CCPS Superintendent refutes ethics complaint filed against him

CECIL COUNTY — Cecil County Public Schools Superintendent Jeffrey Lawson released a letter on Friday to the Cecil County Board of Education refuting the ethics complaint filed against him by County Executive Danielle Hornberger earlier this week, saying that the citations used in the complaint 'fail to support' Hornberger's allegations.

Lawson contended that the allegations of "improper political activity" contained in the complaint – which was uploaded to CCPS' website along with Lawson's response – reflect an "improper assessment" of Lawson's statutory obligations to CCPS.

"Unfortunately, a political leader has weaponized my well-intentioned efforts to do everything in my power to meet the needs of the students, staff, and community of Cecil County Public Schools," Lawson wrote in his letter to the board.

The complaint alleged that Lawson had violated several state, county and school board laws, including the improper use of his office, the improper use of CCPS resources and political activities engaged in by both Lawson and CCPS staff. It cited Lawson and other school officials' attendance at rallies and forums organized by school advocacy group Fund CCPS as the primary examples of "a clear picture of improper political activities and the gross misuse of taxpayer resources in breach of the public trust."

In his response, Lawson noted that neither himself nor his staff organized any of the events mentioned in the complaint, nor was attendance at the events considered mandatory for CCPS staff, but that the staff members in attendance were present of their own volition to show support for CCPS students.

"CCPS administrators and teachers are not restricted from gathering in interest or demonstrating their own views," Lawson wrote. "This has been well established in our employee-negotiated agreements."

Lawson also addressed the allegation that attendees of the Feb. 6 "Fund Our Future Rally" outside the County Administration Building were transported to the event using CCPS-contracted school bus, stating that the bus services were donated by contractors.

The complaint further alleged that the posts on a Facebook page, "CCPS Facts", run by CCPS staff also amounts to improper political activity.

"It is not the role of a public school system to fact-check or comment on political campaign statements made by active candidates for elective office," the complaint reads.

Lawson stated that the "CCPS Facts" page exists to combat misinformation, correct it and identify the misinformation's source.

"The CCPS Facts Facebook page is non-partisan and does not endorse or oppose any candidate or political party," Lawson said. "It merely corrects misinformation regardless of the source, including misinformation provided in campaign information that has inaccurately or inadequately discussed the system's functions."

The response did acknowledge that an email was sent by the principal of Rising Sun Middle School to students and parents referencing the Fund CCPS social media page. According to Lawson, after he was made aware of the email, he notified all CCPS principals that such information should not be distributed to students.

Additionally, Lawson cited the Education Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland in reference to statutory requirements placed upon him as CCPS' superintendent to "try in every way to awaken public interest and improve educational conditions in the county" and to "seek in every way to secure adequate funds from local authorities."

The ethics complaint will be reviewed and ruled on by the board of education. Following the board's decision, that decision can be appealed to the State Board of Education.

The ethics complaint, Superintendent Lawson's response to the complaint, as well as other documents can be viewed at: https://www.ccps.org/ethics .