WORCESTER COUNTY, MD – During the budget hearing for the Worcester County Board of Education on December 2, 2025, Board member Katie Addis (District 6) shared significant news. After three years dedicated to revealing issues within the school system, she has made the tough decision to resign with grace. Watch her announcement below:
Since the beginning of my time on the board, I’ve always said I would be in this seat to try and invoke change for the greater good of Worcester County. I wanted this so badly because I wanted my children to eventually go to school here. After sitting on the board for three years, I’ve come to realize that this won’t be possible. Our public school system has many desirable programs that meet the needs of many children, but it still does not meet the needs of my children and many others in this county.
This job has been an eye opening experience in many ways.
My trust in our local media outlets and journalists have disappointed me in their need to sway the public on matters that were many times written and covered in a way that led the public to be swayed away from the truth.(0:01:05) In next year’s election, stay vigilant and question what the media and newspapers are putting out to the public. Worcester County journalism is very much a part of the good old boy network. Question who the news outlets and newspapers are praising and discern the truth and do not be swayed.
I have watched our district’s teachers’ association (union) pressure educators into believing the association is the only source of protection and support. Yet time and again, their actions have shown otherwise. Teachers deserve to know they do have options. Please don’t feel that joining the Teachers Association is the sole path to advocacy or safety. If you want to stand up for what’s happening in our schools, that change begins with reconsidering your membership and directing your support elsewhere. As election season approaches, remember, a candidate without the backing of WCTA is not a candidate without the backing of Worcester County’s dedicated teachers. The Red Apple endorsement reflects only a small portion of the incredible educators and staff who serve our students every day.
Many of the aspirations that I had as a board member, aspirations I campaigned on and that my constituency supported, were not supported by my fellow board members. While we do not live in a democracy, but rather a Constitutional Republic, if we can keep it, our board is structured to reflect democratic principles of shared responsibility and majority rule.
Nothing I do here will change the destructive culture of the school system. We have a teacher who implied he wanted students dead. And instead of firing him, our superintendent rewarded him with a paid vacation. I mean administrative leave.
Board members who voice agreement with me in closed session often refuse to speak up in open session even on issues as clear cut as the unnecessary extravagance of administrative vehicles. Every year as budget season approaches, we have a board and top administration who refuse to take responsibility for the overspending being done and are constantly pushing staff and community members to vilify local elected officials to force their hand to fully fund the Board of Education. Every year, indoctrination campaigns take place to make the public believe the Board of Education is not fully funded. This is grossly false and dangerously inaccurate. A maintenance of effort budget is a fully funded budget. Anything over maintenance of effort is a fully funded budget and then some.
Unfortunately our top level administration has been allowed to say what they want to say without consequence. Not only is this false information morally wrong to spread, it has caused countless years of vitriol to be unnecessarily spread between family and neighbors in our community.
You are coming here today with wish lists for your schools. But just like Christmas, not everyone gets what they want on their wish lists. Maybe we need to start urging our Board of Education Administration to stop building Taj Mahal schools that cost the taxpayers exorbitant amounts of money and start asking them to build modest buildings so our tax money can go to funding students in the classroom instead.
Our community as a whole needs to take an active interest in local issues. I urge and challenge everyone to step into the public square and contribute to the betterment of our community. We need more face-to-face dialogue and fewer keyboard warriors. Rather than shying away from debate, I encourage everyone to engage with a genuine desire to understand one another, always with respect and civility.
The Board of Education has been my mission field. I found a place where I was not welcome in many ways and certainly not celebrated as I spread the word of God and his truths. I continue to stand behind those truths and I pray our community will find its voice to stand behind those truths as well for the safety, security, and the prosperity of this generation of children and the next generation to come.
I am honored to have helped so many teachers, staff, parents, students, and community members during my time on this board. Thank you for trusting me with your issues and concerns, and I hope I have served you in a manner that changes your outlook on public servants, as that has been my goal from day one, to serve the community.
If we don’t shine in the public square, then darkness will fill the void. From the campaign trail to three years of service, building relationships with the members of this community has truly been an honor of a lifetime. I am eternally grateful for the trust you placed in me to represent and advocate for the needs of District 6.
Thank you for the privilege of serving you. As we look ahead, I remain confident in the strength, resilience, and goodness of this community. Let us continue to show up for one another, engage with respect, and work together for a brighter future.
The work doesn’t end here and neither does my commitment to this community.
Effective immediately, I will be resigning my position as District 6 school board representative in stepping down. Thank you.
Katie Addis has been a remarkable Board member, steadfastly advocating for what is right regardless of the challenges. Elected officials often face various forms of pressure, but Mrs. Addis remained unwavering.
In spite of all the difficulties, she remained dedicated to the truth, guided by her faith, and worked tirelessly to bring light to a dark situations throughout the district.
As of today, the families and citizens of Worcester County can clearly see the realities of our public schools.
