Is the State Trying to Eliminate the Powers of Local Elected Officials? It Seems So.
Baltimore County School Board Member Maggie Domanowski Is Vindicated After Censure Threat Overturned
SOMERSET COUNTY
If you conduct a search to see how many local Maryland school superintendents have been fired by their elected boards and then were reinstated in Maryland history, you will get this answer:
This case appears to be unusual and possibly unprecedented, as there is no clear record of other local superintendents in Maryland being fired and then reinstated by the State. Personnel matters like these are often confidential, and reinstatements by the State Board are rare and typically involve legal or procedural disputes.
The one exception? Ava-Tasker Mitchell of Somerset County. The county is currently in a legal battle with the State of Maryland over her firing and then reinstatement, with the Maryland State Superintendent of Schools, Carey Wright, stepping in to not only issue a “stay” on her firing, but twisting the arms of legislators to change the law in the “middle of the night” so that “stay” could be for an unlimited amount of time. Wright, who previously had the legal ability to stay the firing for 60 days now could stay it for 180 days, the length of a school year.
This case, unusual as it is, is starting to show a trend in Maryland education circles. As more conservatives get elected to school boards, the state is starting to develop a “protected class” of school employees who are not, by law, members of the teacher’s unions. That class? Local superintendents.
Typically, superintendents serve at the “pleasure of the school board.”
A county board may dismiss a superintendent (or other certificated personnel) for specific causes:
- Immorality
- Misconduct in office (e.g., failure to report child abuse)
- Insubordination
- Incompetency
- Willful neglect of duty These must be substantiated and documented
Apparently if you are the RIGHT Superintendent with the RIGHT views, you can be protected. Not only that, if your school board attempts to fire you, the State will try to remove THEM as they have in Somerset.
Superintendents are allowed due process, but rarely is the firing overturned. In fact, if one is a superintendent and your local board doesn’t support you, why would you stick around? This ruling allows local Superintendents to fight their local elected school boards on everything.
Imagine pushing back not only on your potential firing but against any school board member that you think is being mean and rude to you by asking questions.
BALTIMORE COUNTY
Enter the weird case of Baltimore County School Board member Maggie Domanowski.
Maggie Litz Domanowski is a member of the Baltimore County Board of Education, representing District 3 in Maryland. She was elected in November 2022 and began her term on December 1, 2022, which is set to run through 2026. (Chatgpt)
Maggie has three children in the Baltimore County Public School system and is known for standing for transparency, fiscal responsibility, community engagement and accountability. As a board member, she asks tough questions.
That’s what got her “in trouble.” Watch this clip from the local news:
Did you hear that? Wasn’t it dreadful? Domanowski ACTUALLY HAD THE NERVE to ask the BCPS SUPERINTENDENT at the time questions about the budget the SUPERINTENDENT was responsible for. But, because the Superintendent didn’t know where the items were, Domanowski was being “rude and disrespectful.”
So, of course, Domanowski was censured by fellow board members for allegedly using a “rude and disrespectful tone” toward Superintendent Myriam Rogers during a budget discussion. According to seven of those board members, exposing a Superintendent’s incompetence is definitely rude and disrespectful. It’s unclear which fellow board members initiated the censure. It’s also interesting to note that Vice Chair Robin Harvey attempted to silence Domanowski during her questioning.
Lawmakers call censure of Baltimore Co. School board member an ‘overreaction and bullying’
This week, the Maryland State Board of Education reversed the censure, stating that her conduct was professional and that she had asked legitimate questions. Surprisingly, the reversal was passed by the Maryland State Board of Education members. The actual vote record is not available, but it is hard to imagine that any state board member thought Domanowski was being rude and disrespectful. It would be interesting to find out who voted against her and what their reasons were.
Whatever they thought, they have actually given Domanowski a boost to her reputation as someone who will ask difficult questions. She did make a statement about the event:
I am sorry this is the story that is getting so much attention around a $3 Billion budget that your Baltimore County School Board has now adopted. I personally feel as though more time has been spent by the board discussing my “tone” and “demeanor” during a two-minute line of questioning of the budget than the ACTUAL BUDGET. That doesn’t seem right to me.
