Montgomery Chamber: Resignation of Montgomery Public Schools Superintendent “a serious blow”
The Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce has released a statement regarding the resignation of Montgomery Public Schools Supt. Dr. Melvin Brown.
The statement by Chamber President & CEO Anna Buckalew is below:
“The news that Dr. Melvin Brown has resigned is a serious blow, particularly to the MPS students, who are the most critical stakeholders here. What we, as a community and a Board of Education, do next will be a defining moment.
“The Montgomery public school system was at a crossroads, on the heels of an intervention that brought our district out of the ashes, followed by the passage of a landmark united effort to increase property taxes for public schools. The right leader, in the right seat, would be a game changer. The then-Board of Education searched for a transformational leader, and found it in Dr. Melvin Brown following a professional, transparent search that involved the entire community.
“Under Dr. Brown’s leadership, we have made extraordinary progress. Dr. Melvin Brown made solid, hard decisions to get our system on track and put our students first, building a team of high-capacity, high-performing professionals to lead us forward. His departure is far too soon, but his impact will be lasting as a foundation for even greater progress.
“Good boards set high expectations and then look to their CEO for results. The Montgomery County Board of Education has gotten those results under Dr. Brown’s leadership. As a community of business leaders, elected officials, parents, faith-based leaders – all of us – now we must rally to ensure the Board is effective in navigating this transition and securing next generation leadership.
“Certainly, the Board of Education does not want to be in the business of making day-to-day decisions in our school system. In fact, that is one component of what led MPS into intervention in 2017. The Chamber will do everything in its power to convene leadership in support of MPS and the Board’s task ahead.
“All of us are responsible to the students of Montgomery. The Chamber pledges its relentless support as we call on the Montgomery County Board of Education to look not only for a short-term solution but also for a long-term conclusion that is in the best interest of our students and fuels the momentum underway.”
The Chamber is calling on its members to attend today’s meeting of the Montgomery county school board to ask why members didn’t work to keep him.
“Many of you know we’ve been working for months to stress how critical it is for the Board of Education to let the superintendent know they intend to renew his contract,” the Chamber said in a release. “Some of the members of the Board have done that with strong reviews for Dr. Brown’s performance, and repeated attempts to put to bed what should be a no-brainer issue – keeping leadership in place for a system that is making progress. But other members of the Board have fought it, advocating micromanagement and personal agendas ahead of students. We just can’t accept that.
“As business and community leaders, we need to hold the Board accountable, support those trying to do good, and call out any bad actors who are fighting changing our system for the better.”
