Members of the Montgomery County Board of Education (MCBOE) voted by a 4-3 margin on Monday night to accept the resignation of Montgomery Public Schools superintendent Melvin Brown.
Brown has been superintendent since April 2022. His resignation is effective November 1. He announced his resignation over the weekend.
A spokesperson for the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce said on Facebook after the meeting on Monday, “Tonight, a capacity crowd of elected, business, and civic leaders witnessed the loss of a truly great superintendent, Dr. Melvin Brown. Thank you to all who attended and those who were turned away when even the overflow room filled.”
“Three MPS board members stood up to do what’s right, and we say thank you. Meanwhile, four board members spent hours nitpicking excellent recommendations and demagoguing. Enough is enough,” the spokesperson said. “We were united tonight in frustration and disbelief. Let’s stay united to remove the barriers that threaten the incredible progress we have made. Montgomery, our capital city, deserves better!”
MCBOE member Cassandra Brown said at the meeting, “I just really wish that the board members would consider what is really the best for the children in the district because we all say that it’s about the children and we all say that we want our employees to grow, we want our employees to flourish, we want our employees to have the resources that they need but this man has brought resources to our district that our district has not seen before.”
“That is really all that I can say,” she added.
MCBOE member Dr. Lesa Keith said, “He said he doesn’t want to be here. I’m not going to stop somebody who wants to resign.”
“My heart is almost broken that petty things, miscommunication, and a will not to sit down and work as a team. He has a beautiful vision but you must have a shared vision and you have to share it and you include your board,” Keith added. “The Chamber of Commerce coming in here, they’ve never come in here in their lives but the pressure that they put on us was just undue. It was wrong. I’ve always looked up to the Chamber of Commerce and hey if I run again I’m sure the banners are going to come out (saying) ‘Don’t vote for Lesa.’”
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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