TOWSON, Md. — It grew out of concern over taking students out of the classroom during the pandemic, and on the same day the Baltimore County Parent and Student Coalition sent a letter expressing a vote of no confidence to the school board, Superintendent of Schools Darryl Williams announced his current contract would be his last.
“We are looking for really strong leadership and we have been ever since Dr. Williams arrived,” said Coalition President Amy Adams, “He lived through a lot of crises that he had to deal with, but left us feeling like we wanted more from our leaders.”
Stopping short of calling on Williams to resign, the Randallstown chapter of the NAACP has had concerns that it shared with the school system over what it views as civil rights issues.
Black and Brown students, it argued, suffered more than their peers as distance learning took its toll, and then there’s the ongoing problem with school violence and a focus on those causing the problems.
“The way we look at it is about the other children in the school,” said Chapter President Ryan Coleman, “The ones that want to learn. The ones that want to come to school and have a good environment, and so we have to remember them, too.”
The organization says a national search for Williams’ replacement will take time, and its proposing the system turn to a former deputy superintendent, Dr. Elfreda Massie, to serve in an interim capacity for a year and to make for a seamless transition.
