Prince George’s County school board member has been working in Missouri for months

Prince George's County school board offices are housed in the Sasscer Building in Upper Marlboro. File photo by Danielle E. Gaines.

By John Domen

A member of the Prince George’s County Board of Education was serving on the board after taking a job with a school system in Missouri at the start of the year. But District 1 representative David Murray only resigned his Prince George’s post last week — around the time a complaint was filed with the Maryland State Board of Education.

Murray’s new job as the chief academic officer for the Ferguson-Florissant School District in the St. Louis area was announced in December. A spokeswoman for the Missouri school district said he started working for the school system on Jan. 4, and his attendance at a school board meeting there was recorded as early as Jan. 10.

Around the same time, his attendance at Prince George’s County Board of Education meetings became spotty, with his appearances often occurring virtually, if at all. His most recent actions on the board occurred on July 11, when he was involved in voting for a new chair and vice chair of the board. The candidates he backed for those positions lost.

Members of the board earn an $18,000 annual stipend for their work, though it’s not clear how much of that Murray has collected so far.

WTOP has reached out to both Prince George’s board Director Ryvell Fitzpatrick and newly elected board Chair Lolita Walker, whom Murray voted against earlier this month.

In a brief phone call with WTOP, Murray initially said he had been splitting his time between Missouri and Maryland. He also repeatedly said he resigned from his seat “willingly” last week. Asked about being paid by the county while living in Missouri, he paused for several seconds and then said he had “to run.”

A few minutes later, Murray said via text it was an “absolute pleasure” serving on the Prince George’s County school board.

“While I am a homeowner, taxpayer, and have domicile in District 1, my secondary residence is now out of state. I attempted to juggle all of these responsibilities simultaneously initially, trying to fulfill all of my commitments through the end of the school year. I made the decision that it would be in the best interest for me to retire from the Board of Education,” Murray went on to say in the message.

Now that Murray has resigned his seat, he may not be subject to any punishment for violating state laws about representing an area he doesn’t reside in.

The Missouri school district’s spokeswoman confirmed Murray’s position requires living near the district full-time, and she said Murray was a resident of St. Louis and had been “100% here” in terms of attendance at meetings and events he was expected at.

Murray filed to run for reelection to the Prince George’s County school board one day after his hiring in Missouri was announced, coming in second place in the May primary. The elections board told WTOP Murray remains on the ballot as of Monday morning. Murray said he’s no longer running for the seat. It’s unclear whether any compensation he received for being on the board can or will be recovered.

– As part of Maryland Matters’ content sharing agreement with WTOP, we feature this article from John Domen. Click here for the WTOP News website.

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