Kevin Maxwell resigning

[Anonymous]

Kevin Maxwell is leaving and I am beyond ecstatic.

http://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/PGCPS-1ed6584

[Anonymous]

Yeah, he calls the countless scandals under his tenure "distractions."

Not going to miss him. Maybe he'll give himself a $25,000 bonus on the way out?

[Anonymous]

I hope the new person that comes in is not worst. Iam so tired of the inconsistencies of pg county schools, whoever is causing it. I am not pointing the blame on anyone but I am sure there are more people than Maxwell that need to go.

[Anonymous]

I think that Maxwell inherited a shi@tshow and worked hard to make positive changes. I met him several times and got the impression that he was a competent and hard working person who really had the best interest of PGCPS in his mind when making decisions. Did he make some questionable decisions, sure. Did some of the people he surrounded himself fail miserably, yep. But, if I look back and ask if the schools are better than there were 5 years ago, I would say yes. Unfortunately that's a low bar. We had such a high turn over in Superintendents prior to Maxwell that no one was able to enact positive change.

I hope that PGCPS is able to recruit someone qualified. Given the level of scrutiny that the position comes with I think that they are going to have a hard time finding a qualified person willing to take on the mess.

I think the only way to make a big change is to get rid of the dead weight on the BOE. There are several very qualified people, including the appointed members, but there are also folks there who are completely incompetent.

Residents need to step up and pay attention. Inform themselves before voting and not just vote for the person listed at the top of the ballot because their last name comes early in the alphabet.

(Off my soapbox.....although I feel like I'm preaching to the choir on this board)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that Maxwell inherited a shi@tshow and worked hard to make positive changes. I met him several times and got the impression that he was a competent and hard working person who really had the best interest of PGCPS in his mind when making decisions. Did he make some questionable decisions, sure. Did some of the people he surrounded himself fail miserably, yep. But, if I look back and ask if the schools are better than there were 5 years ago, I would say yes. Unfortunately that's a low bar. We had such a high turn over in Superintendents prior to Maxwell that no one was able to enact positive change.

I hope that PGCPS is able to recruit someone qualified. Given the level of scrutiny that the position comes with I think that they are going to have a hard time finding a qualified person willing to take on the mess.

I think the only way to make a big change is to get rid of the dead weight on the BOE. There are several very qualified people, including the appointed members, but there are also folks there who are completely incompetent.

Residents need to step up and pay attention. Inform themselves before voting and not just vote for the person listed at the top of the ballot because their last name comes early in the alphabet.

(Off my soapbox.....although I feel like I'm preaching to the choir on this board)

How are schools better than they were five years ago?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that Maxwell inherited a shi@tshow and worked hard to make positive changes. I met him several times and got the impression that he was a competent and hard working person who really had the best interest of PGCPS in his mind when making decisions. Did he make some questionable decisions, sure. Did some of the people he surrounded himself fail miserably, yep. But, if I look back and ask if the schools are better than there were 5 years ago, I would say yes. Unfortunately that's a low bar. We had such a high turn over in Superintendents prior to Maxwell that no one was able to enact positive change.

I hope that PGCPS is able to recruit someone qualified. Given the level of scrutiny that the position comes with I think that they are going to have a hard time finding a qualified person willing to take on the mess.

I think the only way to make a big change is to get rid of the dead weight on the BOE. There are several very qualified people, including the appointed members, but there are also folks there who are completely incompetent.

Residents need to step up and pay attention. Inform themselves before voting and not just vote for the person listed at the top of the ballot because their last name comes early in the alphabet.

(Off my soapbox.....although I feel like I'm preaching to the choir on this board)

How are schools better than they were five years ago?

I should have given the caveat that in my experience my children's school is better than it was 5 years ago.

Increased technology in the classrooms, increased enrollment from middle class families, increased opportunities for specialty/charter schools, especially at the middle and high school levels and higher participation in AP classes.

It is only my perspective and other people's experiences are likely different.

[Anonymous]

I had high hopes for him, as this was his dream job. Most people use PG as a stepping stone to larger urban districts, so it's tough to find someone who wants to be here long term.

[Anonymous]

Hasn't this position been a rotating door? Obviously there are other issues at play that need to be fixed and I don't think Maxwell leaving is going to fix anything because school system was a mess before he arrived.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think the “off with your head” mentality serves any interests except the political ambitions of certain elected board members. Maxwell has not been perfect, but no one is and the scandals under his tenure have not been deal breakers for me. Or, they were due to the dysfunction that he inherited and I think he ultimately managed them well.
He has brought more stability and growth to pgcps than his predecessors. I will be sad to see him go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think the “off with your head” mentality serves any interests except the political ambitions of certain elected board members. Maxwell has not been perfect, but no one is and the scandals under his tenure have not been deal breakers for me. Or, they were due to the dysfunction that he inherited and I think he ultimately managed them well.
He has brought more stability and growth to pgcps than his predecessors. I will be sad to see him go.

