Leonardtown, MD — A relatively routine contract for “flooring services” has been called into question by a member of the St. Mary’s County Board of Education. Member Rita Weaver (shown) at the regular July 23 meeting voted against continuing use of a Charles County Public Schools contract for the services.

The contract to Southern Maryland Floor Company of White Plains was originally competitively bid by Charles County in 2011 and the contract has been extended each of the last four years. St. Mary’s County Public Schools (SMCPS) Director of Maintenance Steven Whidden requested board approval of piggybacking onto the Charles County contract again to extend the agreement until June 30, 2016.

Maximum cost for the contract is $65,000 a year and is at a fixed price per unit of measure for carpet, tile and base cover. It also covers removal. Whidden reported, “at present, the maintenance department has identified numerous locations throughout the SMCPS system in need of replacement carpet and tile to provide safe, comfortable, attractive, and well maintained learning environment.”

But Weaver asked Whidden if the school system had attempted to bid the job out on its own to determine whether what was being offered was the lowest available, quality option. He said they had not although Charles County had determined it was the cheapest option for them.

Weaver protested, saying she wanted to be assured that what they were getting was the best available locally for the price. When the vote came Weaver was the sole dissenter.

Earlier in the meeting Weaver also questioned use of contract personnel instead of full-time equivalent employees for some special education staffing. Weaver used as an example a position that had been contracted out for the last seven years.

Director of Special Education Melissa Charbonnet said it was a matter of available funds for full-time employees. Upon insistence by Weaver, Charbonnet said she would be glad to put full-time employees in future budget requests.

Board President Karin Bailey said the addition of more full-time employees was often questioned by the county commissioners during budget deliberations. School Superintendent Scott Smith said he had been cognizant of holding the line of additional full-time employees.

But Weaver said a case could be made that the full-time employees were less expensive than the contract employees. Weaver did, however, vote to support the Special Education Staffing Plan for the next school year.

Weaver two weeks ago announced she was temporarily stepping down as board vice-chair because of what she called a “threat” via email from fellow board member Marilyn Crosby. The email from Crosby was reportedly over concerns about a retirement recognition ceremony. In the email Crosby wrote: “I helped you and I trusted you. I have a team that will take care of you.”

Subsequent to the ensuing controversy Crosby said the statement was not meant as a physical threat but a political promise to get Weaver defeated in the next election. State’s Attorney Rick Fritz reportedly investigated the email and concluded there was no criminal action on Crosby’s part.

At the time Weaver said she would not return to the school board meetings until the threat to her had been removed. She told the BayNet that she believed the threat had been removed although she would not elaborate. She said she would continue to attend board meetings but would not be vice chair temporarily. She said an acting vice chair would not be chosen by the board.

Meanwhile the administrative hearing scheduled for this month against Crosby on charges of misconduct in office has been cancelled because the case had been withdrawn, according to the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings. The majority of the former board filed the charges against Crosby last October, alleging the leaking of sensitive personnel matters to the press.

Crosby’s second term in office is up next year. She has not indicated whether she intends to file for re-election.

Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com