PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — Every seat was filled at the Board of Education meeting on Aug. 7. The maximum allowable number of people spoke at the meeting, many of whom exceeded their time and continued speaking even when their microphone was cut.
In addition to the live comments during the meeting, community members submitted hundreds of postcards and emails to the board, most of them concerning the board’s review of Policy 1018, an anti-racism policy first passed in 2020 by a previous board. The current BOE brought the policy up for review earlier than its scheduled review time.
Prior to the meeting, the public only knew that the policy would be discussed, and most of the letters urged board members to keep the policy. The live public comment period came after the board voted 5-0 to repeal the policy, giving the opportunity for pushback just moments after the vote occurred. Several commentators accused board members of pushing a political agenda that aligned with Project 2025. The majority of speakers were critical of the decision to repeal. Others thanked the BOE for bringing the policy up for review.
The last speaker was Priscilla Bradley, vice president of the Calvert Association of Educational Support Staff (CAESS), speaking on behalf of her organization.
“Why is it necessary to target marginalized populations in this community?” Bradley asked, struggling to speak through tears as she finished her prepared remarks. “Why is it necessary to dehumanize our staff and students? Why?”
When Bradley took her seat, people in the room burst into cheers and applause — something BOE President Smith-Post had specifically warned about at the start of the public comment period.
President Smith-Post then said, “You all can go,” and requested the crowd leave the room immediately.
One person in the front of the crowd stood and shouted, “Shame!” before turning toward the exit.
The crowd quickly picked up on the taunt and chanted, “Shame! Shame! Shame!” at board members. President Smith-Post then asked for officer assistance to clear the room so the meeting could continue.
Once the room cleared, the meeting resumed with the final agenda item: board comments. Member Joseph Marchio declined to comment, while members Goshorn, Grenis and Smith-Post focused on thanking staff and gave a few reminders about the new school year. Grenis in particular thanked teachers for their hard work, “always seeing students’ potential,” and said she was looking forward to a great year.
Member Paul Harrison was the only board member to respond to the public comments.
“I think what you have to understand is that we were elected by the citizens of Calvert County. So someone tonight said that there were 586 people that made some comments on Change.org. That is great. But Change.org happens on election day. It doesn’t happen over the internet, it happens on election day. So if you want to get out and you want to support people who run against me or whatever, do it. That’s democracy. That’s the process. But I was elected by 27,000 Calvert County citizens on a platform that I am fulfilling. So, if you want to do something different, you’ve got to get out there and you have got to be politic and you got to donate, because it costs a lot of money to win this seat. You’ve got to raise some money. And all these protests and signs and stuff, that’s great, but that doesn’t register on the ballot box. It makes you feel better. But you’ve got to get out there and vote. That’s democracy.”
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bUt MuH dEmOcRaTs
Mr Harrison should realize that there are roughly 68K voters in Calvert County. 28K does not imply a mandate and he serves all of Calvert County. Or he can keep his stance and find himself without something to show for all the money he wants to spend. Sad fellow for sure.
Kudos to Mr Harrison. He just gave it to us straight. Refreshing. Keep it up you’ll have my vote. Just sayin’
We warned you about this when Post ran, that she was supported by and aligned with the same organizations that supported Project 2025. We warned you when she posted appalling statements about book bans.
And here we are…
This is honestly so funny. Imagine being so heinous a crowd of 100 people start to treat the meeting like a Game of Thrones reenactment. Good on everyone who attended!
SHAME!
It is respect for all that wins the day, not picking and choosing and singling out a certain group. It is not racism to identify individuals that exhibit antisocial behaviors. Consequences for bad behaviors or misconduct or criminal activities is not racism, no matter how loud the race industry wants it to be. There’s no place in society for any one race to be singled out, or promoted as special above the rest. Equal application of the law and policies across the board, regardless of color.
This should be the case…
I get what he’s saying, if you sat the f*ck home on election day you don’t got room to complain BUT 27k votes ain’t exactly a number you can throw around as “I have a mandate from the people of Calvert.” There are close to 100k people in this state.
They can do this racist sh*t but they can’t expect people to like it.
Good. The fact that this DEI stuff was policy enforced on kids for a single day is an abomination to begin with.
I wonder if the people who are unhappy with this board have the option of recall of elected board members?
Mr. Harrison is right. Elections do matter. How many people live in the county is irrelevant. How many county residents voted is relevant.
Harrison is correct when he say’s it cost’s alot of money especially when the board spends it like they did the other year of taking selected to the super bowl! On our dime! When questioned on this matter they didn’t have the decency to even respond to written requests for an explanation.
Too bad people who don’t know the meaning of the word shame, nor teach it to their kids, choose to chant the word at others thinking it will mean anything.
Thank you BOE for caring about our students and staff enough to not want constant separation and division allowed in schools from policies like the one you appealed. I’m grateful and hope we can all move forward.