This is also critical at a time when many in Baltimore County are asking for the County Inspector General to take on auditing of the system’s expenditures.
Baltimore County Council debates expanding IG oversight on school spending
The attempt to censure county school board members has only occurred twice in the past decade. However, many times school board members will resign rather than face the bad publicity and problems for their businesses or families.
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING IN MARYLAND?
However, there is a very important connection between the State Board of Education staying the firing of a local superintendent and an attempt by a local board to censure a member for asking questions.
As MCAP test scores in Maryland and, particularly in the local systems, are mediocre at best, several things are going to start happening.
First, if school board members start to question why such a large percentage of their students are not proficient in English Language Arts and Math and attempt to hold administrations accountable, Superintendents could lose their jobs.
Second, as many question the spending and policies involved in the state’s BLUEPRINT FOR MARYLAND’S FUTURE, local boards will be demanding answers regarding budget increases, staff reallocations, and curriculum installations. Again, Superintendents without reasonable answers could get fired.
However, based on recent actions, the State Board of Education could step in and “stay” those firings for an undetermined period of time, particularly if the Superintendent in question aligns politically with legislators, the Governor, or a State Superintendent like Carey Wright.
This makes Superintendents untouchable and therefore “protected employees.” Suddenly, they are no longer accountable to the elected officials who are their bosses. School boards would be mere rubber stamps for anything a Superintendent may want to do in their district, thus superseding the actions of elected officials.
As in the case of Somerset, attempting to fire your employee, the Superintendent, could get you removed from your elected position by the Maryland State Superintendent and State Board. School boards and systems could get saddled with incompetent and insubordinate superintendents who they are afraid to fire because of potential consequences.
This sets a dangerous precedent and could eliminate the need for elected school boards at all.
Many of us think the schools are overtly politicized now, imagine how they will be when the citizens have no voice.
It won’t just be MSDE and state politicians bullying and harassing school boards. The Teacher’s Unions will use their political bias and clout to get school board members ousted if they don’t like their actions. Here is a blurb from the Maryland State Education Association regarding the Somerset situation:
Notice the buzzwords the union uses to create controversy and racial division. They call the Somerset school board “radical” and complain about their efforts to remove pornography from school libraries. The union calls this pornography “free speech” and ignores the fact that harmful sexual content is being shared with very young children. This is part of the huge temper tantrum the union is throwing over the election of anyone who doesn’t follow their extremist ideology. SPECIAL NOTE: They misspelled Carey Wright’s name.
The Domanowski case also highlights a danger to local school boards. Already, school board members are often cautioned by their county lawyers that they cannot do certain things or speak out regarding issues. In many districts, school board lawyers warn them not to visit schools unannounced, not to attend public meetings, and to not share their opinions at school board meetings. In fact, many school board lawyers are neutering the very people who hire them.
Baltimore County School Board member Maggie Domanowski did something that was reasonable and responsible. She asked the Superintendent Miriam Rogers, who was paid $316,200 during the 2024–2025 school year, to address items that were cut in her budget. Rogers makes a lot of money to know this information, and she didn’t. However, members of the board deemed Domanowski’s question “rude and disrespectful” because it put Rogers on the spot. They filed for her to be “censured.” Were they colluding with Rogers to embarrass Domanowski?
Luckily, Domanowski wasn’t daunted by the threat.
How many school board members would be? How many of them would stop asking questions? How many would become ineffective and useless?
The main point of an elected school board is to run the schools in their district. Their main employees are the Superintendents they interview, hire, and yes, fire. They are serving their constituency who elected them, not the state, not the unions, and not State Superintendent Carey Wright. If the right of local school boards to make decisions goes away, then the rights of parents will go with it.
Since the publication of this article, additional information has been obtained via MPIA. Here is a link to that story:
Which County is the Next Target? See below:
MORE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARDS ARE BEING ATTACKED BY PROGRESSIVE MEDIA OUTLETS, VIDEO LINK ON FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19NTZ16dw7/?mibextid=wwXIfr
-Jan Greenhawk
The post The Illuminating Tales Of Somerset County And Baltimore County Board Member Maggie Domanowski: What They Reveal About Education Bureaucracy In Maryland appeared first on The Easton Gazette.
