PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - The Somerset County Board of Education publicly voted to reaffirm their hiring of legal counsel, avoiding a possible financial penalty from Maryland education officials.
The Maryland Inspector General for Education previously found the Somerset BOE violated a state mandate in firing their previous legal representation and hiring Shifanelli Law, LLP in a closed session. According to the Inspector General, those types of decisions must be made in public.
On Dec. 9, the Maryland State Board of Education voted unanimously to act on the violation, instructing the State Superintendent to request funding be withheld from Somerset in the amount of the legal services contract if the contract was not publicly adopted. The Somerset County Board was given 30 days to comply.
At their meeting on Tuesday night, the Somerset County Board of Education made a last-minute amendment to their agenda, adding the reaffirmation of their legal representation to the beginning of the meeting.
“Somerset County is one of the very few counties that every vote has to be recorded in open session,” Board of Education Chairman Matthew Lankford said before the vote. “We were made aware of that and they asked us to, under this particular hire, we need to reaffirm it.”
Lankford went on to praise the Shifanellis' work for the Board of Education.
“Over the last year we have had several grievances, probably more than 25 or 30,” Lankford said. “Guess what? They won them all.”
The Board of Education then voted in open session on reaffirming the hire. The motion passed with three yes votes and two abstentions.
