Charlene Dukes, president of Prince George’s Community College and onetime president of the Maryland State Board of Education with a history of misconduct and cover ups is to lead the task force. We must say “NO”.

Prince George’s County’s has created a task force to independently examine policies and practices designed to keep students safe following the arrest of an elementary school volunteer accused of making pornographic videos of children at school during the school day.

Leading the new panel will be Charlene Dukes, president of Prince George’s Community College and onetime president of the Maryland State Board of Education who left under a cloud. Millet can’t expect justice from a court composed of chicken. The conduct of Charlene Dukes who steered public funds in questionable circumstances and who in the past has chosen to suppress the truth plus evidence should be in everyone mind.

“I want parents, students, and all who care deeply about the welfare of children to know that the Student Safety Task Force will be methodical, exhaustive, and swift in our work. We will focus on bringing forth recommendations that keep our children safe,” Dukes said in a statement. However, we doubt that statement and if anything good will come out of such a committee based on Charlene Dukes engagement in misconduct in what appears to be ongoing basis.

As stated previously, If we are going to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in the future and help the schools, what we need now is not more of the same, but a willingness to try new and better approaches to fighting corruption including electing or selecting new leaders with better record for engaging the truth to power and not cover ups.

Others on the task force include representatives from universities, a nonprofit group, the private sector, local government, public safety and the school district.

The task force was formed about two weeks after the arrest of Deonte Carraway, 22, of Glenarden, who remains jailed on 10 counts of felony child-porn charges. Carraway admitted to creating videos of children between ages 9 and 13 performing various sexual acts, according to charging documents. Police say the victims in the case now number 17.

Besides Dukes, other task force members include:

• Joshua Sharfstein, associate dean at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
• Gloria Brown, the county’s director of social services.
• Renee Battle-Brooks, assistant state’s attorney in Prince George’s.
• Judy Bresler, a lawyer with a private firm.
• Kristina Kyles-Smith, assistant state superintendent with the Maryland State Department of Education.
• Brenda Jones-Harden, associate professor in the department of human development and quantitative methodology at the University of Maryland at College Park.
• Michele Booth Cole, executive director of Safe Shores, the D.C. Children’s Advocacy Center.
• Blanca Abrico, a parent of a student at Robert R. Gray Elementary School.

School officials said the newly formed group will be supported by county and school staff members including George Margolies, chief of staff for the school system; Monique Davis, deputy superintendent; Shawn Joseph, deputy superintendent; Adrian Talley, executive director of the office of student services; Erica Berry, executive director of the school board’s office; and Tehani Collazo, education policy adviser in the office of the county executive.

Schools chief Kevin Maxwell said in a statement that he had formed the task force “to carefully scrutinize every single policy and procedure we have in place.”

“We will leave no stone unturned, but we will also act quickly,” he said.

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This is a call for Action

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