Baltimore City school leaders have recommended that the principal of a public high school in northeast Baltimore be fired following an investigation into alleged kickbacks.
The ouster marks yet another black eye for a scandal-plagued school system that grabbed national headlines earlier this year for promoting hundreds of students with failing grades.
Reginald F. Lewis High School principal Janine Patterson had been on administrative leave since March, but in a letter released Monday, Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Dr. Sonja Santelises recommended Patterson be terminated for “insubordination, willful neglect of duty and misconduct, including financial impropriety.”
Patterson, who pulled in a $130,000 salary, had been with Baltimore City Public Schools since 2012.
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Though school officials have been tight-lipped about why they recommended Patterson’s immediate firing, Fox45 reported that Patterson is at the center of an investigation into possible kickbacks from stipends the school offered employees. Stipends are money school staff can earn for extra work. Some stipends were allegedly paid for work that was never done. The news outlet also reported that Patterson had received some of the money.
Though Santelises recommended Patterson’s firing and removal, under Maryland law, the recommendation now goes to the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners for final approval.
Monday’s letter said additional staff members could face discipline or be fired as a result of the investigation.
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Calls to Baltimore City Public Schools for comment by the Washington Examiner were not immediately returned.
