NEWS RELEASE
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For Immediate Release
October 24, 2024
OIC REQUEST TO REVISE PGCPS ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE 2200
DENIED BY PGCPS ADMINISTRATION
Upper Marlboro, MD - Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) Integrity and Compliance Officer (ICO) Frank Turner II announced today the release of an Office of Integrity and Compliance (OIC) Management Advisory presented to the PGCPS Board of Education (BOE) on July 29, 2024, requesting an urgent revision of PGCPS Administrative Procedure (AP) 2200 (Financial Impropriety, Improper Conduct, and Whistleblower Protections), which was issued on July 1, 2024.
The new AP 2200 directly conflicts with MD Code of Education, § 4-404, which establishes the existence of the OIC. The latter states under section (h)(1): “Each local school system employee should report any fraud, waste, or abuse to the Office”, which provides the OIC authority to investigate instances of fraud, waste, and abuse. On the contrary, AP 2200 - which implements procedures and responsibilities in support of Board Policy (BP) 0109 - grants PGCPS Internal Audit the primary responsibility to investigate financial impropriety and improper conduct. However, the PGCPS Internal Audit office reports to and is fully controlled by the PGCPS BOE. The AP also violates Board Bylaw (BB) 9340 (Policy Development) which states board policies should align with applicable federal, state, and local laws. AP 2200, which supports BP 0109, does not align with the law as well as creates confusion to the PGCPS employees and the public.
On July 5, 2024, the PGCPS ICO alerted BOE Chair Lolita Walker and Superintendent Millard House II via email that the newly revised AP 2200 issued on July 1, 2024 was not in compliance with the law and failed to acknowledge the existence of the OIC. As a follow-up to the lack and disregard of PGCPS corrective actions, the ICO formally presented the detailed Management Advisory on July 29, 2024 with proposed amendments to revise AP 2200. Between August 2024 and October 2024, ICO Turner and his staff have worked to have AP 2200 corrected in line with the law. However, the PGCPS Administration notified the ICO via email on October 17, 2024, the OIC will be included in PGCPS AP 2200 section (V)(B)(2) only as an option where individuals may report impropriety and improper conduct, without properly referencing the OIC’s authority to investigate fraud, waste, and abuse. After months of emails and meetings, the PGCPS Administration moved forward on one (1) of six (6) advised changes as instructed in the (OIC) Management Advisory.
The OIC Management Advisory can be found at the following location:
Please direct all inquiries to: Email: oic@pgcps.org Phone: 301-952-6113
