Prince George’s PTA has charter pulled

Leaders shocked over state PTA’s decision

‘‘I’m very disappointed,” Ross said Wednesday, hours after receiving the letter. The county PTA could earn back its charter after two years, Ross said, although he wasn’t sure what the state organization would require for a new charter. ‘‘We are sort of in limbo and we have to find out what all of this means.”

Maryland PTA President Mary Jo Neil did not respond to messages. Other state PTA officials refused to comment on the matter.

Without the county organization – which represents more than 11,000 PTA members – individual PTAs would have to address concerns directly to the state organization in the absence of an intermediary. Training sessions designed for local PTA leaders this summer were cancelled, Ross said, since the state’s letter stipulates the Prince George’s group can no longer ‘‘operate as a PTA, effective immediately.”

‘‘With a stroke of the pen, we no longer represent them. Now we can’t speak as a unified group,” Ross said.

In the days preceding the state’s decision, Prince George’s PTA members said the organization was heartened by county officials’ support as the Maryland PTA continued to challenge the county’s charter status.

James Dula, president and CEO of the Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce, who sent a letter to the state group on behalf of the Prince George’s chapter, said the chamber was hoping the newly elected PTA officials would get a chance to prove themselves to the state organization.

‘‘The timing is not very good,” Dula said after receiving the letter Wednesday. ‘‘We had hoped with a new administration, they would have been given an opportunity to correct past mistakes in order to rebuild the program. We would like to see the current board have an opportunity to perform.”

Dula said he would continue to support the Prince George’s group. He said he would lobby the Maryland PTA for an appeals hearing.

‘‘We’ll stand with the [county] PTA,” Dula said. ‘‘We need to ask [the Maryland PTA] to reconsider this decision.”

The PTA administration led by President Darren Brown – who was embroiled in a 2005 school uniform scandal at Charles H. Flowers High School – was scrutinized by the state after it did not submit proper financial records, bylaws and minutes from meetings in 2006. Brown said in March that all the material was properly submitted to the state.

The Maryland PTA’s June 3 meeting was the fourth time in the last year the organization considering revoking the county charter.

Prince George’s PTA members said the repeated threat to the group’s charter perpetuated a picture of a discombobulated, corrupt organization. Like most county education activists, Steve Morris, a PTA member for more than 30 years, said the state should give the new leadership a chance.

‘‘We have people that seem serious about clearing up the issues,” he said. ‘‘It’s only fair to give them a shot at it.”

E-mail Dennis Carter at dcarter@gazette.net.