Verletta White has been named interim superintendent of Baltimore County’s Public School System. The Baltimore County School Board voted unanimously May 23 naming White to a one-year interim appointment starting July 1 to replace S. Dallas Dance, who resigned abruptly in April.
Verletta White has been named interim superintendent of Baltimore County’s Public School System. (Courtesy Photo)
White, 49, is a graduate of Woodlawn High in western Baltimore County and currently a doctoral candidate in the School of Education at Morgan State University. She rose through the ranks of Baltimore County Public Schools serving as a teacher, principal, system administrator and now the system’s Chief Academic Officer. White will serve as Baltimore County’s first woman superintendent and the first person from the state of Maryland to lead the County’s public schools for years.
White informed the school board that she would be applying for the permanent position, hoping to stay and provide stability as the school board prepares to change from a fully appointed board to a partially elected school board in 2018.
Warren Hayman, Coordinator of Morgan State’s Urban Education Leadership Doctoral Program where White is currently enrolled, believes she is the logical choice to lead Baltimore Public School System through its next steps.
“I think she’ll do an outstanding job. She has the experience, she brings a thorough knowledge of the system having been a student, teacher and administrator, and she knows the community,” Hayman said.
Hayman, a former Baltimore County school board member, believes that with White’s knowledge and a year in the interim role, White will be ready to take the reins of the superintendent’s job on a permanent basis.
“She is very focused, very organized. She has the respect of the community and a year to acclimate herself to the role. The community should be very proud that one of their own has been appointed to serve as the Interim Superintendent,” Hayman added.
The Baltimore County NAACP is one of several community groups that has already endorsed White. Anthony Fuggett, the chapter president, said the organization wholeheartedly recommended White in a letter sent to the school board prior to her appointment. “The Baltimore County Branch of the NAACP recommends with confidence Ms. Verletta White for the position of interim Baltimore County Superintendent of Public Schools,” the letter read.
Since a new school board will be configured in 2018, there is a chance that the current school board will extend White’s interim appointment for a second year and allow the new board to make the permanent appointment when they are in place.