Prince George’s County educators cast a no-confidence vote on Superintendent Millard House II in an emergency meeting Wednesday, saying the concerns and needs of students have been ignored.
House told News4 the effort is a distraction from real progress being made in Prince George's County Public Schools.
Stream NBC4 newscasts for free right here, right now.
WATCH HEREA recent survey of members of the Prince George's County Educators' Association showed more than 75% of educators lack confidence in House’s leadership on academic direction, transportation and safety operations, and communication with educators.
We have the news you need to know to start your day. Sign up for the First & 4Most morning newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily.
SIGN UP "Issues with payroll, people not getting paid on time, certifications lapsing because they're not being processed in a timely manner, building safety because we're not able to supervise the students effectively with all the vacancies, and then school leadership that is simply not supporting our educators,” said union president Donna Christy.
House acknowledged room to improve but said he’s proud of the work he’s done.
“What I'll say is that I know that there was a vote, a survey, of about I think less than 10% of of the PGCA population that spoke and led to their no-confidence [vote], but, you know, since joining PGCPS as superintendent, which was about 23 months ago, I've strategically focused on what matters,” he said.
House said within the school district:
- graduation rates went up to more than 80%, a nearly 6% increase
- on-time performance of school buses is close to 85%
- student incidents have dropped 46%
- contraband dropped 37%
House said in almost 30 years in public education, including in urban school districts, he’s seen it takes about three to five years to see “some of that momentum heading in the right direction.”
Christy said House’s two years in the role are enough to evaluate him.
“I can tell you that my educators are reporting that they are breaking up fights and they're being, if not physically assaulted, verbally assaulted by students every day,” she said. “They're experiencing the behavioral issues going on in the schools.”
It’s now up to the board of education to take action, if any.
