* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: President Young
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
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Informational Hearing - BCPS CEO Search Process
FOR the purpose of requesting that members of the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners appear before the Council to discuss the secret search process conducted to hire a new CEO, and answer questions regarding how the search was conducted, how candidates were vetted, and how the decision on the new CEO was made.
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Recitals
In December, 2015, the school board met privately with former CEO Gregory Thornton to inform him that the board would look for a new CEO beginning in January, 2016. At that point, rather than announce this news publicly so that parents and legislators could participate, the board made an intentional decision to conduct the search in secret.
The board took several steps to keep this process discrete. Its chairman, Marnell Cooper, made public comments suggesting Dr. Thornton would retain the job after the end of the 2015-2016 school year. Its members privately reached out to potential candidates. No press releases, public statements, or other communications were issued indicating to students and their parents that a search was underway.
Perhaps most distressingly, the school board worked with an as-yet-unnamed private company to pay a search firm $36,000 to conduct the vetting process, shutting the public out of the process entirely. As the firm was paid...
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