limited documentation.

The report also found that many graduates had unlawful absences exceeding 10 days, and that 59 were ineligible to graduate.

Investigators were unable to determine graduation eligibility for almost 300 other students, or one-fourth of the population sample, because of insufficient documentation...

http://thedailyrecord.com/2017/11/03/maryland-graduation-rates-fraud-allegations-2/

Breaking News: Playgrounds Saved for Students! PGCPS and Milestone Communications End Deal for Future Cell Towers

PGCPS and Milestone Communications End Deal for Future Cell Towers

| Comunicado del director ejecutivo, el Dr. Kevin M. Maxwell, con respecto a las torres de telefonía celular en propiedades de PGCPS

Prince George's County Public Schools sent this bulletin at 08/29/2017 04:02 PM EDT

PGCPS AND MILESTONE PGCPS END DEAL TO CONSTRUCT FUTURE CELL PHONE TOWERS

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) is committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for students and staff. To this end, we have terminated an agreement with Milestone Communications to place future cell phone towers on school system properties.

We heard your concerns about the potential impact of cell phone towers on student health, questions about the site selection process, opportunities for community engagement and other issues. Therefore, we believe this decision is in the best interest of our schools, students and families.

Milestone Communications, a Virginia-based firm, will continue to manage existing tower locations at seven sites. PGCPS has not made a decision regarding future agreements with telecommunications providers.

We appreciate your continued input and support in ensuring healthy learning environments for all students.

Sincerely,

Dr. Kevin M. Maxwell

Chief Executive Officer

COMUNICADO DEL DIRECTOR EJECUTIVO, EL DR. KEVIN M. MAXWELL, CON RESPECTO A LAS TORRES DE TELEFONIA CELULAR EN PROPIEDADES DE PGCPS

Estimados padres y tutores:

Las Escuelas Públicas del Condado de Prince George (PGCPS) están comprometidas a proporcionar un ambiente de apoyo y seguro para los estudiantes y el personal escolar. Con ese fin, hemos pactado un acuerdo con Milestone Communications para la futura colocación de torres de telefonía celular en propiedades del sistema escolar.

Hemos escuchado sus inquietudes sobre el posible impacto de las torres de telefonía celular en la salud de los estudiantes; las interrogantes sobre el proceso de selección del lugar; las oportunidades para la participación comunitaria y otros temas. Por lo tanto, creemos que esta decisión vela por el beneficio de nuestras escuelas, estudiantes y familias.

Milestone Communications, una firma con sede en Virginia, continuará manejando las torres existentes en siete ubicaciones. PGCPS no ha tomado una decisión en relación a futuros acuerdos con los proveedores de telecomunicaciones.

Apreciamos su apoyo continuo y sus comentarios para garantizar que existan entornos de aprendizaje sanos para todos los estudiantes.

Atentamente,

Dr. Kevin Maxwell

Director ejecutivo

http://content-dc3.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/PGCPS-1b3e0b5

"Part of the reason we moved here was to get away from the pollution of the big city, including all the cell towers and antennas,"

http://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/anne-arundel-parents-fight-proposed-cell-phone-tower-across-from-elementary-school

Some employees in a large Maryland school system see signs of grade tampering

As Maryland orders an investigation into whether grades were manipulated to drive up graduation rates in Prince George’s County, employees at several of the district’s high schools say they have encountered signs of grade tampering and pressure to pass their students.

Eight employees, based in six of the county’s 22 high schools, described in interviews with The Washington Post grading incidents they found troubling after allegations emerged of corruption in the school system. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) asked for an investigation on June 25, and the state board of education voted to pursue it two days later...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/some-employees-in-a-large-maryland-school-system-see-signs-of-grade-tampering/2017/07/01/02a4ee76-56c8-11e7-b38e-35fd8e0c288f_story.html?utm_term=.ade02cb3283c

Four board members in Maryland school system allege fraud in graduation rates

Four school board members in Prince George’s County have urged Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to call for an investigation of what they allege is a systemic effort to fraudulently boost graduation rates in the school system.

The members, a minority bloc on the 14-member board, say that the state’s second-largest school system engaged in “widespread systemic corruption” that inflated graduation rates since 2014.

“Whistleblowers at almost every level in PGCPS have clear and convincing evidence that PGCPS has graduated hundreds of students who did not meet the Maryland State Department of Education graduation requirements,” the four said in a letter...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/four-board-members-in-maryland-school-system-allege-fraud-in-graduation-rates/2017/06/19/391dbf68-54f3-11e7-b38e-35fd8e0c288f_story.html?utm_term=.a071fc59f256

WUSA9: Graduation Mix-Up Gets Heated in Prince George's County

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/maryland/students-say-administrator-bullied-them-at-oxon-hill-graduation/444935453

PG Super Kevin Maxwell Bars BOE Member From Graduation Ceremony

Watch raw video from Prince George's County Board of Education member Edward Burroughs III as he is prevented from sitting on the stage at a graduation ceremony in his district by school security and police officers.

