CAMBRIDGE — Susan Morgan, Dorchester County Board of Education vice president and former president, has resigned. Morgan made the announcement on Friday following a contentious vote and discussion during Thursday’s school board meeting.
Morgan said she also is withdrawing from running for reelection on the November ballot.
At the Thursday, June 13, meeting fractures in board member relationships were apparent.
Morgan was the sole vote in favor of keeping the contract with Vision Quest, an alternative education program for district high schoolers that has been met with criticism from residents since it was approved in September.
Over three years, this would have cost the district more than $3.3 million — one of the primary reasons other members voted against the contract. Morgan advocated for the program, citing seven students who graduated this year who otherwise would not have.
This vote was not the only reason Morgan decided to resign, she said in an interview with the Dorchester Star. “My decision,” she said, “[came] when I saw the direction the people appointed by the County Council — not elected by the people — have chosen to take.”
Morgan referred to appointed members, Chris Wheedleton and Tabilah Chikwendu, who filled vacancies on the board this year.
At the June 13 meeting, board member Wheedleton called out the board for not being more collaborative.
The accusation came 10 days after the Board of Education voted to approve the proposed fiscal year 2025 budget at a meeting where Wheedleton was absent. At that meeting, the board acknowledged the challenges of passing a balanced budget and interim Superintendent Jymil Thompson talked about the “fiscal cliff” that is coming with COVID-19-related funding nearing an end.
Wheedleton, who was not at the June 3 meeting due to a work conflict, said he was shocked when he found out the budget had been approved. Wheedleton brought this up at the meeting Thursday, calling out board leadership, revealing fractures within the board.
“I’m now convinced, after a year on the board, that one of the biggest challenges in DCPS, if not the biggest, is this board,” he said. “I am part of that, so I am partly to blame. I have failed in bringing people together, and I need to be part of whatever solutions we find.”
Wheedleton said he hates to have to make statements like this.
“This does not feel collaborative, and it feels divisive,” he said. “But this experience and the culture of this board currently matches that.”
Thompson, whose four-year superintendent contract beginning July 1 was unanimously approved at the start of the meeting, asked that everyone work together.
“Because if this is the reality, if we don’t get better, if we don’t work together, we’re going to still be sitting at 23 in five years,” he said. “That’s a guarantee.”
Since becoming interim superintendent in March, Thompson has talked about the need to increase the district’s ranking from 23rd in the state. At the meeting, he said the district will be using the hashtag #23nomore this year. There are 24 school districts in Maryland, one in each of the 23 counties plus Baltimore City.
Thompson talked about the importance of seeing one’s role in the district as bigger than themself.
“I’ll say it 1,000 times,” he said. “I’m the superintendent, but the job’s not about me. It’s much bigger. And that’s what I want to keep the focus on, the most important people. And that’s our kids.”
In an interview Saturday afternoon with the Dorchester Star, Morgan said that crafting the fiscal year 2025 budget — the budget approved in Wheedleton’s absence — was difficult for the board. Losing COVID-era funding and having to decide whether to continue to fund hires made during the COVID-19 pandemic was a tough decision.
In addition to funding Vision Quest — a need Morgan saw as a paramount to creating a good alternative school program — the safety of teachers, their pay and the performance of students have always been forefront in her decision-making, she said.
Going through expense reports for the past three fiscal years, Morgan said she was “simply amazed at what was spent.” In that deep dive, Morgan said they discovered “rampant misspending with no real controls or oversight.”
While the board enacted a freeze on spending and hiring was only approved for those positions that opened due to attrition, Morgan said she thinks this year’s budget “might be saved, but it won’t be known for a while yet.”
The contract for Vision Quest was fair, Morgan said, reiterating the need for an alternative program for the fall — one that will benefit the students as much as Morgan witnessed first-hand with the success of Vision Quest.
Morgan said when the “surprise” vote on Vision Quest was made, and she saw her fellow members voting to eliminate the program “without anything other than hearsay” she knew her opportunity to influence the board for the betterment of Dorchester County students was not to be.
Morgan’s term was set to expire in December. She had filed earlier to run against Christine LaMonica in the general election to retain her District 3 seat on the board. Saturday, she said she is no longer running for reelection.
School board President Mike Diaz said he would have a statement about the situation on Wednesday.
Most Popular
Comments / 0