By Mark F. Gray, AFRO Staff Writer, mgray@afro.com
Despite its new Chief Executive Officer and the spirit of optimism that spawned the beginning of the new school year, the shroud of controversy surrounding education in Prince George’s County continues. The Prince George’s County Board of Education is now looking for new representation in District 4 after questions were raised about the current representative lives.
Representative Patricia Eubanks was forced to step down from her post when Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks asked for her resignation after concerns were raised about her residency. Maryland law requires that the County’s school board members live in the district they represent. However, there is ambiguity regarding how long a board member has to live away from their district before having to forfeit the position.
Eubanks final day will be September 30 and the County Executive will appoint a replacement to fill out her term before next year’s general election. She reportedly acknowledged to School Board Chairman Dr. Alvin Thornton she had lived outside of the district she was representing for a time then moved back. Thornton confirmed that Eubanks had moved outside her district, though he said he does not know when and did not ask her that question.
Prince George’s County Board of Education District 4 Representative Patricia Eubanks was forced to step down from her position due to residency concerns. (Courtesy Photo)
According to the Prince George’s County School Board website, Eubanks was the Vice Chair of the Parent, Family and Community Engagement Committee and was also a member of the Academic Achievement Committee, and the Board Governance Committee. Those committees allowed Ms. Eubanks to advocate and work as an intricate part of the inception of the PGCPS family Institute which started under the leadership of the former deposed C.E.O., Dr. Kevin Maxwell in 2014. She was also an advocate for the start and implementation of a department that tracts, reports, and trains PGCPS employees on the importance of great customer service.
“I am pleased with the contribution that I was able to make to our effort to improve customer service, responses to stakeholders and our school system’s approach to addressing mental health issues among our students and employees,” Eubanks wrote in her resignation letter, according to the statement.
Eubanks resignation letter does not mention the reason for her departure. She reportedly never went into specific details about her residency, instead choosing to delay any further comments by saying,“When the time is right, I will tell my story.”
District 4 includes the cities of Cheverly, Bladensburg, Landover, Capitol Heights, Hyattsville and Glenarden. There are 29 schools in the area centrally located inside the County.