WUSA9: Cell Towers Could Be Built at Dozens of PG County Public Schools

USA9 Reports on the Milestone Communications Cell Tower Deal: Cell towers could be built at dozens of Prince George's Co. schools

GREENBELT, MD (WUSA9) - A cell phone tower developer is backing away from a proposal to put a tower at Greenbelt’s Eleanor Roosevelt High School. The decision comes as scrutiny is mounting over the company’s confidential lease with the Board of Education that allows tower development at 73 of the county’s 208 schools.

Milestone Communications has told Prince George’s County Public School’s CEO Dr. Kevin Maxwell that it will withdraw its application to put a tower at Eleanor Roosevelt H.S. Maxwell criticized the company saying it has “not met our desired standards for transparency, communication and community engagement." Maxwell made his comments in a letter to Board of Education member Lupi Quinteros-Grady, who opposed tower development at Roosevelt.

Even so, the school system in 2016 renewed a lease with Milestone that gives the company rights to develop as many as two towers at dozens of county schools. At least six schools are already cell tower sites. 

Watch the full report here http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/greenbelt/cell-towers-could-be-built-at-dozens-of-prince-georges-co-schools/438970099

Reporter Ordered Off School Property in Transparency Battle

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/reporter-ordered-off-school-property-in-transparency-battle/435834827

Upset parents claim Md. school building unsafe, causing students, staff to get sick

http://www.fox5dc.stfi.re/news/local-news/246211605-story?sf=gwadljy#/aa

88 PG public schools exceeded EPA allowable lead levels #lead

After the story of the Flint Michigan water crisis unfolded in the media last year, I read a news story reporting that lead had been found in the water at Ardmore Elementary School and that water fountains and sinks had been turned off. I became curious. Was the drinking water in our county schools safe?
So in January of 2016 I decided to write to PGCPS CEO Dr. Maxwell and began a long inquiry asking what tests had been done in Prince George’s County Schools to measure for lead. Here is what I learned:

The school system performed water tests from 2009 to 2012 and found that at least 88 schools exceeded EPA allowable lead levels. (Read the list of “Prince George’s County Public Schools Fixtures that are Valved Off” which was sent to me from PGCPS). The majority of  schools with lead contamination are elementary schools.
As of December 2016, the school system had not done anything to remediate this other than simply to turn off faucets in the majority of these schools.
At first, PGCPS told me that they were fixing the lead problem. I was sent a document titled “PGCPS Lead in Water Program” that explained a four-phase plan to fix the lead problem. This document said that a Request for Proposals (RFP) had been submitted “to remediate the remaining classroom water fountains and sinks throughout the system.” This was “Phase Four” of the plan.
You can imagine my surprise to learn that in fact the information PGCPS had sent me was not accurate. When I asked PGCPS to share the details of the “Phase Four” plan, they responded on October 7, 2016 with an email saying that they had made a mistake...

https://pgcabs.org/2017/03/10/what-i-learned-about-lead-in-the-water-in-prince-georges-county-schools/

NAACP calls for PG school's chief ouster following scandals

NAACP leaders in Prince George’s County called for the removal of schools chief Kevin Maxwell after a string of school system scandals involving child abuse and other problems.
“It’s been one incident after another,” said Bob Ross, president of the Prince George’s NAACP branch, which announced its request Wednesday. “It’s just out of control, and we need someone to come in and put it back on track.”
Ross and others asked that County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) take Maxwell out of the district’s top job. But Baker made it clear Wednesday that he has faith in the leader he tapped in 2013 to turn around a struggling school system...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/naacp-calls-for-pr-geo-school-chiefs-ouster-following-string-of-scandals/2016/10/12/9ac074aa-9017-11e6-a6a3-d50061aa9fae_story.html

WTOP: Maxwell, "going to hold accountable those people who didn’t do what they should have done" #ExceptSuperintendent

“We’re going to work through these issues, we’re going to get answers, and we’re going to hold accountable those people who didn’t do what they should have done at the end of the process once we know that for sure,” Maxwell said.

http://wtop.com/prince-georges-county/2016/09/police-methodically-investigate-molestation-of-child-on-pr-georges-school-bus/

NBC4: “I’m not going to continue to answer the same questions over and over again," Maxwell said.

School Board Members, Parents Call for PGCPS CEO to Resign

 http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/School-Board-Members-Parents-Call-for-PGCPS-CEO-to-Resign-394498231.html

PG Board Member calls for CEO Kevin Maxwell's resignation

Parents question delay in probe of alleged molestation of child on PG school bus

The parents of a preschool student in Prince George’s County said Tuesday that county officials recently informed them of an investigation into allegations that a bus aide molested their 4-year-old son last November, and they said they don’t understand why it took so long to look into the alleged abuse.
Child Protective Services contacted the family last month, seeking help in identifying a boy believed to be their son in a still image from a video that apparently was made in November. The parents said CPS officials told them the video showed a bus aide having inappropriate contact with the child inside a school bus...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/parents-allege-bus-aide-molested-preschool-boy-question-delay-in-investigation/2016/09/13/1dbdfaae-79c9-11e6-bd86-b7bbd53d2b5d_story.html?hpid=hp_local-news_pgbus-1015pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

Former MCPS Board of Ed. Staff Director Out as PG Chief of Staff