During the open budget meeting in Somerset County on June 9th, 2025, people witnessed yet another common event: The Superintendent hijacking the budget meeting and declaring that “she wants her budget” presented to the public, while totally disregarding the budget that the Board has painstakingly worked on to date and discussed in previous budget sessions. The Board sat in shock and disbelief, as they voiced their questions of confusion and uncertainty about what they’re supposed to vote for. The budget was completely undermined by the Superintendent.
With a deadline quickly approaching, she was running the meeting often talking over the members of the Board without giving them the chance to process the information presented before them for the first time and without any opportunity to read or understand.
During the budget meeting, the Board attorney tried to focus on giving the Board an opportunity to present their budget, but that didn’t happen.
There has been a common pattern across the state. The Superintendent is the only employee of a Board of Education, and the arrogance of the superintendent who believes he or she knows more than the elected Board members can be commonly witnessed across Maryland.
The Superintendent works for the Board and reports to them, not the other way around. That’s the problem. The Superintendent wants to control the Board. Boards find themselves in a power struggle when the Maryland statutes already define the roles of a local Board of Education:
The School Board are elected officials who may have absolutely no background in academics or finance. Therein lies the power problem.