It's not that any individual scandal has been a "deal breaker," it's that there are just. so. many.

[Anonymous]

I mean, I guess that’s what I’m trying to say...it seems like a lot. But is it really more than any other school district? Or is it board members making politically motivated mountains out of molehills? And the media and our republican governor eating it up because everyone loves a scandal in a majority black county? I don’t really know and I’m trying to check any potential biases here and not hold PG to a different standard than I would a different county.
Like, for instance, a few weeks ago when the teachers were going to strike because of “pay raises” that turned out to be an administrative error on the part of low level HR employees that was corrected. Or when they complained about PGCPS taking away funds for school supplies, when in reality admin is just changing the budgeting to give principals more discretion (which may result in crappy principals providing less money for teacher supplies but is hardly a scandal). But the way it gets reported, there is just this constant barrage of PG! SCANDAL! And everyone just goes with it without getting the actual facts because it just fits with their preexisting biases of this county.
In DC you have the actual chancellors doing shady things with the mayors approval!
That’s not to say there haven’t been some real awful things happen- the judge Sylviania woods elem sex abuse being one- but IMO things like that were a result of a lack of processes in place from preexisting dysfunction that Maxwell inherited. And sex abuse is definitely not unique to any one school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean, I guess that’s what I’m trying to say...it seems like a lot. But is it really more than any other school district? Or is it board members making politically motivated mountains out of molehills? And the media and our republican governor eating it up because everyone loves a scandal in a majority black county? I don’t really know and I’m trying to check any potential biases here and not hold PG to a different standard than I would a different county.
Like, for instance, a few weeks ago when the teachers were going to strike because of “pay raises” that turned out to be an administrative error on the part of low level HR employees that was corrected. Or when they complained about PGCPS taking away funds for school supplies, when in reality admin is just changing the budgeting to give principals more discretion (which may result in crappy principals providing less money for teacher supplies but is hardly a scandal). But the way it gets reported, there is just this constant barrage of PG! SCANDAL! And everyone just goes with it without getting the actual facts because it just fits with their preexisting biases of this county.
In DC you have the actual chancellors doing shady things with the mayors approval!
That’s not to say there haven’t been some real awful things happen- the judge Sylviania woods elem sex abuse being one- but IMO things like that were a result of a lack of processes in place from preexisting dysfunction that Maxwell inherited. And sex abuse is definitely not unique to any one school system.

And how about the graduation scandal? Or the loss of the Head Start grant? Or the fact that he increased the number of administrative positions?

Look, I do not think we need to beat people over the heads for their mistakes, but when you are in a leadership position, you have to take responsibility for bad things that happen under your watch. Maxwell calls these things "distractions." And there never seem to be fewer distractions...

[Anonymous]

I wonder if part of the issue with judging Maxwells tenure is that PGC residents just expect more than they did in the past. Were there actually more issues going on under his time or did they just garner more attention than the previous Superintendents because people expected him to come in and magically fix a broken system.

He clearly made some mistakes...including calling serious problems "distractions" but I think we are kidding ourselves if we don't acknowledge that he was significantly better, and made a more positive change, than the previous 4 leaders did combined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think the “off with your head” mentality serves any interests except the political ambitions of certain elected board members. Maxwell has not been perfect, but no one is and the scandals under his tenure have not been deal breakers for me. Or, they were due to the dysfunction that he inherited and I think he ultimately managed them well.
He has brought more stability and growth to pgcps than his predecessors. I will be sad to see him go.

It's not that any individual scandal has been a "deal breaker," it's that there are just. so. many.

I’m curious how long people who don’t like him vs. people who do have lived in this county. I remember Iris Metts and Andre Hornsby’s tenures and feel that Maxwell has been like s breathe of mostly fresh air for this county. Some screw ups, but managed better than in previous administrations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if part of the issue with judging Maxwells tenure is that PGC residents just expect more than they did in the past. Were there actually more issues going on under his time or did they just garner more attention than the previous Superintendents because people expected him to come in and magically fix a broken system.

He clearly made some mistakes...including calling serious problems "distractions" but I think we are kidding ourselves if we don't acknowledge that he was significantly better, and made a more positive change, than the previous 4 leaders did combined.

I think losing head start funding is a pretty big deal. the abuse scandals and the poor response resulting in tons of teachers out of the classrooms for months during the school year are also big deals. The graduation rate scandal. And these are just scandals, and doesn't even begin to touch basic public school services like the continued understaffing of bus drivers and the inability to provide reliable, timely and safe bus transportation for our children.

I have lived in the county for 14 years and have been in the public school system for 5 years. If this is significantly better then we need to raise our standards.

Also he was paid significantly more, so our expectations should be higher.