Members of the Montgomery County Board of Education (MCBOE) named Montgomery Public Schools (MPS) chief of staff Jamie Wilson as the system’s new interim superintendent on Tuesday night.
The MCBOE voted by a 4-3 margin in September to accept outgoing MPS Superintendent Dr. Melvin Brown’s resignation. Brown has been superintendent since April 2022. His resignation is effective November 1.
A motion to delay a vote on naming a new interim superintendent by MCBOE member Lesa Keith didn’t pass.
“I think there are so many reasons to table it. None of us knew this was coming down the tubes. I didn’t. Y’all didn’t and we reacted like me in wrong ways and some of y’all in right ways but at this point I do think it’s time that we do listen to different aspects of the community and some of their ideas and at least table it until we know ‘Hey, we’ve got the best person,’” Keith said at the meeting.
MCBOE member Arica Watkins-Smith said, “These decisions are not the easiest decisions to make.”
“It is very difficult to be in this situation but I’m optimistic that we will move forward in a positive way. The public needs to know that we are looking at the best person who will be able to keep the momentum going,” Watkins-Smith said. “It’s a lot of politics happening. Politics aside, it’s all about the children and their quality of education.”
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